Qs re Doubtful Sound, Nelson area, abd Bay of Islands

[bearsfolks]

I hope I’m not violating any rules by posting these questions here—if I am, I apologize in advance. It’s just that the denizens of this board are so knowledgeable and helpful, I thought I’d ask for help here.

We were going to take a cruise of NZ, but, after extensive research, have reluctantly decided not to, as it would have been impossible to see all the places that we wanted to as many of them are pretty far inland. So, we are, instead, taking an escorted bus tour in Feb/March 2012 that takes us to almost all of the natural beauty that NZ is famous for, and then supplementing it with travel on our own. It is with regard to the latter that I have some questions.

Our bus tour is going to spend two nights in Queenstown, and then go into Fiordland National Park through the Homer Tunnel to Milford Sound, then cruise on the fiord and go to Te Anau in the afternoon. (It does not look like we will be spending too much time cruising.)

My first question is whether it is worth doing Doubtful Sound on our own during the day when we are supposed to be in Queenstown. It makes for a long day, and I cannot tell whether the two Sounds are different enough for us to do both, or whether we will be duplicating what we will see on the tour (at Milford).

Second, the bus tour covers most of what we want to see, except for Abel Tasman Park. The tour ends in ChristChurch, and we were thinking of taking the train to the Nelson area, and spend a few days there, taking day trips to Abel Tasman, as well as touring the Queen Charlotte Track, the Marlborough Sounds, etc. Can anyone direct me to a site or a travel agency that can help us plan this part of the trip? Or give us recommendations re what not to miss—it all sounds wonderful!

Finally, at the start of our trip (we fly into Auckland), we want to go to the Bay of Islands and spend a few days there, doing the 90 mile drive (with someone else doing the driving), taking some ferry trips in the area, and just recovering from the flight from the East Coast of the US. While I can find tours that go both ways (between Auckland and the Bay of Islands) by bus, or both ways by boat, I haven’t been able to find one that gives us the ability to do one each way, preferably without spending time at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds (no offence intended, but our almost exclusive interest lies in scenic beauty). Could anyone recommend how we can do this?

Thanks, in advance, for any suggestions, and, again, if this post should not be here, I apologize.

[moyaroo]

Doubtful Sound is beautiful, Milford is beautiful, are they the same enough that you may find it silly to travel all the way back to to see it? Yes. the down time of travel isn't worth the up time of experience.

 

Drive to Bay of islands, drive around, it isn't that bad and you will control what you see and experience. You will be fine.

 

As to travel agents, if you wish help you would do well to go to the Nz website http://www.newzealand.com/travel/usa/usa_home.cfm somewhere in there is a finder for KIWI specialists in your neighborhood. Search for one, they can save you hours of research and get you what you need at no additional cost to you. for a TA recommend try http://www.newzealand.com/travel/getting-to-around-nz/getting-to-nz/travel-agents/country-selection.cfm

 

 

FWIW I think Christchurch to be overrated as a tourist stop. Your idea sounds heavenly get thee to Nelson.

[mochuck]

If you want to do the Bay of Islands - Waitiangi is there anyway and it overlooks the Bay of Islands and is quite spectacular . We were in the Northland at Xmas and spent a day in Bay of Islands - we went to the treaty house and marae in the morning and did a "hole in the rock cruise " in the afternoon. The dolphins were spectacular - jumping and playing.

 

Just to give you some perspective on the distances involved - Bay of Island is about 3 hours north of Auckland by car. The 90 mile beach is about another 90 minutes north. I don't think you can drive the whole of the 90 miles anyway because it is subject to the tides. Most bus tours will just take you a short distance on it 5 to 10 miles.

 

I also wouldn't worry about doing Doubtful Sound if you are already doing Milford Sound which is quite soectacular and chances of seeing dolphins ar quite high.

 

Also if you have tiome in auckland the museum is very good - they have a Maori concert and the volcano section is very intersting and interactive

[Globaliser]

Second, the bus tour covers most of what we want to see, except for Abel Tasman Park. The tour ends in ChristChurch, and we were thinking of taking the train to the Nelson area, and spend a few days there, taking day trips to Abel Tasman, as well as touring the Queen Charlotte Track, the Marlborough Sounds, etc. Can anyone direct me to a site or a travel agency that can help us plan this part of the trip? Or give us recommendations re what not to miss—it all sounds wonderful!

Much will depend on how active you can and want to be.

 

A few years ago, we used this company for something slightly different (their wine walk in the Blenheim area), but found them well organised, friendly and efficient. We wouldn't hesitate to use them again for something in the area that you're thinking about.

 

But there are lots of operators in this area, catering to all manner of people.

[Aquarians]

I hope I’m not violating any rules by posting these questions here—if I am, I apologize in advance. It’s just that the denizens of this board are so knowledgeable and helpful, I thought I’d ask for help here.

 

We were going to take a cruise of NZ, but, after extensive research, have reluctantly decided not to, as it would have been impossible to see all the places that we wanted to as many of them are pretty far inland. So, we are, instead, taking an escorted bus tour in Feb/March 2012 that takes us to almost all of the natural beauty that NZ is famous for, and then supplementing it with travel on our own. It is with regard to the latter that I have some questions.

 

Our bus tour is going to spend two nights in Queenstown, and then go into Fiordland National Park through the Homer Tunnel to Milford Sound, then cruise on the fiord and go to Te Anau in the afternoon. (It does not look like we will be spending too much time cruising.)

 

My first question is whether it is worth doing Doubtful Sound on our own during the day when we are supposed to be in Queenstown. It makes for a long day, and I cannot tell whether the two Sounds are different enough for us to do both, or whether we will be duplicating what we will see on the tour (at Milford).

 

Second, the bus tour covers most of what we want to see, except for Abel Tasman Park. The tour ends in ChristChurch, and we were thinking of taking the train to the Nelson area, and spend a few days there, taking day trips to Abel Tasman, as well as touring the Queen Charlotte Track, the Marlborough Sounds, etc. Can anyone direct me to a site or a travel agency that can help us plan this part of the trip? Or give us recommendations re what not to miss—it all sounds wonderful!

 

Finally, at the start of our trip (we fly into Auckland), we want to go to the Bay of Islands and spend a few days there, doing the 90 mile drive (with someone else doing the driving), taking some ferry trips in the area, and just recovering from the flight from the East Coast of the US. While I can find tours that go both ways (between Auckland and the Bay of Islands) by bus, or both ways by boat, I haven’t been able to find one that gives us the ability to do one each way, preferably without spending time at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds (no offence intended, but our almost exclusive interest lies in scenic beauty). Could anyone recommend how we can do this?

 

Thanks, in advance, for any suggestions, and, again, if this post should not be here, I apologize.

Kia ora,

While lake Manapouri is different from lake Whakatipu and has extensive native bush there is some similarity with the sounds. You would be seeing Te Anau on your way to Milford so if you go to see Doubtful sound from Queenstown there would be some duplication. As your time is limited it may be worth looking at things which interest you in the Queenstown area, eg, on the Eanslaw (steam ship) accross the lake to visit a NZ high country sheep station.

There is no train from Christchurch to Nelson. You could go by train as far as Blenheim and then catch a bus or get a rental car to Nelson. Because of the distances and low population in parts I think you would find that a rental car would be needed.

From what you say you are looking for, a rental car may be the best bet to get to the Bay of Islands & taking day tours where necessary from there. Before doing that I would suggest allowing a couple of days in Auckland to recover from any adverse flight effects. We have too many injuries & fatalities among tourists who get straight into a car after arrival and are tired/suffering from jet lag. As we drive on the left hand side of the road and in Northland you may be driving on metal roads (ie. unsealed) that would give you some time to adjust.

For a NZ based travel planner you could Email concierge@revivetravel.com. The website is www.revivtravel.com.

Trust this helps. I can't help adding that instead of going to the Auckland museum to see a Maori concert and the volcano section you can see the real thing in Rotorua (you may also hear te reo Maori being spoken in the shops etc.).

Hope this helps

Aquarians

[silvertp]

You might want to consider an overnight cruise to either Milford or Doubtful Sounds. Real Journeys (http://www.realjourneys.co.nz/) do overnight cruises and they are fantastic. You can kayak in the evening after all the other tour boats have gone home - the silence and scenery is fantastic. It is so good, my sister was married onboard at Doubtful Sound! You could let the tour company know and they could collect you in either Milford Sound or Te Anau on the way back to Queenstown.

[Parapara]

Hi!

As someone else says there are no trains around Nelson. My suggestion would be to hire a car from Christchurch and drive up. The South Island is pretty quiet on the roads- only thing to get used to is driving on the other side of road if you are from the US. It is worth taking a day trip around the Abel Tasman park. You can do tours or drive to Marahau and get a ferry or water taxi to Totaranui ( top end) or to Awaroa ( one stop back) where you can get lunch or a snack at the lodge and then walk to Onetahuti and catch the ferry/water taxi back.You could have a swim somewhere too. Very beautiful coastline around the park and crystal clear water. If you have time try not to miss Golden Bay- about 1/1/2 hours drive from Nelson. A night spent in GB and perhaps a Farewell Spit safari tour, lovely beaches, Pupu Springs ( crystal clear very deep fresh water springs) and spectacular views from the Takaka Hill are just a few things to see and do in Golden Bay. The top part of the Abel Tasman park can be accessed from Golden Bay. More information could be obtained from the Motueka information centre, Nelson visitor centre or Golden bay information centre. I don't know their websites but if you googled the names I am sure you would find them

Jean

[yvrdave]

Bearsfolks - If you don't mind, as we are thinking the same, could you please tell us the bus tour you are doing? Or contact me at "my avitar" @ gmail.com.

Thanks,

yvrdave

[bearsfolks]

I'm really sorry, yvrdave, but I hadn't been back to this thread for several months, and so I did not notice your quesstion. The bus tour we are looking at is "Globus NZ in Depth".

[Australian family]

It is a long drive to the bay of islands from Auckland even though it doesn't look that far on a map. A lot of bends in the road. Beautiful drive. We stayed at Scenic Hotel Bay of Islands (very clean hotel and we had a reasonably new room, no water views but great), I got a really good deal on line, it was too good to be true. I actually rang them to see if it was correct and it was. http://www.scenichotelgroup.co.nz/Hotel-By-Name/Scenic-Hotel-Bay-of-Islands-1/default.aspx

 

I would recommend that you do a day trip to the very top, a long drive.

 

Bay of islands is a good place to base yourselves. We hired a vehicle through thrifty in auckland, and it was good. We dropped it back to the airport when we left. We found Thrifty good to deal with.