had a bit of nightmare so far in New Zealand.
the flight in wasn't that bad but i wasn't able to sleep at all and so by the time i got to my hostel, combined with the lost days and hours of crossing the dateline, i didn't have a clue how long I'd been awake or really what i was doing. I got up in the middle of the afternoon, and so all I really had time to do was have a walk around the nearby Aukland Museum and then through the park in which it is situated. the museum is actually really nice and has some great sections on various Maori/polynesian/etc cultures, as well as a really good section on the NZ involvement in the world wars.
This morning (Saturday) i found out that i wouldn't be able to get on a trip up to the Bay of Islands tomorrow (Sunday). This was my fault because i hadn't really registered what day of the week it was until it was too late to do anything on Friday night. So I've had to book myself onto the trip starting Monday morning, which in turn has meant that i have had to find myself a new hostel for sunday night as the one I'm in didn't have a room for the extra night. All this, combined with it absolutely chucking it down, meant that I wasn't in the greatest of moods this morning.
I got things sorted out eventually and went into Auckland centre in the late morning. Unfortunately the rain didn't really stop so I spent most of the day trying to avoid the rain. I went up to the top of the Sky Tower, considered doing the drop/jump thing, but eventually decided not too because it was too expensive, it wasn't that i was too scared at all (honest). the view from the observation tower was very impressive, but i'm sure it would have been better if the weather was a bit clearer. I also walked around the Art Museum and, during a quick break in the rain, a walk around Albert Park as well.
If I'm being honest I'm slightly annoyed that I haven't been able to do more today, and various weather forcasts for tomorrow have been telling me different things so I'm not sure what I can do tomorrow either. I was already slightly worried that i don't have enough time to see everything i should see while I'm in New Zealand, and so these days that are seemingly being wasted are stressing me out a bit.
I'll try to post again before I go up to the Bay of Islands but i dont know if my other hostel has any internet facilities.
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Hi Paul, Hope things have improved weather-wise for you and you have somewhere to rest your weary head on Sunday! Leah was so thrilled to hear from you on her birthday - she came running down the stairs screaming (i know this is a regular occurence but she was even more enthusiastic than usual!!) Hope you have a great trip on monday.
ReplyDeletelots of love Aunty Trish and Uncle Paul xxxxxxxxx
First things first, dont worry, it sounds like jet lag is proving a problem.
ReplyDeleteIf I was you I would move through north island pretty quickly.
THe highlights of north island by far are Pathia and the bay of islands and roturua.
The thing I dont know is how often the buses run and how you can fit in traveling and sightseeing.
I would
1) get early bus to bay of islands - get a boat trip around bay and see the dolphins.
2) next day do a day trip to the cape,
3)see if you can get a late bus if possible, if not do it early the next morning. Go straight through auckland and try and stop in the coromandel (but I never went there). Or if time really short go straight to roturua
4) I would only spend 24 hours in roturua before moving on
5) I went straight to Wellington and would recommend you do the same (maximise time on sth island). Again no more than 24 hours in Wellington (not that much there)
Get ferry to south island
Highlights in south island are Glaciers/Queenstown/milford and christchurch.
1) Try and head to nelson and do a day trip into abel tasman - nelson has a good tourist info which should help. (I think this should be quite high on your list)
2) Maybe one day whale watching (place north of christchurch) but you may want to plough onto christchurch and cross over to greymouth. (try and get to greymouth from the north of south island pretty quick as you are flying out of christchurch so dont stop in christchurch at this point.
3) try and see pancake rocks if you can (but sacrificable)
4) head to the glaciers, you must try and go up but you only need one day there.
5) on way to queenstown the bus might stop at lake matheson (very nice) will only stop for hour or so.
6) Wanaka is good (we went horse riding and to puzzeling world) but also sacrificable
7) Queenstown, give yourself one full day in queenstown and one day to do the milford trip.
8) Dunedin is OK, brewery trip good fun but is also sacrificable.
9) Christchurch, you can see most of it in 24 hours.
It may seem like there is too much to do but remember that new zealand cities are the size of mansfield and that towns like nelson/greymouth/glaciers/wanaka are the size of south normanton. So it may seem overwhelming but you really dont need that long in each place. The most important thing is going to be the timing of buses, if possible prebook accomodation and get either early morning buses or buses in the evening to maximise sightseeing.
ANyway I hope this helps,
Hope bay of islands is as beautiful as I remember, try and see the sunrise, say hello to the dolphins for me.
Love Kate