scrubbedexpat098

Flew to Aukland on the 22nd, arrived fairly late in the day so went out for a mexican and a couple of beers then to bed.

Day 2, trip to Hobbiton, beautiful drive, guided tour of the movie set, then back to the hotel to change for Football. Quick pint and a bite to eat in Murder Burger, then onto the football. We were shite and we lost. Back to O'Hagans pub woth the claret and blue army for a good few beers and a sing song.

Day 3, road trip to Rotarua, stopped off at afew places on the way, checked into motel, and took a drive to the local park to have a look at what the geothermal springs and mud pools, then onto the Pig and Whistle for a pint and a feed, then a walk round the evening market

Day 4, off to Wai-o-tapo thermal wonderland, bloody fantastic place, could've spent days there. Then back to do a bit of luging down the mountain, then onto a Maori village evening, Hungi, Haka, the works, was a very pleasant evening followed by a night time stroll round the local wildlife park.

Day 5, road trip to Wellington, although at times I could've sworn we were driving through Canada, arrived around 1 for a 2 oclock kick off, so a bit of a rush but made it. We were shite again, but stayed on for the Newcastle game which was pretty good.

Day 6, Went to the Weta workshop, which was brilliant, alot of talent in that place, then onto the Te Papa museum, wonderful place, spent about 3 hours there, my boy loved it. Then onto Great India for what can only be described as the best curry I've had in years, having a chat with the owner it turned out that he's from Liecester, which would explain alot

Day 7, fly home day, a leisurely breakfast, then onto the airport. I have to say we had a ball, what a wonderful country, lovely people, great culture, I'll be back without a shadow of a doubt.

renth

Nice one NZ is great, I can't wait to go back too. Next time you'll have to check out South Island.

scrubbedexpat098

Yep that's what we intend to do, I'm big into countryside, not so cities to be honest. I've got no sense of smell so rotarua would suit me down to the ground

Buzzy--Bee

It's a great country to go on holiday to. An absolute shocker of a place to live.

Tourism and scenery wise the South Island pisses on the North Island, but they are both good.

BB

Amazulu

South Island is better than North Island IMO

Parts of the east coast of the South Island are pretty ordinary but the west coast is spectacular

Christchurch was our favourite city in NZ - but that was pre-earthquake

Queenstown and environs are awesome

renth

I chartered a helicopter to take my family from Queenstown to Milford Sound, it was about a 30 minute flight but we stopped off on a mountaintop glacier and got out for a snowball fight on the way.

We saved 10 hours of driving and definitely the best thing I've ever done. Don't regret spending the money at all.

Amazulu

The Helicopter flights around there are awesome

We took a flight up to Mount Cook. It was a beautiful, clear day and we spent 15mins on the Glacier (snowball fight) with about 30mins flying time

A definite highlight

I wanted to fly to Milford Sound but unfortunately everything was booked out from Te Anau where we were staying - and its a less than a 2 hour drive from there

scrubbedexpat098

The south Island will have to wait til next time, if it's better than the North then we're gonna have a whale of a time. Sounds a bit odd, but I'd wanted to see the thermals at rotarua since I was a nipper, so for me this was a bucket list item

renth

My Mrs burnt her finger sticking it into a boiling mud pool, she wanted to see how hot it was! Turns out it was, boiling.

papilon

That would be your opinion. I personally know expats who have made an absolutely fantastic life there. And made a good crust to boot? It's not for me as far to quiet although I love to holiday there.

lesleys

When we were staying at Lake Taupo we took a sea-plane sightseeing tour over the lake and nearby springs and that was pretty impressive.

We spent a few months working in Wellington, just down the road from Te Papa, and spent every weekend going somewhere else! We had to go to a conference in Queenstown for a week so drove down and had a few days wending our way back. I wasn't impressed by Christchurch (pre quake) but did like Dunedin and the surrounding area. We have hundreds of photos (pre-digital, but now scanned) and it was a truely wonderful place to visit.

We went back to go to Auckland and the Bay of Islands on our way here, but it was still New Zealand and just confirmed our decision not to live there.

scrubbedexpat098

I much preferred Aukland/Rotarua to Wellington to be honest, but the place did seem to come alive in the evening (and we're talking Sunday) so perhaps if we gave it more time who knows. The best bit was not having international roaming on my works phone, proper relaxing

Blade Down Under

The South Island has a lot more scenery than the North in my opinion

If you did come to the South Island, you'll need at least 2, perhaps 3 weeks.

Picton, Nelson, Abel Tasman, Marlborough Sounds, Havelock, Haast, Wanaka, West Coast Drive, Akaroa, Kaikoura, Hamner Springs, Queenstown, Arrowtown Milford Sound, Lake Tekapo, Mount Cook etc. There really is a lot to explore down south

When you do, do the south, I'd get the ferry across from Wellington and then fly back from Christchurch. Start it with a night or two in Wellington and finish with a night or two in Christchurch

NigelWaring

I agree with Buzzy--Bee, I did live there for a few years, it helped me to appreciate how good it is living in Oz. Have been back many times and had some great holidays, Aussie wages and New Zealand prices certainly helped. Our favourites are Queenstown, Bay of Islands and Kiama. Might do one of those Travelrite fully escorted cruises next time, let someone else do all the organising.

Kapri

I've been to the north island and had a great time.

We went white water rafting (scary) black water rafting in caves (good fun)
We also went to Rotarua, lake Taupo, Wellington, Auckland and Bay of Islands.
I thought the people were great and I enjoyed the holiday. I couldn't see myself living there though.


I've got friends in Chch so hopefully will head to the South Island next year for a long weekend.