Recommended places to visit please?
 

Hi all,
The wife and I are visiting NZ in January 2009, we had considered arriving in Christchurch where we have friends , and then renting a motorhome (perhaps) and driving to the North Island.
Is renting a motorhome the way to go or would it be better and cheaper to rent a car and stay in motels?
We would like to spend the time looking for really nice places, to maybe live and to look around in, in the North Island (where it's warmer)
Any recommendations would be gratefully received.

Thanks for reading.

Re: Recommended places to visit please?
 

Sure, rent a campervan or something and tour around the South Island. Drop it off in Christchurch and then fly into Wellington and then pick up another campervan and do the North Island. Avoid taking vehicles on the Interislander as it is stonkin' expensive. As visitors you'd be better off flying between the South Island and North Island.

Re: Recommended places to visit please?
 

Thank you

Re: Recommended places to visit please?
 

Hi, I have to say the Interislander ferry was an amazing experience for us. The views coming into Picton, South Island from Wellington were amazing and we had a couple of orcas there to great us. Although ferry can sometimes be quite choppy, I think the crossing is worth it. You can leave rental in one port and collect another from the other port, no problem, especially if you use the same company, so you go on the ferry as a foot passanger and then less costly. We got the train from where we were staying on Kapiti Coast to Wellington, North Island and then collected vehicle from Picton.

It would be worth doing some research into where you are likely to find work in your field, and spending more time in that area when you visit to explore and maybe make enquiries, or arrange interviews. Rotorua is an amazing area to explore for bubbling mud, hot water natural spas etc, but would not want to live there - too smelly - all that sulphur! Glow worm caves are worth a visit too. If you have time to go up the Coromandal that is awesome too and north of Auckland it is warmest with some amazing white sand beaches. We loved every minute of our holiday and didn't get to see it all. On South Island go to Abel Tasman National Park - do some sea kyacking, water taxi to secluded beaches and walking trails - amazing place. Go to Kaikora and do the whale watching - giant sperm whales resident there, so you nearly always see them and if you don't you get your money back! You will have a great time!!

Re: Recommended places to visit please?
 

Keep in mind that you can't fly directly in to Christchurch unless you arrive from Australia. We flew in to Auckland, then spent a few days there before taking the Overlander train down to Wellington. Worth a look-see! It takes 12 hours but you get to see a good chunk of the country (move to the lounge area in the back carriage before you leave the station :) ), and you stop at National Park Station, near Mt. Ruapehu, for 45 minutes, in the middle of the journey (where the crews switch).

Have personally only popped over quickly to Picton for 24 hours on the Interislander so can't really say anything about going to the SI and travelling around it, sorry!

Re: Recommended places to visit please?
 

Well, there are direct daily flights from Singapore to Christchurch and during the summer there are nonstop flights from Japan and Korea, but yeah, overwhelmingly most long haul flights go into Dorkland.

Re: Recommended places to visit please?
 

Sorry, did not know that. I stand (sit) corrected. :thumbup:

Re: Recommended places to visit please?
 

We did the motorhome thing a while back and by the time you pay for the hire and insurance, petrol and site fees (not advisable to 'freecamp') I think it probably would've worked out the same to have hired a fuel efficient car and stayed in motels.

Having said that it was great fun driving 'the truck' and meeting people in the campsites, it's slower going in a van (particularly up the hills :D) but at least the scenery goes by more slowly and you can use the loo anywhere.

Re: Recommended places to visit please?
 

Just off the subject a bit but we are off to chch next week for 2 weeks, flying Htw to singapore then onto chch.. then reverse home...obviously.. :thumbsup:

Re: Recommended places to visit please?
 

also try bluebridge ferry we got a better price from them and also check for web prices.

Re: Recommended places to visit please?
 

Hi - you might want to consider what you most want to get out of your trip. Because there is never enough time when you're travelling around NZ.

If you are reasonably sure you want to live in the North Island, then maybe just travel around there. I note that although there are some very nice bits of the SI north of Christchurch, the best scenic areas in NZ are all further south - so from a sightseeing point of view you will always need to come back south at some point.

On the other hand if you might only ever come to NZ once, and this is it, then I would suggest you will want to visit Milford Sound, Central Otago, West Coast, Mt Cook regions.

Re: Recommended places to visit please?
 

Thanks for the input, now wheres that map:D