New Zealand South Island

johnnytee

A 'must do' is the Abel Tasman National Park trek. Unforgettable. Watch out for the sand flies though!

claireb

Hokitika Gorge - unbelievable turquoise water!
Franz Josef Glacier - great day hike.
Queenstown - tandem hang-gliding (more fun than sky diving)
Milfors Sound - beautiful - particularly if its raining!
Mount Cook national park, great hikes - particularly sealy tarns
KAIKOURA - nice peninsula walk, plus great to go swimming with wild dolphins or seals

ENJOY!!!!

RedBern

my daughter's in NZ at the moment and travelling on the kiwi experience bus -

http://www.kiwiexperience.com/south-island-backpacker-pass.aspx

she's in the North island at present but says the bus is great and good value for money, a couple of day trips were included in her ticket price... may be worth a look?

midlandsfairy

Hiya,
I'm going to S.I with my OH in November for just over 3 weeks. So far, the plan is....

Christchurch
Akaroa (but will look at Sumner now, thanks [Deleted User])
Lake Tekapo area
Dunedin (Taeiri Gorge Railway, I've heard from friends who've done it that its well worth it)
Te Anau (for Milford/Doubtful Sound)
Queenstown
Arrowtown (less touristy than Q'town by all accounts)
Wanaka
Franz Josef/Fox Glaciers
Hokitika
Over arthurs pass to Christchurch.

We also have a 'spare' night so trying to work out where to spend that at the moment.

The places above where we are staying are the more touristy/known about places because we are having to do hostels... hoping to be able to explore around these areas and avoid the tourist traps tho!

We found the best car hire for us was www.runaway.co.nz (we're both under 25 and wanted to add an additional driver so we could share the driving). offered us a 2005 car for the same price as some of the larger companies offered us a much older car. I believe runaway is a subsidery of www.ezy.co.nz

If you are looking to do a 'tour'/bus travel I've heard great things about 'stray'. don't know their web address, sorry!

Love to hear about any tips you pick up during your travels.

fatbobbutler

Wow...

Thankyou all for your responses.. We fly a week today! can't wait..

We are hiring a campervan from Christchurch airport, i think the company is called maui? And then gonna go where the wind takes us! We did a similar thing in western canada in 2004 and loved it!

Thanks again peeps

brix_2

johnnytee wrote: »

A 'must do' is the Abel Tasman National Park trek. Unforgettable. Watch out for the sand flies though!

motueka is a good base if you're thinking of visiting this national park.

fatbobbutler

Whilst in Canada we spent a week kayaking in Algonquin park and loved it,
(we spent a while with a hire car in the east before heading west)... I realise the south island has got some great places to do the same, but has anyone who's done it got any tips? places, companies etc... Doubtful Sound looks amazing

mystic_trev

fatbobbutler wrote: »

I like going to places where not many people know about, so are there any little 'not to be missed' places?

Great, so do I.

Most of the popular must see's have been mentioned, except Kaikoura which is a must if you want to go Whale watching. Check the weather before going.

Out of the way places? Here's a couple to get you started. If you like Thermal springs avoid Hanmer and coutinue past the Lewis Pass to Maruia Springs. Nothing beats lying in the Pools, after a busy day, surounded by spectacular scenery.

Like to stay somewhere 'different' try the Blackball Hilton :rotfl: for a night to remember! http://www.blackballhilton.co.nz/

I could go on. but I won't. I've been to NZ four times and have friends there, I love the place. Enjoy!

mossstar

brrrrrrrrrrrr.... bring your thermals! I'm in the northland of the north island (up the top) and although spring is finally er... springing, it's still c c c cold in the morning and at night - and some days are cold too (today for instance). So the south island will be blinkin' freezing! LOL

It's very very beautiful ~ but personally I love the northland ~ you get to actually SWIM in the beautiful beaches cause it's warm! ha ha

Seriously though - have a great time. Bring fleeces and thermals and enjoy the excellent exchange rate too (2.8 or something I think it is now?).

no worries!

littlemissneve

Hey
I spent about 10 days travelling round the South Island Sept about 2 years ago. I'll second the previous post and say def bring a couple of fleeces or jumpers and gloves. It does get quite cold at night especially if you are in a campervan.

We rented a Maui campervan as well from Christchurch airport, we rented a 2 berth and got upgraded to a 4 berth which we loved, loads more space and 2 duvets so we rolled up in one each at night to keep warm.

We went anticlockwise round the island, only thing was that some of the trails we stoped at to walk (eg on Arthurs Pass) were closed because of bed weather. Also couldn't see Mount Cook in Lake Matheson at all as there was too much cloud when we were there. In saying that when you got a clear day the views everywhere were fantastic.

Things to def do
Antartic Centre at Christchurch airport which does a simulation of a blizzard at the antartic with temps going down to -18
Hiking the glacier, we did Franz Joseph and that was def one of the highlights of the trip. Do a day hike
Queenstown is good to spend some time as there is always a lot going on. Skiing in the Remarkables (near Queenstown) which was really fun.
-5 Ice bar in Queenstown
Wanaka - Puzzleworld, all different optical illusions and a maze, loved it.
Cinema in Wanaka is cool too, sit in a convertible mini to watch the movie
Milford sound - get the early boat ride as cloud came down in the afternoon covering all the views

Thats all I can think of so far, but let me know if you need any more info on anything

Watch your time as we barely spent 24 hours in one place at times and didn't get to drive up the east coast of the island. Campervan is great as you can stop of whenever you want and ther is lots of RV parks everwhere where you can hook up to electric (great if you have a wee electric heater in the van)