For activities, we are open to almost anything. Some of our interests are hiking, bungy jumping, win

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Our son is living Queenstown, NZ for the next year and we want to go see him. The plan is for my wife, me and 2 friends to travel to NZ in Feb/Mar 2015. We are very middle class, so we do not have unlimited funds...but we can afford to do this trip properly also. We are pretty average working class people all around 60 yrs. old and in good shape, so outdoor activities are welcomed. We are limited to 3 weeks time and know that travel to and from the US will consume 3-4 days.
Obviously we want to spend some extra time in Queenstown best virginia beach hotels to be with our son, but would like to see both islands. It seems like Auckland is where most international flights arrive, so we would probably start there and work our way south.
For activities, we are open to almost anything. Some of our interests are hiking, bungy jumping, wineries, the mountains, best virginia beach hotels ferry/boat best virginia beach hotels rides, Rotorua, Maori. Almost anything. We do enjoy going "off the beaten path" also, so roughing it a bit is fine also.
Regarding booking accommodation in advance, February/March is high season, yet you can still be flexible other than in areas with limited accommodation, best virginia beach hotels such as Mt Cook and the glaciers. These places do fill up and as nearby alternatives aren't particularly close, you could be caught best virginia beach hotels out of you don't book at least a few days in advance.
There's a wide assortment of moderately best virginia beach hotels priced accommodation throughout NZ. It's not difficult to find two bedroom units, house and apartment rentals and all manner of unique accommodation, although not booking in advance will limit your options somewhat.
B Bs, farmstays, homestays and cottages are abundant and a great option. Hostels are another possibility as there's no age limit for staying in one in NZ. Motels are inexpensive and well equipped, most offer basic to extended kitchen facilities, laundry facilities, etc. NZ is a great place to be a tourist!
When we (family of 4) traveled on our 3 trips through NZ, we almost always stayed best virginia beach hotels in motels, which as Melnq8 said, you can find with kitchens and laundries. Those certainly came in handy to prepare breakfast picnic lunches and to get some clean clothes!
Does 17 days in country give us enough time to start at Auckland, circumnavigate both islands and return back to Auckland to leave or would it be best to start at Auckland and fly back to the states from Christchurch?
best virginia beach hotels You will probably find it least expensive to fly in and out of the same city (Auckland or Christchurch, but Auckland has many more international flights). You can of course return to Auckland via a flight from Christchurch. You don't want to try to see the whole country in 17 days - otherwise you will spend your holiday in the car. My favourites are
So even limiting yourself to these areas will take quite a bit of time to get around. Queenstown has a great airport with lots of flights in and out, so a good base to do excursions from down south to Fiordland or up north to the glaciers, West Coast, Nelson etc. In some ways I would suggest limiting yourself to the south island and just flying in and out of Auckland.
As Melnq8 says, Feb and March are peak summer best virginia beach hotels and heavily booked - so make some accommodation bookings in asap and check out flights and rental car availability. It is good weather generally right to the end of March and first week April.
I don't think that flying into Auckland and out of CC is likely to add much to the cost, and it's a lot more time effective. However, given that you want to spend extra time with your son in QT, if you really best virginia beach hotels only have 17 days, I would question best virginia beach hotels whether you want to try to fit in both islands, or on this occasion to concentrate on the south.
On our 3rd trip to NZ, we spent an entire 2 weeks just on the South Island and we could have easily spent more time there. Since your son is based in Queenstown and you only have 17 days for this trip, I'd recommend you go straight to the South Island for your whole trip. You won't lack for things to see and do in those 17 days.
If you haven't already done so, I'd pick up a Rough Guide or Lonely Planet guidebook for New Zealand to give you some ideas of what to see and do there. Those were the most useful guidebooks for me when I planned our trips.
Here's two suggestions for "off the beaten best virginia beach hotels trail" best virginia beach hotels activities. One year our family did a 3-day self-guided hike of the Kaikoura Coast Track. The scenery was amazing and the hosts at each of the stops could not have been more accommodating. The next year we did a guided hike of the Hollyford Track. Again, best virginia beach hotels more fabulous scenery and the guides were quite knowledgeable. I recommend them both.
Living in the states and the vastness of it in size compared to NZ, we originally thought it'd be no problem to see both islands. best virginia beach hotels Between the terrain, roads, bridges and sights to see, that isn't as do-able as we first thought. I do have an excellent travel guide, which is helping a lot.
What should we look for in the weather this time of year. I imagine it is kinda like being in the mountains of the US. Down low it can be hot and cooler the further up you go. Then there is the ocean which is unique to itself.
Steve, I can't stress enough best virginia beach hotels the problems of driving in NZ - as a Brit living in Cornwall I thought that I was pretty well inured to difficult driving conditions but NZ takes them to a whole new level. That said, what we found best was to have a long driving day, followed by a day, preferably two, of rest. if you try to move on every day, that could become very tiring.
February is the best month weather-wise normally hot and settled. As you get in to March it will start to cool down a bit but should still be warm. A nice time to visit as children will be back at school, so not that busy.
Word of caution about air arrangements. If you are flying from South Island back to Auckland to make your connection back to the States on the same day, make sure and book that flight when you book your RT flights to and from Auckland. The reason is if you have travel problems on the first intra-NZ flight (delays, cancellations, etc.), your airline will not charge extra if things have to be changed. best virginia beach hotels If you wait and book that intra-NZ fare in NZ, they are not responsible for "getting you to the church on time." Also watch Air NZ fares carefully - they just had a sale on premium economy seats, and they may have another.
Yes, it would certainly be nice to see some of the NI, but not at the expense of being rushed and limited in your sightseeing on both islands. Sometimes "less is more" and this is one of those instances.
if you decide to see the NI, I can recommend the Coromandel peninsular as a first stopping off point. best virginia beach hotels It's about a 2 hour drive from Auckland so makes a good stop-over if like us you've decided not to bother with Auckland. We wished that we'd stayed 2 nights though best virginia beach hotels - seeing the peninsular AND getting to Napier in the same day was very hard work, not something we would have embarked on if we'd had any sense/listened to all the good advice best virginia beach hotels we got here.
A night somewhere on the way to Wellington and then another in Wellington itself is probably the max you should think of on the NI if you only have 17 days in total, but on the whole, I would give it a miss and concentrate on the SI.
We've used Rental Cars New Zealand out of Christchurch three times. Much, much cheaper the car was definitely an older model ( in fact we got the very same car two years apart!) but mechanically very sound and the company were very easy to deal with. On one of the trips we drove the Nissan Bluebird to the top of Cardrona (in a blizzard) and were the only car to get off the mountain that day
If you do decide to take in the NI, don't leave Rotorua out! But really, it's a long way from Nth to Sth and as all the experts above have said, you are probably better maximizing your time in the SI.
Thanks for the responses. Right now, from the advice received, I am leaning towards limiting our trip to the South Island only. But, I am only one of 4, so majority will rule. It would be great to see both islands, but with our son in Queenstown, we don't want to short change our time with him. Plus it seems like there is more than enough to occupy our time on the SI.
Any suggestion best virginia beach hotels on things best virginia beach hotels to do and see during our limited time on the NI? We plan to rent a car to travel best virginia beach hotels the SI also. Are there any advantages to flying into Christchurch versus Queenstown, or is it "a horse a piece"? Are there any "can't miss" places to stay on either island? Are the NZ airlines pretty best virginia beach hotels much equal?
Air NZ is the only national carrier - NZ also has a few smaller commuter/regional services that work with Air NZ on less traveled routes on prop planes (Mt Cook Airlines, etc), but Air NZ is the big one.
I've flown Air NZ many, many times and they'd be my choice for the international portion as well - if you can swing it, they have an incredible Premium Economy service, which is a nice compromise between cattle class and Business.
I've only been to the NI once, so I won't be much help there, but in planning a trip to the NI myself for February I found it quite difficult to stretch my week very far as I wanted to avoid a lot of driving. So, we've booked three nights best virginia beach hotels in Martinborough (wine region that spouse is determined to visit) and four nights in Wellington. I have no doubt we'll find plenty to do.
Jetstar flies between Auckland and Christchurch and Queenstown I think. They are the budget part of Qantas, an Australian airline. Fares are normally cheaper than Air NZ, although on these routes they may be very similar. best virginia beach hotels In that case go with Air NZ.
We will rent a car and spend 5 days on the NI, then fly from Auckland to Christchurch, rent a car there for 14 days finish out at Queenstown, drop off car there and fly back to Auckland and then