Im planning to go to new zealand april 2014, still watching for the cheapest ticket..
Ive been saving for 2 years. Im planning to travel with campervan...
Im so excited but im wondering if april are a good month to explore NZ

April is good. Mid autumn - not too cold (could still be quite warm if NZ gets another Indian summer) and generally dry/no rain. You'll still have decent daylight hours eventhough daylight savings ends on 6 April.

Great, im so excited...

HI Guys,

I'm planning to bring my family to NZ on May or Mid Sept. Which time is the best?
Is it better to pay for tour guide or self driving?
Which place is suitable for me, my wife, 4 & 2 years kids.
-14 days trip
p/s: this is the 1st time i travel oversea with my family.

Hi,

Early May a bit cool, Mid Sept will be better.
Oct-Nov way better, but more expensive as well.

If you like to do some homework, self driving is a better
and cheaper option. 14 day can cover both north and south Island.
I would say split 8-9 day for SI and the rest NI.

I did it with some friend, and my own family, wife and 2 kid,
one is 6, another is 4 year old. Basically, you can rent a sedan
car and stuff the luagguges and others into car boot. Prepare to get
some infor on travel NZ on internet and book the hostel in advance.

Try to get airfare land in Auckland and departure from Queentown.
( if the cost is the same for land/depart from same city)
You will save abit of travelling cost by not repeat the route.

This post has been edited by youngman28: Jan 16 2014, 02:21 PM

Thanks Youngman, it was very helpful. I did some survey on the NZ weather before, if i not mistaken mid sept is the beginning of the Spring right. Is there any problem or boundaries to visit any place during this time? or when is the best month to visit, in term of weather, attraction places, cost and etc?

Are you and your family ok with colder weather? I would say Sept weather would be better, not too cold and not too hot either.

Everything should be open during Spring. It would be one of the best time to travel. If anything, you should only be worried about winter where daylight time is shorter which means less time to travel/sightseeing as attractions usually close earlier too.

I would recommend self drive, take some time to do some research, plan your route, rent a car and drive. You have 2 adults and 2 kids, just nice for a car.

Wow. This thread is suddenly so active. Haha. Sightseeing time, like what munkeyflo pointed out, it will be wise to go around September, maybe middle of the month?

But then, do take note on where you go as certain places like closer to Otago Peninsula especially Dunners might be a bit wet if you are not the type that enjoy sudden rain and stuff.

There are tons of things that you can try out in the South Island.
- The International Antarctic Centre tour (Christchurch) - Very near to the airport

- The Lord of the Rings tour - Different types of tour depending on how you want it to be.

- Cadbury factory tour in Dunners

- Otago Peninsula tour - Get a boat tour to check out the wildlife/drive your way all up from Dunners to the Royal Albatross Colony and just enjoy the great view.

There are quite a number of stuff to try out in New Zealand but it will depend on the time and budget you are willing to put into as well. Some of the tours I mentioned are not costly and they are informative as well.

Not much problem or boundaries at any month. But as highlighted by Munkeyflo, from our point of
Malaysian view, we prefer to travel in a cool wheather because over here was hot whole year round.
For me i prefer temperature range 5-15'C. My last visit was in early May 2012, temperature 0-10'C.
It abit cool, but ok for my family and me. If you travel whole NZ, then will be ok, since NI warmer than SI.
In early May, you can see some snow cap on the the mountain already.
But avoid July, some road will be close due to snow, and shorter day time.


For the attraction place, route visit , cost and tips etc.
i had share with the forumer here, please
refer back to pg 24-26, post date: April to June 2012

If you brain enough to read through whole thread,
70-80% of NZ travel infor can be getting here.

This post has been edited by youngman28: Jan 20 2014, 09:31 AM

i will be there got 4 days only, where do u all recommend to fly to?

christchurch or auckland better?

i was hoping to do the who lake tekapo,mt cook, queenstown, milford sound thing, but i think 4 days not enough rite??

your listed item all in South, better fly christchurch but 4 days is really squeezing it

4 days, flights included? Also, have you calculated the traveling time you will need?

And you do realize that most of the places that you've mentioned are in South Island? If that's the case, Christchurch it is.

I actually prefer Malaysia weather, hot and humid, hahaha

But yea, in general most Malaysian love to travel during cold weather.

Like the rest have already mentioned, all those places you listed out are in South Island, fly directly to Christchurch in South Island if you can. And 4 days is wayyyy too short to travel to NZ.

ya not sure got much time cause coming over for short holiday from my temporary working at sydney

anyway is it wiser to go auckland and do the glow worm cave + hobbiton (day tour) instead? since so short time

you could fly straight to Queenstown (i forgot which airline flies there) then do milford sound and do some extreme sport at Queenstown. There are some LOTR tourist stuff near Queenstown too. and since you only got 4 days. 4 days at queenstown alone is quite enough. Just that, not enough for the whole lake tekapo, mt cook, etc

Generally speaking, South Island is a prettier sight compared to North.

This post has been edited by ch89: Jan 20 2014, 04:17 PM

I would say Glow Worm and Hobbiton nothing much to see.

If you are choosing between North and South island, definitely go to South island.

depends on what you want to see, the wonder is on the south island not north. Like many here i like Queenstown the most it is much more happening with shops closing late rather than the usual 5-6PM.

Waitomo caves (there are 3 here, if you take combo price i.e. 2 / 3 caves it is cheaper). Actually you will be able to see glow worm in Ruakuri cave as well but the glow worm cave is more specific where you will be lead to a place where there is nothing but glow worms in a dark cave.

To drive out to Hobbiton from waitomo its about 100KM so i would say it is do-able but you must catch the first tour at waitomo.

If you are tight on time please book ahead and make sure you arrive on time, we did not as we wanted discount with voucher and there was only 5 places left for 6 of us. Luckily the staff was lenient and let us join else we had to wait 2 hours for the next available tour.

for sharing we also booked Hobbiton online and was caught in a early morning jam in Auckland, they were quite lenient as well allowing us to join a later tour (*provided that it is still available)

To make it easier for you. Fly AirNZ to visit the South. 4 days. Occupy yourself with activities in Queenstown for the four days. You can do quite a number of things there.

Take Jetstar bro, cheap cheap good good
I paid less than NZ 50 (promo) for 2 person, from CHC to QT, one way.

I am going again to New Zealand this October for 17 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Iam soooo excited!!!!!