New Zealand

angy

New Member
sunny-gal,

motel and hotel charges are usually per night up to 2 person. That AA link has motel charges that you can see
 


sunny~gal

New Member
wooo icic.
thanks thanks shall chk out more details
happy.gif

can't wait to go nz
 

sunny~gal

New Member
Hi all,

i am planning to stay at these motels/hotels in nz,care to give me some reviews if you stayed before?

1) haast-aspiringcourt motel
2)queenstown-aspen hotel
3)te anau-edgewater motel
4) dunedin-scenic circle hotel
5) lake tekapo-lake tekapo scenic resort
6)fox glacier-lake matheson motel
7)greymouth-asure high park motor inn
8)nelson-bella vista motel
9)blenhiem-asure sundowner motel
10) hanmer springs-settlers inn motel
11) chc-best western camelot motor lodge
 

sunny~gal

New Member
also any comments for this itinerary route?

CHC->Mount Cook->dunedin->te anau->queenstown->wanaka->fox glacier->greymouth->nelson->blenhiem->hanmer springs->chc
 

little_a

Active Member
Hi sunny_gal,

I stayed in Matheson Motel previously. It is like a bed and breakfast kind of accommodation. The room that i stayed previously was big and clean.
 

seiryu911

New Member
Hi all,

I'm planning to visit NZ on mid oct this year..
will be going to Queenstown and Wellington.

do you guys have any recommendation on the good place for farm stay in Wellington?

Thanks
happy.gif
 

angy

New Member
Vee

Wellington has no farm stay. What do you intend to do in Wellington? October is a great time to visit Wellington. Wellington is a beautiful place.

There are plenty of accomodation in Wellington, depends on how much money you want to spend.
 

seiryu911

New Member
also, about the flight ticket, better buy it now, or after apply the visa?

becos i'm afraid later the ticket price will go up, but if buy now, then later didn't get the visa..
sad.gif


anyway, angy..what places have you visited in NZ? how's there? is it nice? any photos to share? :D
 

angy

New Member
Vee

you do not need a Visa to go to NZ.

As for the 2 links you have given, the place in Waikanae is not really a farm. The place in Judgeford is not really a farm either.

You said you like to have experience in a farm, what do you want to do? touch the sheep? what do you want to do?

What are the must do in Wellington? Read the previous posting on what you can do in Wellington.

What places have I visited? Just asked and I will see how I can answer you.
 

seiryu911

New Member
I'm not singaporean, so I will need visa to NZ..

for holiday, i'm not much into cityview, that's why i thought to stay at farm.
and i'd like to visit the LOTR movie scene..
happy.gif


will ask you again for the other places.. need to search for more info first.. :p

Thanks
 

angy

New Member
Vee

If you are flying into Wellington, you will be flying with Qantas.

If you do, make sure the departure flight is not like 6am in the morning, or else, you have to get up at 4am.

I went to the LOTR tour, very interesting.

You have to remember that Peter Jackson did alot of the filming in Wellington, Queenstown and may other places.

Go do more research about Wellington and NZ in general. There are lot of things you can do. It is the time that you might or might not have.
 

veracity

New Member
Hi everyone!

I'm considering NZ for my honeymoon (HM) in late Nov 09. It seems to be 1 of the few plcs with pleasant weather, & lots of nature to relax in at this time of year.

Qn is though, is it boring? I've the (wrong?) impression there's not mch to do or see... Furthermore, I've no plans to do risky stuff like white water rafting, bungee or zorbing... if so, would NZ still be meaningful for me to go to?

We want a long HM - do u all foresee tt one can stay as long as 14 days in NZ & not be bored? Or maybe also go somewhere nearby aft we've maxxed out NZ...

Hear fr u all soon!
 

angy

New Member
veracity

if you want to goto NZ in Nov, I suggest you book soon.

Define what is boring to you?

There is never enough time to visit NZ. There are plenty of things you can do in NZ.
 

ryanmel

New Member
Hi Veracity,
We also plan our honeymoon in NZ but in April/May 2010 when it is off peak season.

Having the same thinking as you, we wanted to spend long HM for about 2 weeks!

For us, we dun want to do any tedious/risky activities like bungee, cave climbing etc.
So we decide to spend our HM in Auckland region with some farmstays *wink

We dun think spending 14 days in Auckland will be bored,
cos its our Honeymoon and we want to spend it romantically with some dinners,
strolls in some outside city areas like Parnell or New market (we did some research online.)


It will be free & easy for us, meaning we book rooms/air ticket online plus rental of car & GPS.

Honeymoon for us is to enjoy doing stuffs together at a whole new environment, enjoying the fact that it will be a new pharse in our lives.

Cheers, Melissa
 

veracity

New Member
Hi ryanmel

Tx for the info! Wch agy did u book w? We actY prefer not to self-drv tho.

Hi angy

Boring - I guess aft a while, run out of thgs to do or see, esp since not into risky activities. I was dreaming of wide gorgeous nature landscapes, rivers/oceans, etc... indulge in nature but dunno how long one can enjoy the same-looking thgs for...!
 

ryanmel

New Member
Veracity,
i do not plan to book with any agency,
we prefer free & easy on our own.
meaning:
-get tix from SQ online by ourselves,
-make bookings with hotels/farms online,
-rent a vehicle online
so on...

Initially we plan not to drive, but to stay at a 'centralise' hotel in auckland and join their day tours agency, just like 'APT or AAT'.
but we realise we want to have alittle thrill and decide to rent a car for some sights seeing on our own besides the day tours.

I have tried Free & easy with a good friend of mine before @ melbourne, i belive the diff between these 2 countries are not that huge.
*wink
 

veracity

New Member
Hi angy

U askd me to book soon - why & how soon? May wait til nx NATAS Fair in Sep... hmm, hope still hv gd deals then.

RyanMel, since u say April/May 2010 is off-peak season, may I know when's the peak?

I thought gg in late-Nov aft my weddG wld be off-peak. Pple say the weather in Nov/Dec is gd. Originally wanted to go Maldives but it's super-peak then, & less value-for-$ so now v seriously csidering NZ... somemore the scenery is breathtaking!
 

angy

New Member
veracity

Usually Nov/Dec, the Northern Hemisphere will fly down to NZ for their summer. They want to escape the cold winters.

Now, everywhere got sale. Qantas and SQ all have sale. They all so worried about not able to fill their seats. So, might as well book now and dont worry about it. How much are you going to save by booking later?

Now, NZD so cheap, buy some now, park it and when it go down, buy a little bit more.

There are no peak and off peak in NZ. It all depends what you want to do.

Remember late November is also school holiday period. So, you will be fighting aganist school children. I can tell you that SQ is code sharing with Luthansa and you will be fighting for seats with european travellers.

If you kiasu, book Qantas. Fly to Sydney/Melbourne and go for holiday there before you fly to NZ. Kill 2 birds with one stone.

Eg you can book now from SG to AKL at
Qantas 1.4K
SQ 1.5K
 

ryanmel

New Member
Veracity,

Their peak season started ard from nov-mar,
how i define peak is by checking their hotels, car rentals for their rates online.
And doing more research.
If you going during the peak seasons, its better to
make bookings/reservations with the relevant hotels/car rental companies earlier to avoid disappointment.

But its summer in NZ during nov-dec, would be quite warm. Maybe you would like to go in some other months? to enjoy the chill...

My AD falls on Jan 2010, plan to have our 2 weeks honeymoon in May 2010 for the autumn.

Go to www.singaporeair.com.sg and check their online rates, you might be able to get SGD1300 (inclusive tax surcharges) per pax *wink
take the night flight, and reach AKL in the morning. Just nice.
happy.gif




Cheers, Melissa

PS: if you planning to join tour for your honeymoon at NZ, then its better to wait for Natas Fair.
(dun have to worried about peak season or not.)
But it will be more enjoyable and relaxing to do it Free & Easy style
happy.gif
 

veracity

New Member
Hey Melissa

Tx for the tips! I went to the website, for Nov 09 rtn rates, it's S$1,709 inlcuding all other fees except departure tax...... is tt bad?

Any other URLs to share for vendors, etc? I seriously dunno where to start........ ;-)

Anw, don't mind sharing, how much of your planning for NZ is done oredi? Made any bookings?

This H1N1 business also mks things a bit diffic to cfm now ah.............

6 mths to my wedding now!
 

ryanmel

New Member
Veracity,

-Which part of NZ you planning to go to?
(mine: Auckland region only)
-how many days?
(mine: 14-15 days)
-When is your prefer honeymoon date?
(mine: Mid May 2010 autumn)

For us, we rather pay a little more to take direct flight (SQ).

If you plan to take Royal Brunei, take note
the departure time and return time.
EG: you may want to departs SG at around 9pm,
so you will reach Auckland in the morning and
save the 'extra' accomodation costs incurred if you reach at night.

And the return time should be preferably ard 1pm Auckland time, as usually hotel checkout is ard 10am
IF not you would have to stay at the airport waiting for your flight home with all those luggages *wink

Usually flights cost cheaper for those 'undesirable' timing. take note.

Lastly, ticket prices are slightly higher this year as the flight companies are all cutting the
amount of flights. *finger crossed* that they will not reduce it again, if not we will pay more.

Cheers, Melissa
 

ryanmel

New Member
Veracity,

We have not make any bookings yet, will do after our AD Jan 2010.

If you plan to visit Auckland, i'll be glad to share my findings/researches with you.
These are my selected Accomodation websites:
(with free carparks in mind)

http://www.parnellinn.co.nz/index.html (top of my list)
http://www.parnellcitylodge.co.nz/

Most affordable car rental company, esp if rental are 14days or more.
Located near Auckland intl airport, provides free shuttle to and fro.
http://www.yourwaycarrental.co.nz/

Climate:
http://www.newzealand.com/travel/about-nz/key-facts/key-facts-climate.cfm

Very Useful:
http://www.aucklandnz.com/index.php/content_B/?L1=36&L2=717&id=594#594

Go to the above NZ tourism site, and enter your
address particulars. which they will post you a
NZ guide for free!
I did that, and receive free NZ guide booklet.
happy.gif


NZ guide PDF format: (but hardcopy is always better lol)

http://www.aucklandnz.com/pdfs/AucklandGuide2008_WelcomeToAuckland.pdf


PS: i did much more research on my honeymoon than on my wedding day preparation!
happy.gif


Cheers, Melissa
 

pinkcolour

New Member
Hi Veracity,

Me and my hubby had went on F&E NZ honeymoon during Feb this year. We did not self drive. We book their train, coach and participated in their local tours.

I had written something abt our NZ trip in our blog. U a take a look if you are interested.
Nuptial Story
 

ryanmel

New Member
Hi Xin,

You went to Christchurch for your honeymoon?
Saw the pics... So awesome!

Im looking forward to our honeymoon...
happy.gif



Cheers, Melissa
 

pumpkin_patch

New Member
Hi Ladies,

Nice meeting you all here
happy.gif


Will be going on a 3wks self-drive trip to NZ in end August with my hubby & little girl & will be covering both the North & South Island. Our trip was supposed to be in early May but it has been postponed at the very last minute due to the outbreak of H1N1 there, so really disappointed & I've been moping ard till now, haha :p So now gotta count down all over again & really looking forward to our trip now in August
happy.gif
 

rtan

New Member
Hi Pumpkin,

Sorry to hear about your sad plight.
sad.gif


I think it's quite irresponsible of the local media to play it up, making it sound worse than it really is. I'm not discounting the fact that it may mutate and hence the danger; but honestly, right now, it's no more dangerous than the common flu.

Our trip to France / Germany was also in the first two weeks of May but we still went ahead, and we're glad we did. We did not see a single mask nor did we see any signs at all of swine flu in our entire trip. My take is that it was always good to go earlier; if our trip was postponed, the number of infections would have risen, and hence, the danger would have been higher.

Seems like New Zealand always had very low infection numbers; if it was US or Mexico, then I would have been worried.
 

pumpkin_patch

New Member
Hi Mintz,
Hey.. such a concidence! Which date are u going? Me going on 31 Aug.. 1 wk before Sep school holiday
happy.gif



Hi Raymond,
It's true that the no. of infected cases in NZ is low.. only 9 confirmed cases so far but as u know, prevention is always better than cure & the risk factor is still always there
happy.gif
Going for a holiday means enjoying urself & to have a good time so we wldn't wanna spend the whole time there with something at the back of our mind & worrying if we'll be infected.. that wld defeat the purpose of a holiday. Most importantly, we have a young child with us so that's actually the most crucial factor. And if we're really unlucky enough to get infected, the entire trip will be ruined which is the worst that can happen & I'll really cry then haha! So considering all these & with many pple ard us advising not to take the risk, we finally made a hard decision to postpone it after struggling over for a few days. It's really not easy esp. since all preparations were made & we've already been looking forward to it since last yr & we were just 4 days away from departure.. so close!!

But the very lucky thing is SQ is able to waive off all charges for any cancellations/admendments to the travel dates for those affected countries, else we'll to have to make a cancellation with no refund at all coz the tixs I bought were special promotional prices which are really cheap so NO changes to dates are allowed. I also managed to change the dates of stay for all the accoms at the same time so really really heng! Never been in such situation b4 in my life so it was really an experience for us & hopefully this will be the 1st & also the last time I encounter it.. :p
 

rtan

New Member
Hi Pumpkin,

Ah you're absolutely right; your kid changes everything.

I just hope that in August, things would have improved in time for your trip. Maybe we'd have gotten the vaccine by then.
happy.gif


Just curious, how much did you pay for your tickets to NZ on SQ, since you mentioned that it was really cheap?
 

pumpkin_patch

New Member
Hi Raymond,

Yeah sure hope & I do believe it shld be more stable by then. Definitely not gonna do anymore cancellation/postponing again haha.. :p

Tickets wise, I got them at a total of $3094 for 3 return tix to Auckland.. incl. of all taxes & sucharges. Saw the special offer in the newspaper somewhere in mid Jan & chked out on the website & realised it was a really great bargain coz at that time, the 2-to-go sweet deals actually costs over $4k! Even though prices has dropped since then, it still costs over $3.6k now for the 2-to-go deal, so really glad I managed to get them during that time.. was a really huge savings!
happy.gif
 

helenm

New Member
Hi everyone,

If you need help planning your NZ honeymoon please don't hesitate to contact me, my name is Helen and I am a senior travel consultant with Driving NZ (www.drivingnz.com). We are based in New Zealand so we know what we're talking about and a large portion of our clients are lovely honeymooners-to-be, like yourselves! Send us a message or fill in our 'Create Your Own Tour' form if you need any help!
 

blueetea

New Member
Hi,
I have 2 ASA travel vouchers ($2k and $2,896) willing to sell at 5% discount.
The vouchers can be used to buy air tickets or any travel package.
Book by end Aug'09 and travel by end Dec'09.
SMS me at 9479 9419 if interested. Thanks!
 

poseidon_gal

New Member
Only my HTB can drive..if we go for a 14 days self drive trip..will it be very taxing on him?? I want to go NZ..yet at the same time i dont want to see him soo tired after spending hours behind the wheels..any suggestions?

I dont like package tour..very rush and packed.. =p
 

angy

New Member
poseidon,
it all depends where you want to go and what you want to do? Driving in NZ is fun, not tiring. Just dont drive like a manic. The maximum distance between 2 large towns is between 3-4 hours.
 

mscarpediem

New Member
Hey,

Ryan and Melissa! *wave* Good to see you here. I seem to be bumping to you all over this forum.
happy.gif


Xin: Your itinerary as expressed in your blog is very similar to the plans I have in mind.

Just to confirm that you took the entire trip using intercity coachlines? What is the time period between successive coaches? We were hoping for the flexibility to just get down when the coach reach a stop, to smell the flowers and enjoy the quiet without waiting too long for the next coach to arrive. Is this possible or am I living in a fool's paradise? :p

Cause we're now deciding between self-drive and coach. We love the freedom of driving but am concerned about:

i) Safety of driving over the west coast of South Island especially since we're not used to the roads (heard a number of cars were involved in accidents there.)
ii) Price of petrol (which is nearly as expensive as S'pore especially in the West Coast region?) I can just imagined ourselves being squeezed dry by their servicing stations in Fox/ Franz Josef Glacier area after the long drive from Queenstown/Wanaka area!
 

pumpkin_patch

New Member
Hi Poseidon,
There's no better way to explore NZ than self-drive. In fact, wherever possible, self-drive is still the best option to go on a holiday cos it's own time own target so there's no restrictions at all. There's also more flexibilities & freedom cos u wun be confined to the agenda of a tour group too.. which will be so much more enjoyable.

And dun worry abt tiring urself. The roads in NZ are v. easy to nagivate & there's also plenty of rest stops along the way. So if u do feel sleepy or tired, just take a short break.. get out of the car & do some stretching exercises or pop by the nearest cafe for a quick refreshment. It wld be enuff to recharge u. Scenery wise, there's also plenty of lookout points especially if u're driving along scenic routes, so u can just stop the car for a while, enjoy the views & take as many pics as u want. U can also go venture to places which are off the beaten track and less touristy, all at ur own pace & time. So overall, it's definitely much more enjoyable!
happy.gif


Hi Carpe Diem,
Ya really gd buy! It was actually a special promotional price available for a limited time only. Saw the advert in newspaper somewhere in January so went online to chk it out & bought them. Just lucky to have seen it
happy.gif
 

pinkcolour

New Member
Hi Carpe Diem,

We traveled by intercity. They usually ply from one town to another which usually take almost the full day. Depends on the place, some places have 1 coach for certain journey for the day. Some places have a few coaches at different timings. There is commentary by the drivers along the way and they will stop at certain stops to allow us to take pics too.

They dun operate like our buses here, which come very frequent.

I personally feel that the road from 1 place to another is not too hard. As for the West Coast, I agree its more challenging (more curvy and more slopes). We walk past a petrol kiosk at fox glacier and saw 95 unleaded petrol cost abt NZ$1.85 (feb 09).
 

mscarpediem

New Member
Hi Xin,

Thanks for taking the time and effort to respond, appreciate it very much, helped alot with our planning, thanks!

Sorry for taking such a long time to respond, work has been very blech....

Coach really sounds good, given the chance I would love to try it for some leg of my journey. However, it was so sad for me, cause for all the locations we've tried to book using their system, they either don't have a pick up station or the drop off station. For example, we tried to do a booking that leaves from Christchurch central and goes to Lake Tekapo, but a message came back that they don't have such a booking available. Same for Lake Tekapo to Mount Cook Village.... *sighz*

So sad, think their service sounds really good!
 

pinkcolour

New Member
Hi Carpe Diem,

U are the most welcome! Some of the intercity coaches are operated by Newmans coaches.

If I'm not wrong, there should be a service from Christchruch to Queenstown via Tekapo (also a main stopover for lunch). Unless the bus is fully booked, if not u should be able the book. I'm not too sure for mt cook.
 

angy

New Member
carpe Diem

why not you drive? very difficult for coach to goto Lake Tekapo because they prefer to do the State Highway 1 route. Lake Tekapo to Mount Cook village is a fantastic drive. I suggest staying at the Village for a night.
 

mscarpediem

New Member
Hi,

Xin, yupz, there's no coach service from Lake Tekapo to Mt Cook.
sad.gif


Angy, is the drive really beautiful? Yupz, my HTB and myself are planning to drive through NZ now including the stretch between Lake Tekapo and Mount Cook. However, we're hoping to travel using the coach for some part of the journey so that there wouldn't be driving fatigue.

Angy, for the drive between queenstown and wanaka, would you suggest taking the crown range road, or the cromwall one? And why?
 

angy

New Member
Carpe Diem

to me, the crown range road is the way to go. But, it is very very challenging. The roads are gravel road not tar sealed. You have to drive carefully. The scene is second to none.

The driving between Lake Tekapo to Mount Cook can be very boring because once you reached Mount Cook, you have to come back again by the same route.
 



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