Visiting South Island, NZ for a week....

[Tommo]

Hi all,

I'll be in New Zealand for all of March, and between the 21st and the 28th, I'll be in the South Island by myself. I arrive & depart at Christchurch, and have booked a rental car for the week.

Have many people be there for holidays? I'd like to visit the scenic areas, and just relax, and of course... take a few photos I know I can't see everywhere in the South Island, but would just like to see the nicest places. I can extend my stay to 1.5 weeks if need be, but I figure 1 week will be enough (i'll be spending 2 weeks on the north island as well - but I have plans for there).

I haven't got any set destinations yet, so any personal advise would be awesome. I have budgeted NZ$110 a night for motels, and NZ$160 a day spending money. I imagine that should be enough to do whatever I want to do? Remembering that I AM by myself, so living expenses won't be as high... I also am not planning on doing bungy jumping . Do you think it's best to book a hotel route before I leave, or just do it when I get there? So that way, I can go where I feel like?

Any recomendations of places to go for the week? I'd prefer to go off recomendations than just read a map and see what looks good.... Although reading / searching here, I was thinking of going to Queenstown / Milford Sound / Dunedin.

Thanks,
Tommo

[sheepie]

Make sure you do Milford Sound (as MHD will attest), and of course Queenstown is full of adventure - Summer or Winter. I prefered Wanaka for relaxation.
If you can, get to one of the glaciers for something completely different - again, I agree with MHD on this one, go to Franz Joseph rather than Fox.

We spent a week getting ourselves around the SOuth Island in 2001 and saw a good selection of what's to offer. You really need longer to do it justice, but your timing will at least give you an idea of what to concentrate on next time.

My view - see as much as possible, then pick out sections to do on each visit you make in the future

[Tommo]

Good idea actually. I was born and raised in NZ for the first 7 years of my life, but I've never been to the South Island

Will there be any snow over there in March? (stupid question?). I'm not sure of their climates.

Regards,
Tommo.

[MHD]

Tommo... Why dont you stay YHA?

Seriously, some of thier rooms are cleaner and nicer than a motels, you can double rooms and some places even ensuites... and you get a kitchen so you can cook for your self and save money to be spent on joy flights and guided tours...

Now on to the fun stuff...
First: I really do not like Queenstown... but that is me... The scenery is pretty yes, but I found that the town had outgrown itself with adrenalin adicted toursist...

We stayed in Te-Anau and did a day trip to Milford from there.... This worked spectacularly well as we beat the tourists to the sound and in the morning, before the wind pics up the sounds are even more picturesque...
Not only is Milford sound beautifull, the drive there/back is to... We went straight there (~2hrs) and took about 5hrs comming back.. Drop into the DOC visitors center at Te-Anua and get there mildford drive brochure and stop at ALL the places they recomend..

Add to your itenery (if you can) Mt Cook... AWESOME.

Book at least a week ahead...

When you go to the west coast from christchurch leave plenty of time... because the road goes over arthurs pass and you WILL want to stop for lots of photos... the scenery there is AWESOME.

Dunedian is a nice town... We did CChurch-Dunedian in a day easily... but it is no where near as spectacular as some of the scenery around the mounatins...

I would pick Franz over Fox... and go to the Alice May and grab a beer and a garlic loaf

You are in Canberra right? A mate is borrowing my NZ books at the moment but I will grab them off him to lend to you sometime...

[MHD]

Good idea actually. I was born and raised in NZ for the first 7 years of my life, but I've never been to the South Island

Will there be any snow over there in March? (stupid question?). I'm not sure of their climates.

Regards,
Tommo.

yes

(see my pics)
http://potofgrass.ath.cx/gallery/nz

[Tommo]

Thanks for the advice. I'll pull out a map tonight, and start tracing a route. Any idea of a website that links all the phone numbers to these places to get tours etc? IE The Mt Cook trip?

If I staying in YHA, maybe I could buy a 24-120VR for the trip too . My only concern with YHA is for the safety of my items etc, and I like staying in clean places. I dunno, I seem to have an opinion that backpacker hostels are full of dust and 50 year old furniture - I guess i'm wrong?

I'm in Sydney actually - but if you recommend a specific book, i'll go and grab a copy tomorrow?

Good idea about beating most of the tourists. Is Queenstown far from Te Anau?

[MHD]

About 3 hours....

check out the YHA website
http://www.yha.org.nz

The YHA's we stayed in seemed nice and safe... But my Lowepro Nova2 with my gear never left my side anyway...

Not dirty and dusty at all by my experience

some are old.. but many are new/ish

[sheepie]

... I was born and raised in NZ for the first 7 years of my life, but I've never been to the South Island

Where abouts Tommo? (If you don't mind sharing)

Funny how us North Islanders never go South! As long as you're not from Auckland, you're welcome.

hehe

[dperrett]

i am heading to NZ for 3 weeks in march too. so any advice here is doubly usefully.

i like the advice about going to franz joseph instead of fox. i have been trying to find out which is better to visit but i've had no luck.

the only thing i have planned for the south island is to do the milford track and then possible a kayaking trip around milford sound the day after. i have links but i'll have to grab them off my home computer later.

[dperrett]

tommo,

here is a good webiste that lists plenty of things you can do in the southern part of the south island. i have foudn it really useful.

http://www.atoz-nz.com/

dave.

[Matty B]

Sth. Island - Brilliant - Photographer's Paradise. March is an excellent time of year to go - I've been twice at that time of year, the weather is at it's most stable. Yes, there will be plenty of snow up in the highest Mts. which can be shot from down low.

Here's a list of my fav. photographic locations :- Forget Milford Sound - do the Doubtful Sound eco trip with the tour of the underground powerstation in Lake Manapouri. - Lake Mathieson , great autumnal colour there - The Haast River Valley , awesome snow capped peaks above a massive gravel river bed, truly scenic stuff - Lakes Wanaka, Hawea and Wakatipu - reflections aplenty in the still waters - Lake Te Anau is stunning - The Otago Peninsula (Dunedin) - Central Otago Highlands , great views of Mt. Cook over Lake Pukaki - Lake Tekapo and the Church of the Good Shepherd on twilight is beautiful - The Arthurs Pass / Trans Alpine Crossing is a sensational place to take photographs if the weather is fine. There is very little uglyness on the Sth Island - You will Love it.

ps. can recommend the Helicopter Flights from Franz Joseph township over the Alps - Wicked!


Best Wishes - I envy you travellers!

Cheers

[Tommo]

Thanks for the info all..

sheepie; I'm from Hamilton, and then Auckland mate

Here's my current plan - it does include a fair bit of driving, but I enjoy driving, so that doesn't really concern me.

Mon: Arrive in Christchurch 2pm. Pickup hire car, and head to Mt Cook, and spending the afternoon / night looking around.
Tues: Catch helicopter flight over the Alps in the the morning from Mt Cook. I gather there isn't that much to do other than this, so in the afternoon, i'll head to Queenstown.
Wed: Spend day in Queenstown (is there much to do in Queenstown itself, I would like to take a jet boat ride, but no other adventure stuff )
Thurs: Take a tour to Milford sound and back (I won't be driving, would prefer to catch a tour bus or something, as it's a lot of KMs). Still not sure whether to do Milford Sound or Doubtful Sound... has anyone here been to both that can offer some advice?
Fri: Leave Queenstown, head to Haast through Wanaka.
Sat: Leave Haast, and head up to Franz Josef Glacier. Is it worth it to do this even though I will have already done the helicopter ride over the mountains? I could easily spend an extra day in Christchurch or Queenstown.
Sun: Go back to Christchurch via Arthurs Pass (apparently this is a great scenic road... spend afternoon / night looking around Christchurch.
Mon: Return hire car, and back to Auckland I go (lunchtime).

Any tips / ideas / critisim would be great

Regards,
Tommo.

[Matty B]

Tommo,
Itinery sounds good. I've seen both Doubtful and Milford Sounds. Milford takes an hour either way on the road to see and is 'a very nice place to have lunch' compared to Doubtful. Hundreds of tourists on Milford - chances are high you will be the only boat on Doubtful. Both trips take virtually all day from Te Anau - go Doubtful and spend more time doing / seeing something than simply driving there.

The Cable car ride up the "hill" in Queenstown is cheaper and far more photographic orientated than a jet boat ride. The view at the observation station up there is awesome.

You can visit Franz Joseph and get 40 min to take photographs just by passing through. No need to schedule more than an hour off the road there, unless your taking a Chopper Ride. Last recommendation is to try to spend as much time as pos. on the Arthur's Pass road as weather comes in and out at a great rate. A postcard perfect shot is there one min - gone the next - so much to see and shoot up there.

A lot of driving is fine so long as your flexible enough to stop when you see something you like.

Good Luck and Good Traveling

[ozimax]

I am often in NZ, advise as follows:-

Christchurch is magnificent for architecture - Christ College, The Art Centre, in fact anywhere you like.

Kaikoura - 2 hours drive north on east coast is incredible, Kaikoura coast and mountains are outstanding, the colours of the southern ocean are out of this world.

Lake Tekapo, Lake Pukaki, Mount Cook, Tasman Glacier are special, take as much time as you can, good bushwalks around The Hermitage (Mt Cook) (although you have to be filthy rich to stay/eat there - take a cut lunch etc). Stay at Tekapo, approx $100 night for nice room.

Dunedin/Omaru/Timaru nice places but not spectacular. Better to spend time at Queens/Milford etc, again spectacular.

NZ is a very expensive place to visit, completely out of touch compared with Oz, but it's worth every cent IMHO.

Hope this helps!

Max

[digitor]

Definitely drive over Arthur's Pass - great scenery, and stop for a while on the western side to let the Keas rip shit out of your wiper blades! This road used to be really interesting a few years ago, before it was sealed. You'll probably see snow there as well, depending on the season.

Cheers

[Tommo]

Thanks for the advice guys - it's all been taken into thought whilst i'm finalising my plans

I hope NZ isn't a hard place to take photos of, considering my lack of knowledge on how to setup the camera to suit the conditions. I'll just chuck it on landscape mode and hope for the best (and shoot important photos in RAW )... although I just ordered the Peter iNova book, so hopefully that teaches me more ..

I was also thinking of purchasing a ~6inch tripod, something small and easy to carry with me, as I presume there will be occasions when I need one.

[Mike]

Tommo,

I have recently moved back to NZ (West Coast South Island) from Sydney. So if you do plan on coming over to the coast (you must as it is the most scenic) let me know and I'm more than happy to show you around my neck of the woods.

[birddog114]

Welcome back Mike!
Hope and wish you find lot of fun there!