Weeding out less photogenic sites in NZ - your feedback is important

[photoprospect]

<p>Me and my wife are going to New Zealand for a month in Feb 2011<br /> We'd like to make our trip like this:</p>

<ul>

<li>We're a <strong>couple of around 30</strong>, <strong>average fitness</strong> - neither overweight, nor a working-out type</li>

<li>We have <strong>28 days</strong> with a <strong>car </strong>(flying into/from Auckland)</li>

<li>We'd like to spend a <strong>couple of nights in each place (on average)</strong> so as not to rush it</li>

<li>I'll spend <strong>2 hours</strong> in the morning <strong>and 2 hours</strong> in the evening purely <strong>taking photos</strong> (to make use of the best light)</li>

<li>We'd also like to do some <strong>wine tasting and other touristy activities</strong>, but:</li>

<li>We could take a couple of half-day hikes, but we're <strong>not hikers</strong>, so the great walks are out</li>

<li>No extreme sports, boat rides will be avoided at all costs (except the inter-island ferry)</li>

<li>Night life would be nice on a couple of occasions, but it's not too high on our list</li>

</ul>

<p>I compiled a list of places that are of interest to us, but <strong>need to remove at least 50% of those from the list list in order to match the time we have - and that's where I need your help</strong>. Please suggest places to be removed (if you can spare the time to specify the reason to remove/keep any specific place it'll be more than welcome). Note: the list of places is not an itinerary - it's just a list and the numbers are for reference, e.g. <em>remove #23 as it's a boring place and spend 3 days in 22 instead as it was the most beautiful place we saw during our trip</em>)</p>

<p>North island places:<br />=================<br />1. Lake Rotorua > Wai-O-Tapu and Waimangu > Champagne Pool<br />2. Lake Rotorua > Pohutu (30m high geyser)<br />3. Lake Taupo <br />4. Hamilton > Lost world<br />5. Abbey caves<br />6. Bay of islands <br />7. Lake Waikaremoana<br />8. Waitomo caves<br />9. Haruru falls<br />10. Hokianga > Horeke > Wairere Boulders National Park <br />11. Kauri coast > Baylys Beach <br />12. Coromandel > Tip of the Coromandel peninsula <br />13. Auckland<br /><br />South island places:<br />=================<br />14. Queen Charlotte Drive <br />15. Farewell Spit <br />16. Golden Bay <br />17. Gentle Annie Beach <br />18. Blenheim > Marlborough (Food & Wine festival second Sat&Sun of Feb)<br />19. Franz Josef Glacier <br />20. Lagoon at the Ryton River > Lake Coleridge<br />21. Fiordland > Milford Sound<br />22. Fiordland > Doubtful Sound<br />23. Invercargill<br />24. Queenstown <br />25. Kaikoura <br />26. Christchurch <br />27. Abel Tasman National Park <br />28. Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki <br />29. Lake Matheson</p>

<p>Thanks for reading this far!<br /> Jean Spector</strong><br /> <b>Signature URL removed. Not allowed per photo.net Terms of Use.</b></p>

[rawrainforest]

<p>I lived in NZ for three years and loved it. Definitely give Abel Tasman 3 days and consider hiring bush pilot from Milford Sound out to mouth of Hollyford River. Long Reef has colony of NZ fur seals and Fiordland Crested penguins. Allow sometime for beachcombing on the west coast of NZ, although be careful with ocean conditions and never turn your back on the waves. You should tie in a bike ride down the coast past Punakaiki (pancake rocks) and a helicopter ride up onto the Franz Josef glacier. You might appreciate a briefing on NZ slang such as the book Kiwi Speak by Justin Brown. Have fun! Bruce</p>

<p> </p>

[kelly_flanigan1]

<p>When in NZ it is easy to spot folks from the USA in public ; they talk *REAL* loud.<br /> Thus some Kiwi speak is to just not to talk so loud that everyone else in public hears you from many many metres away. <br /> High heels are no the best hiking shoes</p>

<p><img src="http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y148/ektar/NZCliff/tripods-192.jpg?t=1274633068" alt="" width="640" height="427" /></p>

 

[kelly_flanigan1]

<p><a href="http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y148/ektar/NZCliff/tripods-194.jpg?t=1274633173"> Climbing Shoes</a></p>

[m_adams1]

<p>I plan and guide photo tours in NZ as part of my photography business.<br>

You will need 4 days just to see Doubtful and Milford if you do the overnight option for each (which I recommend) although Doubtful is my personal favourite for clients as it is less busy. Milford is like a factory farming operation at the terminal!<br>

Be careful not to over-estimate your travel distances each day: the roads here are not very good and the Kiwi drivers a little less well trained than many. 80Kms per hour average is a good basis to work on. There are no freeways/motorways - almost all roads are only one lane in each direction with occasionally 2.<br>

That is a lot to fit in to a month. I presume your list is not in order, as it would be a very long day indeed to drive from Abel Tasman to Lake Tekapo! I reckon that would be at least 10 hours of driving.</p>

[photoprospect]

<p>Thanks for you your replies :-)<br>

Some clarifications:</p>

<ul>

<li>I've not yet started to plan the itinerary and the list is not in any specific order</li>

<li>This post's main is reason is to reduce the number of places by 50%</li>

</ul>

<p>Jean Spector</strong><br /> <b>Signature URL removed. Not allowed per photo.net Terms of Use.</b></p>

[nathaniel_alpert]

<p>We spent a month on the South Island, with more or less the same goals as you. I would say to choose an island, you don't have enough time to do both well. Don't get sucked into the rubbish about Doubtful Sound, did that - not worth it. Not that it isn't beautiful but the overnight boat tour is expensive and rather boring. Fjordland itself is well worth it. Lake Tekkapo is a fantastic spot, be sure to take the road to the observatory, much more photogenic then driving along the lake. Queenstown area is great fun. You can stay outside and do day trips. The Central Otago wineries are nearby. Wonderful places for a luch and a bottle of wine--heaven. Blenheim > Marlborough (Food & Wine festival second Sat&Sun of Feb) again great to visit the wineries and sit out at lunch with a bottle of wine. The world is much easier to understand after lunch and bottle of Savignon Blanc.</p>

<p>The drive along the West Coast, the Glaciers Joseph, etc. are really wonderful. You favorites will depend on the weather you encounter.</p>

<p> </p>

[photoprospect]

<p><strong>@ Nathaniel</strong> - thank you for the information, it reinforces our preferences of some places. I'll consider sharing the time between the islands differently - say, 1:3 weeks for the North:South islands.</p>

<p>P.S. I thought the overnight meant spending a night in some expensive hotel on location - boat ride is definitely out of the question as we both get seasick quite easily ;-)</p>

[m_adams1]

<p>Don't worry about seasickness: the water is not open sea and is very calm. More like a lake.<br>

There are no hotels in the Fiords - and they are quite some drive from the nearest habitation. If you are not going out on a boat you may as well leave them out altogether unless you plan to charter a helicopter to get you out there. There's next to nothing of the true majesty and wildlife visible from the Milford terminal and Doubtful cannot be accessed without a boat or chopper ride.<br>

Real Journeys run the boats if you want to Google them.</p>

[NetR]

<p>If you are planning to drive south from Auckland and take the ferry across to the South Island, don't bother going north of Auckland because it will take too much time - that rules out Bay of Islands, Haruru Falls, Abbey caves, Hokianga, and the Kauri Coast.<br>

Auckland itself is worth a look - it is built on a field of about 50 volcanoes (none are active). With over a million people Auckland is quite cosmopolitan - it it the most ethnically diverse part of the country.<br>

It is probably worth going to the Coromandel peninsula but the last third of the road to the tip is not sealed i.e. dirt (I think that is still correct). <br>

Definitely go to Rotorua and see both the areas on your list, unless you have spent a lot of time at Yellowstone.<br>

Lost world is very close to Waitomo caves - these are limestone cave areas - great to see but not too many photo ops. because it is dark - I'd do a bit more investigation of the area though to see if it contains things you can't see anywhere else. This area is way better than Abbey caves.<br>

Lake Taupo is more a sporting destination - trout fishing on the lake, boating etc, than a photo shoot destination.<br>

Lake Waikaremoana is quite remote to get to and you will be seeing other lakes in the South Island.<br>

Although I live in Wellington, where you'll take the ferry from, there isn't much for you to do here - just pass through.<br>

For the South Island, You could spend an awful lot of time sampling wine in Blenheim, especially if you like Sauvignon blanc.<br>

You'll only really benefit from the Abel Tasman park if you hike it.<br>

Other advice above for the South Island is good. Definitely split your time 1:3 for the north to south islands.<br>

Note: Feb 6 is NZ's national day. As you'll be somewhere near Rotorua then it shouldn't slow things down as Rotorua is geared for tourism.<br>

A special plea. Drive with great care as NZ drives on the left of the road - the driver sits on the right side with an elbow near the centre of the road. Every year we have a few fatal head-on smashes where a tourist forgets which side to drive on and hits an oncoming car.<br>

Hope this helps, Ross</p>

 

[photoprospect]

<p>Enormous amount of thanks goes your way Ross!<br>

You've supplied a lot of extremely useful info.</p>

[lindsay_thompson]

<p>Unfortunately, you are only allowing 28 days to explore or fantistic country. Sure, you will get to see most of it during that time but don't think you 'have' to see everything. You won't. NZ is slightly smaller than California, to give a comparison, and vastly more diverse.<br>

Personally, I'd spend less time in the cities and more time out in the country. Cities are cites every where around the world. I live on the West Coast of the South Island and it is in my job I get to drive around the region every day. Beleive me, the West Coast is wild and rugged, but set up for tourists too. Fantastically beautiful, it will get under your skin.<br>

I agree with the 1:3 ratio about spending more time on the South Island and with the other comments above. But, do take notice of the comment of driving on the left hand side of the road.<br>

Feburary is generally the settled time of year for weather, but NZ can and does have 4 seasons in one day so take a warm jersey/jacket. But above all, youwill have a geat timeand a trip to remember.<br>

Lindsay</p>

[photoprospect]

<p>Thank you <a href="../photodb/user?user_id=6056632">Lindsay</a> for your comment<br>

The ratio was accepted and we're now planning accordingly</p>

[toby_sharpe]

<p>You have to go to Glenorchy. It's Not far from Queenstown and is one of NZ most visually stunning areas and many people don't even know about it. <br>

A Genuine gem.</p>

<p>Toby<br>

<a href="http://www.kellynewland.com/wedding_photography.html">Auckland wedding photographer</a><br>

<a href="http://www.kellynewland.com">www.kellynewland.com</a></p>

[photoprospect]

<p>@<a href="../photodb/user?user_id=3828948">toby sharpe</a> - thank you very much!</p>

[bert_f]

<p>I lived there and photographed there for many years, several decades. Depends what you want to capture, but just about anywhere is worth it. The mountain range in the south, Fjordland, the wild west coast, the volcanoes, the rolling hills in the north, the beaches, and so on. In the winter it rains three days out of four, but it is still "photoweather", up north it is subtropical with 5 centigrades at night and 15 in the day. Down south it is snow. Wild weather is not unusual with minus 10 to 15 down south and up on the plateaus at the central north island. You can call me on Skype if you like "kiwino1". There are no restrictions on photographing anywhere on public places (except military installations)</p>

<p>I would say, don't prioritize the tourist places. There are so many photos anyway from there. (X) means may can be taken off the agenda.<br>

North island places:<br />=================<br />1. Lake Rotorua > Wai-O-Tapu and Waimangu > Champagne Pool (X)<br />2. Lake Rotorua > Pohutu (30m high geyser)(X)<br />3. Lake Taupo <br />4. Hamilton > Lost world(X)<br />5. Abbey caves(X)<br />6. Bay of islands <br />7. Lake Waikaremoana(X)<br />8. Waitomo caves (no photography inside the caves and no sound. that makes the worms "turn off the light")<br />9. Haruru falls<br />10. Hokianga > Horeke > Wairere Boulders National Park <br />11. Kauri coast > Baylys Beach <br />12. Coromandel > Tip of the Coromandel peninsula <br />13. Auckland(X)<br /><br />South island places:<br />=================<br />14. Queen Charlotte Drive <br />15. Farewell Spit (X)<br />16. Golden Bay <br />17. Gentle Annie Beach (X)<br />18. Blenheim > Marlborough (Food & Wine festival second Sat&Sun of Feb)<br />19. Franz Josef Glacier <br />20. Lagoon at the Ryton River > Lake Coleridge<br />21. Fiordland > Milford Sound<br />22. Fiordland > Doubtful Sound<br />23. Invercargill<br />24. Queenstown <br />25. Kaikoura (X)<br />26. Christchurch (X)<br />27. Abel Tasman National Park <br />28. Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki <br />29. Lake Matheson<br>

I have been in all the places, and of course it is a bit personally biased.</p>

 

[photoprospect]

<p>@ <a href="../photodb/user?user_id=3806705">Bert F</a> - thanks a lot Bert, that's exactly the advice I was looking for!</p>

[daverave]

<p>Don't forget some powerful bug repellent for those golden hour photography sessions or you will not enjoy your time outside, particularly on the West Coast of the South Island ;-)<br>

I've always had a soft spot for the subtle beauty of the Coromandel Peninsula.</p>

[photoprospect]

<p>Thanks Dave for the hint... don't repellents have an effect on plastic/rubber camera parts?<br>

Wish we could see Coromande, but our current itinerary (still very tentative and trying to reduce the amount of driving) is as following:</p>

<p> <strong>NORTH ISLAND</strong><br />1 Auckland - land, spend a day and fly to Invercargill on the South island<br /> <br /> <strong>SOUTH ISLAND</strong><br />0 Invercargill (land, get the car, move to Te Anau right away)<br />1 Te Anau<br />2 Milford Sound<br />1 Queenstown<br />1 Glenorchy<br />1 Wanaka<br />4 Lake Pukaki, Mt Cook(heli-hike if possible), Lake Tekapo<br />3 Christchurch & Banks peninsula<br />1 Lake Coleridge<br />1 Arthurs Pass<br />2 Greymouth<br />1 Westport<br />1 Golden Bay<br />1 Blenheim<br />0 Havelock<br />1 Picton<br /> <br /> <strong>NORTH ISLAND (again)</strong><br />0 Wellington<br />1 North Island Volcanoes<br />1 Lake Taupo<br />1 Lake Rotorua<br />1 Hamilton<br />2 Auckland<br /><br /></p>

<p> </p>

[m_adams1]

<p>You could gain a day by flying into Christchurch and then connecting through to Invercargill same day if the flight times work.<br>

You can miss out Hamilton without much regret as well!</p>

[daverave]

<p>I concur with M Adams as to not seeing much in the way of attraction in Hamilton.</p>

[photoprospect]

<p><a href="../photodb/user?user_id=6064843">@ M Adams & </a><a href="../photodb/user?user_id=1329620">Dave Edwards:</a><br>

Thank you for your suggestions, I see Hamilton as a base for the Lost World and Hobbiton visits - please let me know if there's a better place for that.<br>

Regarding Invercargill, I'm considering flying into Queenstown instead.</p>

 

[lindsay_thompson]

<p>I wouldn't bother with Greymouth, either. The name says it all. Hokitika or Punakaiki is the place to stay. And remenber, they are begining to make the film The Hobbit, so you may not be able to do the Hobbiton tour either. If you want some spectacular mountain flying, then Queenstown is the go. Stunning scenery too!!!<br>

Talk to me about Hokitika. I live here, so can suggest some nice places here and 'The Coast' in general.<br>

Lindsay</p>

[photoprospect]

<p>@ <a href="../photodb/user?user_id=6056632">Lindsay Thompson</a>: Thanks a lot, sent you an email with more Q's...</p>