We spent two weeks driving around the South Island for our honeymoon and loved it. You guys have mountains!, I mean, yeah we have some hills in Australia but the ones in NZ are awesome!
Started in Christchurch, drove to Mount Cook, had two crystal-clear days there, down to Queenstown then Te Anau for a day at Milford Sound, Queenstown again and then Wanaka before driving up the west-coast to Greymouth and catching the train back to Christchurch.
If I could figure out a way to live in NZ during summer and spend winters in the Australian desert (I’ll never stop loving the red dust) I’d do it in a minute.
I looked for, er, the number of wounds because the name seemed familiar. I’ll have to ask and check … on second thoughts I might not, that line of questioning could be awkward.
We met a few (friendly) Koreans but only a handful.
Battle Pope my first thoughts would be either working online or tourism (or a mixture of both,). On second thoughts I saw a lot of logging trucks in the mountains in NZ, maybe that work is also seasonal?
My wife and I will be visiting New Zealand next month for 3 weeks. She has some distant cousins on both islands. We are renting a car for a few weeks and my concern is how much adjustment is there from driving on the left to driving on the right side of the road?
We have planned a driving tour of the south island, Sefton to Hokitika, then to Queenstown, Te Anau (and a tour of Milford Sound), back to Queenstown then a leisurely drive back to Sefton. Any suggestions for must see things and great places to eat would be much appreciated.
That looks like a great route! Well-planned, I’d say. Be prepared for lots of mountainous driving conditions on good roads, with plenty of places to stop, drink your coffee you took in a thermos and take a few snaps.
As to driving on the left side of the road; when I’m driving I tend to stay parallel to the divider in the middle of the road. I’ve driven on both sides and it gets to be a habit after a while. In the mountains in NZ there an awful lot of ‘recommended’ speed signs when sharp corners and switchbacks are coming up - pay them plenty of attention as they are uncannily accurate, but just don’t become complacent as a huge logging truck or recent rockfall (or sheep crossing) might just be around the next corner. For driving thrills and entertainment it doesn’t get much better than in the mountains there. I was doing 8-10 hours some days (with several coffee/picture/lunch breaks) and it was certainly much more interesting and stimulating than driving on a main motorway/interstate for hours.
Not sure what to recommend in each town as I don’t know what you’d like. I’m tempted to say wherever you’re in a coastal town try the seafood but most of NZ is nearish the coast anyway.
Just as a heads-up, NZ is so small you could take that journey in one day if you wanted to. Obviously you’ll be stopping over at loads of cool places, but my point is distances are deceptively small (the opposite of Australia).
If you are going through Arthur’s Pass, consider the train. You can go by road, but it’s one of the best rail journeys in the world.
With respect I must disagree. The OP is traveling from Christchurch to Milford Sound via the West Coast which is an excellent scenic route - but long. Very long.
Its about 1000km and 12 hours and frankly, not a journey I’d even attempt in one day, and I live here.
To put it in perspective, tourists travel daily in luxury coaches from Queenstown to Milford Sound where they usually have a three hour boat trip, then return to Queenstown (with many asleep). That is a very full day despite the two destinations appearing close on a map.
Ultimately to enjoy New Zealand both the people and the scenery, take your time. And stop whenever you feel like it.
Three weeks is a decent length of time and you could comfortably cover most of the South Island. However I imagine you’ll want to spend time with the cousins at Sefton and in Christchurch so two weeks travel may be what happens.
Christchurch is beautiful, our most English of cities but its been dramatically torn asunder by the earthquakes. Sadly it isn’t quite so interesting at the moment.
I’m sure that I and others could suggest routes and various places but it would be helpful to know what engages you. Bungy jumping? Museums? Remote empty plains? Glaciers? Whale watching? Volcanos?
Covington, Washington State. Ok. So volcanos, lakes, forested mountains and the sea are not new to you. However the NZ bush is quite different to the douglas firs.
To be honest you live in the part of the USA most similar to NZ, particularly since Washington has a wet west coast, mountains, and a dry quasi-desert east. You’ll find similarities here but of course the flora and fauna are different and the people are different.
FYI my experience is New Zealanders are a lot like Canadians. No idea why, but we get along and seem to have similar values. Pretty laid back.
The main thing to remember when travelling in NZ is that we basically don’t have anything like “interstates” -
Almost ALL the roads are dual carriageways (one lane in each direction with a white line down the middle) - so don’t expect to have good speed.
The Automobile Association of New Zealand has a trip planner with travelling times and distances between a whole bunch of places - THAT is a really good guide for the holiday maker (although if you are really pushed for time, and willing to “zoom zoom” the times are pretty generous)
I come from Christchurch - (well actually Akaroa, a small town 80 minutes drive away)
Be sure to visit the museum there, and also take a drive up to Sign of the Takahae.
Eat fish and chips from a corner store
Do visit Kaikoura and eat crayfish and go whale watching if you get the chance (this is a day trip from Christchurch)
I was there last June, and travelled from Christchurch to Auckland in a 5.2 metre Campervan, and had an absolute blast. (even if I was travelling with a 1 year old and a 65 year old who couldn’t take the cold)
First time I had done such a trip, and it was totally wonderful - would recommend it to anyone. We visited family all the way up (Pelourous Bridge, Nelson, Wellington and Hokitika, would do the same trip again in a heartbeat.
Okay, maybe two days. It takes a day to get from Dunedin to Nelson, if you drive like gangbusters, and you can easily cross from the east coast to the west in half a day, so I extrapolated. I did forget the windy roads of the West Coast and Haast Pass and Arthur’s Pass, though.
Christchurch has some gorgeous areas; if you’re over that way have a look in at Quail Island and the wharf, Governor’s Bay, at sunset. There are some lovely coastal places around Akaroa too. If you go to Queenstown make sure you head up on the gondola. If you go to Dunedin you get a great view of the Otago Harbour from the New Zealand Centennial monument on Signal Hill, and you cannot miss Baldwin Street there. At the Otago peninsula you can go penguin watching.
Then there’s Golden Bay and Nelson in the north. Much more to do elsewhere too.
Unless your last name is Vettel, Alonso or Hamilton I wouldn’t try speeding on the roads up in the hills (ie pretty much everywhere inland); I think either you’d eventually come off and roll down a mountain, drive into the back of a logging truck or miss all of the views.
and take a few snaps.