Aidan

Hi Fellow Travellers<BR><BR>I will be in New Zealand year end (mid December) spending about 5 days in the North Island and 5/6 days in the South Island. What i would like to hear is whether the following itinerary sounds reasonable:<BR><BR>Suggestion 1:<BR><BR>Day 1<BR>-----<BR>Fly Wellington am to ChristChurch, Pick up a One Way Car Rental and Drive across to the West Coast taking in the scenic Arthur's Pass and staying overnight in a B&B in GreyMouth.<BR><BR>Day 2<BR>-----<BR>Make way down south coast to Franz Josef/ Fox glacier, possibly stay overnight in a B&B somewhere. Take in some more sightseeing<BR><BR>Day 3<BR>------ <BR>Head to QueensTown and kick back.<BR><BR>Day 4<BR>------<BR>Do some white water rafting, meet some other travellers, possibly a day trip<BR><BR>Day 5<BR>------<BR>Possibly a day trip to Milford Sound<BR><BR>Day 6<BR>------<BR>Drop off rental in QueensTown and fly back to Auckland to catch Int flight later that evening.<BR><BR>Suggestion 2:<BR><BR>Days 1 & 2<BR>----------<BR>Head South to Dunedin and take in some sights.<BR><BR>Rest of Trip same as before.<BR><BR>Please let me know if this is a realistic, if i am trying to pack too much in. Will be travelling with my brother.<BR><BR>Cheers!<BR>Aidan<BR><BR><BR>

Carol

Hi Aidan:<BR><BR>I'm planning a similar itinerary for January:<BR><BR>Day 1: Auckland - Christchurch and rent a car there<BR>Day 2: Auckland - Mt. Cook - Queesntown<BR>Day 3: Milford Sound cruise<BR>Day 4: Relax en Qland, shotover jet boat or white water rafting<BR>Day 5: Drive to Franz Josef Glacier<BR>Day 6: Franz Jose Glaceir 1/2 day tour, and then drive to Grysmouth to take the train to Christchurch or do that the next morning<BR><BR>I think it's doable...any suggestions or thoughts?

John

Aidan and Carol:<BR>My wife and I did in November, 1999 what you're considering.<BR>We visited the same places, plus others.<BR>We found that after 3 weeks it was not near enough time. So we went back in November, 2000 for 6 weeks.<BR>The point is, what you're planning is ambitious, but doable. But there's no other way. If that's all the time you have, then that's all the time you have.<BR>I envy you both. You're going to love it.<BR>John<BR><BR>

Aidan

Hi Carol/John<BR><BR>Thanks for your comments.<BR><BR>I would love to have another week in NZ, but i will be three weeks in Australia prior to visiting NZ, so that's where most of my time will be spent.<BR><BR>Carol - Any suggestions on B&Bs and/or Car Rentals.<BR><BR>Many thanks!<BR>Aidan<BR>

David

Adrian,<BR><BR>I would go with your option 1. Dunedin is a lovely city but I think you will get more out of seeing the west coast and all it has to offer. The distances, given the roads may be a challenge. I would try and get further than Greymouth on the first night, try and push further South toward the Glasiers. This way by the end of day 2 you may be able to get to Wanaka. <BR><BR>David

Aidan

Thanks David,<BR><BR>Are B&Bs plentiful in these towns that you mentioned?<BR><BR>-Aidan<BR><BR>

tongsa

We went some 2 years ago - Used Budget from C-Church and were happy with their service and price. Stayed at the YHAs - again was happy - clean and comfortable. QT one was a good location and plenty of good b/f places to get a nice hearty meal. There are plenty of places to choose from. ALso, the visotors info center is usually very good and helpful across NZ - to the extent that they would call to check for vacancies. At QT, we joined the AJ Hackett adventures - 4 activities - inlcuding bungy,rafting and jet boating. Would recommend strongly. Did some sailing at Wanaka as well. Milford was good - the drive there was great.<BR>Have fun.<BR><BR>

iacovino

I just finished planning a 12 trip on South Island for my family of 4, for the Xmas holiday. My advice to anyone planning to go there at that time,is get busy immediately and BOOK NOW! I found that quite often my first choice of B&amp;B or hotel was booked. We also had to change our itinerary a bit because popular activities like swimming with the dolphins at Kailoura and helihiking on the Fox Glacier were already very booked up. The 2 best websites I found for accommodation were purenz.com (huge range of options in both style and price) and lodgings.co.nz (for interesting and more upmarket B&amp;B, cottages etc.) Good luck!

Mark

Aiden - I have done exactly the same trip - Id recommend Suggestion 1 - its doable in the time frame - but take my advice and spend less time in Australia (unless you're up around north Queensland) and more time in NZ - you get far better value for your travel mile - the scenery and nature is unforgetable and there is so much to see and do.<BR><BR>Make sure you get a window seat on the left side of the aircraft for that Queenstown to AKL flight! If its a clear day or the cloud cieling is low, the views over the alps will knock your socks off!

jane

g'day<BR>you will be really suprised by the travelling time needed down the west coast, so try to get down as far as possible. there are some really cool b&amp;bs in those places. definately check out purenz.co.nz or friars guide sites<BR>i can recommend villa polenza in Hokitika on west coast; and Evergreen lodge in Queenstown, although i'd say things will be quite booked up. don't do Queenstown - milford by road in one day, you'll be disappointed (about 14 hour trip!!). either start from Te Anau (closest to Milford or Doubtful Sounds) or fly from Queenstown.<BR>enjoy your time<BR>Jane

Pam

A few thoughts - I went to GreyMouth and did not think much of it - the train ride was nice though and relaxing. I did MS and thought it was fantastic - however- it may be similar to Franz Josef. We took a plane from Q-town which was great. Q-town is VERY nice (lots like the Colorado mt towns) and there are some good wineries in the areas. We did Dunedin and thought it was worthwhile - the area is very pretty and we took in the penguins and the albatross place which was cool. One thing to know - when I went Air NZ -had a special deal you could buy in the US - you paid a flat fee for 3 flights within NZ. It was a good deal and allowed for us to do less driving. BTW - we got bait and switch on the international car rentals (weren't getting the prices they told us in the US). We ended up renting for the last leg of our trip from one of the NZ local rental companies that rented cars that were about 5 years old. The price was 1/2 the Hertz, Avis prices and the car was VERY clean and dependable. I think it was called APEX?