Travel: New Zealand
-
coolit:
Am thinking of going to New Zealand during Christmas..how is it like? Always heard there are more sheep than people and worried that my kids will get bored.
I suppose kids will prefer activities than just appreciating the nice scenic views. It will depends on how old your kids are and what kind of activities they are interested in. For my 7 year old son, he loved the Waterworks, the river rafting and skyline luge. -
Hi, do we need a visa to travel to NZ? TIA!
-
For Singaporean, we do not need visa for travel to NZ.
-
Sporean visiting NZ -> no need to apply visa
-
Tks for your assurances!
-
Hi everyone,
Here’s Part 1 of my trip review that I promised. Sorry, took so long as there has been so much to do after we came back. Hope I won’t bore all of you with my rattling…
To give some background, we went on a 15 day self drive trip around South Island. We have 3 kids, age 14, 11 and 5.
Day 1:
We arrived in Christchurch in the late morning after a 10 hour flight from Singapore. Bought a prepaid voda phone and data card ($100), and called our motel to pick us up. We were promptly picked up by the Airport Delta Motel. After check in, we picked up or rental car from Apex a short walk from our motel, went for lunch and stock up at the supermarket for breakfast and stuff for our planned picnic lunch at Arthur’s Pass the next day. Then it’s off to the International Antarctic Centre. We experienced the Antarctic storm (up to -18degrees), saw a 4D show, penguins and boys went for the Huggland Ride. They loved it. We were too tired to go out for dinner, so I prepared a simple steak and salad dinner that night.
Day 2:
After breakfast, we set off for Punakaiki via Arthur’s Pass. We were wowed by the scenery along the way and made photostops! Stopped at Arthur’s Pass visitor’s centre for our picnic lunch. After lunch we took the Devil’s Punchbowl Falls Walk. It was our first walk and it was more tiring then we expected. But we made it and what a beautiful view it was that greeted us!
Arrived at Punakaiki after several photo stops along the Coastal Road. Decided to take a walk at the Pancake rocks before checking into our hotel at the Punakaiki Resort. Pancake rocks was beautiful but tide was low and so we decided to check it out again the next morning.
Checked into our hotel, had a short rest, then went for dinner at the Waterline Restaurant. After dinner, went back to our room to enjoy the beautiful sunset. It was already past 9pm!
Day 3:
Checked out of our hotel early and had breakfast at the little café opposite the pancake rocks. Visited the rocks again, but no luck, tide was still low. Off we went to ShantyTown at Greymouth. Took the steam train ride, kids panned for gold and we had an old fashion family photo taken. Then we had lunch here before heading to Franz Josef. ShantyTown is small, didn’t think it was worth the ticket price, but then it is a good stop between Punakaiki and Franz Josef.
Arrived in Franz Josef and checked into the Punga Grove Motel & Suites. Went to the visitor’s centre to check out the walks in the area. We were interested in doing the Sentinel Rock Walk. Was advised that the clouds are low and we may not be able to see the Glacier from the Sentinel Rock and may need to do the Glacier valley walk instead. We decided to check it out but it started to rain, so we turned back, promising ourselves that we do the walk the next day. So we went to the supermarket and I cooked dinner again that night. Incidentally by now, we discovered the chocolate magmum ice cream that we don’t get at home, and we love those and had to have them for dessert every other night!
Day 4:
DH, DS1 and DS2 went off for their Helihike this morning after breakfast. DD (5yo) is too young for the Helihike. Min age is 8. So myself and DD were picked up an hour later for our Twin Glacier scenic flight with glacier landing tour. DD was all excited about going up a Glacier and playing with snow. We enjoyed ourselves on our scenic flight and glacier landing. It was so beautiful and not an experience we’ll forget. The Helicopter Line office was less than 10 mins walk to our motel. So after our adventure, DD and I took a leisurely walk back stopping along the way to browse the shops. Back at the motel, borrowed a DVD from reception to keep DD occupied and started preparing lunch.
Boys came back from the hike and had so much to tell. They enjoyed their morning adventure too. We took a rest after lunch and in the late afternoon, went for our Sentinel Rock Walk. It was again a tiring steep walk, but we managed and had a good view of Franz Josef. Then we decided to drive over to Fox Glacier for the Lake Matheson walk. Little did we expect the drive to be a long windy one. We were disappointed when we reached lake Matheson. It was cloudy and we could not see much. So after a walk to the Old Jetty, we turned back, and went back to Franz Josef for dinner.
Had dinner at the Blue Ice Café. It had good reviews, but we found the food to be so so.
To be continued… -
Trip Review (Part 2)
Day 5:
We checked out early this morning and headed to Lake Matheson again. Had breakfast at Lake Matheson Café, which was really a pretty place. Glass all round and afford a great view of the surroundings. This morning, the cloud had cleared and the view was wonderful. DH and DS2 decided to take the 1.5 hour walk around the entire lake. DS1, DD and I has a leisurely breakfast and walked to the Old Jetty only.
After Lake Matheson, we headed towards Haast Pass. Stopped at Roaring Billy Falls, Thunder Creek Falls, Fantail Falls and Blue Pools. We had a picnic lunch again. I am afraid of heights, so the suspension bridge (short one) to the Blue Pools was also challenge for me. The Blue pools was beautiful, but all of us had sandflies bites even after we applied insect repellent!
Overnight stay at Alpine Resort Wanaka. After check in, rested, then had dinner at Botswana Butchery. Yummy!! Love the Angus rib eye steaks! The sides were delicious too. Definitely eat there it you are a meat person.
Day 6:
After breakfast we went to Puzzling World. Spent 1.5 hours there. DS1 actually got lost in the maze! We had fun going through the various exhibits and displays and took great photos. After that, we went to church. Yes! It’s Sunday! After church, it’s lunch at the Red Star Luxury burger at Wanaka. The burgers were huge! They were good but we like those at Fergburger at Queenstown better.
Then off we went to Arrowtown via the Crown Range. What a beautiful drive!
Arrowtown was a disappointment. Kids and hubby said that the visit was the most boring thing we did on our trip! It was a very hot day, and we took a walk down the street, didn’t see anything we like, bought ice creams for the kids and headed back to the cool aircon of our car, and off we went to Queenstown.
Checked into the Rees Hotel & Luxury Apartment which is just by Lake Wakatipu! The view from our balcony was to die for! Glad we’ll be here for 4 nights. It was the best accomodation for our entire trip.
Since it was such a clear and sunny day, we decided that it was the best time to go to Bob’s Peak. We called and managed to get a dinner reservation at the Skyline Restaurant that night, so off we went. Upon arrival, we took the Gondola up the peak, then checked in at the restaurant. We were very early, so they gave us a beeper which will alert us when they were ready to sit us. Off we went for our Luge rides. The kids went for 5 rides each, but I tried once only. I went so slow that my son said that it must have been the slowest luge ride ever by anyone! Anyway, the kids had lots of fun and after they finished with their 5 rides, our dinner beeper beeped! Perfect timing!
Food at the buffet was ok but the view was fantastic! Glad we came on such a clear day!
Day 7:
We had a lazy morning and went to MacDonald’s for a late breakfast, then walked to the Queenstown Info Centre to wat for our pick up for the Dart River Wilderness Safari tour. We were driven to Glenorchy, the LOTR country. There we went on a Jet Boat Ride. It was fun and the scenery was incredible! After that we walked through a beech forest and was driven back to Glenorchy town, and then driven back to Queenstown. By which time we were famished, having just snacked on cookies and bananas after our Jetboating. We went to the Cow Restaurant where we had great pizza and spaghetti for dinner. The garlic bread at Cow was really yummy! I’ve never tasted such good garlic bread in Singapore.
Day 8:
We woke up early and were picked up at 7.15am by the BBQ bus for our tour to Milford Sound. It was a 2 hours drive to Te Anau where we had our morning stop. We went to Miles Better Pie to get a venison pie which they are famous for. We had to try it even though we have had our breakfast since it had rave reviews. It was huge and pretty good. Then it was off on our Milford Road drive. We had photostops at Eglinton Valley, Mirror Lake, Monkey’s Creek, Holmer’s Tunnel. The driver stopped around 12 noon at Cuscade Creek for us to talk a 45 min walk while he prepared our BBQ lunch. The lunch was delicious and it was fun to sit and eat in the great outdoors looking at the beautiful scene in front of us. After lunch, we went for our Milford Sound Cruise. Milford Sounds was majestic and serene. We saw seals lying lazily on rocks and went really near the waterfalls. After the 1 hr 15 min cruise, we were dropped at the airstrip for our fixed-winged flight back to Queenstown. We had elected to fly back (even though it cost more than 2 times more) as the flight was only 40mins compared to the bus ride of 4 hours. Furthermore, from the plane we were able to see beautiful alpine lakes which we otherwise have missed. All of us had a great time! It was cool being in a plane with only 5 of us and the pilot.
We were really tired when we got back, so it’s me preparing dinner again and having magnum for dessert!
To be continued… -
Dnls_mum,
Thanks for the detailed sharing! Will definitely be useful for me as I hope to go to NZ with my kids at year-end! -
Trip Review (Part 3)
Day 9:
This morning, we went over to Walter’s Peak on a 100 year old vintage steamship, the TSS Earnslaw. At Walter Peak High Country Farm, DH, DS1 and DS2 went horse trekking while DD and I went for a sheep shearing demo and went to see and feed farm animals. After our activities, we had a wonderful morning tea of scones and pikelets (mini pancakes with jam) at the Colonel’s Homestead. DD had fun feeding the ducks. We could feed sheeps and deers too. DS1 and DS2 also enjoyed their first horse trekking experience. It was a carefree and beautiful morning!
We took the steamship back to Queenstown and headed to Fergburger, the no 1 burger place for lunch. The burgers were huge and delicious. The patties were made with Angus beef and had so many choices of toppings including blue cheese!
After lunch, we headed to Caddyshack City Minigolf for a round of minigolf. The themes for the various holes were interesting and you never know where your ball will end up. We had so much fun!
By this time, all of us were really craving for rice. So I decided to prepare fried rice for dinner! When to the supermarket and bought the most expensive rice in my life…it cost if NZD4plus for 500gm!!! :moneyflies:
Day 10:
We travel from Queenstown to Dunedin today via Cromwell, Alexander and Roxburg. First stop for us was Glenvale Orchard - DamGoodFruits, at Cromwell, for PYO cherries! We had so much fun, we picked 6kg of cherries among the 5 of us. It’s a first time experience for all of us. The cherries are low enough for even my 5yo to pick on her own without assistance.
Next stop, Mrs Jone’s Orchard to buy dried fruits and try the fresh fruit ice-cream…yummy! We also did the most touristy thing – took a picture with the giant fruits in Cromwell town!
After a few photostops along the way, we arrived at Roxburg and went to Jimmy’s Pie for lunch. The mince pies are good.
We arrived in Dunedin in the late afternoon, and checked-in to the Roslyn Apartments. The owner recommended dinner at Luna, but when we called, it was fully booked for that night and the next night as well. So if you want to eat at Luna, call several days in advance.
As we still had time, we decided to drive to tow to look at the Railway Station, then we went to Baldwin Street to see the world’s steepest street. The boys climbed the street while DD and I just cheered them on. It was after 5pm, and the souvenir shop was closed by then, so we promised the boys that we come back again to get them their souvenir certificates for climbing the street.
We just showed up at Plato, and as we were there just as they opened, they could accommodate us even though we did not have reservations. So if you have no reservations, make sure you turn up early. The food, service and ambience were all great. We had an excellent meal. My son who doesn't normally like fish says that the blue cod was excellent! That speaks volumes
Day 11:
First stop of the day was Cadbury Chocolate World for their tour. The tour is suitable for those with kids. We were lucky that they were running the lines and we could see the chocolate buttons being made and moving on the conveyor belt to the packing line. The kids absolutely loved collecting chocolates along the way.
We had an hour to spare before lunch and went to the Otago museum. We didn’t really enjoy it. We went to Saigon Van for Vietnamese food for lunch. It was a nice little restaurant and very affordable price. The food was also pretty authentic Vietnamese food (we were in Vietnam last year). Good food and value for money.
That afternoon, we went on a half day tour with Monarch Cruise which included a visit to Penguin Place, a conservation reserve for yellow eyed penguins. We were picked up and driven up the Otago peninsula to Penguin Place. The Reserve had a series of tunnels which allowed us to walk in and go near the nesting penguins without disturbing them. Yellow penguins are solitary creatures so the nests are away from each other and we had to walk around to see several nests. We actually saw a pair of penguins changing shifts (ie one came back from hunting and took over care of the baby while its partner goes to sea to hunt)
After Penguin Place, we went on our cruise. On the cruise, we saw albatross and seals. It was amazing to see these giant birds gliding overhead!
Back at Dunedin, we had dinner at Minami, a Japanese restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet, but it was terrible. The dirtiest restaurant we have been in NZ! Serviette had sauce stains and sake had something unidentified in it! :yikes:
To be continued...... -
parent_in_west:
Glad to be of some helpDnls_mum,
Thanks for the detailed sharing! Will definitely be useful for me as I hope to go to NZ with my kids at year-end!
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login