New Zealand - Please help me plan!

[Olf]

Seem to remember Nelson being a highly unremarkable place from our stay there. We used it as a start and finish base for a 3 day canoe trip in Abel Tasman. I'd avoid, there's better places to stay.

[Olf]

Having said that. Have you ever been to Canada? The Rockies etc?

[havoc]

Oops - I meant SE coast - those boulders, and Dunedin or Invercargill...

[Matt..]

Olf said:

Seem to remember Nelson being a highly unremarkable place from our stay there. We used it as a start and finish base for a 3 day canoe trip in Abel Tasman. I'd avoid, there's better places to stay.

I was going to use Nelson as a base for exploring Abel Tasman and other areas in the north

[Matt..]

havoc said:

Oops - I meant SE coast - those boulders, and Dunedin or Invercargill...

I think everything is rushed enough as is, and i think adding Dunedin would mean i never got out of the car! Unless i can lose days elsewhere that is!

This really is quite hard.


I am thinking of this now:
2: Christchurch
3: Christchurch
4: Lake Tekapo / Mt Cook
5: Queenstown
6: Queenstown
7: Te Anau / Milford Sound
8: Te Anau
9: Wanaka
10: Wanaka
11: Franz Josef / Haast
12: Franz Josef
13: Arthurs Pass
14: Nelson
15: Nelson / Abel Tasman
16: Nelson / Abel Tasman
17: Nelson
18: Kaikoura
19: Christchurch

Edited by Matt.. on Monday 21st September 21:05

[Olf]

Matt.. said:

Olf said:

Seem to remember Nelson being a highly unremarkable place from our stay there. We used it as a start and finish base for a 3 day canoe trip in Abel Tasman. I'd avoid, there's better places to stay.

I was going to use Nelson as a base for exploring Abel Tasman and other areas in the north

Hmmmm. is all I can say to that. Probably better places to spend your even you odd time.

So have you been to the rockies?

[Matt..]

Olf said:

Hmmmm. is all I can say to that. Probably better places to spend your even you odd time.

So have you been to the rockies?

If you don't think Nelson, then could you suggest an alternative?


I haven't been to the rockies no. Closest i have been to them is Whistler when i went to Canada in 2007.

[Olf]

Matt.. said:

Olf said:

Hmmmm. is all I can say to that. Probably better places to spend your even you odd time.

So have you been to the rockies?

If you don't think Nelson, then could you suggest an alternative?


I haven't been to the rockies no. Closest i have been to them is Whistler when i went to Canada in 2007.

Fair enough. Was just going to say that if you've done the Rockies in any depth I'd be spending my time on the North Island. More oddities their. Given my time over again I'd stick on the North Island.

As for where instead of Nelson... We'd have to throw that open because I don't know having stayed there!

[v15ben]

I used Nelson as a base for Abel Tasman back in 2006 and it was a fairly dull spot. However it is close to Abel Tasman which I really enjoyed and would highly recommend. I think the itinerary overall looks quite good.

[Matt..]

I am semi tempted to do one of the kayak trips in Abel Tasman that also has one night of camping. Not sure yet though, i'd like to get some opinions on whether to do that, or just stay in Nelson and just do day trips to Abel Tasman for kayaking/walking.

[Olf]

Matt.. said:

I am semi tempted to do one of the kayak trips in Abel Tasman that also has one night of camping. Not sure yet though, i'd like to get some opinions on whether to do that, or just stay in Nelson and just do day trips to Abel Tasman for kayaking/walking.

I did the kayaking in abel tasman - I'll tell you about it tomorrow. You HAVE to do it.

[Matt..]

Olf said:

I did the kayaking in abel tasman - I'll tell you about it tomorrow. You HAVE to do it.

You forgot to tell me!

I will do kayaking in Abel Tasman. I just need to decide whether to stay in Nelson and just do a day trip to Abel Tasman. The other options are to stay in somewhere like Motueka, or to do a kayak trip with a night camping!

[Olf]

Matt.. said:

Olf said:

I did the kayaking in abel tasman - I'll tell you about it tomorrow. You HAVE to do it.

You forgot to tell me!

I will do kayaking in Abel Tasman. I just need to decide whether to stay in Nelson and just do a day trip to Abel Tasman. The other options are to stay in somewhere like Motueka, or to do a kayak trip with a night camping!

Good point - I'll write about it tonight. I think we had three nights camping.

[v15ben]

Camping for me. We did some tramping and kayaking. Got dropped off at one of the furthest beaches by a water taxi and wandered over the hills and beaches. Love the place!

[Olf]

okay found it. We did a 3 day two night kayak/camp trip with these guys: http://oceanriver.co.nz/index.shtml

Speedboat out, kayak back. It was a superb trip. You have to be brave on occasion if you're not used to sea kayaking (my wife ) but the place is truly unforgettable.

I read back over my wife's diary for the trip and remembered that one of the reasons I was unhappy with Nelson was that we ended up way out of town in the accommodation we picked. On the way back we tried somewhere else and it was in the town and better (after the camping!) so maybe Nelson isn't a complete no-no.

This is where we stayed on the return:

http://www.cambria.co.nz/