icklepickle

Hi Chaps,

Just a few days left until we fly off to NZ for our holiday and I am trying to work out a route. So far we have car hire sorted out and that is about it, we will start to book hotels on Sunday or Monday.

The big question is whether to go over to the South Island or not, this would be pure and simple holiday whereas we want to take a good look (or as good as you can in such a short time) at the North Island as a potential place to live.

This is what I have so far, each location represents a place we are thinking of staying overnight in :-

1 Auckland
2 Auckland
3 Auckland
4 Rotorua (via coromandel)
5 Rotorua
6 Napier/Hastings for visiting vineyards etc.
7 Wellington
8 Wellington
9 Wellington
10 Nelson
11 Hamner Springs
12 Christchurch
13 Christchurcn
14 Kaikoura
15 ??
16 ??
17 Auckland
18 Fly home

What do you think?

Cheers,

jajpe

Hi icklepickle,
Have you got any particular place in all of that that you think you might posiibly settle. Personally, unless Auckland is the place I think 3 nights is probably too long if you just want to be able to say you've seen it and get it out of the way - Just a big city really although the harbour area is very pretty for sure!

In saying that, if you have an area in mind that is almost a definate or where work is most likely, I would definately reccomend staying there for as long as possible. From our research before we went and also base work for job offers we felt that Christchurch was the place for us so decided to allow ten days of our three weeks to really check it out. I'm really glad we did that, as to be perfectly honest for the first couple of days I really didn't think I was going to like the place at all but it certainly grew on me and felt quite sad to be leaving it ten days later. What I'm saying is I think it is really hard to get a real feel for somewhere to live in a couple of days and if you rush around you may come back thinking yes it was all very nice but I'm not sure I would want to live in any of it!!

This is just my personal opinion but I know of two couples who did the quickie tour and came back liking the country but not sure where they would like to live. One of them has already been back to spend a fortnight in the area they thought they liked the best to look at it in more depth. If you can avoid this expensive second trip all the better for most I would have thought!

icklepickle

Hi Shirley,

We both work in computing and the majority of jobs seem to be in Auckland and Wellington, so for the initial move we would probably end up in one of those places - Wellington area seems to be more likely ATM. I think that it is quite likely that one of us will have to come out again if we decide to move - this trip is really to help us decide whether to emmigrate or not, the nitty gritty will come later - but then again no problem with taking as much in this time as we can.

I've been told by a friend who lived out in NZ for a year that Christchurch is a fantastic place to live, I hope you get out there soon. Thanks for your help.

BTW: I have just found a new hotel site that offers the same rates as WOTIF but allows you to book further in advance - it is http://b2b.ratestogo.com, this might be useful for Pastor flaps.

Cheers,

jandjuk

to me your plans look pretty good....

I would make the following suggestions....

From what you say the trips to Coromandel and Rotorua are for tourist purposes only (I would think so as there would be very few IT jobs there) - they are both beautiful, but I would consider cutting these two places out and spending perhaps another day in WGTN and more time in the Sth Island. If you are thinking of living in Wgtn, you made need the extra time to check out greater Wellington for places to live (eg Kapiti Coast).

And then, if you think Christchurch maybe an option - I would spend those days visiting the south Island - Queenstown, Milford Sound, Southern Alps, Glaciers, or the Malborough Sounds etc etc If you have only one chance for a tourist holiday I would do those things first.

Incidentally, you can see a lot of similar things as Rotorua in or near Taupo (some of them free eg 'Craters of the Moon') - no geysers i don't think but plenty of bubbling mud.

If you are moving to NZ for the outdoor lifestyle, then knowing what the South Island has to offer may sway you.... the Nth Island is beautiful too just not as dramatic...

sully4441

Hi,
Been back almost two weeks. If Auk is important to you jobs wise and to maybe settle, I'd give it a bit longer. Unless you are stopping off somewhere enroute there is no way you will be fit for much viewing or anything else in the first few days. I agree with Shirley, we really liked Christchurch. If you're off to Kaikoura for the whale watching then you will be pushing it to get there find accomodation and enjoy yourself in one day. Our initial itinerary was similar to yours, but after a week it went out the window. Don't forget, what to do with your luggage while you not in a hotel? It was worse for us as the CRV we hired had no seperate boot and it was clear to all we were tourists, that and the unseasonal shorts and tee shirts we were wearing as opposed to the locals full arctic explorer wear. Thats one hell of a tiring drive you have back to Aukland. The roads are very scenic but ,at times ,very straight. We found Roturua to be very seasidey, Tauranga is only up the road. Nelson is very nice, we planned for one day but spent two
All the best
LMS

southerner

You itinerary looks pretty good. I would suggest a few changes to the end, as follows:

10 Nelson
11 Nelson
12 Hamner for lunch - then Kaikoura
13 Whale watch in morning then Christchurch
13 Christchurch
14 Christchurch (Akaroa day trip)
15 Mt Cook or Tekapo
16 Christchurch
17 Auckland
18 Fly home

The drive through to Tekapo and Mt Cook is about 3 hours from ChCh, but gets you into amazing mountain scenery.

gOD

I would suggest staying a night at the coromandel..

jajpe

Hi again,
definately agree with Southener that those three hours south of Christchurch are worth every minute! During our ten day stay we took a mad dash to queenstown in one day and it was definately on that journey that I really started to fall in love with NZ. Before that i was more concerned with maybe looking at the things in the City which I thought were quite different to how I expected but stoppping at lake Tekapo on a fantastic sunny day, with just a smattering of snow on the alps in the distance definately stole my heart like nowhere else!!

Just my opinion again, and really glad you will be able to get a second chance to fine tune the research - means you can really go and enjoy it as a holiday then as well. I found the journey between Christchurch and Picton a bit monotonous and remote to be honest so I think you are lucky to be able to take in Nelson as well. I would really love to have seen it too - but there just wasn't time for everything!!