Grayling

Hi...some advice please.

We are travelling over to Aukland in a couple of weeks to meet up with my sister and then driving down to Wellington to see my nephew.

My sister and hubby will then be flying to Bangkok to start a cruise back to the UK. We will be travelling back up to Aukland to return to Brisbane.

We are not sure of the best way to do it.
One option is to drive but another is to take the train.

We really don't fancy 12 hours non stop on the train so would break the journey overnight.

Is the train trip worth doing and where would be the best place to stop?

The cost is not really an issue. we can not decide if we prefer to drive over 2/3 days or try the train

MrsFychan

why don't you fly? only takes an hour.

Grayling

Because we are on a holiday and want to do a bit of sightseeing

BEVS

I've not done this so it's completely mental of me to comment ,however I have heard that the train journey ain't all that, especially if the weather is duff.

edit....
Except this person enjoyed their Overlander trip

Grayling

Thanks for reminding me about the weather....I would not like to be stuck on a train unless it is worth doing.

If the weather looked bad we would probably fly anyway

MrsFychan

ahh makes sense , been out in the sun to much today. sorry

as for trains sorry no idea but look forward to seeing some suggestions.

BEVS

I'm talking rubbish as usual it seems. Goodness know where I read that it wasn't all that.

Here is another that has enjoyed this trip.

scrubbedexpat094

May I just point out that Auckland has a C in it

Teresa Green & her OH have done the trip via train from Welly to Auckland, so you could PM her. I seem to remember that they enjoyed it.

Right,

luvwelly

A friend of mine did it with elderly parents one way and enjoyed it. I have toured loads in NZ and think it could be worth doing.
I think I would prefer to stop for a couple of nights at Tongariro National Park though.
It takes 4 hours to drive from Wellington to Tongariro btw.

I agree in good clear weather it would be pretty good but in dull grey weather probably boring. BTW I do like train travel.

How quickly are you doing the initial drive down to Wellington?

Grayling

How would I know....it's just some far off, obscure, foreign place to me

Grayling

About 4 days we think.

Persephone

How long are you planning on staying in NZ? Hope I haven't missed that in one of the posts!

Grayling

About 10 days...will spend some time in Wellington....never been to that region.

rogercruse

We did the train from Auckland to Wellington. A great way to see the countryside that you simply can't see from the road, such as this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raurimu_Spiral

Also to meet others both kiwi and travellers.

RJT UK

How about driving from Wgtn to Hawkes Bay on East Coast (loads of lovely wineries) nice scenery, takes about 4 a hours to drive. From Napier then go on to Taupo (1 hr 15 mins) stay on the lake, then head up to Auckland (another 3 hour drive). That's what I'd do anyway :-)