Travel
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Back from New Zealand

We returned home from a wonderful 2 week trip in NZ last week, and we had an amazing time.  I just wanted to thank the people here for providing me with many helpful posts before my trip.  We were able to visit Tauranga, Rotorua, Waitomo Caves, Taupo, Whitianga, Queenstown, Milford Sound, and Wanaka during the trip.  We loved every activity and every hotel we visited.  The best tour we did was the black water rafting at Waitomo Caves, what a unique experience!!  Other activities we did and also loved were the Skyline gondola/luge in both Rotorua and Queenstown, bungee jumping in Taupo, the Hot Water Beach in the Coromandel Peninsula, Dart River Safari in Glenorchy, and canyoning outside of Wanaka.  It was an adventure-packed trip!  If anyone is planning a trip and has any questions about any of these locations, please ask as I remember everything clearly right now (names of restaurants, discount coupon locations, etc).  I wish we could've stayed longer as there was so much more to see, but hopefully we'll return someday.  Thanks again for the planning assistance.  I'm trying to get reviews/photos up on line and will post again when I do=o)

Re: Back from New Zealand

  • Glad to hear you had a great trip!  I'll look forward to seeing the photos.
    imageImage and video hosting by TinyPic
    Baby248 - ETA 1/10/13
  • Hi!  We got back a few weeks ago (6 nights Sydney, 2 Queenstown, 2 Te Anau, 2 Dunedin) and also had a great time (although we had very little sun in NZ, but luckily no rain until the last day).  We also went up the gondola (and did the luge).  We both enjoy roller coasters but couldn't bring ourselves to bungee jump.

    In Te Anau, we did the glow worm cave tour (really cool) and the road to Milford Sound (very cool).  In Dunedin, we did the Elm Wildlife tour where we got to see penguins, fur seals, and sea lions (stood 15 feet away!).  We stayed in the south only since we only had a week.  I look forward to going back one day and doing all those great things on the north island!

    Were you there on the 23rd when it rained all over the island?  We were stuck at the Dunedin airport, but luckily only delayed a few hours (and we were smart to book our AKL-LAX flight for the 24th).  

    Welcome back.

  • Definitely write everything down while it's fresh!  In a blog post or Nest post.

    I hope to get to NZ in the next 2 years and want to read all about other peoples trips. 

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  • Yes, we were in the north island (Rotorua) on the 23rd.  We got heavy rain for most of our stay in Rotorua.  Luckily, we were scheduled for the Waitomo glowworm caves during one of the heavy rain days and that tour was still going.  We didn't have a lot of sunny days and definitely saw a lot of rain, but we still had a great time.  Glad to hear you also had a great time!
  • Was there anything you found particularly romantic or relaxing? We're planning on going next year to hike the Milford Track for our 10 year anniversary, Originally we had thought about heading out somewhere tropical for the rest of the trip, but now I think we'd rather stay in NZ.
    image
    Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.
    Mark Twain

    My Travel Blog

  • If you are interested in visiting the north island, we LOVED the Wairua Lodge in the Coromandel Peninsula.  It's a bed and breakfast and I would definitely consider it both relaxing and very romantic.  It's about 15 minutes drive from the town of Whitianga, but it's inland and very remote.  They have a huge property with hiking trails, swimming holes, waterfalls, and just gorgeous scenery.  There is a jucuzzi overlooking the ravine which is just really unique.  There are only 4 rooms and it's so high up that there are no mosquitos so we kept our door open the whole stay and it was nice to listen to the sounds outside at night.  It felt like we had the whole place to ourselves and were away from everything.  But we still drove to nearby attractions during the day.  The beaches we visited close by (Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach) were beautiful too.  It was just a really unique place to visit.  I would highly recommend it if you are considering that area at all.

     http://www.wairualodge.co.nz/index.html

    Also, if you're in Queenstown, I would recommend the Bunker for a nice romantic dinner.  It's the only expensive restaurant we really visited (was recommended by my husband's coworker) and the food was delicious.  It's a tiny restaurant (they turned away ppl without reservations) with a fireplace and we had a wonderful time there. 

     Those are just the two experiences that come to mind.

  • Looks amazing! And once my husband sees that you have to drive through a stream to get there I probably won't be able to keep him away from it. Thanks!
    image
    Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.
    Mark Twain

    My Travel Blog

  • Haha, yea that part isn't as bad as it looks.  There is a hanging bridge right over the stream that you have to drive over so I definitely took a photo of my husband driving through because it's just kinda funny.  If you have any other questions, feel free to message me.
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