New Zealand

[bremerial]

I am planning a trip to New Zealand in a few months. Just wondered if any of you had been there or even lived there and could suggest itinerary / best places to go over 2 weeks.

[Archigeek]

I've only had a layover there on my way to Australia unfortunately. I will say this though:

Some airlines offer free layovers enroute on long flights like that. Air New Zealand for example commonly offers free layovers in the Cook Islands. I would take advantage of that for a day or two in the tropics if I could make it work.

Also, the New Zealand airport has nice showers and an exercise area so you can clean up after your very long flight. Probably not an issue for you, but I thought it was an awefully nice perk.

[Rinualdo]

I spent 2.5 weeks around the north island and I loved it. It really depends on your interests and budget on what you want to do. Water sports are popular, as is the lamb. They offer tours for the Lord of the Rings locations if you like scenery. The Maori culture interests a lot of people as well.

If you like looking at post-earthquake rubble you can head to Christchurch as well.

Provide some more details of what you enjoy doing.

[bremerial]

Definitely love scenery. I have illusions of being a photographer so that would appeal to me greatly. I don't mind miandering but like some structure so tours would be good. Hate to go all that way and miss some great sights.

Christchurch did appeal to me before the earthquake. I don't want to appear a ghoul about visiting though.

Not really inerested in wineries and such. The process of making wine is as interesting to me as counting leaves on a tree.

Don't really want water sports or sunbathing but trips on lakes, rivers, sea would be interesting. Anything to do with natural wildlife and indiginous critters would be interesting. Someone said that there is whale watching for example. That would be fascinating.

Not interested in museums. (Never understand why someone would fly across the world to go to a museum unless there is something major in there - eg Tutenkhaman in cairo; Mona Lisa in Paris; Micheal Angelo's David in Florence.)


I do like the idea of a layover Archigeek.

[Archigeek]

Not interested in museums. (Never understand why someone would fly across the world to go to a museum unless there is something major in there - eg Tutenkhaman in cairo; Mona Lisa in Paris; Micheal Angelo's David in Florence.)

Museums are great. I travel to see things and experience culture. A museum is representative of a culture. Going to Paris just to see the Mona Lisa is a giant waste of time. It's all jambed up with Japanese tourists ignoring the "do not take photos" sign anyway. A museum visit is just one piece of a visit to a place. While I'll admit to wanting to see the highlights, I also usually find some highlights that aren't in the guidebook.

That said, I have no idea about the museum situation in NZ.

I do know that if I went to NZ, I'd probably go visit a Maori village. I almost went to work on a Habitat for Humanity project at a Maori village a few years back... I still hope to.

[Drew]

I know awol0509 has been there a few times, I'll refer her to this thread.

[awol0509]

Yep I've been there twice, once for about 3 weeks around New years 2011, and then most recently from Oct 1-21 to visit with friends and go to the Rugby World Cup.
If you're going for only 2 weeks I'd expect you'd only be going to one island? They are sorta different from each other; the north being more beachy and green rolling hills...think a little bit of Australia and a little bit of The Shire from Lord of the Rings; and the south island is colder and mountainous with lots of lakes and forests, glaciers...etc...think The Misty Mountains from the Lord of the Rings.

Remember their seasons our opposite the northern hemisphere's also, so that could play into which island/where you're going to want to visit.
Both trips we stayed with our friend who live in the North Island, in Tauranga, a little beach town called Papamoa. That place is great for beaches and surfing and shopping. Mt. Manganui is close by there which is an inactive volcano that you can hike around and see blue penguins if you're lucky. The most recent trip they had an oil spill right off shore, so they may still be recuperating from that...but that could mean...cheaper accomodations for you?

A note about dining out, the wait staff does not expect tips at all. They are paid a lot more than what would be minimum wage here, so tips are hardly ever given unless they do something really extraordinary.

I can tell this is going to be a huge post so I'll just quickly go through some of my favorite places.

North Island:
-Matamata to go see Hobbiton (The Shire). They were just going to be closing it the first time we visited to start filming the Hobbit, but it may be open now? We thought it would be such a tourist trap but it definitely was NOT, and I would recommend going if you can.
-Glow worm caves. We did Tumutumu toobing which was an awesome experience if you're not too claustrophobic. The glow worms are spectacular. That is around Waitomo I believe.
-White Island Active Volcano. There is only one tour company that lets you actually go ON the island, short of renting a helicopter and flying there. It's an active sulphuric marine volcano and is constantly spewing sulphur into the air, which makes for a cool experience. You'll also see dolphins along the way out on the boat. They filmed part of the Chronicles of Narnia, Dawn Treader movie (when the boy gets turned into the dragon) on this island. I think you depart from Whakatane by boat.
-Waiheke Island is a must to visit if you like wine. Stay at Delamore Lodge if you want to treat yourself. Although you said you didn't like wine so it may not be worth it. But it does have beautiful scenery and they brew a mean wheat beer at the brewing company there. You might even see some orcas from the island.
-Rotorua and the natural mud pools. This town is known for stinking but it's fun to get mud caked all over you followed by a sulphur bath. They say it's good for your skin...I didn't really notice anything special...but still fun. Devil's Gate is where we went.
-Lake Taupo...this place is like the hub for crazy sports like skydiving, bungee jumping, and ZORBING (which is awesome). They also have a cool go cart luge thing which is quite fun. Also check out the Huka Jet around Lake Taupo...so much fun.
-Wellington is known for being rainy but has a cool museum (which you also said you didn't like.) I think it's called Te Papa Museum. They used to have a whole room of Lord of The Rings memorabilia but I think it may not be there anymore. They also had the Rugby World Cup on display while we were there. Wellington also has a gigantic prop from the most recent War of the Worlds movie in the center of town.
-Auckland was interesting I suppose. It seemed a bit too much like LA to me, but we did go up the sky tower, and Auckland is also where Eden Park is (for Rugby matches).

South Island:
-Queenstown was by far my favorite town. It is a small ski resort city with GREAT scenery. They have natural hot springs there that you can swim in, and the whole area is known for their wine. People also do lots of mountain biking and wakeboarding here.
-Milford Sound/Doubtful Sound. If you're wanting to take some awesome pictures you definitely have to visit one of these. We went to Milford Sound and took a morning cruise that provided you lunch and sailed out through the sound and into the ocean. We saw a bunch of blue penguins, dolphins, seals, TONS of waterfalls...it's just really great for scenery. The drive to get there was my favorite part though. We stayed in Fiordland (Te Anau) and the Fiordland Lodge and drove from there to Milford Sound, past some really great lakes and winding roads, through forests..etc. There's a cool picture spot at Mirror Lake, and you'll probably meet crazy destructive birds called Keas. They'll destroy your rental car...fyi..but they're super fun to take pictures with/of. :)
-I've also heard the Fox Glacier is great to hike. We didn't have enough time to hike it but it's supposed to be worth it.

edit: Definitely see a Maori Hangi if you can. It's like a Hawaiian Luau sort of. You'll learn about the culture and eat some delicious food. I'm sure they have these all over but the one we went to was in the Tamaki Maori Village.

Hopefully that helps. Sorry it turned into a bit of an essay. Let me know if you would like more specifics and I can email you some more of the places we stayed etc.
-Alana

[bremerial]

wow - a great amount of useful information there from all of you that I read and re-read and factored into my decision. So itinerary is going to be as follows:

London to Singapore
Two days in Singapore
Singapore to Auckland
Organised 9 day tour of North Island
Two days in South Island (Pushing it a little 'cause we have to get back to Auckland for the flight home - but i want to see the 'alps')
Auckland to overnighter in Abu Dabi
Abu dabi to London


Going to book it next week. I am sooooooooooooooooo excited mainly 'cause i am going with my best friend and will be celebrating a landmark birthday right in the middle of the holiday!

cheers all. Appreciate the input.

[Rinualdo]

There's a ton to do in Auckland itself. Don't skimp on a day there if you can.

[bremerial]

scrub abu dabi - looks like its Hong Kong on the journey back. Gonna see if we can get a couple of days there too - may be a mistake though for two reasons;

1. Additional cost
2. Sometimes you just want to go home after a holiday.

Will see.

I've heard the same about Auckland too BTW - so will make the most of the time there... for sure!

[Asha]

My best bud went to the Lord Of The Rings set etc and said it was amazing and worth the trip on its own.
Sadly he saw the little hobbity houses built into the hills and found they were just doors with a cameraman sized hole on the other side which ruined the entire trip on its own.

[DoctorUnne]

New Zealand

Spent a week on the south island. I went kayaking in Abel Tasman (recommend), hiked the Franz Josef glacier (highly recommend) and spent a few days in Queenstown (highly recommend), which included a day trip to Milford Sound (nice if you like scenery but I found kind of boring; the drive there was actually much cooler). Queenstown is the extreme sports capital of the world. If you can imagine an extreme activity they probably have it. The drive down the island is also an amazing drive and worth it just for that. If you only have a couple of days on the south island I would pick one of the above and drive to it so you can experience the scenery (unless it's Queenstown in which case you'd have to fly)

Hong Kong

Spent a week here, not sure how much time you have but if you want recommendations let me know - I have a bunch of friends who live there. If you like nightlife Dragon-i is one of the best nightclubs in the world.

[bremerial]

Ok Newzealand is booked - two week there, 2 days in Australia, 2 in Hong Kong and 2 in Singapore.

Anyone been to Hong Kong and Singapore and have any ideas about what the best sights are to see... the must see's as it were?

[waywardgs]

Kiwis are krazy. You'll have fun.

[bremerial]

Can I say a massive thanks for the public and private advice provided about my holiday to New Zealand. Put some of it to good use. It was an incrediby good trip with some good friends made.

New Zealand has to be beyond doubt one of the most beautiful countries that I have ever visited.

The only negative with the whole trip? My ankles swelled up on the long flight. Never ever had that happen before. I looked like michelin woman from the knees down.

Anyway thanks all.