What are the major attractions in New Zea land?

Question

I am going to OZ 6th of oct but i have being offered a flight that stops of in Aucland first. Is it worth going to see, and what would the weather be like there at that time. I am coming over from Ireland on a backpacking trip, is it expensive for hostels and the cost of living in general. I'm not sure if it's the south island or north would it be worth my while to go see both

Answer 1

Hi,

Here are some of the things you could do. I love New Zealand and have travelled frequently for business and pleasure. There're a lot of cheap hostels and the cost of living is very affordable.

I'd suggest to get your food from supermarket (saving on breakfast and making your own sandwich), this way you can get away by spending NZ$10-12 for brekkie, lunch and dinner food. Transport busses costs around NZ$1.50-$2 one way. A bottle of beer will sits you nicely around NZ$4-$5. Try to drink the local beer Monteigh or Speights especially in the south island.

Auckland's located in the south island.  

New zealand is full of nature, a combination between switzerland and iceland but located on the opposite hehe..

As you've already knew, New Zealand consists of 2 islands (North Island and South Island).

NORTH ISLAND

- It's a more civilised or cosmopolitan or 'city' like.

- Explore Rotorua where they have the nice hot springs. In here, I rode a quad bike and due to my ignorant, I sped, tumbled over and ended up with a massive bruise. I also experienced the Orb (where you're put inside a giant ball and you roll with it :-) ).

- Auckland City - very nice, easy to explore.

Ponsonby Rd which is 7 mins by cab or 20 mins walk from the heart of Auckland CBD is full of good restaurants and cafes. Shopping here is heaven, full of local new zealand designer and some alternatives young designers. I've tried every single cafes there. Great to spend lazy weekends reading, catching up with friends and just people watching.

Parnel - approx 10 mins drive or you can catch a bus from Auckland CBD. Another great eateries place. Nice neighbourhood, you can stroll with ice cream after dinner.

Devonport - you can either catch a ferry or drive. It gives you the view of the Auckland city next to the beach/water as well. This is popular for a romantic first date where you'll bring your girl and make out hehehe... There's a massive park which you can walk around (check for closing time, this is where you still can walk but can't drive your car up the hill). It has cute little shops, lots of Beds and Breakfasts.

- Tauranga - a small town south east of Auckland. A very famous beach holiday town for Aucklanders. You could hike a small mountain and the town and beach's lovely.

- Wellington is another city in the north island. Smaller than Auckland and in between mountains. Be careful when you fly in to wellington, 3 out of 5 your flights might be cancelled or diverted if the weather and visibility is bad. As I said this is because the city is in between hills and I'm not a big fan of flying in as it's quite scary and the runway is so short. Having travelled much, this must be one of the scariest runway I've ever seen.

SOUTH ISLAND

- Christchurch - main city in the south island. Small enough to walk around the city centre. Usually a base to fly in to the south island then people can travel to Queenstown. You could drive from Christchurch to Queenstown and get a nice view of the South Island as well as driving to Mt Cook.

- Mt Cook - this magnificent mountain is definetely worth visiting. You can walk around and get a view of the mountain (In between christchurch and Queenstown if you drive to Queenstown from Christchurch). You can take picture like in Postcard.

- Queenstown (MY FAVOURITE NEW ZEALAND PLACE).

One of the best place in earth, can be visited anytime of the year. It's definetely an outdoor play ground. This is where they filmed Lord Of The Rings. Postcards pictures everywhere. It's a massive lake surrounded by mountains. In winter, you can ski 4 mountains within 30 mins - 1.5hrs drive from the central queenstown city.

All year round you can do lake cruise, white water rafting (I flew by heli to get to the location because the river was flooded so we couldn't get in by car), Bungy Jumping, Paragliding, Skiing, Lord Of the Rings tour (visiting the locations filmed and shown in Lord Of the Rings) as well as sitting in one of their many pubs and bars during the rainy days :). Food here is good (make sure you eat Ferge's Burger and The Cow's Pizza in the heart of Queenstown CBD).

Make sure you also ride the Shotover Jet boat where you get to experience fast speed of Jet boat with 360 degrees turn and they get you close to the rock (it's scary but fun) so no elbows out of the jet boat since you're pretty much within inches to the rocks.

Don't forget to visit Arrowtown (40 mins drive from Queenstown) - where you get to experience a 4WD ride along the mountain and many rivers of the old mining town - worth doing and you might pan some gold and I did bring back specs of gold leaves (really tiny but visible) home as souvenirs :)!

If you have a spare cash, a must thing to do in Queenstown is to fly in and have lunch at Milford sound - one of the most beautiful town I've ever visited.

Queenstown is just an amazing place, Peter Jackson and Shania Twain bought a house there. It's beautiful and lots of things to see and do. The mountain and ski runways are endless with powder snow.

- Dunedin

If you have spare time, go south further in north island to visit a little town called Dunedin. This has lots of Scottish settlement. So if you happen to miss Haggis, you can get as close to the one in Scotland in this town :-)! It's a student town as well.

Anywhere in New zealand, you can play golf too :). Also visit wineries both in the north island and south island.

Things you should/must do while you're in New Zealand:

1. Feast on Corn fritters for breakfast

I couldn't find the best corn fritters for breakfast other than in New Zealand

2. Eat Seafood!!

Paua/Abalone fresh from the sea and a massive New Zealand Green Lipped muscle (approx 10-12 cm in length)

3. Drink L&Ps (Lemon and Paeora) - this tastes like Mountain dew or lemonade but BETTER. Apparently it'd made with the local water

4. Make sure you somehow hunt or eat (if you don't like the idea of hunting) for a wild boar in the tip of the south island (near Nelson)

5. Do bungy jumping - it's a must thing to do in New Zealand

6. Drink local beer - Monteigh or Speights (Speights are famous for the south island)

7. Have kumara chips instead of potato chips (or french fries). Kumara chips are deep fried sweet potatoes...sooo yummy.

8. Visit and drink Marlborough wines (especially Sauvignon Blanc). New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs are really really nice. You can go to winery in Marlborough, it's beautiful.

9. Visit and have dinner at the revolving restaurant in Auckland. This has to be the cheapest revolving restaurant with picturesque city view in the world (compare to Eiffel tower, New York Empire State Building or even Melbourne Rialto Tower :-) ). You get affordable meal - and free as well as express entrance to the top of the tower and a view of Auckland city.

10. Visit Auckland Harbour - they have annual sailing competitions but just a nice harbour with lots of expensive yachts :).

11. Shop and experience cafe culture in Ponsonby Road, Auckland (you can walk from the heart of Auckland CBD - takes about 20 mins or cab it 7 mins :-) )

12. Ski at Queenstown (South island)

13. Go to Hotspring in Rotorua (North island)

14. Try to eat Pavlova - cake dessert/sweet, it's basically a light beaten egg white with sugars, decorated with cream, strawberries or passion fruit :).

15. See Mt Cook (the tallest mountain in New Zealand) - in the south island in between Christchurch and Queenstown

16. Fly in to Milford Sound (30 mins flight in a small plane from Queenstown, South Island) - This must be one of the most beautiful place I've ever visited. No one live there but it's one of the historic town and really nice to fly in, have lunch and fly back out to return to Queenstown.

17. Ride a Jet Boat with Shotover Jet (at Shotover river, queenstown, south island)

New Zealand's very nice - it's a safe place, the weather's cool (between 10-15 C in average), the people are lovely and not overcrowded like in Europe.

I'd suggest you go to you tube and search for 'No Reservation New Zealand' - it's a show by the famous US travel chef called Anthony Bourdain, should give you a good idea on New Zealand in general.

18. Climb the Glazier in Rotorua or Queenstown.

Answer 2

The stunning girls of Nelson!

Answer 3

in my books the major attraction is the passport control as you leave New Zealoand and go airsode to return home!

erm

no snakes (politicians excepted)

rotarura.. the volcanic mudholes in North Island

the people

the scenary.. the mountians are spectacylar

the native flora and fauna

Answer 4

dont ask an aussie this question the only answer you will get is......SHEEP

Answer 5

U hv not mentioned  duration of ur trip.Yeah, auckland is beautiful n major attractions there are the beaches. It's north island n it will be d spring season in oct.with  cold mornings  n  evenings .

U mst  see  south  island also coz it's worth. U can go to Christchurch  which is called THE GARDEN CITY  and Queenstown which is small hill station n other cities like Nelson  n Hamilton.The live dolphin show u can see in Kaikora.

Regarding  the prices n cost of living, it won't be expensive for

u, as british pnd is very strong  against NZ dollar but still u can

check it on internet  and can always compare the prices.

I believe this information will b of some help to u.

Gud luck.

Answer 6

enjoy both islands.

Answer 7

Hi i live in New Zealand its my home now to me i would say yes its a good place to site see, but i will tell u how wonderful its coming from Aussies who told all the time when i was over there.

OK when i was over in OZ every day i would be stop from people telling me how beautiful New Zealand is they love our greener, they said it was always a wonderful place to have a Holiday so peaceful beautiful site to, i even had some tell me that there kids had come over for a Holiday loved it that much that they ended up moving there.

Now about Auckland its a great place to be heaps of night life, if your lucky eough to be there at night, everything lights up heaps of beautiful coloured lights, we also in Auckland have a place called Rainbow ends it has heaps of rides games everything you'd enjoy it.

If you have the net go to google type in Auckland New Zealand, and it will show you heaps of things.

Well i hope i have helped you out

If you want to know more just ask k.

Have a great trip.

Answer 8

Firstly Auckland is on the North island. It is north of the north island! New Zealand is well worth the visit, but to see the north and south island you need quite a lot of time. If you do decide to stop of at Auckland there is a great backpackers in the area Parnell. Its called City Garden Lodge. From here its a ashort bus ride into the centre where you can visit the Sky Tower. If its a clear day you get a fantastic view of Auckland and surrounding areas. You can get the ferry across to Devonport and have a wander or get the bus to Takapuna beach. From the hostel i have recommended its a short walk to the Auckland museum it part of the Auckland Domain and even from here there are lovely views of the city. The museum has many Maori atefacts and you can even see a Maori song and dance. There is also the botanical gardens which is free. There are loads of things to see and do but if you can get down to Rotorua its well worth the visit.  Its popular for its thermal activity with bubbling mud pools and hot springs, its fantastic to see. Rotorua is south of Auckland but to the north there is the Bay of islands. Lovely scenery and fantastic boat trips out to the islands. Wellington......the list goes on.

I haven't included the south island because there is so much to do on both islands Have a look at the 'lonely planet' guide. If you hostel it and cook your own food you will save loads. Have  a look on www.hostelworld.com for hostels.