Whakanaka to Napier.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.