Travel: New Zealand

[kohbee2.06303gmail.06303com]

mrsoh:

Hi, my husband is thinking of New Zealand for our next family trip. Our child is 6. I heard the place is very scenic but can be quite boring for a 6 year old. Any specific places of interest to recommend? Thanks.

You might want to read our review of our North Island trip on page 13 to have a gist of what it has to offer for your family. My son (aged 7 at the time of travel) enjoyed the visit to Waterworks (http://www.thewaterworks.co.nz/index.html ) at Coromandel, luge ride & Agrodrome at Rotorua, the train ride at Driving Creek Railway (http://www.drivingcreekrailway.co.nz/Introduction.cfm), just to mention a few. Children will usually be fascinated with farm stay.

[briskcross]

Has anyone tried holidaying in a caravan or motorhome in NZ?

[mrsoh]

mrsoh:

Hi, my husband is thinking of New Zealand for our next family trip. Our child is 6. I heard the place is very scenic but can be quite boring for a 6 year old. Any specific places of interest to recommend? Thanks.

Hi everyone, thanks for your recommendations! I think we are quite set for NZ

[Dnls_mum]

mrsoh:

mrsoh:

Hi, my husband is thinking of New Zealand for our next family trip. Our child is 6. I heard the place is very scenic but can be quite boring for a 6 year old. Any specific places of interest to recommend? Thanks.

Hi everyone, thanks for your recommendations! I think we are quite set for NZ

Look forward to reading your review when you get back :). Have fun! :rahrah:

[tisha]

Wow, loads of info by dnls_mum and JR. Thanks a lot for sharing. It is very useful to plan a trip to NZ.

We are planning a 8-10 days trip to SI this Nov/Dec.
Don’t really fancy the group tours(no flexibility and choice of food) but then DH is the only person driving, so not sure how tiring it is.
Dnls_mum,JR
How long does it take to drive from one place to the other, e.g christchurch to franz Joseph?
We are a fly of three, DS is 14. My budget is 10K. So planning to take quantas/jet and mostly stay in Motels. Hope can manage and still have a good time.
Do the local(SG) tour operators offer fne, only air ticket and motel/hotel booking? Is it cheaper than direct self booking?
Natas fair coming up this weekend. Hope I can decide on self or group tour soon.

[tisha]

JR:

Hi Dnls_mum, my family group of 10 will be touring North Island for 13 days staying at Auckland , Coromandel, Tairua, Rotorua, Napier, Taihape, Waitomo and then back to Auckland.


We have booked our accomodation, car rental (2 cars) & activities online via this NZ company Fine Tours New Zealand which has very comprehensive tour packages as well as customized tour. Currently, we are still fine-tuning our itinerary and Kerry Kettle of the NZ tour company has been very helpful in answering our queries regarding routes etc.

My family members are also looking forward to our trip starting on 25 November. Yeah

I'm planning for partial self dive and partial day tours. If so is it better to hire car on daily basis? How is the public transport? Can we go from one city to the other by bus, how long does it take?

[tisha]

Dnls_mum:

Driving time is apparrently long. Check out the link below to get an idea of travel time and distance.
http://www.aatravel.co.nz/main/td-calculator.php

This is very useful. :thankyou:

[Dnls_mum]

tisha:

Wow, loads of info by dnls_mum and JR. Thanks a lot for sharing. It is very useful to plan a trip to NZ.

We are planning a 8-10 days trip to SI this Nov/Dec.
Don't really fancy the group tours(no flexibility and choice of food) but then DH is the only person driving, so not sure how tiring it is.
Dnls_mum,JR
How long does it take to drive from one place to the other, e.g christchurch to franz Joseph?
We are a fly of three, DS is 14. My budget is 10K. So planning to take quantas/jet and mostly stay in Motels. Hope can manage and still have a good time.
Do the local(SG) tour operators offer fne, only air ticket and motel/hotel booking? Is it cheaper than direct self booking?
Natas fair coming up this weekend. Hope I can decide on self or group tour soon.

Glad that my trip review has been of some help
8-10 days is doable for SI. You can follow roughly my itinerary but skip Dunedin. Possible itinerary could be:

1. Arrive ChCH
2. Drive to Punakaki for overnight via Arthur's pass (4 hour drive. Driving to Franz Josef will take 6 hours and that I feel is way too long for one driver. You are also not familiar with NZ roads yet on this first day of driving). You will want to take time to stop along AP to do some walks, have a picnic etc.
3. Drive to Franz Josef.
4. Day activity at Franz Josef eg helihike.
5. Drive to Queenstown via Haast Pass
6. Day trip to Milford Sound (coach both ways is most economical. Let your DH rest from driving and enjoy the trip too :))
7. Free day at Queenstown. Go to Bob's peak or do a jet boat ride or even both!
8. Drive to Mt Cook/Lake Tekapo, via Lindis Pass (for cheaper accommodation and food, stay at Lake Tekapo rather than Mt Cook. Take heaven and earth observatory tour at night at Lake Tekapo for star gazing.
9. Drive to Mt Cook for day trip if staying at Lake Tekapo. Do walks, glacier explorer tour, watch the 3D show at Sir Edmund Hillary centre.
10. Drive to ChCh
11. Home sweet home.

Sorry, end up with 11 days instead of 10. But you can cut maybe one day at Franz Josef if you don't do the helihike, but it will be quite a pity. My boys enjoyed it so much. Staying just one night at FJ means you probably only have time for short walks to the Glacier valley in the afternoon if you drive straight from Punakaiki to FJ that morning. I have suggested mainly 2 nights stay to give your DH enough rest and time to enjoy the sites instead of driving daily.

$10k will be workable if you can get reasonable priced air tickets, and stay at one bedroom or studio motels. You probably need to go for economical motels rather than luxury ones with one or 2 exceptions. I booked all my accommodation and tours via the Internet direct with the establishment. I find that I can get better accommodation at the same price quoted by agents when I DIY.

Do some self catering will save some money as eating out can be ex. Have a mix of both so that you give yourself a break fm cooking :). The expensive tours are Milford sound, helihike. But as you only have 10 days, a Milford tour will be more efficient use of time and you DH does need a rest once in a while from driving. The roads and bridges can be narrow in NZ and you need to concentrate when driving.

Hope I have answered your questions. Happy planning!

[Dnls_mum]

tisha:

I'm planning for partial self dive and partial day tours. If so is it better to hire car on daily basis? How is the public transport? Can we go from one city to the other by bus, how long does it take?

I suggest having car for the entire trip. More flexibility and it is also expensive and time consuming to rent and return and rent and return. Weekly rentals normally give you better rates too. Are you going NI or SI! From what I notice, public transport is almost non existence or not prevalent in SI. Not sure about NI. Even if you take day trips, you may still need to drive out for dinner etc.

[Fried chicken]

tisha:

JR:

Hi Dnls_mum, my family group of 10 will be touring North Island for 13 days staying at Auckland , Coromandel, Tairua, Rotorua, Napier, Taihape, Waitomo and then back to Auckland.


We have booked our accomodation, car rental (2 cars) & activities online via this NZ company Fine Tours New Zealand which has very comprehensive tour packages as well as customized tour. Currently, we are still fine-tuning our itinerary and Kerry Kettle of the NZ tour company has been very helpful in answering our queries regarding routes etc.

My family members are also looking forward to our trip starting on 25 November. Yeah

I'm planning for partial self dive and partial day tours. If so is it better to hire car on daily basis? How is the public transport? Can we go from one city to the other by bus, how long does it take?

Have a look at http://www.intercity.co.nz for coach transport. I wouldn't rely on public transport. It doesnt really go from city to city, usually just within a city. It's also unreliable at the best of times. Lol