StanT

My wife and I are headed off to New Zealand at the end of February for a 3 week trip. We have plane tickets, a tiny rental RV, and reservations for a 3 day hut to hut hike. We plan to limit our trip to the south island. Any suggestions on things we ought to see or do? We've got the guide books, we're looking for things that are less touristy and off the beaten path.

kiwiman

Take a helicopter ride from Queenstown up to Franz Josef/Fox glaciers. They take you around the Southern Alps as well, it's pretty cool.

Other than that, all i can tell you is pretty stereotypical touristy stuff. Whale watching in Kaikoura, bungee jumping in Queenstown, old crap in Dunedin, it should all be in your guidebook.

acostello

Catch a one day game of cricket

sherpahigh

If you're into hiking you'll have no end of great stuff to see there. With three weeks you should have quite a bit of time to cover a lot of the South Island so go see it. The West coast is pretty cool, the Fox and Franz Josef glaiciers are pretty amazing and the scenery in general is stunning.

If you're not into the touristy stuff your best bet is to hit the trails, so many good things to see that way.

You might also try putting this into the Australia forum for some more specific feedback. Also do a search and you should find one of my old threads about my short trip and what people suggested.

Have fun.

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snowy

I did a HUGE project on NZ this last fall--I had to plan a three week trip through both islands as a result. Though I haven't been there, this website made me feel as if I was: www.newzealand.com/travel

Some of the cooler places I came across and am dying to visit: the Catlins, Abel Tasman Nat'l Park, Canterbury, and the Marlborough wine region.

I'm incredibly jealous--NZ is at the top of my list.

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StanT

The west coast and glaciers are on our list of things to see. We are pretty much against having an itinery, with the exception of the hut to hut hiking, which required a reservation. We are flying into Christchurch and heading south, doing the Routeburn trek, and hitting the fjords. Gonna head up the west coast, after that, but our plans get pretty vague from there. I'll check out Abel Tasman Park online, I wasn't planning on going that far north, but there's no particular reason I couldn't. No interest in wine or wine country, we are more brewery inclined.

Crisis

When I went kayaking in March the baby sea lions would actually jump on the front of the kayak out of curiousity. That was a pretty cool experience. For being the country to introduce bungee jumping to the workd it was sure pretty damn expensive to jump off a damn bridge. You can't leave without seeing one rugby match. I think Super 12 should be playing. My friend was asked to play for the Hurricanes while he was training up there but decided to play in for the Canadian Under 21 tourney in South Africa. Definately the best trip of my life and I plan on going back in a couple years to search for a job.

vector_1979

Let me know how you get on because I am planning my trip to NZ for boxing day for 4 weeks. Would like to know what is worth seeing/doing? What not to do...? Have a good trip.

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fallsauce

Apparently there's a fantastic hiking trail somewhere in milford sound that lasts a few days, it's limited and it cost quite a bit, so I don't know if you're interested. I don't know any details but my dad really wants to go.

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apeman

sounds like the Milford track

1) glaciers
2) go to the bottom of Mount Cook if there's any chance of seeing it (it's usually in a cloud)
3a) Queenstown - either Dart or Shotover River Jet boating
3b) jet-boating somewhere else

those were my favourite bits

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tommylee02

Sheeptipping!! Sorry, had to say it.

StanT

I grew up in Illinois farm country, already been cow tipping, how different could sheep be?

19 days and counting. We'll definitley go to Milford Sound, but some of the descriptions of sand flies made us decide against the Milford Track. My wife wants to be able to bail if she's getting eaten alive. We'll be doing the Routeburn Track, instead. We may decide to do the Milford , while we are there, this will be a make up our mind as we go trip. Guided treks (with showers & meals) are expensive. A bunk in a hut is pretty cheap.

Kayaking somewhere, is definitely on our list. Maybe Milford Sound.


I'll probably post pictures in a blog somewhere, I need to think through the logistics of multiple blogs.

Spartak

You're lucky that we're getting some good (actual summer!) weather at the moment. It's actually quiet rare.

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