Flights to New Zealand: With whom and what stop over?

Oxy said:
i'll most likely be on my own so bus probably.
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Have a look at - http://www.straytravel.com/

I had a really good time on their tour. Small buses and you will meet people from all over the world. The drivers are pretty good as well, they will come out drinking with you. :)

They take you to most of the places you will want to go. You can hop on and off them if you get somewhere and want to stay for a few days extra.

Hamna Springs is the only place they will not go to as it is a bit of an NZ secret.

Few places I went which I can recommend -

Hot Water Beach
Rotorua
Surfing in Raglan
Hiking over Mount Doom (Tongariro)
Caving in Waitomo
Sky Diving in Taupo
Wellington
Abel Tasman
Wine tasting in Marlborough.
Wanaka (THE most beautiful place I have ever been to)
Climbing the Franz Joseph glacier (I flew up in a helicopter) :cool:
Queenstown for the bungee's and canyon swing. (do the 'Thrillogy')
Milford Sound
Night out drinking with the locals in Barrytown (Baz Vegas)

I did a load of snowboarding out there but that depends on what time of year you go.

The list goes on, and on. :)
 
hehehe as Mr T sort of said "I ain't jumping out of no plane"... I get scared on a one storey ladder lol.

Papa did you go there alone?

sounds like loads to do!
 
I went with the missus at the time which to be honest, was a bit of a drag. If I go back I am going solo. It is the best way.

You will meet so many people and some will becomes friends for life. :)
 
Liquid_Entity said:
I used the Magic bus to get around.

You basically find the company who are doing the best deal at the time. there's even some bus company where you can for a ridiculous price for Wellington to Auckland and vice verse for £1. All through the night though so you miss out on all the amazing scenery.

Also check out www.grabaseat.co.nz for cheap flight fares all the time. Got to be quick though. I managed to get a full return fare from Auckland to Tokyo for $1 yes that's $1 dollar from Grabaseat. I've never flown so cheaply on Air New Zealand hahahah

What there is to do in NZ ? That would make for one serious list !!

Top highlights for me was:

North Island:

Tongariro Crossing -17km across around and through a volcanic, mountainous region of the North Island

Lake Taupo - bungee, skydiving, on the lake, also the base for Tongariro Crossing.

Wellington - where I lived for 8 months, loved it, smallish city, plenty to do and the girls are hot !!

Coromandel Peninsula - hire a bike go for along ride, climb Lion Rock and check out the 360 degree view can almost see across to Auckland too. Stunning beaches and scenery.

Northland - Cape Reinga - very special Maori place, giant trees and giant sand dunes to surf

Loads more stuff to do too.

South Island:

Milford Sound: the journey there is stunning in itself, dolphins, waterfalls, mountainous scenery

Queenstown: The place to be for a tasty Fergburger, cocktails out of a teapot, skiing and apres ski, also stunning in the summer too. Where I did the Nevis bungy jump too (134m)

Lake Tekapo: Astronomers sanctuary up on Mt John, very peaceful place, loved it, hired a bike and rode for hours.

Christchurch & Akaroa: Small city, looks like Stratford upon Avon, dolphin and whale watching

Franz Josef: Glacier walking

Absolutely loads more but as you're only going for a few weeks doubt you'll get too much in. Just head for most of those.

If you pick 3 it would have to be Tongariro, Queenstown and Milford Sound and maybe getting a few others in brief too.
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PapaLazaru said:
Have a look at - http://www.straytravel.com/

I had a really good time on their tour. Small buses and you will meet people from all over the world. The drivers are pretty good as well, they will come out drinking with you. :)

They take you to most of the places you will want to go. You can hop on and off them if you get somewhere and want to stay for a few days extra.

Hamna Springs is the only place they will not go to as it is a bit of an NZ secret.

Few places I went which I can recommend -

Hot Water Beach
Rotorua
Surfing in Raglan
Hiking over Mount Doom (Tongariro)
Caving in Waitomo
Sky Diving in Taupo
Wellington
Abel Tasman
Wine tasting in Marlborough.
Wanaka (THE most beautiful place I have ever been to)
Climbing the Franz Joseph glacier (I flew up in a helicopter) :cool:
Queenstown for the bungee's and canyon swing. (do the 'Thrillogy')
Milford Sound
Night out drinking with the locals in Barrytown (Baz Vegas)

I did a load of snowboarding out there but that depends on what time of year you go.

The list goes on, and on. :)
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tibbsey said:
I used http://www.kiwiexperience.com/ when I was in New Zealand.

Had two fortnight trips with them, one for each Island.

Great fun, very helpful staff as well.
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All really good tips - I would also recommend taking the time to visit some wineries along the way and also try to get out on Taupo for a high speed boat tour.

Wellington is my home town and worth the visit - beautiful little city.

Can I also make the suggestion to smile, say Kia Ora (hi) as much as possible and don't be afraid to chat to the locals - Kiwis are awesome people (unashamedly biased here). Oh and EAT man eat as much good stuff as you can (food may be referred to as Kai every now and then which is why Roonies kid may elicit some chuckles from people)...

I hope you have an awesome trip and love it as much as I do.
 
A heads up, don't do kiwi experience if you're doing the bus thing.... it's the one full of 18 year olds who have only just discovered drinking!!! Stray bus would be much better and that's who I went with.

As mentioned above, Tongariro Crossing is an amazing hike up past mount doom from lord of the rings to the top of some incredible mountains. One of the best things you can do in NZ.

Franz Josef glaciers is another awesome experience and trek that you should do.

and Waitomo Caving is another cool thing to do!!!

Check out some of the videos on the Stray bus website for a much better idea of the sorts of places you can visit/do!!!
 
Stumble Bum said:
A heads up, don't do kiwi experience if you're doing the bus thing.... it's the one full of 18 year olds who have only just discovered drinking!!! Stray bus would be much better and that's who I went with.

As mentioned above, Tongariro Crossing is an amazing hike up past mount doom from lord of the rings to the top of some incredible mountains. One of the best things you can do in NZ.

Franz Josef glaciers is another awesome experience and trek that you should do.

and Waitomo Caving is another cool thing to do!!!

Check out some of the videos on the Stray bus website for a much better idea of the sorts of places you can visit/do!!!
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yeah good call - Kiwi experience is similar to doing a Contiki over here.
 
Generally speaking fly with an Asian airline, as they are almost all excellent. Malayasia, Cathay, Singapore Airlines. Air New Zealand are also excelent.

Don't waste time with Virgin, BA etc - all average compared to the brilliant airlines listed above. You wont even pay more money to fly with them.

Stopover depends on who you go with.

Air NZ: Los Angeles
Singapore: Singapore
Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur
Cathay: Hong Kong

Tours are boring, hire a car, grab a lonely planet and do it yourself.
 
I've flown to NZ with pretty much every airline going, Singapore Airlines are definately the best, I normally fly Air New Zealand because they're the cheapest and still very good.

To be honest I've not really had any bad experiences, Virgin are fine, BA were good too, but the Asian airlines tend to have the better service and food.

In terms of meeting people you'll have no problem meeting backpackers, there's thousands of them and it's a very sociable group, you'll have a blast!
 
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