Road Raven or other middle earthers....

[Pika]

DH saw a program on your lovely country and now would LOVE to take a vacation there...Is november weather ok? When would be the best season to visit- we like "active holidays" so would be looking for some outdoor activities likely.
Never to soon to start planning- I know Nov. seems like ages away...
Thanks in advance
Tam

[crazycanuck]

Ms pika

How much time do you have? What activities do you want to do in NZ?? Are you a mtn biker? If so, check out the Kennett Brothers guide to tracks in NZ. Def have to do Whaka in Rotovegs, Wellington , even the 42nd traverse if you can find a group. How about the Queen Charlotte Track at the top of the south island? Tramping on Stewart Island?

I have another suggestion. If you want to see actual sunshine & do a Tri..why not come & do Ironman WA? Why do i feel like a rep for tourism Western Australia?

NZ has wonderful beaches, greenery(for obvious reasons.. ) & awesome mtn biking..

C

[enzed]

Here's some more suggestions

The Coromandel Penisular - Great beaches, heaps of bush & kiyaking.

Take a trip on the Ferry between Wellington & Piction - Awesome scenery

Like Bushwalking - How about try the "Tongariro Traverse". I did it on school camp, when I turned 9. I still remember taking a break at the Emerald lakes.
And let's not forget the Milford Track - I haven't done it yet, but it's on my list of things to do.

Visit Taupo - geothermal activity, bungy jumping & other fun stuff.

Another thing which might be interesting - Black water rafting (Rafting in caves). It's something I've wanted to try my hand at.

[RoadRaven]

Wow... have soooo much racing through my head so I might have to come back to this with more suggestions... I am leaving for work in half an hour so this will be rushed...

Yes, November is usually good weather. The frosts of Spring have well gone, though on the East Coast (North and South Islands) there can be wicked Westerly winds... we get them in Spring/early Summer.

December is usually full of sunny warm days, sprinkled with showers.

January is usually dry, February is our hottest month.

Autumn is probably the most predictable time in terms of warm days, cool evenings and little rain.

OK... thats the weather question answered... I'll be back with some suggestions...

[Pika]

You have given us some good ideas- we will likely have 3 weeks- it is harder to get away for longer than that- actually I think we may decide just not to come back if we stay too long
I doubt we would bring bikes but would be open to renting once there- we are really just in the " it would be great to go there- wonder if we could swing it" stage of planning.

Thanks again

[RoadRaven]

The Queen Charlotte Track is a good suggestion if you mountain bike. My mtb-loving training partner went there last summer for a week with her sister. It was tougher than she thought it would be, but she absolutely loved it. And of course, the scenery there in and around the Malborough Sounds is stunning.
http://www.queencharlottetrack.co.nz/

The cost of getting between the North and South Islands is ridiculous... it is cheaper to fly to Australia from where I live, than to fly to the South Island of my own country. You can get a ferry between the two islands (about 4 hours I think). Taking a car really bumps up the price, but if you walked on/off the cost would be much less. So if you were doing both islands you could hire cars and pick them up/drop them off in Wellington (bottom of North Island) or Nelson (top of South Island).

Queenstown is supposed to be the "adventure capital" of New Zealand, but as such it is also very expensive - both in accomodation and in activities (though my family and I did stay in a back-packers last October and it was reasonable, though dingy). Over the two weeks we travelled in the South Island, Queenstown was not a highlight.
http://www.queenstown-nz.co.nz/infor...rmation-centre

What did we like about the South Island? Orana Park Zoo in Christchurch. We could have spent two days there with the kids. The beaches just north of Dunedin... some of the best kept secrets of this country. Dunedin Museum... would have liked a week to wander round that place. The high country as we crossed from Dunedin over to the west coast... and they have turned the old railway line there into miles and miles of walking or mountain biking track - my partner and I would like to go back and do that. The west coast was a highlight, we only had time to drive up, stopping to look at Fox and Franz Josef glaciers... though you can go for various adventures in and around them... and to look at seal colonies. The scenery was ruggedly stunning and I would like to live there for a few months.

Cheap or free adventure is all over the place here, you don't have to go to big tourist areas. There are loads of bush-walks everywhere (wherever you are in New Zealand you are only a coupl of hours drive from either the mountains or the sea).

Loads of sea fishing charters, trout fishing available in lakes or rivers all round the country.

Taupo (central North Island) offers jet-boating, skiing (water and snow), that hang-gliding thing you do behind a boat, bungy-jumping, white water rafting, etc etc... And an hour from Taupo is Rotorua... geysers, mud pools yes... but also an amazing redwood forest with an wide natural (not concrete) path through it for cycling on. And an hour and a half from Taupo is Hamilton with its river adventures, and glow worm caves.
http://www.jasons.com/new-zealand/ta...ntres-i-sites/

If you came to Hawkes Bay (the "fruit bowl of New Zealand") you would have an art deco city to wander in (Napier), hang-gliding off an easily accessible cliff face (Te Mata Peak), wine tastings (loads of vineyards here), white-water rafting, kayaking (sea and river) para-gliding, mountain biking tracks, road racing (come along as a guest, I'll ride with you)...
http://www.hawkesbaynz.com/travel_in...ation_centres/

If you like diving, there are great diving spots - particularly in Northland, as well as all sorts of water adventures, plus land stuff like bush walks, caving, mountain biking, glow worms, ancient forest.
http://www.northlandnz.com/visitor_i...on_centres.htm

Aero clubs all over the place offer sky-diving and parachuting...

Here's the official Touism NZ website... adventures, travel, accomodation etc
http://www.tourism.net.nz/

Here's also an adventure/eco tourism site that may have some other bits and pieces... whale watching, bungy jumping, bird watching, whitewater rafting, sea kayaking, ...
http://www.nznature.co.nz/ecotourism.htm

So... hope this isn't tooooo much info... and yes, the two main islands of this stunning little country are called, unimaginatively, the North Island and the South Island.

[enzed]

Black water rafting - I found the webpage for it http://www.waitomo.com/black-water-r...source=adwords

Nelson - A small city on the top of the South Island - surrounded by bush, hills & beaches.
You can drive west along the coast & past golden-sand beaches & more bush. Visit the Able Tasman National Park.

Kaikoura (South Island) - Whale watching & a seal colony - Where the hills meet the ocean.

Wellington - Take a trip on the cable car & take a walk through the botanical gardens.

Castlepoint - (East coast, north Island) - A large windswept beach which hardly has any visitors. A nice place to zone out for awhile.

[Pika]

You gals are great!
Thanks for all the info!!
Now we must go- there are tons of options- thanks for sharing- I really appreciate it