New Zealand

[cookiecreamie]

Stussy,

we're giving hanmer spring and kaikoura a miss cos it would be too rush. had wanted it to be a leisure trip so decided to drop both places off our itinerary.

kite,

yup... we're taking air nz and not too sure of the tax cos everything lump together but the airport tax at NZ is $25. is that so?

by the way, any of you tried the shotover jet and white water rafting? A must-try??? another question... is larnach castle and moeraki boulders close-by? can finish visiting both in 1 afternoon? what else can be done in dunedin?

 

[stussy]

I tried shot over jet. Will think is a must in NZ. Not very scary though. The trip is only 1~2 hour including the transfer from Queenstown. You can book at their shop in Queenstown. They provide shuttle to and fro. NZ80+

 

[kite~]

hi C&C,

oic so i guess u booked ur air tix through online?
I heard NZ tax is $25 too.

At Dunedin, U can visit the steepest street in the world. very very steep though hehe.
Also u will see alot of students there as university is located there.

 

[stussy]

Kite & CC,

NZ tax is 25.

there is calbury factory in Dunedin right?

 

[ade75]

gals?

 

[kite~]

Hi Adeline,

As what the gals suggest, its better to DIY rather than book w tour agency. u planning to self drive? if not, u can do F&E.

 

[ade75]

Kite,

It's our first trip to NZ. Do you think it's safe to go F&E?
Btw, which are the places I musn't miss going? Can advise? Olso, u gals went NZ for how long? 2 weeks?

 

[kite~]

Hi Adeline,

paiseh i also cant advise u much as i hv never been to NZ, i m also like you, planning n doing researching.

If i were you, i prefer f&e self drive. Does u or ur hubby know how to drive?

U might want to refer those previous posts in this NZ thread, very very useful n informative.

 

[baibies]

Hi Kite, I had a tour package with the tour agency and jus extended on my own. The agency ppl chg me a fee as the air-ticket is a group tic. any chgs in the coming back date you will have to pay. oso I asked them to book a domestic flight for me. The rest like hotel and tours I book on my own, mostly thru internet.

adeline, NZ is the 1st country I went F&E. after NZ I proceed to go F&E @ aust & hk. went for a total of 18days, but the 1st part was under a tour package. i tink for NZ is best to go F&E. if go by group tour definetly will miss out alot of things. as they like to bring to u those 'factory' and farms where dey earn commission.

 

[kite~]

Hi May,

in that case, i guess it wil be more ex. to book ur NZ trip with e tour agency rite? which agency u booked with?

 

[baibies]

hi kite. guess so... we nv reali go n chk it out. cos was travelling with our parents for the 1st part, F&E with my hubby after parents came back with the tour group. I travel with chan bros.

 

[pierogies]

Hi C&C,
I'm planning a trip to South Island next month and have been following this thread.

I read that you are taking the tranzalpine and renting the car only when you reach Greymouth. This was what I intended too. But my consideration is the transport to the hotel/motel, as well as to the railway station. Would you mind sharing with me your plans regarding this transport issue? Thanks.

 

[kite~]

Hi gals,

how abt if i book the basic package for tour agency, do u think the below is worth it or reasonable? then e extension i will DIY after 4 nites. any advises? thanks.

NZ - 4 Nights Accomodation (Gold Chain Blue Pass) + 4Days Car Rental + Air Tickets (Air NZ - 2way) costs: S$1288 (excluding tax $100)

Pls. advise. thanks.

 

[askabride]

Hi all,
Care to share if any1 has taken tour packages with Air New Zealand? If yes, please share with me hw you felt abt the whole tour, e.g. hw value-for-money it is, meals, accomodation,tour guides (if any) etc.
Would really appreciate your comments!
Thanks!

 

[onzz]

CP(Pierogies),

Call up the motels b4 booking n see which ones' willing to come fetch u, book the motel tat is willing to do tat.

I went during October years back, not fully peak season yet, the motel operators in the South Island were especially friendly, generally no problem with picking u up from the railway station or sending u there when u leave.

I was there for a month, no driving licence, survive all the transport problem by seeking help from the motel pple.

Good luck.

 

[cookiecreamie]

Hi CP,

For now, we should be taking a taxi to motel and from motel to railway station. Been told that it costs about $10. For the 1st day, we'll probably drop by town so we'll try out their bus. Hopefully it's easy to get to town.

 

[blur_p]

Hi tohdj,

Have not see u ard. I saw all ur previous threads abt ur trip to NZ. Would like to know, u went to Kea Point at Mt Cook without following the tour. But did u rent the shoes? Is the glacier slippery and how much is the rental. Thanks in advance...

 

[askabride]

Hi all,
Care to share if any1 has taken tour packages with Air New Zealand? If yes, please share with me hw you felt abt the whole tour, e.g. hw value-for-money it is, meals, accomodation,tour guides (if any) etc.
Would really appreciate your comments!
Thanks!

 

[tohdj]

Blur,

Quote:
{
Hi tohdj,

Have not see u ard. I saw all ur previous threads abt ur trip to NZ. Would like to know, u went to Kea Point at Mt Cook without following the tour. But did u rent the shoes? Is the glacier slippery and how much is the rental. Thanks in advance...
}

We walked there in our jogging shoes. No need to follow tour guide...there's a lot of signboards to show you the way...and there's man-made tracks and platforms for trekkers. It is slippery when the snow is melting...but if you go now, there's not much snow left. So it will be easier to walk.

Just take your time and take a slow walk...and enjoy the scenery.

 

[cassie]

hi ladies,
just back from my nz trip. heaps of fun and beautiful scenery!

c&c: mt cook hooker valley is a must-go!!! no need to take guided walk, just do it yourselves (lots of ppl do) and after 2 two hrs you'll see this most amazing scenario of mt cook across the hooker glacier lake. my hubby had to drag me away after some time ;-)

i feel the jet boat ride can skip; hubby and i fell asleep after about 15 minutes, wasted NZ$179 x 2!

 

[cassie]

blur, you referring to the kea pt walking track? no snow at all so not slippery. feel if have limited time the hooker valley is a better bet than the kea point. you don't actually get onto the glacier; it ends in a lookout point.

 

[cookiecreamie]

Hi cassie,

So nice to hear from you and that you have fun on the trip. I can't wait to fly there now!

Thanks for the suggestion on the Hooker Valley Walk. Was almost decided to try the Kea Pt Walk till I saw your message. Didn't realise that Hooker Valley can be done without a guide. Just wondering... is 3 hrs sufficient for the HV walk? Mt Cook is out last stop before CHC and we have to endure a 4 hrs drive to CHC.

And what jetboat you referring to? Shotover Jet? Thought it suppose to be exciting? On their website, it costs less than NZ$100... how come yours so ex? Umm... I dunno but we are keen on the shotover + rafting combo but that will set us back by over NZ$200 each.

Come come... tell us more now that your memories are still fresh!

 

[cassie]

we did the dart river jet at glenorchy cos we were in the area horse riding. guess it cost more cos there was a short bush walk thrown in. we kinda enjoyed the bush walk more than the jet ;p it's kinda fun for about 15min as you're going at speed up the river, but after that we fell asleep hahahaa. but if you're keen to try it by all means go ahead!

hooker valley walk i suggest you give it 4-5 hours, depending if you want a brisk walk or a leisurely pace to enjoy the scenery on the way. if you can't make it all the way to the lake, which would be best), at least walk till some distance after the 2nd swing bridge. that's where mt cook starts coming into view all the way until the lake. i'm not saying kea point is not good, just that hooker valley is better

one thing about driving in nz is prob to give yourselves more time than the guides and maps tell you. you'll want to stop along the way to try short hikes (there're plenty of those that start along the highways), buy some stuff, ask for information at the i-sites, etc. and there're many sections of the roads that wind and turn so you'll have to drive slow.

we ended our trip by taking the tranzalpine from greymouth to CHC - a small mistake cos we had already seen lots of amazing scenery by then so we felt the train ride would have been better taken right at the beginning! ;-) we didn't enjoy CHC as much as everywhere else heheh, unless you're into cities and shopping and art ;-)

someone mentioned doing a farmstay on beech hill; we did too and it was good! it's situated next to a slight hilly rise so you only have to walk up for about 15-20 min for a beautiful view of the farmlands. you don't get to work on the farm tho like milking cows etc, but we realise most nz 'farmstays' are just that - stay on a farm. period.

whoosh we just did so much stuff i dunno where to start. are you into scenery or crazy activities?

btw a note that activities there are darn ex; be prepared to pay at least nz100+ per activity if you're into whitewater rafting, heli rides, ballooning, glacier hikes, glacier lake boat rides......

 

[cookiecreamie]

Woah... that seems like alot of activities that you tried. Mind telling how long and how much you spend on the trip?

Right from the beginning, we had wanted to rent a car from CHC and end off at greymouth and then take transalpine to CHC... can't remember what help us decide but we're now going on transalpine to greymouth first. that will definitely give us a wonderful prelude on what's to come for the rest of the trip.

again on Mt Cook... did you stay overnight there? we'll be staying a night at twizel and driving up (45min) Mt Cook the next morning. Hope it's not gonna take up too much time. Will try to set aside 5 hrs for Mt Cook since you so highly recommend it. heheh...

 

[ginn]

Hi cassie,

nice to know that u've enjoyed your trip! btw, which car rental company did u hire your car from?

hey gals, does anyone know if shotover jet is good?

 

[kite~]

Hi cassie,

Welcome back and glad to hear u really enjoy ur trip.

Perhaps maybe u can share info with us by telling us your itinerary? easy to tell us n share with us more in this way. hehe cos u really did alot of stuffs in NZ n dunno where to start.

Overall, how many days u were there? how much did u spent? everything (air tix, car and accomodation) DIY??

Lastly, any beautiful NZ pix to share? thanks.

 

[cassie]

i rented from Thrifty. we pre-booked cos we arrived chc at 3pm and wanted to get to kaikoura before dark, so didn't have much time shopping for one while there.

okie, here goes

:

day 1: arr chc. drive to kaikoura
day 2: dolphin swim. whale watch cancelled because of strong winds
day 3: kaikoura to staveley for farmstay at Beech Hill
day 4: ski at Mt Hutt
day 5: short walks around Mt Hutt and Mt Sommers. Horseriding at Staveley. dinner at Stronchrubie - superb!
day 6: whitewater rafting on the Rangitata
day 7: mt sommers -> lake tekapo -> mt cook. 20min heli ride at mt cook
day 8: mt cook - kea pt walk, boating on glacier terminal lake
day 9: hooker vally walk. drive to queenstown
day 10: queenstown - whitewater rafting.
day 11: queenstown to glenorchy - horseriding and jet boat
day 12: white water sledging, evening to wanaka
day 13: wanaka to franz josef
day 14: franz josef full day glacier hike
day 15: franz josef -> greymouth, tranzalpine to chc
day 16: return sin

we did quite a fair bit of activities, plus had good dinners, thus in the end the whole trip cost about $11K (excluding gifts). yup, everything DIY. Some nights we spent in backpacker double rooms, some nights in motels. prob would have spent a bit more if the ballooning, whale watching and hang gliding didn't get cancelled because of strong winds, but spring weather, according to the locals, is pretty unpredictable. pics not out yet

 

[cassie]

c&c: we stayed 2 nites at mt cook. 1st nite at the yha, 2nd nite at the hermitage. i booked their chalet but they hadn't finished renovations so got upgraded to a hotel room

btw don't have the buffet dinner at the hermitage, it's awful!

 

[ahboo]

Hi, anyone can advise when is the best time to go NZ for adventorous activities like sky diving? Looks like weather in spring is unpredictable right?

 

[kite~]

Hi cassie,

thanks for sharing n wow u spent $11K, tat's alot! And its really worth it.

 

[blur_p]

Hi Cassie,

Wah...looks like you are still very excited

over your trip. Thanks for your valuable info. Can you list out the YHA/motel/hotels you stay? Did you still remember how much you paid for each hotel?

You drive from Mt Cook to Queenstown after your 4 hrs Hooker Valley walk. Very tired leh

 

[cassie]

kite,
breakdown is something like this:
airfare $2000
activities $3400
car rental, extra insurance and petrol $2000
accommodation $2000
the rest (about $1600) i guess we spent on food, greedy me

if anyone is interested in knowing where to eat superb food i can recommend ;-)

blur,
my hubby did most of the driving, and we stopped here and there. left mt cook at 2pm, arr queenstown 7+ ;p he was quite concussed after that, yes

er, accommodation list... lemme go dig up the info

 

[cassie]

blur,
basically accommodation i would recommend are:

beech hill farmstay at staveley $120/pax dinner, bed and breakfast
Abisko lodge at methven, $90. the lodge has a hot spa pool
Stronechrubie at mt sommers, $200 for dinner bed and breakfast. it's not so much the motel but the DINNER! we detoured back the next night just to eat again ;p
Te Wanaka Lodge at Wanaka, $165 incl breakfast. the lodge has a nice hot spa tub ;-)
Dorothy's hotel at chc, $180 incl breakfast

the other places we stayed in were so-so. the yha at mt cook is not bad but in the morning i got woken up by everyone else banging doors and walking around - the walls are pretty thin

 

[kite~]

Hi cassie,

Thanks for the breakdown. wow u really spent alot of activities itself!

Yes i would like you to recommend where got nice reasonable price food.

hmm cos i got budget, cant spend so much like you.

 

[cookiecreamie]

hi cassie,

thanks for the itinerary and woah... you really spend alot on your trip. we are hoping to spend about $6k and that's just half of what you spent! you actually did white water rafting twice! that must be fun, right?

And yes yes... tell us where to go for great food. oh... you tried the Skyline (Gondola) Restuarant? What's featured on the website is 6-course buffet spread. Any idea if they serve ala-carte?

 

[onzz]

Auckland is boring, boring...

For those who hv budget constraints, i suggest u skip the north island altogether, can always return next time, personally i find only Rotorua n 90 mile beach worth going, then again 90 mile beach muz travel soooo long b4 reaching...

My maori bus driver whole journey complaint non-stop about how the japanese n taiwanese bought away their land for development, spoilt the nature, 100 years ago angmoh burnt their village also never say...

South Island better lah... looking at cassie's prices, i gather LOTR has really given NZ tourism + accom prices a boost, in my time most of the lodges cost only NZD 65 - 80 per nite... yes, during Oct...

one experience i had: dunedin chocolate factory need to prebook, i had to miss it b'coz "no vacancy"...

if u hv 2 couples, ie 4 person (if u dun mind) it will be ideal... coz' its quite tiring n can be dangerous 4 one guy to drive more than 4 hours a day, furthermore can split car rental costs...

dun wori so much abt food, hv fun shopping at their hypermart (do they still hv Pak n Save?), do some cooking at your lodge...fun fun... anyway NZ people pretty good wif fish, i ate fish n chips almost everywhere n did not get sick of it...

best memories? mcdonald hot choc only $0.95 n taste good. worst memories? must pay for chili at fastfood !

can u imagine, i forgot to return room key on checking out a motel at Wanaka, discovered only 4 hours and 100+ km later, called them back - guess wat they said? No problem sir, juz drop it into any mailbox in the country! Tat easy? Thanx! Good as gold, they said...

By the way, dun put too much hope on the Kaikoura whale watch... almost everyone i spoke to din't get to go after waking up at 4am... even if the weather allows, doesn't mean u will see whales... And i was glad i did not take the chance to go, b'coz the whole busload of angmohs came back like zombies (the sea was really rough, u hv to go quite far out) n they saw only "2 or 3" whales ! Not for the faint hearted... Canada is a better place for whale watching...

 

[onzz]

Motels? Go to the NZ embassy in Singapore n get a copy of motel guide from them, hope its still free...

U can also get upon arrival in NZ, they hv lots of tourist info centres...give free materials

 

[pierogies]

Hi Cassie,
Thanks so much for your willingness to share on your trip.

Would like to check with you two things. You mentioned that you made a small mistake by taking the tranzalpine at the end. In my case, it seems now that I can only fit the Tranzalpine at the end of my journey too. In your opinion, is it still worth taking it? or I would have 'seen it all' by then?

Did you go with Dart Stables for horseriding in Glenorchy? If so, which route did u take? They have a new Ride of the Rings route now, so I am wondering whether to go for it.

 

[kite~]

Hi onzz,

yes for us budget constraint, wil only concentrate on South island. look like u hv an interesting NZ trip.

 

[cassie]

kite, c&c,
we didn't try the skyline gondola, so can't comment on the restaurant. nz restaurants don't really come cheap, but you could try winnie bagoes in queenstown for pizza. it's about nz15 for a medium, enough to feed one very very hungry person

if you don't mind spending about nz30 on a main course, two great places to eat (reservations recc) are:
- stronechrubie at mt sommers (www.stronechrubie.co.nz) must try their rack of lamb!
- dorothy's at chrischurch, 2 latimer square
can also try lone star at queenstown - it has super huge portions so go on a very empty stomach ;-)
in kaikoura, try hislops cafe along beach rd

best would be to ask the locals at each town/city for recommendations as well

onzz: most of the motels were charging us $90 onwards, not to mention the lodges! guess those prices are a thing of the past...

i think the whalewatching thing is prob not a good time at this time of the year. the dolpin encounter website has newsletters that give some info about sea conditions in oct, seems that oct is usu not a good period as well for them. can't recall if whalewatch has newsletters as well. but the lady there was telling us that oct is the migratory season, which somehow makes the local whales move further offshore, which makes them harder to find, and you also have to travel farther out. plus the windy and rainy weather makes it hard to find the whales, which stay on the surface for only 10-15min? oh well, at least we got to swim with the dolphins

cp: yes, we rode with dart stables. took the 2-hr ride through spectacular scenery. the guide was pointing out to us places in the distance where lotr was filmed, but i think the lotr ride is a longer one, best you check with them. but the way the scenery was going, you can really imagine gandalf and the riders of rohan coming down any of those mountains! ;-)

tranzalpine: we really feel not so worth it after 2 weeks in south island. depends on your itinerary - where you're going and for how long. one or two gorges on the tranzalpine does wow along the way, but we'd already seen lots of mtns and plains with sheep and cows so that was nothing new.

 

[ginn]

hi cassie,

how was your experience with thrifty car rental?
Is it good? did you rent a 2litre car?

thanks!

 

[ekiror]

Hi cassie

You went to stay with Jeanette at her "farm house". Very luxurious rite?

I missed jessie, the dog. And her black cat. Her big fat pet pig...ping and pong... Have you met them? I'm sure you have a great time at her house. Because we like it very very much.

Any pics to share?

 

[cassie]

we used a mazda 6 - think it was a 2litre or 2+. thrifty was ok, but perhaps you could get a better deal bargaining with operators at the chc airport? we paid $64 per day plus $15 per day for reducing accident excess, plus gst.

planner: yup! and we chatted with jeanette and jack till quite late, learnt a lot from them

it was a good experience actually staying in a house and seeing how kiwis live

when did you stay with them? her pig gave birth recently - lots of little piglets! and she's very protective over them

we fed some lambs, and the calfs were so excited about nipping at our jeans ;p in the end we had mud (and saliva) splotches all over so had to do laundry heeeee...... we really enjoyed our stay there.

 

[ekiror]

Hi Cassie
We stayed with them in April this yr.
We love the place. And their meals...yummy yummy...they are very very hospitable. They had a really beautiful house.

Her pig gave birth...gosh!!.... hee hee. Did you managed to get into their deer farm? They had a pet deer as well. Not very friendly towards the dog though...they are like enemies..hee hee.
Any pics to share?

Wah...your car very expensive leh. We got it for about $55 per day..1.6L though..but it is new. We never reduce the excess because we are covered under travel insurance which we bought in singapore. We spent about 10K for about 23 days.

 

[kite~]

HI cassie,

u mean ur madza 2litre car costs oni $64 per day in NZ$ or S$?

Hi planner,

which car co. u rent from? $55 consider quite cheap.

 

[ginn]

Hi cassie

did thrifty require ur credit card details for deposit for the reservation?

I think i'll need to pre-book first as i'll be picking up car at greymouth and i think not many cars are available there. But again not sure if i shld not book first as dun know whether will get a better bargain there?

When you return your car, did they inspect thoroughly? Did u have to pay for any excess in the end?

 

[cassie]

NZ64, which means more $$ considering the exchange rate! ahhhhh, if only i went last year when the rate was like 0.85..... i booked through their website and so had to furnish credit card details, but they only deducted on the spot when we were there. beforehand had asked a number of car companies for quotations through email, but seemed thrifty was cheapest. not that many car companies have an office in greymouth.

our car had a 2 inch scratch which they spotted, so yes, i guess they do inspect thoroughly. they were telling me will charge to my card 3-4 weeks later after they get it spray painted, probably nz70-80 :-(

planner:yup, saw their deer. yes, their dinner's good

were you the couple who stayed a couple of days and took their wedding photos there? ;-) we were about to tell them about chinese wedding customs when jeanette said they already heard all about them heheh. oh yes - pics not out yet

 

[ginn]

Yea, guess i'll have to book in advance... There were some which quoted slightly cheaper but their cars are not so new and some charge one way fee.

btw, how's the weather when u were there? do u need those thick winter clothing?

 

[ekiror]

Hi Cassie
Yup we are the couple who took a few shots at their farmhouse. How you know huh? I emailed some pics to Jeanette but haven heard from her since. Not sure if she had received it. hee hee.....

My experience with Thrifty is that they are quite expensive as compared to other companies. Also quite strict. They are very particular about their cars, will check on every spot and make customer pay. Thats why i seldome go to them.
We used APEX there. Very flexible and customer service is excellence. We had quite a few chips on our windscreen and scratches at the side. They never say anything. hee hee..... So far so good. Been using their service while in NZ and australia.

Kite: We used APEX.

 

[kite~]

Hi grin,

when u planning to travel to NZ?

Hi planner,
thanks.

Hi cassie,

shall look forward to see ur pics esp heard alot of what u mentioned here. seems so nice!