Back from South island New Zealand

hutkahn

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Hi guys, have bought my tickets for 9 days (excluding flight) to South Island. Is it sufficient to see the main sights? I'm a scenic person. Reaching christchurch at 2pm.

Thinking whether to pay an extra 100 bucks to extend by 2 days.

Saw this itinerary and think may not need so many days at QT, any suggestions?

d1 - arrive in cc. take a day trip to kaikoura or akaroa. have a good night rest
d2- collect car. drive to fox glacier / franz josef glacier . overnight
d3 - ice walk in glacier. drive to wanaka. over night @ wanaka
d4 - QT
d5- ??
d6- ??
d7- dunedin
d8- lake tekapo
d9- mt cook
d10- ??
d11- sg

When will you be going? For day 1 I don't think it's possible to day-trip out to Kaikoura without your own car since it's a 2-hr drive each-way.

FJ is also quite out of the way, since you have 9 days only, I suggest you skip it and just keep to the central/east parts.

Assuming you're flying back out from CC, maybe you can consider this:

Day 1: Arrive CC, collect car, drive to Lake Tekapo and overnight
Day 2: Tekapo - Mt. Cook, short walks (Hooker Valley track 3-4hrs return; worth it), spend the night at Mt. Cook/Twizel
Day 3: Wanaka (spend 2-3 days here if possible, go for one or more hikes if you're able and the weather is good)
Day 4: Wanaka
Day 5: Wanaka/Go to Queenstown
Day 6: Queenstown
Day 7: Queenstown
Day 8: Queenstown/Glenorchy
Day 9: Dunedin, overnight
Day 10: Drive up the east coast back to CC, overnight
Day 11: Flight back to SG

From Queenstown you can also take a half-day trip out to Arrowtown (historic Chinese settlement), drive up to Glenorchy for nice views of the lake, and at Glenorchy/Paradise there's some awesome scenery as well.

Can also consider taking a daytrip by coach ex Queenstown to Milford Sound (takes up the whole day).

You can cut QT short by a day for Dunedin, but Dunedin itself has nothing much to me, probably drive around see the architecture, world's steepest slope, Cadbury factory, and maybe drive up the peninsular to the castle but there's nothing too exciting there.

You'd also notice I didn't budget much time for CC, but that's because there's really nothing much to see in town haha. Drop by the cardboard church, downtown area to see the destruction/makeshift mall, and I'd say you're pretty much done.
 

darknezx

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When will you be going? For day 1 I don't think it's possible to day-trip out to Kaikoura without your own car since it's a 2-hr drive each-way.

FJ is also quite out of the way, since you have 9 days only, I suggest you skip it and just keep to the central/east parts.

Assuming you're flying back out from CC, maybe you can consider this:

Day 1: Arrive CC, collect car, drive to Lake Tekapo and overnight
Day 2: Tekapo - Mt. Cook, short walks (Hooker Valley track 3-4hrs return; worth it), spend the night at Mt. Cook/Twizel
Day 3: Wanaka (spend 2-3 days here if possible, go for one or more hikes if you're able and the weather is good)
Day 4: Wanaka
Day 5: Wanaka/Go to Queenstown
Day 6: Queenstown
Day 7: Queenstown
Day 8: Queenstown/Glenorchy
Day 9: Dunedin, overnight
Day 10: Drive up the east coast back to CC, overnight
Day 11: Flight back to SG

From Queenstown you can also take a half-day trip out to Arrowtown (historic Chinese settlement), drive up to Glenorchy for nice views of the lake, and at Glenorchy/Paradise there's some awesome scenery as well.

Can also consider taking a daytrip by coach ex Queenstown to Milford Sound (takes up the whole day).

You can cut QT short by a day for Dunedin, but Dunedin itself has nothing much to me, probably drive around see the architecture, world's steepest slope, Cadbury factory, and maybe drive up the peninsular to the castle but there's nothing too exciting there.

You'd also notice I didn't budget much time for CC, but that's because there's really nothing much to see in town haha. Drop by the cardboard church, downtown area to see the destruction/makeshift mall, and I'd say you're pretty much done.
Thanks for the advice bro! I'm going from Aug 21 (touchdown) to Aug 29 (last night). Want to extend till 31 Aug (last night), but weighing whether the 2 days are worth it.

In your opinion, 100 bucks per pax worth the extra 2 days?

Also, am planning to rent a car when I reach CC, all the way till the end. Not confident that I can drive a campervan with my normal driver's license.
 

hutkahn

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Thanks for the advice bro! I'm going from Aug 21 (touchdown) to Aug 29 (last night). Want to extend till 31 Aug (last night), but weighing whether the 2 days are worth it.

In your opinion, 100 bucks per pax worth the extra 2 days?

Also, am planning to rent a car when I reach CC, all the way till the end. Not confident that I can drive a campervan with my normal driver's license.
I'd gladly pay that much to extend 2 days in NZ haha. Once you go there, you never want to leave...

Since you're going during the tail-end of winter, all the more I suggest not going to FJ since the passes are susceptible to road closures if I'm not wrong.

Driving there is a breeze, State Highway traffic is low, lots of places for you to stop and have a break/admire the scenery. All the same, wouldn't suggest driving past 3 hours at a time if you're the only driver because you will get damn shagged. With the exception of maybe QT-Dunedin and Dunedin-CHC the rest of the journey should be about 2hrs drive.

If you're still keen on kaikoura, maybe can drive up and spend a day there depending on the whale-watching schedule and availability. If not, more time in tekapo/wanaka/qt are also good options for more photo ops and exploring the area :D

Tip: star-gazing at Lake Tekapo is a must. Rather than going up Mt. John and paying for the observatory you can just go to the residential area and drive further in until you hit the tracks to the forests. Insanely dark there and you get equally awesome views for free

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darknezx

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I'd gladly pay that much to extend 2 days in NZ haha. Once you go there, you never want to leave...

Since you're going during the tail-end of winter, all the more I suggest not going to FJ since the passes are susceptible to road closures if I'm not wrong.

Driving there is a breeze, State Highway traffic is low, lots of places for you to stop and have a break/admire the scenery. All the same, wouldn't suggest driving past 3 hours at a time if you're the only driver because you will get damn shagged. With the exception of maybe QT-Dunedin and Dunedin-CHC the rest of the journey should be about 2hrs drive.

If you're still keen on kaikoura, maybe can drive up and spend a day there depending on the whale-watching schedule and availability. If not, more time in tekapo/wanaka/qt are also good options for more photo ops and exploring the area :D

Tip: star-gazing at Lake Tekapo is a must. Rather than going up Mt. John and paying for the observatory you can just go to the residential area and drive further in until you hit the tracks to the forests. Insanely dark there and you get equally awesome views for free

Sent from my phone using GAGT
Crap, no available flights to extend my trip. Warning to all those who book through Expedia/Agoda/priceline etc, dont!

We're thinking to go see the glaciers, after all, if we're already there, might as well. So, modified the direction of the itinerary, would this work? Not sure whether I should spend 3 days in Wanaka or QT, but I only have 9 full days in total.

Day 1: (reach at 2pm) Christchurch to Tekapo
Day 2: Tekapo and Mount Cook
Day 3: Queenstown
Day 4: Queenstown
Day 5: Queenstown
Day 6: Wanaka
Day 7: Wanaka
Day 8: FJG
Day 9: FJG (in case the weather turns bad)
Day 9: Drive through Arthur's Pass to CC
 

hutkahn

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Guys.

I just booked tickets to Auckland for July 15 Each head about $880

Will be there from 07-18July15

Arriving at 070715 late night while departing 180715 midnight. So practically 2 days is gone.

First time to NZ. Was intending to do a campervan vacation this time.

Looking for some interesting itineraries online. Found 2 of them from official NZ tourism website. Any views?

http://www.newzealand.com/sg/trips-...es/north-island/auckland-wellington-auckland/

http://www.newzealand.com/sg/trips-and-driving-itineraries/north-island/auckland-gisborne-auckland/


PSPS. Didn't notice this was a thread for south.


No prob, there's no thread for North Island anyway :s13:

The itineraries look quite xiong, you'd be spending quite a fair bit of time on the roads. If campervan your speed will be slower also so the travel time will be longer. If you want to cover the whole of North Island, maybe can consider Auckland - Rotorua - Taupo - Wellington, then fly back up by Jetstar.

But I suggest you just stick to top half of North Island, then can spend longer time at each city also.

Will you be going with family? Friends? What kind of things are you looking for? Like scenery, activities, etc.
 

hutkahn

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Crap, no available flights to extend my trip. Warning to all those who book through Expedia/Agoda/priceline etc, dont!

We're thinking to go see the glaciers, after all, if we're already there, might as well. So, modified the direction of the itinerary, would this work? Not sure whether I should spend 3 days in Wanaka or QT, but I only have 9 full days in total.

Day 1: (reach at 2pm) Christchurch to Tekapo
Day 2: Tekapo and Mount Cook
Day 3: Queenstown
Day 4: Queenstown
Day 5: Queenstown
Day 6: Wanaka
Day 7: Wanaka
Day 8: FJG
Day 9: FJG (in case the weather turns bad)
Day 9: Drive through Arthur's Pass to CC

You may be disappointed haha FJG from far is not very impressive. There's a walking route at the base but you can't get very close to the glacier, so if you get bad weather while at FJ, your trip is wasted (the town itself is mega boring).

Christchurch to Tekapo on Day 1 is ok, spend the night there star-gazing if skies are clear, and explore a bit in the morning can liao. Scenery is amazing there.

For day 2, are you intending to stay at Mt. Cook/Twizel for the night? Bear in mind the sun sets earlier in winter (around 5-6pm it's dark alr) and you may not want to drive at night if not familiar/comfortable with the roads. If staying in the area, should be ok if you leave Tekapo around 11/12, should have time for a quick trek at Mt. Cook (although it's winter so whether you wanna do that, up to you)

I think your time in QT and Wanaka is fine, but may not get a chance to do too many things.

For FJG, are you driving up on day 7? the drive up from Wanaka can be quite daunting esp during winter, and the Haast pass may be subject to closure (same as Arthur's Pass on your way back to CC) so if you suay, your itinerary will suffer.

If you're driving up on day 8 itself, you may not be able to get a heli ride to the glacier by the time you reach since you will probably reach in the afternoon, so only left day 9 to try your luck, so you should take that into consideration.

Haast Pass, Arthur's Pass, and Milford Road quite unpredictable during winter, I've heard.
 

miniapple25

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If it's booked on a single itinerary, you should be fine and luggage etc should be checked-through. If you're booking separately, then not enough time.

What about Qantas/Emirates options? I found their pricing to be quite competitive with BA's, plus Emirates food tends to be better :D they should also have flights with 1 stopover (probably SIN-MLB-CHC) which is less troublesome

I personally find 1 hour to be a little tight if there are delays on the inbound flight into AKL and the knock on effects of your next flight from SYD. Since you are not booking on the same ticket, you won't be entitled to re bookings or refunds should you miss the BA flight. It's not a risk I was willing to take when I was planning my trip to CHC.

Why not book Qantas? They have codeshare with Emirates as well for a wider selection of flights and it also gives you peace of mind knowing its booked on a single itinerary. And it involves only 1 transfer on either leg.

I booked my flight on SQ in the end though. Save all the hassle.

Thanks punggolkid and hutkahn for suggesting alternate route. You cannot believe it, Qantas stopping at SYD code share with other airlines to CHC is even more expensive than SQ!! So we have decided to take SQ to have more time touring NZ instead of waiting at airports for connecting flights.

Does anyone know whether it’s true that it’s better to drive anti-clockwise as the coast will be on your left to avoid crossing traffic when pulling in or pulling out? Meaning it’s better to do Christchurch- Franz Josef- Wanaka– Queenstown Mt Cook-Lake Tekapo – Christchurch correct?

And can anyone tell me about what time does it gets dark in late Sep say 18-29Sep? I hope it is later than 4pm. :s11:
 

godofwar93

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Hey guys,

I'm facing a dilemma now as our flight out of CHC will be at 0645hrs and we have to return our caravan at 1500hrs the day before.

Any ideas what to do within that period of time?

Thanks in advance!
 

sellun

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Hey guys,

I'm facing a dilemma now as our flight out of CHC will be at 0645hrs and we have to return our caravan at 1500hrs the day before.

Any ideas what to do within that period of time?

Thanks in advance!
Most likely the caravan will offer free one way transport to the airport. If you have the budget can get a room at the airport hotel, if not just overnight at the airport itself.

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darknezx

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You may be disappointed haha FJG from far is not very impressive. There's a walking route at the base but you can't get very close to the glacier, so if you get bad weather while at FJ, your trip is wasted (the town itself is mega boring).

Christchurch to Tekapo on Day 1 is ok, spend the night there star-gazing if skies are clear, and explore a bit in the morning can liao. Scenery is amazing there.

For day 2, are you intending to stay at Mt. Cook/Twizel for the night? Bear in mind the sun sets earlier in winter (around 5-6pm it's dark alr) and you may not want to drive at night if not familiar/comfortable with the roads. If staying in the area, should be ok if you leave Tekapo around 11/12, should have time for a quick trek at Mt. Cook (although it's winter so whether you wanna do that, up to you)

I think your time in QT and Wanaka is fine, but may not get a chance to do too many things.

For FJG, are you driving up on day 7? the drive up from Wanaka can be quite daunting esp during winter, and the Haast pass may be subject to closure (same as Arthur's Pass on your way back to CC) so if you suay, your itinerary will suffer.

If you're driving up on day 8 itself, you may not be able to get a heli ride to the glacier by the time you reach since you will probably reach in the afternoon, so only left day 9 to try your luck, so you should take that into consideration.

Haast Pass, Arthur's Pass, and Milford Road quite unpredictable during winter, I've heard.

Sorry I was away.

Day 2 intending to stay at Tekapo. It's about an hour's drive according to the lodge I've booked.

Intending to drive up to FJG on Day 8. Checking with the helicopter rides coy to see if I can make it in time.

Btw, I think I'm gonna spend one day to go to Milford Sound, so I'll just take one day out from Queenstown. Me and my gf are not huge fans of going for canyoning and the likes.
 

boss_man

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Anyone needs NZD for their upcoming trip? I have about NZD$2000.

Please contact me at 9115 8466 to discuss.
 

x_xicecube

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seems that NZD is falling a little now is it a right time to exchange currency or should we wait till august ?
 

vil

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i will be going there for a 11-day trip in the last 2 wks of June. it is beginning to snow over in south island. understand during bad weather, the roads to milford sound may be closed.
 

tunakahai

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Hi, has any one experience using snow chains while travelling in South Island in June... do share some of your experience ... thanks ..
 
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