Depends on you, if you like tracking? Then yes, be sure to book your hostel before doing so. Night in Mt. Cook is freezing even in Summer.

If you don't do tracking, go to Tekapo for trips

Why no one mentioned Dunedin?I think, it was a good places also..will be there 2 weeks from now..can't wait!!

wasted if no go for mt.cook, the views are stunning.

Dunedin is a good place, if you are a student there that is, not much entertainment but the views along the way are great if you use bus or drive from Christchurch. Views along the way are quite nice, but unless I'm driving, I'll be sleeping all the way From there, you can drive around Otago Peninsula, enjoy the views of Otago bay, drive up the hills to Larnachs Castle IF you are interested, then along the way, drive to the Royal Albatross Colony to see loads of seagulls, probably some seals and even penguins and so on.

Queenstown is a beautiful place. Very nice indeed. Though its expensive since I don't have my own gears for skiing in the winter. The bill was... Still, going in different seasons will let you see the different side of Queenstown. Before I forget, go try FERG Burger! It's nice!

As for Christchurch, sorry to say but it feels kinda dead ever since the earthquakes. It's not like before anymore. Apart from chilling with my mates on Cashmere at night after dinner and enjoying the wind, not much to do for me there already. Mt Cook is another nice experience if you have the time. The lakes there are... amazing. Almost forgot about this, Antarctic Centre gives you a nice overview and experience of Antarctic, 2 "sakais" me and my friend (he stayed in CHC for 5 years but never went), tried it out last month and it's a really nice experience.

Overall, not to say I'm biased or what, for sightseeing travelling, south island is considered a better choice if compared to the north island. But then, New Zealand is one of the must travel country as "she" is really a beauty.

This post has been edited by digitalz: Oct 11 2011, 10:14 AM

I was hoping to get some nice tips from the experts over here. My wife and I are planning a two month trip to New Zealand in October/November 2012. We are not on a really tight budget but also do not want to go splurge all the way.

Some questions that I hope you guys/gals are able to answer:

- Is it cheaper to first fly to Northern Australia (with AAX?), then travel by plane or train or whatever to the South of Australia before getting a flight to New Zealand? I find direct flights to New Zealand to be quite expensive.

- Is Oct/Nov peak season for trips to New Zealand? What would be the best time to book tickets? Way in advance or a few months beforehand?

- With about two months - and at least 5 to 6 weeks for New Zealand - what would you recommend us to visit? We are currently considering buying a car for a self-drive. This seems to be the only affordable option; as a modern rental car is very expensive. We are both nature lovers and don't mind doing some (light to medium) hiking. I am especially fond of great panoramic views. I will build a Dutch travel website about New Zealand afterwards (force of habit ).

We are originally from The Netherlands, so both my wife and I are used to cold and crappy weather .

Hope you can help me a bit with getting some things clear.

Thanks

1st question. Which part of New Zealand are you interested in? North or the South island? That is the main part you have to think about before getting a car.

Back to your question: It still varies on the flights. From what I know, AAX still have cheap tickets available to Christchurch. But if you are planning to go around Australia, then it's a totally different case.

Oh ya, before I forget, the scenes are now as its spring now so you'd probably have very nice scenes along the way when you are driving.

But until you decide on which part of New Zealand to go, I can't really give you an answer now. Cheers!

This post has been edited by digitalz: Oct 11 2011, 08:52 PM

Thanks for the reply. Not sure about the budget yet. I am thinking it must be around RM15k max including everything.

With about 6 weeks, can't we do both islands?

RM15k for 2 seems to be a bit low. The time span is alright for two islands (in a sense where you stop by the places for like 1 day or 2 and you have to be strict with your time as you'll be driving), but when you have to calculate the ferry cost, the vehicle shipment from north to south or vice versa, there's still accommodations, food, fuel and stuff you need to calculate in.

This post has been edited by digitalz: Oct 11 2011, 10:25 PM

I will have my wife decide on what we want to see. I am a nature lover in a sense that I can easily stay at one place for a few days to explore the area a bit better. I think she likes her holiday to be the same. What I do not like is backpacking where I go from 'Owh' to 'Awh' every single day. I wouldn't mind seeing the highlights only and also don't mind staying a full week at 1 destination (that is worth of staying that long). I heard from someone that one island is better for buying and selling a car than the other. Also I was advised to just sell the car at one island en buy a new (old) one at the other island as shipment of vehicles is very expensive over there.

I also don't mind doing parts by plane and would actually prefer to do some scenic routes by train....budget can go higher, but also do not want to spend many thousands while it also be a bit cheaper. I would like to have a few days of splurge and the rest in basic guesthouses or hotels.

Ya, that could do as well. I mean the buying and selling car and yes the shipment of vehicles are not really worth it when you can either rent for long term or buy a secondhand car easily.

I understand your point so you should have at least a slight sketch of the trip blueprint before we can proceed? And ya, the train rides are worth it as the views are

Do you have any idea what a rental car would cost per day in NZ? We are thinking of shortening the trip and rely more on a few flights and train rides, combined with a rental car. We still have ample time, but after speaking with one of my buddies who did a similar trip as we have in mind in only 4 weeks we think that could also be good enough (as we can then head over to Australia to do a nice liveaboard or something).

They did both islands in 4 weeks. They figured (that usually also how we travel) that they will come back to see the other highlights. It's not a once in a lifetime trip; we'll probably come back.

The car rental usually varies from places. Usually it'll be cheaper when you just give them a call or walk-in straight. We've tried small cars for 45nzd a day, an Estima for 75nzd a day and so on.

Those rates are pretty decent. I am going to start figuring out which highlights we want to visit to get an idea of what we want to drive and where we want to use trains or planes ..thanks again for the input!

No problem. We were just lazy to drive our car all the way around. That's why we ended up taking buses to some of the places and rent a car there. The normal practice is the same, it comes with a full tank, so you have to top it up full before returning it. Most companies would require a bond though. In our case, 200 nzd deposit that will be returned the when you return the car in good condition.

Next year? North or South? 10 - 14 days (Travelling time included?) Accomodation: B&B, Backpackers, or the type of houses with rooms for rent?

And ya, December is quite nice to travel around NZ. It's not spring, but summer will do nicely too.

This post has been edited by digitalz: Oct 19 2011, 09:40 AM

went there 2 times edy. if you got driving license should be ok edy u can just rent the car there. i went to wellington from auckland by car. really nice view and all.. you can drop by at roturoa and mt.ruapehu.

I will travel on July 2012 for 12D11N with 2 adult and 2 kid, if u can do own cook, stay on Youth Hotel for sharing basis, travel by rent a car, me plan to cover major tourist area in South Island and hv a economy budget in mind, estimate RM 4-5k shall be enough to cover.

But in December the price will be slightly higher since it a tourist month.

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Added on October 19, 2011, 6:28 pmThis post has been edited by youngman28: Oct 19 2011, 06:28 PM

RM4-5k is really pushing it. Assuming you can get hostels for $50 per night and a car for $50 per day, you're already spending $1200 out of your $2000 budget on accommodation and car rental. Don't forget expensive petrol (I spent a good $300+ and I drove a diesel).

Also the days are very short in July so you'll be spending a lot of time indoors. I'd try and go when the days are longer and the weather is milder say in March/April or Sept/Oct.

Summer in NZ isn't hot at all, in Christchurch it is cold!! (As far as I know, CHC is colder than other places around that area)
For places around Christchurch, do take train to west cost, that is a true beauty of South Island! Other place would be Akaroa & Kaikoura for that short period.

Planning to go there March next year. Planning to visit Mt. Cook, Queenstown, Milford, Fran Josef.

Is 8 days enough?

does anyone knows a good and reasonable car rental company?

what are the driving condition gonna be at that period?

any other interesting place I should go?

thanks.