Back from South island New Zealand

socrates

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Got back recently from my 10 day trip to South island New Zealand. Much too short to see all of the South Island so able to only to really see the south of the south island as I called it.

Anyway I must thank the forum pals here for all their postings and especially gasband for his excellent and detailed advice. It certainly helped make my trip a smooth and successful one. Thanks Gasband !

Thought I would also share some pictures of my trip as well.

Landed in Christchurch and immediately was picked up by Teddy from Anzed rentals. His service is really good. Not only does he pick and send his customers to and from the airport but he also takes time to give good driving advice and route suggestions. He also had loan for free handphones, music CDs, hot water flask and even a rice cooker for those who miss their their. He used to live in Singapore before migrating to NZ and I would recommend him for those thinking of renting a car in South island.

Took the car and immediately set off for lake tekapo. Unfortunately it was a rainy day and quite gloomy which did not make the scenery as good as usual. Driving was easy in NZ, the further we get away from Christchurch the fewer the cars and the road conditions are good.

As we reached lake tekapo, we were greeted by very nice flowers called lupines by the road side.

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lake tekapo reknowned for the fantastic colour of the lake surrounded by mountains and for its brilliant night sky. Unfortunately it was cloudy and very cold when we were there. The temperature outside was easily less than 10 degrees but still the sceneery was great.

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the famous stone church of Tekapo

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clouds falling over the moutains !

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Beautiful houses and gardens in this small town
 

Arcanell

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wow nice photos! is that all??? how much is the car rental and what car did you drove?
 

gasband

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Haha I am glad u had a great time! I just sharing lah cos this is such a wonderful place. I dare to say, NZ is by far nicest place I have travelled to, not saying I have travelled all or many, but glad to see another person who is marvelled by the sights of NZ South Island. Show us photos!!! hehehe.....
 

socrates

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Arcanell: There were 4 of us and I drove a Nissan bluebird which is good and comfortable. he has a website http://www.anzed.co.nz/rental cars.html which shows all his cars and costs available. I paid NZ$576 in total based on 9 days usage or NZ$64 a day. This includes all the extra costs of insurance and windscreen insurance. Good to take up the windscreen insurance, on my 3rd day there I had a crack in my windscreen which is somewhat common driving in NZ. Teddy the car rental guy was good and counted the total number of days as 9 when technically he could count it as 10. It is a great place to drive just look at the picture below...

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On the road from Milford sound back to Te Anau on a beautiful blue day. Hardly any cars around..Never in Singapore will we get this.

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But of course be prepared for rainy misty and cold days! this was near a place called Hercules which is near Fox glacier

Gasband: This picture is just for you...look below.(Would have gladly brought one it back to thank you for all your advice.)

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Gasband in the future you may want to plan a driving trip to England. I did one in England in June and it was also very beautiful and quite a good place to drive as well.

This year went to 2 angmo countries which I always dreamt of going and took the chance with cheaper airfares and stronger S$.
 

socrates

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From lake tekapo headed down south towards Te Anau where I stayed for 2 nights. Probably my fav town of the trip stayed in a motel which faced the lake and the view was incredible.

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Early morning at the lake, what a reflection !

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In the evening light breaks through the clouds.

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they have very nice pathways for walkers or joggers around the lake and into the forest. Just love the trees and New Zealand forage. There are ducks in the lake and even managed to spot some wild rabbits in the bush
 

gasband

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FERGBURGER!!!!! its nice right! Haha!!! Thanks man....i could devour that haha....

as for England, yes I am going!!! Coming July I am going for 16 days hehehe.... but itinerary nt out yet... but before that, I have my Cambodia, BKK, Vietnam and Shanghai hurhurhur
 

socrates

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From Te Anau, drove early to Milford sound to catch the 9.00 am red boat cruise. (This 9.00 am also included breakfast on the boat.)


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Milford sound leads out to The tasman sea. keep going and oyu will reach Australia.

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Seals lazing around. they hunt in the night and sleep on the rocks in the day and pose for tourists.


Lots of waterfalls around and the cliffs which surround Milford sound reminds me of those I saw in Krabi Thailand but of course there were no seals, penguins and the temperature is 20 degrees celsius less than in Thailand !
 

socrates

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Gsband: 5 countries to visit in 2010? thats incredible! Make sure to post pictures and report when you get back
 

gasband

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Wow ur Milford Sound pictures are magnificient, totally different to mine which is rainy and moody, yours is nice and colorful! but Milford Sound is really a beauty in all seasons...
 

socrates

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i was blessed that we had good weather, we were told that on average it rains at least 200 days a year in Milford sound. So the blue skies made the drive there and the sound more beautiful

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Penguins spotted. the penguins were cute as when the boat came close instead of the penguins running away, more of them came running out of the bush. not enough zoom on my camera though.
 

socrates

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After Milford sound, we took our time driving back to te anau and stopped many times to walk around and admire the scenery.

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Long winding road through the mountains just before going into Homer's tunnel

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nice drive, like the wild yellow flowers that line the road.

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at the chasm we spotted the start of a rainbow !

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Rushing waters coming down from the mountains

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One of my fav scenes, river with lupines around. Blue skies and mountains in the backgorund

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NZ bird I think it is called the kaka waiting for a bus
 

d_kalos

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Oh man... after seeing all the photos from gasband's thread and this one make us decided to go NZ South Island for our honeymoon.

Can I check how much budget should we set aside for 2ppl for a 15-17days trip?
 

tortoise18

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Oh man... after seeing all the photos from gasband's thread and this one make us decided to go NZ South Island for our honeymoon.

Can I check how much budget should we set aside for 2ppl for a 15-17days trip?
im tinking of tis too!
 

socrates

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I went there for 10 days 9 nights and my rough estimation of my costs is about S$2800. I think this is a slightly on the low due to several factors in that I managed to get a good cheap SIA flight of S$1278(you can get lower if you go for other airlines but there will stopovers and longer flying time), there were a total of 4 in my group which made it economical when renting the car, petrol, staying at places, at times we bought from the supermarket whcih helped saved costs . And also I did not shop very much( just bought 2 bottles of honey) and did not do anything very expensive like parachuting, paragliding which I would have loved to do.

So it depends on a person, his needs and requirements. My estimation would maybe be S$4000 for 15-17 days?

perhaps gasband can give a better estimate..
 

socrates

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From Te Anau made the drive to Queenstown. Probably the busiest town in all of the South island. A lot more people than elsewhere most of them being touristy. Very touristy in nature. Be sure to go up the skyline gondola which offers a super view of Queenstown and the surrounding mountain ranges.

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Wonderful view from the top of skyline gondola

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Be sure to play the luge up there as well. Better than Sentosa !

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Went for the shotover jetbopat ride. Fast and furious through the river. The scenery surrounding the river is also stunning.
 

gasband

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Hmmm budget is a very subjective thing, I can share mine for your reference:

We have 3 people, we got tickets from SQ at 1278 for spring which is cheap, during summer, I guess the air tickets would be more expensive.

We rented one really old car, served us well, nothing fancy or powerful, a 1.6 corolla that is 10 years old.

We stayed in mostly holiday parks or apartments which ranges from 99 - 150 NZD per night for the whole room.

We did not much shopping, probably spent around $200 plus for shopping.

We did quite a few activities, Jetboat at Queenstown, Helihiking at fox glacier, Milford Sound overnight cruise, Flying fox and ATV at Nelson... all these activities set us back close to 800. The helihiking took up 380.

For food, there were days we actually bought from supermarkets and cook inside the room cos most of the rooms we booked have kitchens.

Add in, we spent around $4100 - 4200 per pax for 14 days.

Honestly, that is a bit tight already, if my friends allowed, I would give myself $5000 for that period.

For honeymoon, while maybe you all may not do adventurous stuff, but I am sure you all would stay at nicer hotels, eat at nicer restaurants... I would suggest setting aside at least $4500 - $6000 per pax depending on what you want. But to me, there is always something in NZ for every budget hehehe
 

d_kalos

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Thank you all for sharing your experiences and advices.
I will definitely be try some of the adventurous stuffs, especially the helihike! The photos you have posted make me and my fiancee want to experience it ourselves.

Gasban,

I will be sending you a PM for some queries and recommendations for our honeymoon plan.
Hope you can help.
Thanks in advance.
 

blizzy

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went in early november 2pax. 15 days north south island, self drive. Used Hertz toyota camry, with full insurance. Stayed in B&B and motels. Did things like helihiking at fox, swim with dolphins, overnight milford sound cruise, jetboat ride, black water rafting. Approx 5k each.

Activities will set you back.
 
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