SiPie

The day itself !

Overlooking Bay of Islands, North Island nr Russell

Queenstown

Queenstown

Ocean Beach, Nr Whangerei, Nth Island

Milford Sound, Sth Island

Me & Jonah !!

Playing Golf on Hogmany….it’s a tough life

Franz Josef

Franz Josef

Milford Sound, Sth Island

rgv_stu

nice pics

just got back from nz myself, were the queenstown pics from the top of the gondalas??

magnificent scenery isnt it

SiPie

Stu....

Think one was taken from the top of the Gondola and the other from the top of Mt Queenstown....

Can't argue with you about the scenery

gso

wonderful pics

ChrisB

Wow.

I think that's the holiday for 2006 sorted!

SiPie

Chris...

Can't recommend it highly enough. I just wish I'd balanced our time more towards the South Island, as it's simply stunning.

stevencotton

Went last year and loved it so much I'm going back on April 2nd

ChrisB

How long did you go out there for? I reckon we'd want three weeks given the distance

stevencotton

Three weeks for me, I can only take that much off of work at once, did the same last year. I'm flying business this time so I can get an extra day out there and get some decent sleep on the way home.

SiPie

5 weeks mate, but had 3 days in Hong Kong and too many days wasted in Auckland (just like any other city really). I'd give yourself at least 3 weeks.

ChrisB

5 weeks =

I think the maximum time my girlfriend can have off work at once is three weeks.

She went to Thailand with her Sister for three weeks in 2003 (before I met her - bah!), we're off to Italy this summer, so long-haul to NZ for 2006 looks just the job

warrenm2

did 3 weeks last years - as said before - spend more time in the south island - christchurch and queenstown are the pick although abel tasman park also excellent

rgv_stu

i prefered the north island as there was more for me to do
fishing was well good around the coromandel and bay of islands.
i went for a month , 2 weeks north 2 south
christchurch is really nice well worth the visit.
auckland is just like any other city imo.
the pics really dont do the place justice, i found you couldnt really take 1 pic as everything was panoramic.

Vegescoob

I've recently been emailing relatives in NZ to get lowdown on current happenings because it's fast becoming an attractive thought to go there for good.
Golden Bay Sth Island probably or Christchurch.
Agree Auckland too like any big city. Whangerei top of Nth Island also great though.
Good thing about NZ though is it's easy to travel around.

LG John

Its Sting, its sting Are you and the Police getting back together?

Very nice pics mate...........and the scenery ones aren't too bad either

SiPie

Agree there is perhaps more to do, especially the fishing side (went kite fishing with a kilometre line) but if it's walking, glacier climbing, mountain or heli-biking, bungee jumping, Lord of the Rings stuff etc etc then the South Island is the place. However, we loved the Coramandel and Bay of Islands, especially Russell

We only spent one night in Christchurch so can't really comment, but apart from the River Avon it didn't jump out as anything special, then again, it was raining



Lol....He was actually playing in Hong Kong on the 26th just as we were leaving....and I did get a few strange looks that day.....






.......but then, no more than any other day

kart_man

Very nice pics Si. I take it you had a good time then?
Got some very similar pics myself last year. Here's the view from the house we bought there 2 years back...



Awesome place, and if I got sacked tomorrow, I'd be on the next plane ...

philc

glad you guys enjoyed NZ

You're right, Auckland is just a large urban sprawl (has about 30% of NZ's total population).

and I'd agree the best bits are the Bay of Islands (Russell, Pahia) and the west and south of the South Island

NotoriousREV

Nice dress. The Mrs doesn't look bad in hers, either

rgv_stu

i must say i didnt mind auckland at all , as i come from the countryside its something different. plus winning a $100 bar tab at a pool competition in ACB globe bar was a right laff could barely walk after spending that

i just wish i spent more time out there

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

Nice pics, looks fab, I'm really jealous

Chris B, we've been talking about going next year, if we do go then our trip will definitely coincide with Rally New Zealand

SiPie

Is your house actually overlooking Frankton from around the Queenstown Gardens peninsula bit or have you taken that pic from further away on the Gondola side overlooking the bay?

Scoob99

iTrader: (1)

Stunning just stunning.........and the Pics wern't bad either Seriously beautiful looking place, how long is the flight from London??
Cheers
Colin

ozzy

Wow, those pics look so Yuo look so cute m8 in that first pic; like a love sick puppy dog



Looks like my kinda place

Stefan

P.S. Took us 20hrs to get to Sydney and there were loads of folk staying on that flight as the next stop as Auckland (think that was another 4hrs flying).

warrenm2

Milford Sound has 7m of rainfall per year - that must be the only picture in existance of it sunny. Yes I did say 7m - thats not a typo....

SiPie

London to Hong Kong was around 12 hours, then another 11 and half from Hong Kong to Auckland.....

Adding on the flight from Edinburgh to Heathrow, flying direct to Auckland was dull with only 40mins legstretch between flights, but breaking up the return with a few days in Hong Kong was better.

Most people we spoke to insisted that 'even if it was pissing down then it was still well worth the visit' as the waterfalls in full swing were pretty special.

ricardo

I'd love to go there, but Mrs. Ricardo is a teacher, so the only realistic time is the school summer holidays here, which is winter there...

Anyone like to say what the best times to go there are, weather wise ?

I know Christmas here is probably good, but that's a long trip to fit into two weeks, just seems too tight.

Mal K

Just got back having spent Xmas & New Year just north of Wellington. We had the worst December on record weather wise.
Climate is very similar to ours with the best of the weather around Mid January to end of February.
Watch the sun though it will burn you in minutes.

Gizmo555

26hrs for us from Heathrow including 3 hour flight swap in Singapore.

Air Singapore all the way - best airline I've ever travelled with.

Cheers

Mark

philc

?how far north of Wellington - just curious.

The weather was so poor the first week of Jan I headed over to the East Coast where the temp was in the high 20's; but was still surprised to read about the torrential rain and flooding just north of Wellington that same week.