New Zealand South Island
Discussion
Rob would love to, but as its the Honeymoon, and the missus doesnt do much biking, I think she'd take exception to disappearing! She'll have plenty of quiet time when I'm bungee jumping & paramotoring. I intend on dragging her to most other stuff, although anything which is less pulse racing she'll be more than willing. I think her highlight will be the horse riding.
Rob13 said:
Yeah I thought that we should be ok.....
We've refined our trip a bit more so with a good wind looking as follows:
Christchurch 2 nights
Arthurs Pass at Jacksons
Franz Josef
Fox? (Or miss out and do a night elsewhere)
Wanaka 2 nights
Queenstown
Te Anau 2 nights
Queenstown
Mt Cook
Akaroa
Gives us 2 spare nights where we can spend on somewhere we really like. Tekapo is tempting but might spend 3 nights in wanaka, 3 in QT and 3 in Te Anau (inc overnighter at Milford or Doubtful) if we just do one of Franz Josef & Fox.
looks like a great plan !We've refined our trip a bit more so with a good wind looking as follows:
Christchurch 2 nights
Arthurs Pass at Jacksons
Franz Josef
Fox? (Or miss out and do a night elsewhere)
Wanaka 2 nights
Queenstown
Te Anau 2 nights
Queenstown
Mt Cook
Akaroa
Gives us 2 spare nights where we can spend on somewhere we really like. Tekapo is tempting but might spend 3 nights in wanaka, 3 in QT and 3 in Te Anau (inc overnighter at Milford or Doubtful) if we just do one of Franz Josef & Fox.
I wouldnt bother with spending a whole day at Fox, you'll be 'glaciered out' from Franz Josef...
Instead head to Wanaka, stop in Fox village for a coffee, then turn right, it takes you down the road ( 10 mins ), to the Mattheson lakes, theres a good visitors centre there now, and a 1-2 hour walk around the lake.. great views from there of mt cook etc.. then carry on towards Wannaka.
You can do it in 1 day, but you'll be knackered, and wont get the best out of the road or the views.. there are loads of stop offs on the haast pass to see.. te bridge across the gorge is great, big boulders !!
Theres also a nice beach before you hit the main haast pass roads, worth stopping on for a walk and some sea air
The 2nd time I did this trip, we stopped off in Haast Beach for the night.. which is about 2/3 of the way to wannaka..well worth it
Having a campervan is definitely the best way to travel, but you do need to leave plenty of time for little 30 min stops here and there, just to take in the views and the experience.
You dont need to worry about prebooking campervan sites, unless you are turning up in the late evening, as long as you are getting there by 5pm you will be ok for the best pitches. In fact, the only place that we didnt get in our first choice, was Franz Josef, so we just went to the next campervan park literally next door
have a great trip, come back and show us your pics
in the meantime.. here's a few of my cameraphone campervan shots from January..Jackson pass campsite, first day with campervan...
Random car park on shores of lake Wannaka
'Essential'
tourist trap at Wannaka...
typical campervan site view, with tea
and finally... view from carpark at Milford Sound..
Rob13 said:
Some stunning views there, although the camp site views are a little bit more car park than picturesque!
That Haast road does look a long trip and I can see myself stopping for photos every few miles. Must resist.....
hehe, the camp site views were literally on my phone so not the best, I was trying to get the van in shot, more than the scenery really That Haast road does look a long trip and I can see myself stopping for photos every few miles. Must resist.....
In most cases it just a case of walking to the edge of the campsite to get the proper views.. so that the vans etc arent in shot.
There are 2 main campervan sites in wannaka, one right in the town, ( walkable everywhere ), is massive and pretty much '60s design, so pretty concrete.. the other one is just on the edge of town, ( and 50% more ), but has fantastic views, and very new facilities.. we tried both, but if (when ) I was going back I'd use the one on the edge of town
make sure you take the back road via cordrona when you drive from wannaka to queenstown.. its fantastic, and no problem in a van
A camper is ok but the problem is you can't leave your valuables in it. For me that was a problem since I had a laptop and all sorts of things that I didn't want to carry all the time, so be careful, they are prime targets.
If you drive down the West Coast/Haast Pass and want to take photos it can take a very long time. I did Hokitika to Quenstown (in a car) and it took ten hours with photo stops
If you drive down the West Coast/Haast Pass and want to take photos it can take a very long time. I did Hokitika to Quenstown (in a car) and it took ten hours with photo stops
Whilst I'm sure the South Island will be the highlight of your trip if you are into the outdoor/scenery, I'd also highly recommend the Tongariro Crossing on the North island, just south of Lake Taupo.
http://www.tongarirocrossing.org.nz/
It's a one day hike over an active Volcano and is absolutely stunning. The OH is not really into hiking etc and was not keen to do it initially but was so glad she did afterwards. It almost feels out of place on the North Island as the scenery felt more fitting with the South Island.
WRT the South Island, everything I would recommend has already been mentioned so nothing more to add
http://www.tongarirocrossing.org.nz/
It's a one day hike over an active Volcano and is absolutely stunning. The OH is not really into hiking etc and was not keen to do it initially but was so glad she did afterwards. It almost feels out of place on the North Island as the scenery felt more fitting with the South Island.
WRT the South Island, everything I would recommend has already been mentioned so nothing more to add
Bugger all of that - bin your camper and book a 4x4. We went to NZ on our honeymoon and had 2.5 weeks on SI, a week on NI. We landed at Christchurch with a B&B booked for our first night, and that was it.
In the airport we picked up a pamphlet of "Superior B&Bs" and just booked 24hrs in advance as we went along. Just made the whole thing up, so if we got somewhere and liked it we could stay longer, if we didn't we just moved on elsewhere.
Roughly without looking it up we went E-SW: ChristC to Milford Sound via Te Anau, Wanaka, QT, Mt Cook etc. Up past the glaciers, then the big Arthur's pass back across to Kaikoura, then up to Nelson / Picton and up to NI.
God's own country, we WILL emigrate eventually.
In the airport we picked up a pamphlet of "Superior B&Bs" and just booked 24hrs in advance as we went along. Just made the whole thing up, so if we got somewhere and liked it we could stay longer, if we didn't we just moved on elsewhere.
Roughly without looking it up we went E-SW: ChristC to Milford Sound via Te Anau, Wanaka, QT, Mt Cook etc. Up past the glaciers, then the big Arthur's pass back across to Kaikoura, then up to Nelson / Picton and up to NI.
God's own country, we WILL emigrate eventually.
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