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Sun 4-ever

By Sun 4-ever,
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Sun 4-ever

Sun 4-ever

Posted
Posted

We are a group of 4 (60's age group) who will be flying to Auckland New Zealand from Sydney. We are planning to spend 4 days in New Zealand and are trying to decide what to do.

1. Should we rent a car or use public transportation?

2. What are the must places to see and do?

 

I was reading about the waitomo caves and that place sounds really neat. There is a tubing adventure that I think we would like to do if you think it's worth the time.

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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OzKiwiJJ Great Review Rare

OzKiwiJJ

Posted
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If you want to go down to Waitomo Caves you will either need to rent a car, or go on a tour. It's a couple of hours drive from Auckland. If you plan to include the Black Water Rafting (tubing) then you will need a full day at Waitomo. I did this many, many years ago and it was great fun.

 

However if you decide to just sightsee around Auckland then it may not be worth renting a car. You can get around the city on public transport - there are two HoHo bus routes for sightseeing.

 

I'd recommend taking the ferry across to Waiheke Island for the day. Again you can get around the island by public transport or you could arrange a tour there.

 

If you're keen on wildlife then a day trip by ferry to Tiritiri Matangi island would be worth doing. http://www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz/

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MicCanberra Holiday Sharing Rare

MicCanberra

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I would do the day trip on a tour for the blackwater rafting rather than hiring a car, as for the rest of your time, there is a lot to do in Auckland and as mentioned there are also the ferries across to Devonport or Waiheke Island that is also good.

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The Other Tom

The Other Tom

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We went to NZ last March and did not rent a car. After all, they drive on the wrong side of the road :) All of our tours were public tours. There seemed to be a lot of them available.

 

We went to Waitomo caves and really enjoyed it. The tour left from Auckland and also included a tour of some geysers and a Maori culture center. The next day we walked to the pier and took a boat to one of the islands (don't remember which one).

We also flew to Queenstown on the south island and took a tour to Milford Sound,passing through Fiordland National Park. Fiordland national park is beautiful and we would like to return to spend more time there. If I had it to do all over again I would fly to Te Anau instead of Queenstown and take the tour from there. Shorter drive and a more laid back town IMO.

Let me know if you need more info on how we arranged the tours.

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linanles

linanles

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After all, they drive on the wrong side of the road.

 

I did a double take when I saw this I was sure they drove on the correct side of the road the same as us here in Oz. Then I realised (note, no Z in realised) that you are from South Carolina where they drive on the wrong side of the road and change the spelling of the Queen's English. ;):D

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jspqld

jspqld

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Depends what sort of things you like. You could easily kill 4 days in Auckland without having to hire a car. We spent 4 days there once, and we went to the zoo, aquarium, devenport, planetarium, museum & war memorial, plus out for dinner every night. The time went very quickly and we enjoyed the various sightseeing.

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GUT2407

GUT2407

Posted
Posted
I did a double take when I saw this I was sure they drove on the correct side of the road the same as us here in Oz. Then I realised (note, no Z in realised) that you are from South Carolina where they drive on the wrong side of the road and change the spelling of the Queen's English. ;):D

 

'course she is, ya think she was a Yank or something.

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MicCanberra Holiday Sharing Rare

MicCanberra

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Posted (edited)
We went to NZ last March and did not rent a car. After all, they drive on the wrong side of the road :) All of our tours were public tours. There seemed to be a lot of them available.

 

We may not drive on the right side of the road but that doesn't make it the wrong side of the road.;)

Edited by MicCanberra
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OzKiwiJJ Great Review Rare

OzKiwiJJ

Posted
Posted
I did a double take when I saw this I was sure they drove on the correct side of the road the same as us here in Oz. Then I realised (note, no Z in realised) that you are from South Carolina where they drive on the wrong side of the road and change the spelling of the Queen's English. ;):D

 

In fact the "Z" spelling is the original Queen's English spelling but has been superceded by the "S" version in many places including Australia. Not sure about NZ these days but I used the "Z" spelling a lot when I lived there.

 

http://grammarist.com/spelling/realise-realize/

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GUT2407

GUT2407

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In fact the "Z" spelling is the original Queen's English spelling but has been superceded by the "S" version in many places including Australia. Not sure about NZ these days but I used the "Z" spelling a lot when I lived there.

 

http://grammarist.com/spelling/realise-realize/

 

Maybe we need to go back to f for s.

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OzKiwiJJ Great Review Rare

OzKiwiJJ

Posted
Posted (edited)
Sorry for getting off topic I was just trying to inject a little humor.

There's a lot more I could say about the distortion of our language but I'll butt out now and let this thread get back on topic.

 

No, all good fun. It's interesting though. It's something I really noticed when I moved to Australia. I actually did a Toastmaster's speech about it once - "Save the Z's". :D That was before they put the "Z" back in Kosciuszko.

Edited by OzKiwiJJ
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GUT2407

GUT2407

Posted
Posted
Sorry for getting off topic I was just trying to inject a little humor.

There's a lot more I could say about the distortion of our language but I'll butt out now and let this thread get back on topic.

 

A thread on this sub forum getting off topic, never happen:eek::cool:

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MicCanberra Holiday Sharing Rare

MicCanberra

Posted
Posted (edited)
No, all good fun. It's interesting though. It's something I really noticed when I moved to Australia. I actually did a Toastmaster's speech about it once - "Save the Z's". :D That was before they put the "Z" back in Kosciuszko.
Did you mean a Toaztmazter'z zpeech.:p Edited by MicCanberra
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mrs and mrs

mrs and mrs

Posted
Posted
Sorry for getting off topic I was just trying to inject a little humor.

There's a lot more I could say about the distortion of our language but I'll butt out now and let this thread get back on topic.

 

Their a humourless bunch,Linda & Lester,dont worry I got it.

But I get most things really.:):)

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The Other Tom

The Other Tom

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Posted
The other Tom - cute name haha, so how did you book your tours? Where did you stay?

We booked through a TA from one of the (ahem) national airlines. They were very helpful. I don't think cruise critic allows posting of TA names but if you post your email I can give you some info.

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Sun 4-ever

Sun 4-ever

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HAHA you guys are funny. I LOVE the way Australians talk and I have no clue what the Z or the s & f thing was about but it was fun reading your posts.

 

Anyways my husband is fine with driving on the wrong, or right depending on who you ask, side of the road. We are renting a car in Sydney to go to the BLue Mountains so by the time we get to New Zealand he'll have it down I'm sure.

 

The other Tom my email address is jojusjoe@gmail.com

 

jspqld - did you use public transportation to go to all the locations you mentioned? Also what is devenport? I'm not a museum kinda girl I get bored real easy I also don't like looking at birds in cages. I do love a good zoo if the animals are up and about and not hiding so we see nothing. I know my hubby would love to see the war memorial.

 

I really want to go to those caves and see the glow worms and do the tubing excursion. So how far are the caves from Auckland and are there other things there that it would be best for us to spend a night someplace besides Auckland?

 

I so love CC, it sure makes planning trips a lot easier.

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The Other Tom

The Other Tom

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Posted
If you decide that driving yourself has advantages, I would not be too worried about traffic in New Zealand. There is plenty of rural kilometres to be driven. Sheep don't know one side of the road from the other!

 

Rotorua is amazing btw!

Yeah, but the round abouts, the round abouts......

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chesterbear

chesterbear

Posted
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The caves are about 2 1/2 hours south of Auckland. But that's probably dependent on what time you leave and get through the southern motorway.

 

I think spending the night somewhere comes down to if you want to go anywhere else south of Auckland. I would try to get to Rotorua if you could.

 

Devonport is in the opposite direction- it's in Auckland but over the harbour bridge. It's a nice place to spend an afternoon. You may want to google it. [emoji1]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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