Travelling Oz and NZ in March and April

You may be better to hire a car. Buses are available but they are few, and
can severely restrict the activities you want to do. Remember that the
distances are great, and the population small. The South island makes the
Scottish Highlands look over-populated.


I'm from Scotland, and I'm visiting NZ in january, mainly to attend a
computing conference at Dunedin, but also to get a bit of a holiday
afterwards. I've got about 3-3.5 weeks to wander around at random,
starting from Dunedin and ending up at either auckland or preferably
wellington. Regulars in this newsgroup may remember I was asking questions
about spiders+beasties in NZ a few months back

How good is transport along each side of south island? I will be trying to
get from Wellington to Christchurch to Dunedin in about 5 days and I
suspect I might need to take a plane. It might be more fun to travel down
by bus/train though, which is why I ask.

Also, how good is transport up the other side of south island? It would be
nice to have time to go back up that side and then maybe have a quick look
around north island. How much good stuff would I be missing that lies in
the middle of south island? (I'm not into mountaineering!)

Also, I'm guessing it will be pretty hot. How much cooler is south island
compared with north island in january? Will it be pretty much unbearable
during the day (e.g. not too good for travelling around in a bus?)

I will probably be back in the next couple of years if I enjoy myself so
I'm kind of hoping for more of a quick look at both islands this time.

All advice welcomed.

Graeme.

Chiming in...

the view in Queenstown is amazing while skydiving, but being a tourist
area it's expensive. If you're on a budget I would recommend that you
try skydiving in Taupo, where you'll get the lake and the volcanoes.
The view isn't quite as good, but the cost is less than half the price
of Queenstown.

Geodyne

Thanks, Geodyne.

Looking forward to it. Might do both, you never know!

As I reckon I'll have about 4-6 weeks on each island what should I
miss? What's not worth seeing?

in article
, Graeme
Bell at wrote on 7/11/03 2:19 AM:


Thankyou for the replies. If anyone feels like recommending any nice wee
villages / tourist attractions / bits of countryside scenery on the way up
the west side of south island, I'd appreciate that too.

Graeme.

Haast and the Glacier towns (Franz Josef & Fox) are the main stopping places
on the West Coast. I recently spent the weekend in Hokitika and it was a
pleasant place to wander about for a couple of hours - nice cafes, plenty of
jewellry shops (NZ Greenstone, paua & local gold are the specialties of
Hokitika), also a nice "wild" waterfront. Without a car you couldn't reach
the Lake Kaniere area, which I enjoyed. I haven't visited Greymouth for
years but I don't think it has a lot to offer apart from the train out!
Further North are Punakaiki & Karamea which are interesting places to
visit.

Vicki

vicki Steven wrote:

Haast and the Glacier towns (Franz Josef & Fox) are the main stopping places
on the West Coast. I recently spent the weekend in Hokitika and it was a
pleasant place to wander about for a couple of hours - nice cafes, plenty of
jewellry shops (NZ Greenstone, paua & local gold are the specialties of
Hokitika), also a nice "wild" waterfront. Without a car you couldn't reach
the Lake Kaniere area, which I enjoyed. I haven't visited Greymouth for
years but I don't think it has a lot to offer apart from the train out!

A late comment - I have been travelling. In Hokitika, of all places, it
is possible to rent a Porsche for not a lot of money: travel in style
for a day and get round the problems of getting to sites out of town. I
was in Greymouth last summer, and while there is nothing in particular
there, I ended up staying on several days anyway.

Graeme Bell wrote:

How good is transport along each side of south island? I will be trying to
get from Wellington to Christchurch to Dunedin in about 5 days and I
suspect I might need to take a plane. It might be more fun to travel down
by bus/train though, which is why I ask.

People have answered this already, but for a couple of websites try
http://www.atomictravel.co.nz and http://www.intercitycoach.co.nz/ -
both have timetables online and the former now allows for booking online
as well now. As you'll see, it is perfectly feasible to get up and down
both sides - there are other operators as well. I travelled down the
West coast by Atomic last year: the only time we had too much heat to
deal with was at a coffeee stop between Napier and Murchison.

alfred wrote:

Graeme Bell wrote:

How good is transport along each side of south island? I will be trying to
get from Wellington to Christchurch to Dunedin in about 5 days and I
suspect I might need to take a plane. It might be more fun to travel down
by bus/train though, which is why I ask.

People have answered this already, but for a couple of websites try
http://www.atomictravel.co.nz and http://www.intercitycoach.co.nz/ -
both have timetables online and the former now allows for booking online
as well now. As you'll see, it is perfectly feasible to get up and down
both sides - there are other operators as well. I travelled down the
West coast by Atomic last year: the only time we had too much heat to
deal with was at a coffeee stop between Napier and Murchison.


Napier and Murchison? Check the map again.

Classic Car Fair wrote:

Napier and Murchison? Check the map again.

*Nelson* and Murchison! Had Napier on the brain after spending the
weekend there. Nice courteous tone to your message, btw - it makes me
real glad I share the planet with the likes of you. Not.

Anyone with experience to share regarding the Milford Sound cruise?
Which operator would you recommend? Which schedule (morning, noon or
afternoon) is better?

TIA

Just as a side issue - take plenty of insect repellent - sandflies are bad.

Julie

"Ms Bellum" wrote in message
...
Anyone with experience to share regarding the Milford Sound cruise?
Which operator would you recommend? Which schedule (morning, noon or
afternoon) is better?

TIA

:-)
Yup, sandflies & plenty of rain - that's Milford Sound alright!

"Julie" wrote in message
...
Just as a side issue - take plenty of insect repellent - sandflies are
bad.

Julie