Ok,it's NZ self drive for CNY 09

[jwoo]

Thanks to all the input and suggestions from previous thread.

We have decided that it will be NZ. The question now is to collate as much info as possible,fares,car rentals,places to visit etc.

First question would be: Fly straight to NZ (Auckland) or as someone suggested to Melbourne and then to NZ. Apparently cheaper that way.

Can you belive it! It's amost 5K on MAS but about half on AirAsia?!!

All advise and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
Jwoo

[kwchang]

...Can you belive it! It's amost 5K on MAS but about half on AirAsia?!!

Have you seen the final figure? There are other charges like fuel surcharge, check-in luggage charge, queueing charge, meals (long journey - you do need to eat) and taxes.

[tehmc]

2.5K should be the all-inclusive fare on Air Asia. You can take Aussie budget airline, Jetstar, to fly from Melbourne to Christchurch. With only 10 days, I don't advise you to do both North and South Island. To do both, I reckon you need at least 2 weeks. Anyway, South Island is more scenic compared to the North Island.

Suggested driving route for South Island:
Christchurch - Arthur's Pass - Greymouth - Franz Josef (glaciers) - Wanaka - Queenstown - Milford Sound - Te Anau - Dunedin - Christchurch

There is nothing like getting feedback from the locals. You can try posting on this forum to get more detailed information.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntre...spa?forumID=10

While browsing through the forum, I came across this thread which I thought is quite relevant:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntre...63840&tstart=0

[USJ27Resident]

First question would be: Fly straight to NZ (Auckland) or as someone suggested to Melbourne and then to NZ. Apparently cheaper that way.

Can you belive it! It's almost 5K on MAS but about half on AirAsia?!!

All advise and suggestions will be greatly appreciated....

1. Try to find the best route with the least transits... The more the stop-overs (transit) you have, the likelier you'd miss the connecting flight if you do not give enough time allowance between transits. And that would be a heck of a dent in your expenses - if you miss your connection ( on another flight/airline.) *

2. You could connect via SYD or MEL to AKL, or even connect via SIN to AKL direct. Depends on your budget la... I have been reliable informed that if you are working in the hospitality or travel industry ~ email the car rental companies early and ASK them for industry rates, they'd give you a huge discount on vehicle rental.... Please note: EVERYONE in the car MUST BELT UP in an Aust and NZ vehicle. Kids under 4 MUST use a [CRD] car seat [no "laptop" babies!!!]

3. CNY 2009 is in end Jan [26/01/09]... weather should be hot and dry during the day but don't rule out the cold winds at night. Pack light clothings but bring a jacket/windbreaker. Also remember to bring sun-block [NOT sunscreen] lotion. UVA and UVB will burn you without you realising it this time of the year down under ! esp. near the beaches.

*suggestion- AIRASIA to MEL, then VirginBlue to AKL. or JetStar to SIN then to SYD, then to AKL or CHC.
*Virgin Blue Airlines will commence flying between Melbourne and Auckland with daily return services starting from 22 September, 2008.
Schedule:
DJ164 dep MEL 9.15am arr AKL 2.35pm
DJ165 dep AKL 6.30am arr MEL 8.30am

By the way... if you do drive in NZ... just to let you know that most of the journey is gonna be a drive with (mostly of) breathtaking sceneries and nature thingy... hot springs and pine forests... plus fjords and islets and bays... and mountains and hills... heavy rain either sides of the islands and the occasional drunk driver during weekends... Just becareful...

And IF you want... I'd get some brochures ready for you .... yes? no?


pssst!! : should leave the kids with grandpa and grandma... you and wifey go for second honeymoon...

[Rocky19]

fly to Christchurch and drive north all the way to Auckland. It can be done in 10days.You need to decide before hand where and what you want to do. also decide if you want to go to Queenstown cos that is further south of Christchurch, good planning is required but 10days can be done la. South Island is better thou for scenery etc.

[tehmc]

weather should be hot and dry during the day but don't rule out the cold winds at night.

NZ summers is not hot, temperatures are in the low 20's and seldom get above 25dC. The strong UV light there is the one to watch out for. I'm speaking from experience, having developed some premature wrinkles due to over-exposure to uv light through 6 summers in NZ.

If you choose to go to land in Christchurch, you have to transit in Ozzie. There are direct flights to Auckland fro KL and S'pore(10 hrs I think).

[ahbitchew]

In my opinion, although it is possible to cover both north and south island in 10 days, it would be tiring for the both of you, and you will be constantly on the road just for the sake of completing the journey rather than enjoying it. So perhaps you just want to stay 2 days in Auckland and spend the remaining days in South Island.

My suggested itinary

Day 1 Arrived in Auckland, City Tour
Day 2 One day tour to Rotorua, and fly to Christchurch
Day 3 collect your rental car, Christchurch City Tour
Day 4 Drive to Mt Cook, picnic lunch in Lake Tekapo spend a night in Mt Cook or Twizel, if not continue journey to Queenstown, and save 1 day
Day 5 Drive to Queenstown, dinner at Skyline Gondola Restaurant
Day 6 Drive to Milford Sound, on the way back spend a night in Te Anau
Day 7 Drive to Wanaka vide queenstown.
Day 8 Drive to Fox Glaciers (the 4 hours glaciers trekking is highly recommended but can be tiring)
Day 9 Drive to Greysmouth return the car and connect to christchurch by Tranzalpine scenic train ride vide Arthur pass
Day 10 Fly to auckland and home sweet home

[jmbeh]

Ahbitchew's suggestion seem okay. But it is going to be more tiring if you spend time in both north and south island.

Personally, I will drop Rotorua....feedback I got was that the town really stinks and some ppl didnt enjoy it. You can literally smell it before you arrive at Rotorua. It is just a touristy place to go. But it depends on your interest, you may be fascinated with its geothermal stuff ...

[kwchang]

...Personally, I will drop Rotorua.....

Fully agree with that suggestion to forget Roturua. I took a local trip to that place when I was down there and thought it was really silly to look at bubbling mud holes and some steaming geysers. The scenic country side is the thing to go for.

By the way, they filmed "Lord of the Rings" in N.Island but due to environmental laws, they dismantled all the sets. One enterprising farm owner still has his hobbit huts on his property. Sorry, I am not a Rings fan, so no research on this and do not know if the hobbit huts were parts of the original movie set.

[jwoo]

Hi All,

Thank you to all who have taken valuable time to post. I am learning a lot from all your advise and suggaestions.

May fly in and out via Melbourne because I have relatives there. How much would the flight from there to Auckland or Wellington? Any particular car rental company to look for in NZ?

As someone suggested,will leave little ones at home and have second honeymoon with missus. BTW, everytime we travel abroad,it's a honeymoon

Thanks again.
Jwoo

[cypaq]

Fully agree with that suggestion to forget Roturua. I took a local trip to that place when I was down there and thought it was really silly to look at bubbling mud holes and some steaming geysers. The scenic country side is the thing to go for.

Yeah, I remember flying into Rotorua and I thought the guy sitting next to me breakwind in the plane. Only later did I realise it was the smell of sulfur. And we were smelling it 500 feet in the air!

Anyway Rotorua is the place to go to learn about Maori culture and one of the only 2 place to see live kiwi birds.

By the way, they filmed "Lord of the Rings" in N.Island but due to environmental laws, they dismantled all the sets. One enterprising farm owner still has his hobbit huts on his property. Sorry, I am not a Rings fan, so no research on this and do not know if the hobbit huts were parts of the original movie set.

Err, LOTR was filmed all over NZ actually, both North and South Islands. The hobbits huts you are referring to is in Matamata, N. Island. There's nothing much there accept the movie props, the Party Tree, the lake where the dragon fireworks were lit and lots of sheep poo.

[jwoo]

I need to go to Roturua to fulfil my childhood dream.

Eversince my standard six school concert where the teachers made us wear grass skirts,ala Hawaiian, and going topless in front of all and singing that Rolf Harris song, I had to go there.

Anyone remember the song? Hurry,hurry back love.....

Jwoo

[finn]

Ah, New Zealand... went to the South Island a few months back and loved the place.

Here's my contribution:

Car Rental. Check out Yourway Car Rental. I found their rates are the cheapest (for South Island at least) for near new cars. Yourway's cars are 2006 or newer.

Treking on the Glaciers is a MUST! There is nothing like it. There are 2 famous glaciers in the South Island: Frank Josef and Fox Glacier. Fox Glacier is the bigger of the two. The operator for Fox Glacier is Fox Glacier Guiding. Their website explains why one should hike the Fox Glacier rather than Frank Josef

I went on the Half Day Fox Glacier Walk (4 hours). If you're up to it, there's the All Day Fox Glacier Walk (6 - 7 hours)]. Lastly, if you can afford it, check out the Fox Glacier Heli Hike.

New Zealand is not only scenery. In fact if you're an outdoors kind of person, there's a whole lot of activities to do (unfortunately most of them cost money). There's bungy jumping, skydive, jet boat, rafting, scenic tours on a 4wd, horse riding, helicopter flights, hot air balloon, walks, fishing, paragliding, mountain biking, lord of the rings tours, whale and dolphin watching (Kaikoura), penguin watching, kayaking and many more.

Other useful links:
Lake Tekapo Tourism live webcam

Try to check out Glenorchy (near Queenstown)

For up to date petrol prices

[finn]

One more thing to add. I recommend getting a GPS navigation unit when renting the car. When you're on a holiday, it's really great to be able to confidently drive to your destination without fumbling over maps (and arguing which road to take).

Just type in the address/name of place of where u want to go and the GPS will calculate the best route and distance to the destination. After that, just relax and drive to the voice commands of the GPS.

[lizzy]

We self-drive for North NZ but we went with the Contiki Tour for South Island. There are really a lot of driving to be done at South Island so I would recommend going on a tour so you can enjoy the view rather than having to do a lot of long drive (uphill, winding). Don't miss the bungy jump at Queenstown. If you have a lot of time, then self-drive is nice. My friend who spent some 10 days in NZ on self-drive told me that they are totally exhausted having to wake up very early each morning, in order to reach their destination and cover the places they want to visit. As for us, we went on tour, so we get to take some cat nap in between those scenic places..