New Zealand

zooankski · 11 Oct 2009 at 21:25

I am off to New Zealand in December for 3 weeks (just me with no wife and kids!

) and wanted to ask what other people who have visited thought of it?
Any recommendations on where to visit or things to do?
I am staying with my best mate who emigrated there and now lives in Tauranga but i don't fancy the typical tourist type trips so something off the beaten track perhaps??? He doesnt seem to have much clue as he spends his entire life running his gardening business it seems :rolleyes:

Scam · 11 Oct 2009 at 21:45

Fantastic place. The extreme sports-type stuff is a bit of a cliché but it's all damn good fun. Off the top of my head:

Lake Taupo for skydiving (it's the cheapest and best scenery for it)
Queenstown for a bungee jump, the Shotover Jet, white water rafting and partying
Abel Tasman for sea-kayaking
Wanaka for relaxing, and day trips skiing
Tasman Glacier @ Mount Cook
Auckland for the Sky Tower
Doubtful Sound/Milford Sound for amazing scenery and boat trip

cheechm · 11 Oct 2009 at 21:51

This: http://www.bungy.co.nz/index.php/pi_pageid/24 or http://www.bungy.co.nz/index.php/pi_pageid/191
This: http://www.zorb.com/zorb/rotorua/

Abel Tasman kayaking/walking is great. Tauranga
Lake Taupo does have beautiful scenery. A nice boat ride is fun.
Helicopter ride around the mountains!

All much fun. Done them all.

Matt · 11 Oct 2009 at 22:09

I am also there is december for approx 3 weeks. I am only visiting south island though, and my route looks like this:
- Christchurch (+ Akaroa)
- Mt Cook (+ Lake Tekapo) - Heli trip
- Queenstown
- Te Anau (+ Milford Sound)
- Wanaka - Skydiving
- Franz Josef (+ Haast) - Heli hike
- Arthur's Pass
- Abel Tasman - 2 day kayak trip
- Nelson
- Kaikoura

JBuk · 11 Oct 2009 at 23:18

I'm there in January but only for a week at Christchurch before I move on to Aus, been before though

Highlights last time were

Flying to the Milford Sounds then ferry trip, this is an amazing experience, flying in a light aircraft over the glaciers then slowly decending between the sounds and landing on a tiny airstrip

Queenstown, nice place to eat, drink & relax , try some of the local wines, etc
there's also the jetboat trips here, well worth a try, they take you up a river that is only a few inch deep at breakneck speeds

Trip from Dunedin to Queenstown is quite nice, I went on a bus and it stopped at lots of farm shops selling perfectly ripe fruit just picked

Arrowtown is nice for a few hours just for a drink and a look around although there's nothing much else to do there

next trip i'll be heading to Kaikoura on the train and seeing places around Christchurch, maybe Arthurs pass,etc

zooankski · 12 Oct 2009 at 00:01

cheers for the info-i can't wait. Definately fancy jumping out of a perfectly good plane for a laugh!. Now all i need to do is work out how much spending money i need to take.

JBuk · 12 Oct 2009 at 00:06

I reckon £1k minimum if you want to do a few things

zooankski · 12 Oct 2009 at 00:15

JBuk said:
I reckon £1k minimum if you want to do a few things

don't think i will be able to stretch quite that far but i guess there is always the old plastic. lucky i don't have accomodation or transport to pay for i guess!

sunlitsix · 12 Oct 2009 at 00:48

cheechm said:
This: http://www.bungy.co.nz/index.php/pi_pageid/24 or http://www.bungy.co.nz/index.php/pi_pageid/191

Awesome!!!

When I went to New Zealand we only stayed on the North island, so I did the Auckland bridge bungy and the Skyjump. Must visit the South island to do those now!

zooankski · 12 Oct 2009 at 01:06

sunlitsix said:
Awesome!!!
When I went to New Zealand we only stayed on the North island, so I did the Auckland bridge bungy and the Skyjump. Must visit the South island to do those now!

broke out in a cold sweat just watching that :eek: