Just got back from N.Z.

[Pete McCluskey.]

We just got back from two weeks touring the South Island of New Zealand, what a beautiful place although a bit chilly for us, It snowed on New years Day in mid summer? It must be global warming. The Kiwis are among the most hospitable people in the world and bent over backwards to make our stay pleasant. Thank you Kiwi's.
The roads are great although narrow and the drivers actually are polite and courteous, except for the odd tourist who forgets that they are supposed to drive on the left side of the road in NZ.
Favourite place Queenstown, best accommodation Grasmere Lodge, thanks Tom.
We even caught up with a couple of Ross and Jack's girlfriends..See Pic.

 

[Jack Houpe]

Pete, Jack Mac, when is the best time to visit New Zealand? We have air miles that will expire the end of this year. If we don't make the Le Mans classic, New Zealand is the place we would like to visit. My wife is pulling for New Zealand.

 

[Mike Drew]

I've been fortunate enough to have been just about everywhere in the world, even Antarctica. In all my travels, I have to say that New Zealand was the very nicest place I've ever been, and arguably the only spot that I'd spend my own money to visit for its own sake (rather than going there to see friends, or to attend some sort of car event).

I went in October, towards the end of their winter, and the weather was decent about half the time. New Zealand has terrible weather unfortunately, so you can count on low ceilings and scud at just about any time. Bring a sweater and a good attitude and plan on enjoying yourself! :thumbsup:

 

[Rick S.]

Jack,
I've been to NZ in february (a couple of times) and have had nice weather.

 

[JimmyMac]

My wife and I discussed this one over Christmas and it's always top of my 'must do' list as New Zealand has some of the best flyfishing and countryside on this planet. We both agreed that it will need to be after the Le Mans Classic.
Western Montana and Japan have been my favourite fishing long haul travels for years but I am planning a lengthy stay down there in NZ pretty soon. Maybe a a relaxing recon' trip on a north/south train journey to start with then pick a few spots to stay a while.
Many young Kiwi engineers have worked for me over the years and we are now great friends so it's about time that I stopped saying 'maybe one day' and did something about it.

 

[Jac Mac]

James, you should be here, NOW, the trout in the southern lakes/rivers are huge going by a news item last night.

Jack-- depends on what you want to see / do during your stay... winter sports from july to late sept, summer from early dec thru march ( though you wouldnt believe it this year, seems like 4 seasons in each day ). Peak tourist & annual holidays from Xmas day thru end of january probably best avoided as a lot of business close up shop which adds to congestion in major tourism/holiday spots.
Give me an idea of your intended visit date & I will check out what might be of interest to you. Lots of smaller type tech displays open all year round, but it would take some travel time to see them all, heck I havent seen much myself yet.

 

[David McGruer]

My wife and I have also been thinking about this for a 40th anniversary trip.would like to do a tour in a motorhome. Beginning of October is the time in mind, we did a motorhome tour of Britith Colombia, Canada for our 25th and caught the first snowfall. How would we fair for weather on both islands. Any comments much appreciated .David.

 

[Jac Mac]

October would be fine in the North Island & you 'should' be OK in the south given your from the UK, ( It only really effects those soft Aussie types ).
If you start @ the Top ( Nth Island ) & work your way down ( Sth Island ) apparently the warmth of the locals hospitality offsets the drop in temperature....

 

[JimmyMac]

Jac,
Don't I just know it.
My Trout season here is from April until early October and I do a wee bit of Grayling fishing and some shooting until Boxing Day.
This all fits perfectly with my plan, and I would organise my NZ trip for January and do the the twenty-five day train trip tourist thing as mentioned previously, a few whales would also be nice. This would keeps Angie happy when I do my walkabout thing in between.
I prefer wild stream-fine line fishing, more akin to hunting but the Taupo and Rotorua would have to be on the agenda.
Catch and release fishing with a guide is preferred on streams in NZ and I am a firm believer in it for conservation. It it also good for the local economy.
From the adverts, the fishing lodges out there appear to be some of the finest I have seen and have excellent reputations but as in many ways, I prefer doing my own thing.

There is also a trip to Invercargill on the cards - another one of those 'maybe one day' notions I need to fix.

 

[Jack Houpe]

My air miles expire in November. been saving them up for 15 years and this is the last year they will honor them. I guess it sounds like September or October, if I can't make the Le Mans classic. I like to fish, second to work in the garage, trout being one of my favorite. Fancy places are not my cup of tea. Good people and small towns are my favorite. Speaking solely for myself and not my wife.

 

[Jac Mac]

My air miles expire in November. been saving them up for 15 years and this is the last year they will honor them. I guess it sounds like September or October, if I can't make the Le Mans classic. I like to fish, second to work in the garage, trout being one of my favorite. Fancy places are not my cup of tea. Good people and small towns are my favorite. Speaking solely for myself and not my wife.

Sounds like you will fit right in then down here, plenty of local garages to look at if you know the right people ( Some are no cameras allowed ). Sea,River & Lake fishing all within 2hrs drive of here, Three shops doing alloy body stuff within the same time frame, WW2 warbird museum @ wanaka ( 2.5hrs ) , ride in P51 for around 2k NZ$, bungy jump, parachute, ski plane, jet boat rides, lots of arts & craft stuff that might make the wife smile! Once she finds that stuff you wont get near anything you want to see!!!

 

About the only thing you can say with certainty about New Zealand weather is that it will change. Kiwis dress accordingly using layers that can be donned or doffed as needed. That being said we can get days on end of brilliant sunshine or days of crap at any time of the year, the only difference being that if it is winter the crap is cold, if summer, the crap is not so cold. We’ve had just one day without rain here in Dunedin so far this year, but that is not usual – this year is apparently an El Nino year. Christmas Day was 32˚C… As Jac said, the time of year for a visit really depends on what spins your wheels. Winter if you are into skiing, summer if you are into swimming/lying on the beach. Adventure tourism and great scenery pretty much the whole year round. Lots to do and never very far away. Great river, lake and sea fishing to be had in either island. South Island arguably more scenic than the North Island, but plenty to see all over. The most settled weather is late summer/autumn (March-May). No nasties here, apart from mosquitoes up north and sandflies (called blackflies elsewhere) at various places around the country, notably the West Coast and Fiordland. These can eat you alive or at least carry off a small child. Very light traffic densities away from the cities and most places here, apart from Auckland, are pretty small towns…. But we do drive on the left – there have been two fatalities already this year caused by tourists driving on the wrong side of the road. Always happy to put Forum members up and at Chez Stewart if accommodation is wanted in the south (already had four Forum members to visit and very much enjoyed meeting them).

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

We fished lake Wanaka for three hours for one salmon,one rainbow and one nice brown. Alan Baxter at Adventure Wanaka was our guide. A top bloke who knows his stuff. www.adventurewanaka.com
One of the locals in Queenstown told us that lake wakitipu, which Queenstown is on the shore of is so full of fish that anglers are asked not to catch and release but to keep the bag limit of six fish per person to improve the quality of the fish remaining. (more food). I'm not sure if he was pulling my leg or not.

 

[Maurice Butler]

If you plan for Feb you can catch 3 classic race meeting in 16 days, the first 3 weekends normally, Christchurch, Timaru, Invercargill as well as having time to sight see on the way through. This year there are alot of f5000's racing (26 last weekend), the numbers keep growing. The weather is usually a lot more stable, but with global cooling how knows what is happening.

My neighbour & his son (I am close to Timaru) does fishing and hunting guiding around the bottom half of the south island.

 

[Cam Townshend]

The North Island is generally warmer. South Island has extremes in temp and is in my view the more beautiful of the two islands. I used to travel up and down this country on a motorcycle before the marriage and two kids stopped all my fun. A great country to travel and meet interesting people.

Heaps of options if you like to fish - many rivers and lakes to choose from, and some nice roads down south to open up on.

I'm sure Russ will lend you all his GT40 for a little track work down under...

 

[Jack Houpe]

Thank you all, maybe I can meet some of you along the way.
Jack

 

[David McGruer]

Thanks for the info/advice it ties up with youngest sons' impressions during 3 months in NZ whilst traveling around the world.He said Kiwis were some of the freindliest people he came across. The only thing that might be a problem for me is that it seems that motorhomes have to be returned to either Aukland or Christchurch and Aukland is the only longhaul airport in NZ. Still if I keep looking I will find a solution

 

[Jac Mac]

Thanks for the info/advice it ties up with youngest sons' impressions during 3 months in NZ whilst traveling around the world.He said Kiwis were some of the freindliest people he came across. The only thing that might be a problem for me is that it seems that motorhomes have to be returned to either Aukland or Christchurch and Aukland is the only longhaul airport in NZ. Still if I keep looking I will find a solution

Get a new travel agent! Longhaul is available out of ChCh ( South Island ) so you wont have any problems there, Wellington, Queenstown, Dunedin & I think Hamilton also have international flights mainly to Australia ( plus a couple of others recently as well, but more oriented to smaller A/C.
Depending on which Airline you use you 'might' have to board in ChCh & link with them out of AKL. Some even fly you to Sydney or Brisbane ( Aust ) to catch the longhaul. For example you could fly into Auckland, drive down thru NI, catch ferry across Cook Strait, then do either a clockwise or anticlockwise loop down round the SI & back to ChCh, fly across to Australia, then longhaul back to the UK from Melbourne, Perth, Sydney,Brisbane, Darwin, whatever .

 

[Jack Houpe]

What is the exchange rate? Is this going to cost more for less or less for more??

 

[Darrell]

My wife and i are going the South Island on the 23rd of Febuary for two weeks, now you have got me all excited. Can anyone give a heads up on some other things to do and see. We are intending to hire a car and do the self drive thing.

Darrell DRB #46