New Zealand Advice
We have a 3 week holiday booked to NZ in January 2013. Partly to visit family in Hamilton where we are able to base ourselves but also hoping to have some little road trips to a few places we have found of interest. Am looking at some advice whether there are some other most see places we are missing and details on best accommodation, travel etc.We will be flying into Auckland and have family collecting us from the airport. We intend to have a few throw away days to relax as anticipate after such a long flight (from UK) that we will have jet lag. Q Is there anything to see in Hamilton itself?
From Hamilton we will be planning to take some day trips in the first week to see 'Hobbiton' (Lord of the Rings set), Rotora for volcanic/thermal spas and possibly the Buried Village - although if this is very similar to Pompei then may find better use of the money visiting a different attraction. Q Understand Rotora is large, is there a specific place which is best to visit? What are the approx prices, and is public transport available or is it best to hire a vehicle for the trips (my family advised vehicle hire would be best) but where possible I thought public transport may be cheaper and had just assumed it would be available to these tourist attractions.
We will also be looking to travel up to bay of Islands for 3-4 nights and had been looking at possibly doing one of the overnight cruises on the water which included food, trip to one of the islands for snorkling/kyaking etc. Q Whilst looking at accommodation though were not sure whether a hostel is best, we would like to have a private room/shower but I appreciate that is not really what hostels are about but some places did seem to advertise availability for this. Alternatively we were not sure whether hire of a small camper van would be better value for money that nights in a hotel plus car hire? Are there national parks/camping sites near Bay of Islands that would be available. Assuming this is peak season I guess everything like this would need to be booked in advance?
Before we leave (2 nights before our flight) we were looking at spending time in Auckland itself, mainly to possibly have a meal in the Skytower. I think as we will be preparing for another long haul flight we will stay in a hotel for this, Q are there any cheap but good hotels which could be recommended. And is there anything particular in the city/harbour area we should make sure we see?
Any comments/ advise would be really helpful as we have never had a trip like this before and I like to feel organised with a bit of a plan (things booked in advance if poss).
Thanks :)
1
Not much in Hamilton itself. Its a place I try and drive through without getting lost.There are a couple of bus services in Rotorua but you assumed wrong. They dont do the tourist attractions. After all, most of these can be gotten to as part of organized tours or you'd need a vehicle. Rental vehicle for your time there would allow you flexability to go where and when you'd like.
January up north is still very busy so any accommodation will need to be booked in advance.
2
Thank you. Are you able to offer best companies to book cars/campervan hire from? I have been speaking to some companies in Bay of Islands about various options and looks as though would need to get the hire vehicle from Auckland rather than up near them, so thinking a car for 3 days for Rotora areas and possibly campervan hire (or maybe car and hotel depending on best deals/what works out cheapest) for 4 nights for Bay of Islands....Thanks
3
Oh and PS - where is best to get maps of NZ so that I can work out rough routes/times for travel etc to help us set a rough itinerary/number of days needed for little road trips in advance of arriving in NZ?Cheers
4
I would hire from Hamilton, to be honest, and return to Auckland before you leave.wises.co.nz is a good site for travel times between different places.
In Rotorua, Te Puia is worth a visit if only for the arts & culture centre. Otherwise Wai o Tapu is the other big thermal area. I think you would find the maori buried village quite a different experience to Pompeii - it is just as much of a cultural attraction as a historical site. There are also a large number of other thermal and scenic attractions around rotorua. I like the Rotorua thermal park for somewhere to stay - it's reasonably close to town, and has its own thermal pools onsite.
The botanic gardens in Hamilton are nice. But there's not much else worth seeing TBH. Raglan is a very nice little place only about a hour (I'm guessing) away on the coast. Matamata, where Hobbiton is, is also not very far away.
Not sure about accommodation in the BoI, but I would probably just have a car & use campground cabins, or hostels, or cheap motels.
With three weeks you've got quite a lot of time to do other trips, depending how much time you want to spend with family - what about taking the train down to Wellington for a few days?
Also I don't know what woudl possess you to make a special point of having a meal in the sky tower! sorry, and I know it's a great view for sure, but you don't need to eat up there. There are plenty of far better places to eat nearby - go up the tower for a look, maybe have a drink, and then eat somewhere else. Depot on Federal Street is the latest greatest place to eat - and it really is very good and a lot of fun.
How many are there of you? Two?
5
Hi,All of that sounds really helpful thank you very much for your advice.
I had heard public transport not best in NZ coz mostly over taken by guided tours etc and you have to book in advance, so my Aunty has now advised me to book a car for the whole 3 week period. This might be good though so then on our throw away days (which we have allowed plenty for as do want some rest rather than a hectic schedule) we could pop off elsewhere too, as you suggested maybe areas like Wellington. The problem really lies in our budget... so still got lots of research to do really and to find some bargain prices - hopefully!
I am really worried about not getting things booked up in advance as I am concious it is peak season and school holidays, but then thought if we leave it till we get there we might be able to get cheaper prices as obviously more likely to be the bigger companies online.
I was thinking about buying the Lonely Planet book on NZ as may help us judge distances etc, but my worry is although we can look up prices for hire of car, its difficult to judge additional costs such as petrol and that will also need to be taken into account within budget as again will likely be a huge chunk!
Yes there are only the 2 of us travelling, and as I say we can keep costs of accommodation down by doing some as day trips from base to minimise have to pay to stay elsewhere (although obviously BOI is too far to do in the day so will make more of areas such as that by having to stay).
Cheers
6
Hi,All of that sounds really helpful thank you very much for your advice.
I had heard public transport not best in NZ coz mostly over taken by guided tours etc and you have to book in advance, so my Aunty has now advised me to book a car for the whole 3 week period. This might be good though so then on our throw away days (which we have allowed plenty for as do want some rest rather than a hectic schedule) we could pop off elsewhere too, as you suggested maybe areas like Wellington. The problem really lies in our budget... so still got lots of research to do really and to find some bargain prices - hopefully!
I am really worried about not getting things booked up in advance as I am concious it is peak season and school holidays, but then thought if we leave it till we get there we might be able to get cheaper prices as obviously more likely to be the bigger companies online.
I was thinking about buying the Lonely Planet book on NZ as may help us judge distances etc, but my worry is although we can look up prices for hire of car, its difficult to judge additional costs such as petrol and that will also need to be taken into account within budget as again will likely be a huge chunk!
Yes there are only the 2 of us travelling, and as I say we can keep costs of accommodation down by doing some as day trips from base to minimise have to pay to stay elsewhere (although obviously BOI is too far to do in the day so will make more of areas such as that by having to stay).
Cheers
7
Have you had a look yourself to see where Intercity and Naked Bus go? I think they cover NZ pretty well.Petrol is about 214.9 at the moment for 91octane. But who knows what it'll be even tomorrow.
9
They arent local buses that run frequently but more of a distance thing. Some routes there'll be a choice of times, others you might only get one bus a day. They both have designated bus stops though at time of booking I suppose you could ask to be picked up at a point in between. If you want to be able to travel on a particular day especially during busy periods then you'll definitely need to book ahead as both companies are well used by locals. They will sell tickets at designated stops but only if any are available.10
the main trouble with buses is that they'll get you between the main centres, but once you're there (I'm thinking of rotorua as an example) you're going to have to rely quite a bit on taxis to get to the sights, and even then you're restricting yourselves to the ones that are relatively nearby. I would think it'd be cheaper to hire a car.12
Hi again, reading on some more forums, lots of people are saying SI is the better for scenery. Obviously we are basing ourselves in north due to visiting family but we are there 15 days. Is it doable to see the things we want to (BOI, Rotoura, Hobbitron & Auckland) and travel down to SI to see Milford Sands or the glaciers? How long to flights take/cost etc. We already have our flights booked from UK and unfortunately because didn't think of it sooner are flying in and out of Auckland so would need to do a few nights trip if it was something we could fit in/budget for?Also ideally, without all the car hire/sight seeing/accommodation what budget do you need per day per person in NZ? Whilst with family we could easily use supermarket and cook at home rather than eat out which could help.... Just wondering if we can budget somewhere else to allow a trip to SI as it sounds Amazing.... Failing that increase a loan??
Cheers
13
With no sightseeing, transport or accommodation, all you have to do is sit in a house and eat; from a supermarket, I'd aim at $50-60 per person per week.Car/campervan hire; varies, check hire websites.
Tourism entry fees, some places are free, some cost $30/person.
Accommodation; Backpackers/YHA tends to be $25-50 per person/night, depending on room. Camping sites cheaper.
In the time you have, Id suggest fly to Queenstown (from Auckland) or Christchurch (from Hamilton or Auckland), and doing a loop including those two places and the West Coast. You don't really have time for much more.
If you hire a car or camper van, you can still eat via self-catering from supermarkets.
see Grabaseat.co.nz for cheap deals,or the Air New Zealand website
