Holiday in New Zealand: can I book flights separately? Any suggestions where to go?

bylromarha

From what I can remember

Petrol- about a third cheaper than here, diesel about 50% cheaper than here.
Parking- we only paid to park in Christchurch, and that was about £3 for four hours in central CC.
Food- about a third cheaper than here with comparable restaurants.

We were there for 3 weeks in an unleaded 2.4l campervan and for 2 adults and an infant, it was about £650 (I think!) for food (most meals self catered), entrance to attractions, campsites and driving costs. We went from Auckland, down to milford sound and back again. Ferry cost was paid before we got there.

ginvzt

Thanks a lot. We are going to do self-drive auckland to Queenstown, then fly back to Keri Keri, spend few days on the sea and then fly back to UK from Auckland.

We got a fantastic itinerary from Audley travel and it looks really really great, with quite a few things we wanted included in the cost. We haven't made up our mind yet, as we are thinking of the ways to reduce the costs. But on the other hand, it is our honeymoon!!!

Murdina

we went on jet boats near Queenstown and subsequently saw the gorge we went through on one of the Lords of the Rings films.... it was brilliant fun - look at http://www.shotoverjet.com/

markmat

cundall wrote: »

Look @ RTW tickets Travel mood will have them on offer for that time of year normally around 650-850 from London>LA>Auckland>HongKong>London

Done it before and had a great time...

I'd definitely consider these, it could well save you a lot of money (assuming you can get seat availability on the days you want). Just check on the minimum number of stopovers for each one. Eg. Star Alliance RTW tickets require a minimum of 3 stopovers, so you may need to plan in an overnight stop on the outbound or return leg (but that just gives you an excuse for a night in Hong Kong or somewhere :cool:).

Just got a quote from Bridge & Wickers - just over £6000........

They did a briliant job sorting us itinerary - we sent them a list were we would like to go and what to do and they sent as all list of where we would stay and when togo, etc. It looks really nice!!!

I would hope so for 6 grand :eek:


Re: Places to stay:
I'd agree about the hostels. They may not sound all that appealing but some of them are very nice indeed, and if yoou stick to ones that are not auite on the main tour bus routes you'll probably meet quite a range of people (ie. not just 18-22 year olds).

Also, have a look at 'campsites'. There are quite a lot to choose from that have cabins and fixed caravans at very reasonable prices. Again, it may not sound like honeymoon material but many of them are up to a very high standard. And anyway, if all you want is a luxury hotel then why go halfway around the world for it? Also, you said you wanted to 'taste' the country; if you stay in campsites and hostels etc. you'll probably find out more from the locals running them then if you stay in 5 star luxury resorts.

Campervan: I agree, don't knock it 'til you've tried it. I wouldn't want to drive a campervan around the UK, but it's great fun in NZ.

Places to visit:
Milford Sound is very nice, but also have a look at the Doubtful Sound trip. It's a bit of a longer day, but just as spectacular and not nearly as crowded when you get there.
The trip to Milford Sound is a good advert for a campervan. There is really nowhere else to stay on the national park road up to Milford Sound, but if you have a van you can just pull up at one of the park service campsites and park in front of a lake, so that's a 5 Star waterfront view for about £5 a night!