Going to New Zealand for three weeks in August. Keeping a pretty flexible schedule for now, so any tips / must sees / recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
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"In the Soviet army it takes more courage to retreat than advance."
3 weeks isn't a lot of time to travel by campervan from Auckland to Invercargill (and back?). I'd consider touring the north island - and then flying from Auckland or Wellington to Christchurch - domestic flights in NZ aren't too expensive.
If u do decide to rent the campervan - it will be low season - so not as pricey as it would otherwise be - campervans are popular in NZ with visitors - and so you can get fleeced.
A good rental company for cars is Rent-A-Dent - they are local in Auckland.
Go to Raglan - low key surf town - with an amazing beach on the Tasman sea
Auckland and Wellington are both very nice cities.
NZ is a great place to see a big band play live - they all stop in NZ during their world tours - and play in small venues.
Bring lots of warm clothes and rain gear - it will be cool and wet. It is ski season in August on the south Island - remember that especially if you go to Queenstown - it will be like hitting Banff in March. Personally i'd give Queenstown a miss - its like a Banff/Kelowna mix.
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Bring lots of warm clothes and rain gear - it will be cool and wet. It is ski season in August on the south Island - remember that especially if you go to Queenstown - it will be like hitting Banff in March. Personally i'd give Queenstown a miss - its like a Banff/Kelowna mix.
On the skiing down here:
If you're into skiing/snowboarding in the rockies, you will be very, very disappointed. The hills are small, the snow is hit and miss (mostly miss), and they are lacking the infrastructure that you see at Canadian ski hills. Plus the town is in a major boom phase where there isn't enough accommodation for all the visitors and residents, so everything ends up being extra expensive.
I'll second what the others have said about Raglan - it's where I learned to surf and just such a nice laid back little town. I really like Abel Tasman and that area at the top of the South Island, Kaikoura just north of Christchurch is another favourite. And if you're ending in Invercargill then you absolutely have to spend some time in the Catlins, the bottom corner of the island.
Send me a PM if you want more info, I'd be happy to provide any advice I can!
The North end of the South Island has a lot of Microbreweries popping up. I had many a good pint there. Although I was not a poor backpacker when I was there, I found the price of micro breweries a tad on the high side 13-15 NZ $ per pint (I think, hopefully someone can confirm). The area was beautiful and many of them were really cool places to stop by and chill, it was always a nice treat.
I went completely frivolous on my camper van rental - https://www.kiwikombis.com/ If you are going to go, go in style I say.
I'll second that is a pretty ambitious trip for 3 weeks. One thing I found was that my Canadian mindset was if something was 300 km away, I could get there in three hours. Not so much in NZ, roads are narrower and winding. Never really managed to average 100 km/hr except for up around Auckland.
One of my fave things was doing a 3 day hike and kayak trip in Abel Tasman park. Milford Sound was gorgeous. Queenstown was fun, loved Nelson. In Kaikoura I had time to either go whale watching or swim with dolphins. Did the whale watching, wish I had done the dolphin swim instead.
Wish I would have had more time to spend in Christchurch and the north end of the north island.
"If you're here in summer the first place you could go would be Cathedral Cove, on the Coromandel Peninsula. It could be a terrifying drive though, so it's pretty optional. If you forgo that, your next stops would be Matamata/Hobbiton, Waitomo if you like caves, and I'd recommend going through Taupo because the lake is amazing. Definitely take State Highway 1 down the country, by the way. The views are perfect. Tongariro National Park is pretty cool, google that and see if you'd be keen to stop there too. Anyways-from there the next cool things are around Wellington like Weta Workshop and various other LOTR fun times. Wellington is just a cool place really My knowledge of the South Island is pretty sparse but there's so much to see if you like neature and LOTR, haha. If you stop in Christchurch and need a brief diversion definitely go punting on the Avon, it's pretty cool. The scenic drive out near Akaroa is awesome too. You'll likely want to go to Milford Sounds as you get further down, and maybe Fox Glacier? I'm not sure what else is there."
Tips for New Zealand?
My knowledge of the South Island is pretty sparse but there's so much to see if you like neature and LOTR, haha. If you stop in Christchurch and need a brief diversion definitely go punting on the Avon, it's pretty cool. The scenic drive out near Akaroa is awesome too. You'll likely want to go to Milford Sounds as you get further down, and maybe Fox Glacier? I'm not sure what else is there."
