New Zealand

[smudge]

I worked out of Devonport for 6 months on an exchange in 99, had the time of my life. The highlight was a 10 day tour of the South Island, down the east coast to Dunedin then up the west coast. The contrast of scenery was amazing. Spent one day out of Queenstown driving down to Milford Sound, stunning. The boat trip was well worth it too.
Love Auckland, great night life, great food. Enjoy.

 

[GNF on Tour]

Don't bother with Cape Reinga, its nice but nothing special, not worth the drive and no nicer than Birling Gap, been there twice and cracked a windscreen both times on the crap road
Avoid Hamilton
Raglan is nice, will be very weather beaten this time of year (near Hamilton)
Waitomo Caves - overated, unless you like Gloworms
Napier is an interesting place,
Rotorua is an over-rated toursit trap, although some of the geothermal parks around it are excellent
Urewera National Park is fun, full of Maori growing weed with bad atitidues to Pakeha, actually don't go there;
Auckland looks dull on first reflection but is actually a fun place, worth a day or 2, avoid the city centre, its makes the old Churchill Square look like Bluewater
Agree that Devonport is a nice place, also have a walk along Ponsonby Road and Parnell Rise (you might see me)
Drink Boundary Road beer - all flavours, very nuce stuff, especialy the Mumbo Jumbo IPA
Spend more time in the South Island than the North
Wellington - worth a day spent there
Christchurch - centre in ruins, bit morbid, whatever floats your boat really
Definitely go across Arthurs Pass or one other, I would drive from Christchuirch to Westport and then down the West Coast, leave plenty of time for this (3 days) and a couple of days in Queenstown, drive back to Christchurch from WQueenstown in one 10 hour go, as its boring on the East Coast
MUST MUST MUST do Kaikoura - do the whale watching, eat the seafood, do the dolphin swim (although it will be bloody cold) - chill there, great place, avoid local pubs
Coromandel is great, but suggest you bin it as it will take up too much time
Mt Maunganui, near Tauranga is a cool place, I go there alot to surf and fish

Warning - watch the rips on the beaches, they are perilious here, just be careful swimming or surfing
Auckland beaches - Piha, Karekere, Long bAY, Muirawai, and the nugget Bethell Beach, worth a look

Have fun.

 

[GNF on Tour]

..............oh, and another thing, if you see an feckin Hobbits run em over.

 

[GNF on Tour]

Also, I usually stay at Aroko Bungalows on Rarotonga, by Muri Lagoon, about 150 bucks a night, not luxury but a million dollar view and a beach honeymoons are made of

or

go to Autiki like everyone else.

 

[colinz]

It all depends what your into, if its beaches & a suntan, wait until you get to the Cook Islands.

During August I would go for the Winter attractions. Ski fields, geo thermal stuff.

If you fly into Auckland, take a ferry ride to Waiheke Island & Devonport. Then drive up north on the west side, check out the stunning coast line of Auckland's west coast line. head north to at least the Bay of Islands, then drive back down on the east side.

Head south to Rotorua, couple of days looking at all the geothermal stuff, then lake Taupo, before hitting Mt. Ruapehu & the ski fields. Then onto Wellington. Ferry to the South Island, hopefully the days will be clear enough for sight seeing.
Akaroa near Christchurch is a nice place to chill before, driving through Arthur's pass to the west coast. Head south to view the glaciers before Queenstown and Milford sound.
Hope the weather's OK, have fun.

 

[topbanana36]

3 weeks in total in NZ.

Frost tonight brrrr PM me if you want advice about the west coast of the south island.

 

[Lankyseagull]

Thanks to everyone for all the advice.

Mrs Lanky & I had the time of our lives!

As people have said, New Zealand is a spectacular country and we have certainly fallen in love with it.

Our first three days were spent staying with friends in Auckland, with highlights being dining at the top of the Skytower and the view from the top of Mount Eden.

We then travelled to Waitomo (caves), Rotorua (thermal pools, Hobbiton film set & Maori cultural evening), via the Desert Road to Wanganui then Wellington to catch up with relatives, Wellington to Picton ferry, swimming with dolphins in Kiakora, Gold panning at Greymouth, Franz Joseph for a helicopter flight & landing on the glacier, Queenstown for zip-wiring and jet boating, Te Anau for a trip to stunning Milford Sound, Invercargill & Bluff, Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula, Oamaru, Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula and finally Christchurch.

All in all, just under 3,000 kilometres in 3 weeks!

The Cook Islands were stunning, particularly Atutaki, we didn't want to leave.

Back to earth with a bump this afternoon with a disappointing draw against the Lions!

 

[Adders1]

Glad you had a good one. Heading down to Akaroa soonish, possibly my favourite place in the south island, reminds me of a Scooby doo mystery.

Thanks to everyone for all the advice.

Mrs Lanky & I had the time of our lives!

As people have said, New Zealand is a spectacular country and we have certainly fallen in love with it.

Our first three days were spent staying with friends in Auckland, with highlights being dining at the top of the Skytower and the view from the top of Mount Eden.

We then travelled to Waitomo (caves), Rotorua (thermal pools, Hobbiton film set & Maori cultural evening), via the Desert Road to Wanganui then Wellington to catch up with relatives, Wellington to Picton ferry, swimming with dolphins in Kiakora, Gold panning at Greymouth, Franz Joseph for a helicopter flight & landing on the glacier, Queenstown for zip-wiring and jet boating, Te Anau for a trip to stunning Milford Sound, Invercargill & Bluff, Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula, Oamaru, Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula and finally Christchurch.

All in all, just under 3,000 kilometres in 3 weeks!

The Cook Islands were stunning, particularly Atutaki, we didn't want to leave.

Back to earth with a bump this afternoon with a disappointing draw against the Lions!

 

[topbanana36]

Thanks to everyone for all the advice.

Mrs Lanky & I had the time of our lives!

As people have said, New Zealand is a spectacular country and we have certainly fallen in love with it.

Our first three days were spent staying with friends in Auckland, with highlights being dining at the top of the Skytower and the view from the top of Mount Eden.

We then travelled to Waitomo (caves), Rotorua (thermal pools, Hobbiton film set & Maori cultural evening), via the Desert Road to Wanganui then Wellington to catch up with relatives, Wellington to Picton ferry, swimming with dolphins in Kiakora, Gold panning at Greymouth, Franz Joseph for a helicopter flight & landing on the glacier, Queenstown for zip-wiring and jet boating, Te Anau for a trip to stunning Milford Sound, Invercargill & Bluff, Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula, Oamaru, Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula and finally Christchurch.

All in all, just under 3,000 kilometres in 3 weeks!

The Cook Islands were stunning, particularly Atutaki, we didn't want to leave.

Back to earth with a bump this afternoon with a disappointing draw against the Lions!

Glad you had a fabulous time and you didn't even go to Northland or the Coromandel, you would have been blown away even more, particularly Whangarei Heads and the surrounding beaches. I much prefer the North Island than the South I have lived in and explored both. New Zealand is indeed a beautiful place to holiday.

 

[sydney]

glad you enjoyed yourselves lanky......you can get on with being married now......... only joking