Flights (6) have been booked for about a month in NZ plus a few stop overs early next year. The flight route is LA, Cook Islands (South Pacific), Auckland arrival, Christchurch departure, Kong Kong and London.
We are now planning the 3 weeks or so driving NZ leg and are thinking of using rentalcars.com. The prices are way, way cheaper than others but I wonder if they're any good. I do know that they are brokers. The typically quoted car is group C - Toyota Corolla automatic with a/c. I don't need auto but that's what they all seem to offer.
So - any knowledge of rentalcars.com please and any tips on driving. It seems in NZ they drive on the left and sedate progress is a requirement to avoid fines. I've renewed my licence from the old pink one to a photocard job just in case of possible difficulties in that regard.
Accommodation seems to be getting busy and several are already fully booked as it's high season.
PS we're staying a day or two longer than anticipated in HK to get the best flight deal and so I wonder if it's worth visiting anyone and buying up a few / a lot of cheapo items for eBay sale.
All tips welcome.
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10 years ago I did a three week car tour - in AKL & out CHC.
In spite of all the good reports re ferry N to S island we flew to save time.
I used Avis and they were very very good, One booking & one bill for.
AKL to WLG airport Corolla auto, Corolla auto waiting for me after I landed in S island.
Corolla auto dropped off at Greymouth railway station. Train to CHC where a Corolla manual ( my choice) waiting at the stations and finally drop off at CHC airport.
Keep the tank topped up when touring. There were big holes in phone coverage back then.
Lots of well equiped B & Bs
Absolutely loved it.
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We had a similar holiday in 2008 except we flew into San Francisco, drove down the Californian coast on Highway One and flew out of LA – recommended.
We enjoyed the Cook Islands (Raratonga) for a few days rest and relaxation on the beach although the weather wasn't kind to us – hot and humid but cloudy and windy.
In NZ we hired cars from Europcar – not recommended. The only choice was rather tired Mitsubishi Lancers with 100k km on the clock in both the North Island and the South Island.
North Island highlights were the Coramandel coast, the Waitomo glow worm caves and walking in the Tongariro National Park. The Skotel Alpine Resort is recommended, especially if you are going to do the Tongariro Crossing - described as one of the best one-day walks in the world.
We didn't take to the town of Rotorua, with its geysers, all rather drab.
We flew from Wellington, North Island to Christchurch, South Island as it could be included in our round-the-world ticket and saved on the ferry.
We picked our car up in Greymouth on the South Island after crossing on the Trans Alpine Express railway from Christchurch. In Christchurch we managed to get a taxi driver on his first day in the job – he had no idea where the railway station was – only just caught the train in time. The rail trip was good, especially if you like railways, but we felt driving might have allowed us to stop and look at the scenery in our own time. The Europcar hire desk at Greymouth took over an hour to process three car hire customers, the adjacent Avis and Hertz desks processed twice as many customers in half the time with better quality cars – mainly Focus and Corollas.
South Island highlights were helicoptering up onto the Fox Glacier, the towns of Wanaka & Queenstown and driving out to Milford sound from Te Anau.
We generally found accommodation as we went along with no problems.
Have a good holiday, we certainly did.
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Buying a suit is one thing many visitors do in Hong Kong - the tailors make them in 24 or 36 hours.
Brother did that a few years ago, he also bought me two ready made silk shirts which literally fell to pieces after a couple of washes, so there's some tat about.
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My suit wearing days are over - thankfully. My style is more Jeremy Clarkson. I do though keep a dark suit hidden at the back of the wardrobe for funerals and weddings.
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Iffy in a silk shirt?
< shudder >
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I have found all our booklets from our trip to NZ.
I will review and sort out the web sites for you.
There were just us two on the trip and as the only driver I did quite a lot of miles but loved it.
We visited a wide range of places etc except we totally bypassed AKL so no idea what is there.
Maps of course will be in KMs and I note on my Avis map that " rental cars prohibited" on the road from Waiharara to Cape Reinga at the Northern tip of North Island.IIRC every one said " "dont bother , its a waste of time. i
Have you any particular interests that I might have details of else I will list what we visited and comments ?
SWMBO probably has our itinerary somewhere.
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Some info - not in any order
Waitomo Caves.
Advice given and taken, Arrive at opening time. on exit the place was packed with coaches.
Kauri Trees Matakohe.
www.doc.govt.nz/conservation/native-plants/kauri/
www.kauri-museum.com/
The Kauri Museum - all about trees, timber, history. We loved it
Rotorua.
Interesting but drab place .
It rained and we finished up at the Agrodome and to our surprise really enjoyed the show about sheep
www.agrodome.co.nz/Presentation/Presentation1.aspx?ID=7900
The Homer tunnel
www.mitrepeak.com/blog/?tag=homer-tunnel
Beware of the KEA they will rip your wiper blades off and anything else
www.wimp.com/smartparrots/
www.arrowtown.com/
Lovely quite place unlike nearby night spotsin Queenstown
Fox glacier.
Easy walk to the base of the glacier. Did Helitrip up onto the snowfields
Milford Sound is so popular there is a large coach station for the tourist busses in the morning. A bit hectic, Not sure if there are later cruises
www.milford-sound.nz.com/underwater-observatory.aspx
Called in here on the way back on the cruise. Thereafter a small cruiser back to land.
All coaches gone and all was quiet.
www.fiordland.org.nz/ABOUT-FIORDLAND/Doubtful-Sound.asp
This is a FULL day trip. Boat, coach down into the power station and then over the pass to another boat on the sea trip. A great quiet trip but can be wet ( 5Metres of rain per year over the pass)
www.napier.nz.com/
Known as the Art Deco City, Napier has the most comprehensive collection of inner-city art deco buildings in the world.
We stayed in this hotel to get the effect.
www.masonic.co.nz/
www.visitoamaru.co.nz/visit/oamaru.aspx
Victorian Architectural Heritage
White stone buildings all spaced out. a surprising place.
Blue penguin colony. At night, in the dark , quite cold, and very controlled viewing area. Views of them rushing up the rocks and hiding.
Whales at Kaikoura
www.whalewatch.co.nz/
I used
www.whales.co.nz/
To save time I went fixed wing ( heli is available) rather than by boat.
Ist trip I saw nothing. Next day ( a free trip I just saw the sperm whale and it then dived). The pesky things are down for 20 plus minutes so back to land.
Went swimming with the dophins in a supplied wet suit. was cold but on exit, a hose pipe of hot water was stuffed down my collar - now there is a strange sensation as it travels downwards.
www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-visit/west-coast/buller-area/punakaiki-pancake-rocks-and-blowholes/
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try standbyrelocs.com
i am off to cuba at xmas for 3weeks and recenly reread that great thread you had a few years back
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3 weeks isn't a lot of time to cover this deceptively big country! I suggest 1 week in the North Island and then 2 in the South...
- Forget Auckland and Northland/Bay of Islands - not worth the huge detour northwards;
- check out the Coromandel Peninsula, then Tauranga, cut inland to Rotorua/Taupo and the Tongariro National Park, followed by a day in the Wairarapa before getting the ferry in Welly;
South Island: Marlborough vineyards, Kaikoura for the whale-watching, Hanmer Springs hot pools, then cross to the west coast: Glaciers, Wanaka, Queenstown, Milford Sound, then down to Dunedin.
Mount Cook village is off the beaten track but well worth a detour if you fancy stretching your legs in the mountains.
Takaka, Golden Bay, & Farewell Spit at the top-left of the south island is also worth a detour if you have the time...
Nothing to see in Christchurch (any more) and few hotel beds left in the city.
Traffic is light but roads are bumpy, twisty, hilly, poorly-surfaced... expect to average 50mph tops.
Hertz have a zillion 1.8 petrol Corollas and some Mazda 3s. Usually a bit cheaper than Avis. Also check out Thrifty? Ace Rentals are a popular NZ company that provide ageing Nissans at a cheap rate. Most rentals are automatic; manual is barely a quid/day cheaper anyway...
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Nothing much to add to Nick's indigenous knowledge: just a few points:
We had a blissful fortnight there in Jan/Feb 2009 - not long enough but we did pretty well and and saw a lot. New Zealanders are - like Nick - exceptionally helpful and welcoming, and SWMBO and I long to go back.
We used Thrifty who were cheapest at the time (for new cars) - new Corolla 1.8 automatics - a capacity which stupidly Toyota GB won't import to the UK. Crosing over from North to South you leave one car at Wellington and pick another up at Picton.
We flew to Auckland as we had friends to see there and others on the way to the Bay of islands (our first 2 nights there which was relaxing after the long flight). We enjoyed it there: Russell is worth seeing as it's perhaps the village most like a UK village that we saw.
High point - the cruise along Milford Sound: we had glorious weather so were very lucky.
Having enjoyed Christchurch and loved NZ we were so sorry about the devastating earthquake. Nick is of course right that there isn't much to see there now as they can't rebuild as they would like unless and until the aftershocks stop.
One more thing - the speed limits (max 100 kph) are strictly enforced. I suspect that crime is comparatively low and the police have time on their hands.
Last edited by: Avant on Mon 12 Dec 11 at 23:15
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Depends if you want to travel in style or not. There are plenty of very reasonably priced, friendly motels. We found the TI centers very good and you can pick motel guides as well.
Highlights for us:
Quad Biking on 90 mile beach, Queenstown (Sheepfarm at the other end the water serves brilliant afternoon tea after a trip up there on a paddle steamer also good for adrenalin stuff such as bungy jumping/swinging, Jet boats etc if that is your thing ). Milford Sound, I have some absolutely stunning photos that i will always treasure.
We used Ace rentals in both the North and South islands - cheap and cheerful but reliable, driving is no problem probably a little more sedate than over here and be prepared for unmade roads on occasions.
We took our kids out there 4/5 years ago when they were 7 and 11 and it has been money well spent - they still keep on at us to take them back.
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Much, much useful information - and so fast. Thank you all, but it will take time to absorb it all.
To start with we'll book the car today and may well go with Ace Rentals @ £1000 rather than Avis @ £1500.
The Napier Art Deco hotel looks very atmospheric and I've emailed about a booking and asked about car parking - their site doesn't mention it.
I've spent £50 on very good maps from Stanfords Bookshop in Long Acre London so we'll not bother with a Sat Nav @ £2.50 a day extra.
PS Stanfords is the best, by a long way, map shop I've ever seen and I use it often.
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>> PS Stanfords is the best, by a long way, map shop I've ever seen and
>> I use it often.
Even Sherlock Holmes thought so. Hound of the Baskervilles: "Watson, send to Stanfords for a map"
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Fifty quid would have got you a map of new zealand for your tomtom AND a very good map.
Edit
But then I guess "Watson, be a good fellow and log onto tomtom.com and order an SD card with a map of the antipodes, and be quick about it" doesn't quite have the same ring about it.
Last edited by: Zero on Tue 13 Dec 11 at 08:44
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When the Argentinians invaded the Falkands, the story goes a man from the Foreign Office pitched up at Stanfords and asked for every map of the area they had.
Might be true, since it later emerged the invasion caught us with our pants down in many respects.
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I think the story is true. The flip side is they had an influential senior Officer in the shape of Lieutenant Colonel Ewen Southby-Tailyour - who was in charge of the Marine element - he'd personally charted the Islands on his own initiative some years prior to the war and his local knowledge was invaluable.
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"Fifty quid would have got you a map of new zealand for your tomtom AND a very good map."
I don't do satnav. A decent map together with a navigator and knowledge of where the sun is at any time of day does me for 95% of the time and I don't expect to be driving in NZ at night either. I want to look out of the window and not at a 4 inch screen telling me to take the next exit or turn around.
The £50 was made up of a good fold up map at £10 plus two £20 A- Z types (one N and one S). There is so much detail in the 2 A - Z types that I can pore over them for hours and get a good feel of where I'm planning to go. I can see exactly where any planned accommodation might be located - a satnav is useless for all this.
I stress again, I'm not anti technology. In Prague recently I found the iPod, via WiFi, maps were very handy.
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If you have the luxury of a decent navigator who can read a map and give clear directions in time I would agree but if you haven't the combination of a decent map for route planning and a Satnav in which you enter the route you have chosen rather than let the Satnav decide is is for me the best combination.
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Feb-March 2010. We had 3 weeks total. 16 days in NZ which were not enough.
San Francisco, Auckland, Christchurch, Hong Kong.
Also used Apex but took the car on the ferry to Picton. Corolla 1.8 Auto did a great job.
We only drove at night once. Lots of Possums.
I downloaded an open source map for my Garmin that some Kiwis had created.
Most Motels have BBQ, laundry and wifi. We took a webbook to find places to stay.
Highlights
Pahia, Bay of Islands. Russell via water taxi is stunning.
Waitoma Glow Worm Caves.
Rotorua town is very drab but the thermals are good. We went to Waiotapu.
Kaikoura Whale Watching and 200+ Dusky Dolphins leaping out of the water.
and the local population of fur seals.
Franz Joseph Glacier. Too cloudy for helicopter when we were there. Walked to the glacier.
Dunedin is a nice city and home to Speights Brewery. Gold Medal very drinkable.
Dunedin Penguin and Albatross centres. Not cheap!
Between Dunedin and Christchurch Moeraki boulders
Antarctic Centre very near Christchurch Airport is supposed to be very good. We ran out of time.
Have a great time.
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One other place we visited and found great fun. at Wanaka.
www.puzzlingworld.co.nz/index.html
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You will find NZ very easy to navigate, outside Auckland, where about a third of the entire population decide to cram themselves, maps from the car hire cos and the trust smartphone kept us right for weeks. With the very best of intentions of "doing" NZ, we enjoyed our time so much we never got south of Wellington. Much preferred the Far North with its better climate and even accidentally drove the hire Odyssey up to the Cape and along a stretch of 90 Mile beach. (I undertand the SH is now fully metalled to Cape Reinga).
Enjoy.
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Taking on board ALL the comments, we have more or less planned a route from N to S going to about 80% of the places recommended - you just can't do it all.
We plan to book with Ace car rentals but through Rentalcars.com as they seem to do a better deal than going direct. Reviews seem to support this and our price seems to be coming out at around £34 a day. We'll have to see if it's a ten year old Nissan - but if it goes OK it'll do.
Then it'll be booking the N-S ferry and the initial night's accommodation in Auckland.
Thanks all. Now to buy a netbook.............
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Give us a shout if you come to the Coromandel and I'll shout you a flat white ;-)
Most Auckland hotels are a bit dour. I use the Pullman (part of the Novotel/Accor empire). FYI there's also a new Novotel right outside the airport's international terminal if you just want to grab some zeds before hitting the road...
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The route around the islands is pretty much finalised and much booking of motels has been done. The driving times between places vary hugely (+ or minus 100%) depending on which site you visit - it seems that some just divide the km by the speed limit and give a time.
Anyway, has anyone driven from Te Anau to Milford Sound ? We want to do the obligatory tourist cruise and are undecided about an all-in bus/boat trip or should we self drive the 2+ hours single trip. The reviews seem to be evenly decided: do you sit back in your seat and enjoy the view in a bus in a long convoy or get up early and beat the buses ?
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We drove up early to avoid the crowds. We were also able to stop and have a brew up or take photos wherever we wanted - next to lakes and the tunnel.
The actual cruise can be booked in advance in Te Anau. Just choose your boat big or small, and cruise short or long
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We also drove down and parked up. I dont remember the drive being arduous/convoy like, but there were some spectacular views. I do recall dire warnings about sandflys but they were not a problem when we went (February) although we did buy and apply some 'anti' spray or lotion.
Well worth the journey imho, I have some treasured photos from the boat ride.
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I would drive for the reasons above and I really enjoyed being at the jetty after all the coaches and the mob had gone. Being able to just sit there and enjoy the view and a stroll to the nearby waterfall.
A large set of panoramic photos of what is to view in NZ.
www.pbase.com/johnrendle/stitches
Kea
www.geolocation.ws/v/P/29007762/kea-inspection-after-homer-tunnel-road/en
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We drove.
Quite a few places to stop on the way or back.
We did a cruise including lunch and the discovery centre.
Very good.
One sandfly bite.
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I am a silly, silly billy. How naive .... ask on motoring forum if you should drive or get the bus and all the responses - quite naturally are "drive".
OK, we'll drive - but what will we be driving ? I reckon a 12 year Toyota, but we'll see.
We've taken a look at the cruise companies and Mitre Peak seem best as they have smaller boats.
Last edited by: Dulwich Estate on Tue 3 Jan 12 at 22:39
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Plenty of reasonable lake-front accommodation in Te Anau the night before. Get up at 6am and hit the road by 7. Loads of odd places to stop on the way. You'll be ahead of most of the bus tours and you can pull over wherever you like, not at the whim of a bus driver or tour guide.
When in Te Anau, look for my favorite street name in the entire world: Wong Way. It really exists! Bet that confuses a few people when giving directions :-)
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I'll check out Wong Way - reminds me of the no entry signs on dual carraigeways in USA.
The NZ tour route is now sorted as far as Dunedin which, apparently, has the steepest street in the world. Hill start report to follow.
In the meantime, has anyone done the The Taieri Gorge train trip ? Was it worth it?
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We did Taieri Gorge. A week or so before the whole area was on fire.
It was pretty good. The commentary is entertaining.
Are you doing the Penguin and Albatross Centres in Dunedin?
At sunset foot high blue penguins come up the beach next to the Albatross Centre. This is free.
Red flash required for any pics.
Last edited by: McP on Sun 8 Jan 12 at 19:43
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>>Are you doing the Albatross Centres in Dunedin?
IIRC we did not do this as it is seasonal. Worth checking
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>>The NZ tour route is now sorted as far as Dunedin which, apparently, has the steepest street in the world. Hill start report to follow.
Yes Baldwin street the steepest residential streetin the world.
It has a concrete surface on the steepest part as tar surface would flow down hill in hot weather.
Very interesing driving both up and down it. Loads of stuff on the web but dont spoil the surprise of driving it.
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Hill starts in a 10-year old rental Nissan Sunny sedan?! Good luck! Let's see if the handbrake holds you there in the first place :-)
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>> Hill starts in a 10-year old rental Nissan Sunny sedan?
!>> Good luck! Let's see if the handbrake holds you there in the first place :-)
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I fortunately had a new Corolla and thank goodness there is a flat stretch when you turn off the main road and attack the incline.
I do not recall trying a hill start on the steep bit. I would not fancy trying it.
It was a nice dry day when I was there :-)
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Touring in New Zealand - info please. - henry k
