Buses north from ChCh, evening....none?

Thorn Tree forumCountry forumsAustralia, New Zealand & AntarcticaNew Zealand
Enter custom title (optional)
This topic is locked
Last reply was
54
…
Send as an e-mail
Send as an e-mail
nice_but__
nice_but__

Hi all, home of you might recognise my name from some time ago.

I'm trying to plan a trip re-visiting around a few key places in the S. Island, and have hit an impasse at one point on the return leg.
We're on public transport (mostly Intercity/Newmans, but sometimes trains, ferries, Atomic and Nakedbus).
Aiming to get from Tekapo to Picton in one day, planning to stay the night in Picton....but so far it seems that the earliest transport out of Tekapo is late lunch time, arriving ChCh at 4.30pm...then there is nothing north from ChCh.
The last Intercity goes about 4pm.

Does anyone know of any other transport companies that go from CCh to Picton after 5pm?
Any other ideas, apart from renting a one-way car for that little bit?

Thanks

View last reply
Report
1
ianw6705
ianw6705

First train is 07:00 the next morning. No good? Depends on your ferry time I guess.

Copy and paste the url below to share the link.
Permalink to this post
Report
2
nice_but__
nice_but__

The aim as to spend a night in Picton and have most of the next day there before taking a ferry.
Not spend time re-visiting moonscape-land (ChCh).

Copy and paste the url below to share the link.
Permalink to this post
Report
3
ianw6705
ianw6705

The normal abbreviation for Christchurch is CHC, but carry on.

If you do get to Picton early enough, the Queen Charlotte Sound Track (involving local ferries) is outstanding ... superior to Abel Tasman NP in my view.

Copy and paste the url below to share the link.
Permalink to this post
Report
4
nice_but__
nice_but__

Yeah, the idea is to sleep in Picton, and have the day around the sound somewhere before a pm ferry....

Copy and paste the url below to share the link.
Permalink to this post
Report
5
ianw6705
ianw6705

Sounds like you might have a subtract a day from elsewhere in your SI itinerary (to state the totally obvious). Or rent a one-way car if the budget works for you.

Copy and paste the url below to share the link.
Permalink to this post
Report
6
westwood
westwood

What's normal?

Copy and paste the url below to share the link.
Permalink to this post
Report
7
ianw6705
ianw6705

What's normal?

Well, in this abbrev. rich world, if you wish to call a city by a short name, often the airport code works well, but I concede this notion is widely breached (LA, NYC, and so on).

Copy and paste the url below to share the link.
Permalink to this post
Report
8
kereru
kereru

Personally, having worked in aviation I prefer to limit airport codes to the airport & use Chch for Christchurch (where I live currently).
Anyway back to the OQ - AFAIK there are no night buses to Picton, after that Intercity one at 4 pm which I see frequently.
Have you thought about Transfer Car? They often need to get cars up to Picton. I did it once myself - you only pay for the petrol. www.transfercar.co.nz

Copy and paste the url below to share the link.
Permalink to this post
Report
9
ianw6705
ianw6705

Personally, having worked in aviation I prefer to limit airport codes to the airport & use Chch for Christchurch (where I live currently).

Yes ... fair enough ... it has to be used selectively. The only city I know that uses the airport code commonly as shorthand for the city is Portland Oregon (known as "PDX"). And I wonder how many cities in the world have "CH" three times in their name?

Copy and paste the url below to share the link.
Permalink to this post
Report

This topic has been locked by a moderator.

Pro tip
Lonely Planet
trusted partner