Visiting New Zealand - looking for suggestions

In a streak of luck for which I shall forever be grateful, a work opportunity is giving my family the chance to visit New Zealand at the beginning of July this year.

My wife will be conducting seminars related to her work in museums in both Auckland and Christchurch. We'll be in country for almost two weeks and are looking for suggestions. In addition to my wife and myself, we'll be bringing our high school age kids.

Are there any GWJers there? Any suggestions of what to do with our time? How 'wintery' should we expect it to be from a temperature and travel perspective?

Thanks in advance

That's awesome.

There are a few of us around here.

Suggestions of what to do will depend on what sort of things you are into and what free time/money you have to get to them.
The main pillars of NZ tourism are:
Looking at stuff - mountains, coastlines, forests, volcanoes
Maori culture - villages, cultural experiences
"Adventures" - jet boating, bungy jumping etc
Hobbits

As for the climate - we have a song about that - "four seasons in one day" - it will be probably warmer than you would expect in winter. If you want to see snow you'll have to go looking for it, and in July you won't find much even if you look. Be prepared for rain, wind, fog and sunshine in seemingly random order and quantities.

I lived in Christchurch for a year, and I'll list the things I liked in that area and others when I have some time.

Redherring wrote:

That's awesome.

As for the climate - we have a song about that - "four seasons in one day" - it will be probably warmer than you would expect in winter. If you want to see snow you'll have to go looking for it, and in July you won't find much even if you look. Be prepared for rain, wind, fog and sunshine in seemingly random order and quantities.

...so New Zealand is Portland but way south?
All the ideas sound good to me so far. We're cool with seeing museums and other indoor things but I'd definitely like to see some of the countryside that I've seen images of in the past.

TuffaloBuffalo - that would be great and since you're local to me, maybe I can buy you a beer or a lunch to get some ideas.

Native kiwi here, too. But from Wellington, so not especially useful to you, but I have opinions based on my own holidays around the country.

There's a bunch of stuff to do around Auckland - I'd recommend Rotorua and surrounds which is not too far away. There lots of volcanic activity, geysers, plus it's been a tourist destination for 150 years so plenty of other stuff to do.

Christchurch will be a lot colder in July - expect frosts and maybe snow. If you can afford the time and money, head to Queenstown, which is on a lake in the mountains and has more scenery nearby than you will be able to see. You can also strike out from there to see Milford or Doubtful Sound, which are both fantastic.

Eat/drink the following:

  • L&P (soft drink)
  • Whittaker's peanut slab (candy)
  • A meat pie and a sausage roll from a tea rooms (yes, "a tea rooms")
  • Jaffas (candy)
  • Pineapple Lumps (candy)
  • Butter chicken from a decent Indian place (the kiwi variant is incredibly tangy and delicious)

Turns out she's doing one in Wellington too so we will be there. (I'm still catching up on the required logistics)

Looks like the primary dates are
First of Julyish in Auckland
Wellington by the 8th and Christchurch by on the 12th.

Rahmen wrote:

TuffaloBuffalo - that would be great and since you're local to me, maybe I can buy you a beer or a lunch to get some ideas.

Yeah! Let's try and plan on lunch some time soon. I'm in Memphis for work through the weekend and busy, so I'll send you a PM early next week, and we can figure something out.

Sounds good. I'll look forward to it

Rahmen wrote:

Turns out she's doing one in Wellington too so we will be there. (I'm still catching up on the required logistics.

Oh cool, I can give more detailed recommendations for Wellington Sadly, those dates are exactly when me and the family are heading to Australia for a (relatively) warm winter holiday, so I won't be able to show you around personally.

There's a bunch of craft breweries around here, and some very good bars that stock them, if you are into beer. Let me know if that's you and I'll get you some details.

Try to get to Zealandia if you have fine weather - it's a fenced off piece of the suburbs turned into a wildlife sanctuary, and it's a nice spot to walk around.

Oh! And while you're at a tea rooms try a kiwi-style cream donut. Looks a bit like a hot dog -- except instead of bun/frank/ketchup, it's donut/whipped cream/raspberry jam. Understated and delicious.

While you're at it, go to a rugby game and get a hot dog. It's a battered sausage on a stick. The ones with the buns are "American hot dogs."

Also, and can't believe I missed this out of the initial list either, get some fish and chips. Tomato sauce (like ketchup but better) for the chips of you like, but the fish needs no accompaniment. Ideally get them at Bobby's Fish Market, Dive Cres., Tauranga, but that may be too far out of your way. The worst "fush and chups" I've had in NZ has been better than the best I've had anywhere else, with at most a couple of exceptions.

Thanks again for the suggestions earlier. We fly out Tuesday and we're all very excited.

We'll be spending nights in Auckland, Rotorua, Wellington, Picton, Lake Tekapo and Christchurch. If you have any last minute suggestions I'm all ears.

Rahmen wrote:

Thanks again for the suggestions earlier. We fly out Tuesday and we're all very excited.

We'll be spending nights in Auckland, Rotorua, Wellington, Picton, Lake Tekapo and Christchurch. If you have any last minute suggestions I'm all ears.

I'm not sure what your route is ultimately getting down to Christchurch because Lake Tekapo (haven't been there) is out there in the middle and south of Christchurch. IF you have a chance to drive through Kaikoura along the east coast and north of Christchurch, it's an absolutely wonderful place. I was able to do some diving there, and it was quite fun. It's a fairly easy drive north of Christchurch along the coast, but I think it takes a couple hours IIRC. There's diving and whale/dolphin viewing stuff there. It's sort of a bay there that has this huge dropoff in depth just out a ways, so I think that's the reason for all the whales/dolphins IIRC.

Mostly, though, it's just a real fun small coastal town that reminded me of an Oregon Coast town. There's plenty of touristy stuff you could do there and places to eat, so you could spend a few hours our a whole day there easy without planning much other than hanging out at the coast.

Have a ton of fun on your trip! I'm glad it all worked out.

I was going to suggest the Tongariro Crossing (best day of my life so far) and the Franz Josef glacier, but with kids, that could be tricky, and if I remember correctly these are not close to the places you will be visiting (but I could be wrong, it's been a while). Also I don't know what it's like in July (I went in January).

I remember liking Wellington quite a bit, especially the Te Papa museum. The Abel Tasman national park is also pretty nice, and is reasonably close to Picton. Going from Wellington to Picton by ferry, the scenery is amazing. Actually, I recall the scenery being amazing everywhere in NZ.

Lake Tekapo is a beaut. Have a blast!!

Fox glacier is amazing! But a bit of a haul from Christchurch.

Rahmen wrote:

Thanks again for the suggestions earlier. We fly out Tuesday and we're all very excited.

We'll be spending nights in Auckland, Rotorua, Wellington, Picton, Lake Tekapo and Christchurch. If you have any last minute suggestions I'm all ears.

The Agrodome in Rotorua is much more fun than it sounds. I've even overheard a group at a restaurant in Chicago talking about it and what a surprisingly good time it is. Right across the road from the Zorbing hill, too. There are plenty of "hot pools" in Rotorua, that use the local mineral-infused (you'll smell it!) water for communal baths. Though it's been years so I don't have a specific recommendation.

Lived in central Wellington for several years and I love that place. Cuba St, Courtenay Place and Lambton Quay are all great streets with lots of good food and shopping. Te Papa is a must. Again, been a few years, but assuming they're still around, breakfast at Fidel's and a lunch of mee goreng at KK Malaysian are things I daydream about to this day.

If you're driving around, make generous use of the BP Connect convenience store and their delicious Thai chicken pie.

When (not if) you're in an ice cream mood, try a "giant jelly tip."

Thanks for the bonus ideas. I'll try and update later with things we enjoy

zinckiwi wrote:

assuming they're still around, breakfast at Fidel's and a lunch of mee goreng at KK Malaysian are things I daydream about to this day.

Both are still there.

Excellent! I'll have to hit them up when I'm there in March. Is Elite bakery on Victoria St still there, just off Ghuznee? Best sausage rolls I've ever eaten.

zinckiwi wrote:

Excellent! I'll have to hit them up when I'm there in March. Is Elite bakery on Victoria St still there, just off Ghuznee? Best sausage rolls I've ever eaten.

Not sure about that one.

Dunedin! Cadbury chocolate factory tour.

Also, last time I went (before The Hobbit), I was disappointed with the LOTR tour. All the set pieces were taken down after the filming apparently.

Nevis bungy jump was amazing. Apparently the highest in NZ? The birthplace of bungee jumping they say.

Also, eat as much hockey pockey (spelling?) ice-cream as you can. For the life of me, I can't find it in the US (at least not in Boston).

hokey pokey yes, seconded. as much as you can except for that one Giant Jelly Tip, mind you.

Oooh, almost forgot that amazing cavern/cave tour with the eerily cool glowworms on the cave ceiling (they take you on a tiny boat on the water into a dark area). If you love learning about evolutionary adaptations of species, please do that if you can, I loved it.

The dolphins that love following the ferry between the North and South Islands was a happy moment too.

Waitomo Caves. Yes, that's a great time but not on the itinerary it seems (though day-trip-able from Rotorua). I can also recommend "black water rafting" if you do go -- put on a wetsuit, grab an inner tube, and swim/float/slide/jump down an underground river.

We're thinking about trying to figure out how to make the caves work. We'll have a car so that's definitely on our 'maybe' list.

Narrow roads, the main highway is one lane in each direction most of the way, and no turn on red. But plenty of nice little Waikato towns along the way, so definitely go!

Good to know about no turn on red.
Considering it'll be my first time on roads where you drive on the left, the one lane might be in my best interests

Waitomo Caves and blackwater rafting are a must do IMO.

I'd just like to interject a moment and say that if anyone has a gap to meet up with Mr and Mrs Rahmen they should do so, they are good people.

MrDeVil909 wrote:

I'd just like to interject a moment and say that if anyone has a gap to meet up with Mr and Mrs Rahmen they should do so, they are good people. :)

Nice of you to say. It was great meeting you last year. Hope to make it back to South Africa again someday.