Sheepie and Stubbsy's NZ Trip - Where did we go?

[sheepie]

OK, my turn to be a bit of a geek ...

I took my GPS with me to track where we actually went (not where we planned to go). The map below is the result of several months of planning, and 22 days of putting up with Stubbsy...



I'm intending to write a quick article for CHIMP soon to show how this is done, plus a few other nice tricks I've been experimenting with - we'll see how I go

[bumthology]

when the best time of the year to go to nz?
i think i might go there soon.
thanks

[!~DeViNe~DaRkNeSs~!]

OMG U MISSED TIMARU! lol
Best time for NZ depends on what u wish to do..... If u want snow and great snow covered mountains skiing etc..winter....if u want to go out lots and have fun boating fishing etc summer....remember it is COLD in winter and if u arent prepared for it u will have trouble getting out of bed etc..also lugging winter gear over there = more in ur suitcase. and locals such as my dad will laugh at u when its 6 degrees and ur all dressed up in huge coats and he's out gardening in his t-shirt and shorts lol!!!


Looks like u covered most of the good spots! And u stayed the hell away from Auckland!! well done! Cant wait to see ur pics from milford sound, Mt cook, Tekapo and queenstown

[gstark]

Best time for NZ

Would be before 6pm.

When they turn out the lights for the evening.

[stubbsy]

Cant wait to see ur pics from milford sound, Mt cook, Tekapo and queenstown

Sadly you'll see bugger all from Milford since it rained the entire day we were there.

[michael_]

old post i know, out of interest did you guys rent a car? if so what car? could you get to most places or you had to hike? what was accomodation like? in terms of costs? just doing a bit of research for myself to take mum on a holiday for a month of NZ.

[Laurie]

couldn't you have used a red line instead of green?
very cool though

[stubbsy]

old post i know, out of interest did you guys rent a car? if so what car? could you get to most places or you had to hike? what was accomodation like? in terms of costs? just doing a bit of research for myself to take mum on a holiday for a month of NZ.

We hired a car Michael and got everywhere we wanted to go with minimal walking. On the south island we had a Subaru Legacy (what we call a Liberty) station wagon (approx $NZ40 per day) from http://www.nzrentacar.co.nz. We had a car from the same company on the north island, I just don't recall what type of car it was.

We stayed at YHAs everywhere and they were uniformly good value for money. We had a two person room to ourseleves everywhere (approx $NZ65 per room per night), but a shared bathroom/toilet (although you can pay extra for an ensuite). Petrol was around $1.43 per litre (dearest was $1.65 in Franz Josef).

If I was doing it again I'd do it the same way. Unless there were a fair few of you I wouldn't even consider a campervan since they would consume more petrol and be much slower going (especially on the south island).

[michael_]

excellent, thanks peter.

any tips or suggestions?

[radar]

Michael,

having travelled to NZ a fair few times, I would say try to concentrate on a certain region, unless you like driving, Leon and Peter do like driving

NZ is actually quite large when you start looking at distances. For myself, I would recommend to stick to one of the islands. I used to be a South Island snob but there is actually also lots to see and do in the North Island, just without the glaciers and fjords.

I find the landscape in the South Island to be more dramatic with the mountains on the west side, lots of walking to be done if you are in those sort of holidays.

In summary, you can't go wrong really where you go, so plan ahead and enjoy

cheers,

André

[michael_]

Cheers Andre.

I dont mind driving, neither does mum we did Europe twice together driving, hell she drives to Queensland for holidays every 3 months.

At this stage we are planning for 32 days of travel and taking out time, lucky for me she is also a happy snapper so the entire trip will be photography oriented.