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#21
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In article , Peter
writes In article , JohnM says... Incidentally, how would you rate the Nelson area vs Franz-Josef- Queenstown-Te Anau? I am not particularly keen to go bungee jumping. How long do you think I should allow for Nelson and from Greymouth to INvercargill? Only you can really answer that question. Nelson isn't as big on dramatic scenery leaning in the window and saying hello, but it's a great place to use as a base to wander through the forests to the south or the Marlborough Sounds to the north or the ocean coastline reserves to the west. Or even to stretch out to Kaikoura for some whale-watching, though that would make for a long day indeed. For myself, and if I had the money, I'd love to make my leisurely way down the island. I could happily spend a week at Queenstown and not do so much as a luge ride. The scenery is awesome, and I would be happy to sit on a lakefront balcony doing nothing beyond fetching myself another drink from time to time. If you wanted, you could get from Nelson to Invercargill in two solid days of driving by going down the east coast, stopping at Christchurch overnight. The roads are good, the traffic sparse. Or take your time and see all the good bits. If I had a month to "do" the South Island, I reckon I'd just sort of drift down as I pleased, sitting out the rainy days (or visiting things like museums and galleries) and using the clear days to see the scenery. I wouldn't want to visit New Zealand and not see the Sounds, and while they have their attractions on a rainy day, I'd dearly love to see those sunny postcard views, and that pretty much means waiting for a clear day in either Te Anau or Queenstown. Current thinking is - made them 10 weeks. for North Island Week 1 Auckland Week 2 Northland, rtn to Auckland Week 3 Waitomo/Rotorua Whakatana/Gisborne Week 4 Napier/ Taupo Week 5 Taupo-Wellington. for South Island Week 1 Picton/Nelson/Kaikoura/Cristchurch Week 2 Greymouth/glaciers/Queenstown Week 3 Queenstown/Te Anau/Invercargill Week 4 Stewart island/Dunedin - fly to Wellington Week 5 Wellington-Chathams-Auckland. Now I don't know if I should include Stewart Island and especially the Chathams. Point is, I am interested in the Moriori and all that. Have you been to the Chathams, Peter? -- JohnM |
#22
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In article , JohnM says...
Now I don't know if I should include Stewart Island and especially the Chathams. Point is, I am interested in the Moriori and all that. Have you been to the Chathams, Peter? Let me just say that I wish I had the time and money for such a trip! That's a good leisurely, thorough way to do it, short of doing the backpacker thing and working your way around the country. I cover the whole lot in 14 days, but then I like driving, and New Zealand has some wonderful, uncrowded roads. I haven't been to Stewart Island or the Chathams. Both are pretty much off the tourist trail. Stewart has a few tourists, but it's more time and more expense to get there, and not a lot to see or do on arrival. Comparitively, that is. Chathams more so. I don't know much about the Chathams except that it was used by the British to imprison Maori "troublemakers", most famously the superb guerilla Te Kooti, who made a remarkable escape from the Chathams and terrorised the residents of the East Coast - Maori and pakeha alike. If I had the time I'd take a good look at some of the sites of the Maori Wars. The Maori seemed to take an inordinate amount of fun in outwitting British troops and dealt them some notable defeats. All the more extraordinary because the Maori were usually just stealing some time out of their normal farming activities to put in a campaign, while the British included some of their best Imperial troops. In fact at one time there were more British soldiers in New Zealand than there were in the UK itself. But I digress... Pete |
#23
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In article , JohnM says...
Now I don't know if I should include Stewart Island and especially the Chathams. Point is, I am interested in the Moriori and all that. Have you been to the Chathams, Peter? Let me just say that I wish I had the time and money for such a trip! That's a good leisurely, thorough way to do it, short of doing the backpacker thing and working your way around the country. I cover the whole lot in 14 days, but then I like driving, and New Zealand has some wonderful, uncrowded roads. I haven't been to Stewart Island or the Chathams. Both are pretty much off the tourist trail. Stewart has a few tourists, but it's more time and more expense to get there, and not a lot to see or do on arrival. Comparitively, that is. Chathams more so. I don't know much about the Chathams except that it was used by the British to imprison Maori "troublemakers", most famously the superb guerilla Te Kooti, who made a remarkable escape from the Chathams and terrorised the residents of the East Coast - Maori and pakeha alike. If I had the time I'd take a good look at some of the sites of the Maori Wars. The Maori seemed to take an inordinate amount of fun in outwitting British troops and dealt them some notable defeats. All the more extraordinary because the Maori were usually just stealing some time out of their normal farming activities to put in a campaign, while the British included some of their best Imperial troops. In fact at one time there were more British soldiers in New Zealand than there were in the UK itself. But I digress... Pete |
#24
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I would suggest reducing weeks 4+5 into 1 to free an additional week for the South Island. Probably by deleting Taupo and drive to Wellington Current thinking is - made them 10 weeks. for North Island Week 1 Auckland Week 2 Northland, rtn to Auckland Week 3 Waitomo/Rotorua Whakatana/Gisborne Week 4 Napier/ Taupo Week 5 Taupo-Wellington. for South Island Week 1 Picton/Nelson/Kaikoura/Cristchurch Week 2 Greymouth/glaciers/Queenstown Week 3 Queenstown/Te Anau/Invercargill Week 4 Stewart island/Dunedin - fly to Wellington Week 5 Wellington-Chathams-Auckland. Now I don't know if I should include Stewart Island and especially the Chathams. Point is, I am interested in the Moriori and all that. Have you been to the Chathams, Peter? -- JohnM |
#25
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I would suggest reducing weeks 4+5 into 1 to free an additional week for the South Island. Probably by deleting Taupo and drive to Wellington Current thinking is - made them 10 weeks. for North Island Week 1 Auckland Week 2 Northland, rtn to Auckland Week 3 Waitomo/Rotorua Whakatana/Gisborne Week 4 Napier/ Taupo Week 5 Taupo-Wellington. for South Island Week 1 Picton/Nelson/Kaikoura/Cristchurch Week 2 Greymouth/glaciers/Queenstown Week 3 Queenstown/Te Anau/Invercargill Week 4 Stewart island/Dunedin - fly to Wellington Week 5 Wellington-Chathams-Auckland. Now I don't know if I should include Stewart Island and especially the Chathams. Point is, I am interested in the Moriori and all that. Have you been to the Chathams, Peter? -- JohnM |
#26
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In article , Neil Raines
writes I would suggest reducing weeks 4+5 into 1 to free an additional week for the South Island. Probably by deleting Taupo and drive to Wellington Taupo includes the Tongariro crossing which I want to do. This is one of NZ UNESCO sites. It only has three: Tongariro, Fjordland and the Antarctic Islands where you can't really get to (at least you can go to the Chathams). As Peter notes, I am missing Waikato and Wangarei, Mount Taranaki... -- JohnM |
#27
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In article , Neil Raines
writes I would suggest reducing weeks 4+5 into 1 to free an additional week for the South Island. Probably by deleting Taupo and drive to Wellington Taupo includes the Tongariro crossing which I want to do. This is one of NZ UNESCO sites. It only has three: Tongariro, Fjordland and the Antarctic Islands where you can't really get to (at least you can go to the Chathams). As Peter notes, I am missing Waikato and Wangarei, Mount Taranaki... -- JohnM |
#28
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In article , Peter
writes In article , JohnM says... Now I don't know if I should include Stewart Island and especially the Chathams. Point is, I am interested in the Moriori and all that. Have you been to the Chathams, Peter? Let me just say that I wish I had the time and money for such a trip! That's a good leisurely, thorough way to do it, short of doing the backpacker thing and working your way around the country. I cover the whole lot in 14 days, but then I like driving, and New Zealand has some wonderful, uncrowded roads. Incidentally, I don't intend to drive (that's how I will save the money). I will be going mostly by bus or even backpacker bus (if I must). I may on occasion rent a car. I will be alone and I am not happy driving alone in remote areas. Do you think I will lose a lot by not driving? I haven't been to Stewart Island or the Chathams. Both are pretty much off the tourist trail. Stewart has a few tourists, but it's more time and more expense to get there, and not a lot to see or do on arrival. Comparitively, that is. Chathams more so. Yes, I know :-( BUT A rtn flight to the Chathams in only $240 NZ dollars and I can have a flight from Wellington on a Mon and to Auckland on a Thu. Spend three days there and see the Moriori dendroglyphs. I think I'll be bored, but what is the cost of a flight Wellington-Auckland? The alternative, is, of course, to do Wangarei, Taranaki and Waikato on the way from Wellington to Auckland. Oh, the dilemma! I suppose that is what you'd do, wouldn't you? -- JohnM |
#29
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In article , Peter
writes In article , JohnM says... Now I don't know if I should include Stewart Island and especially the Chathams. Point is, I am interested in the Moriori and all that. Have you been to the Chathams, Peter? Let me just say that I wish I had the time and money for such a trip! That's a good leisurely, thorough way to do it, short of doing the backpacker thing and working your way around the country. I cover the whole lot in 14 days, but then I like driving, and New Zealand has some wonderful, uncrowded roads. Incidentally, I don't intend to drive (that's how I will save the money). I will be going mostly by bus or even backpacker bus (if I must). I may on occasion rent a car. I will be alone and I am not happy driving alone in remote areas. Do you think I will lose a lot by not driving? I haven't been to Stewart Island or the Chathams. Both are pretty much off the tourist trail. Stewart has a few tourists, but it's more time and more expense to get there, and not a lot to see or do on arrival. Comparitively, that is. Chathams more so. Yes, I know :-( BUT A rtn flight to the Chathams in only $240 NZ dollars and I can have a flight from Wellington on a Mon and to Auckland on a Thu. Spend three days there and see the Moriori dendroglyphs. I think I'll be bored, but what is the cost of a flight Wellington-Auckland? The alternative, is, of course, to do Wangarei, Taranaki and Waikato on the way from Wellington to Auckland. Oh, the dilemma! I suppose that is what you'd do, wouldn't you? -- JohnM |
#30
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In article , JohnM says...
Incidentally, I don't intend to drive (that's how I will save the money). I will be going mostly by bus or even backpacker bus (if I must). I may on occasion rent a car. I will be alone and I am not happy driving alone in remote areas. Do you think I will lose a lot by not driving? If you have the time to go by public transport, probably not a lot. New Zealand really only has two industries - one is farming, the other tourism, and you can get around almost anywhere without too much hassle. You also get to meet a lot more people than if you drive where your fellow travellers are usually just blurred faces in speeding windows. Your needs are greatly different from mine, where I had two weeks to travel the whole island with a wife and two teenagers. I like driving, especially on New Zealand's scenic and uncrowded roads, so I had a lot of fun, and it was the cheapest and most convenient option. |
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