Our trip commenced mid November 2007 at Auckland on North Island - we then headed south (with stops at Thames and Taupo) to Wellington to cross over to the South Island after around 2 weeks. Our trip continued on South travelling down the West Coast via Motueka, Arthurs Pass, Franz Josef, Queenstown, Te Anau, Dunedin and ended up at Christchurch.
Prior to leaving we had heard lot's of things about the possible violent weather
that New Zealand can offer at any time of the year so we took lots of warm
clothing as well as waterproof gear for walks - in fact the only time it rained
was nearly at the end of our holiday when we stayed at Dunedin. Our five weeks
were mostly of lovely sunny days and often temperatures around 23 to 30 degrees.
Whilst in New Zealand we managed to take 100s of photographs during our days
out sightseeing and going around the myriad of attractions on offer on the two islands - including
quite a few on our helicopter ride up into the mountains to view Mount Cook
and get real close ups of the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers - where we landed
on the top of Fox Glacier - a fabulous and unforgettable trip. We also did several walks on the
Abel Tasman Trail which is amazingly picturesque and brilliant to walk along -
plus we took the two famous New Zealand trips out onto Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound.
There is therefore lots of information and tons of photos all about
our New Zealand Travels - please use the various links on the left for our topics about our New Zealand Holidays.
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Driving in New Zealand. Driving is
on the left as with England and basically the rules are pretty similar
except when
making a right hand turn across traffic flow - see
this link for a clear item on this.
The general speed limit on main roads etc is 100 kph - as you
approach towns and villages the limit is reduced to quite often 50kph - also on
any bends their are guidance speed limits. If you are travelling around the
mountainous areas and you see a 25 or 30kph warning it's definitely worth
believing it.
Although we did not see any speed cameras whilst driving on New Zealand's roads
there certainly are plenty of police around watching for and stopping speeding
motorists - they also use unmarked cars for this.
You need to be aware of the trucks and in particular the ones carrying logs -
they tend not to stop for anything and really hammer along even on bendy roads.
Many of the trucks pull long trailers as well.
The roads do have to go over railway crossings from time to time and these
crossings generally have stop-lights etc. - we did notice that coaches actually
stop before crossing over and the driver physically looks both ways for trains.
Road surfaces we found to be best on the North Island but in any case the roads
are in a far better condition than the pot-holed mess that ours tend to be in
England.
Another frequent "hazard" are single lane bridges - you do get a lot of
these in New Zealand - as you approach such a bridge their is a priority arrow
showing who has right of way but it's not worth pushing your luck too much if a
truck is the other side of the bridge even if right of way is in your favour...
Petrol stations can be really in-frequent and we always filled up before any
longish trip out especially into the hills. Certainly if you plan on making the
excellent and really scenic drive down to Milford Sound you should have at least
3/4 of a tank full of fuel before leaving Te Anau as there is none available after that.
As mentioned the road surfaces are in generally good condition - however their is also quite an extensive set of dirt roads - you often find these when visiting various bays and beaches or when going into the many DOC conservation areas. It's worth noting that driving on these dirt roads creates a huge amount of dust (unless there has been recent rain to dampen the surfaces down) and a good practice when driving on dirt roads and tracks is to have your dipped headlights on.
Favourite parts of new Zealand which we travelled through:
The best has to be the drive into Milford Sound - amazing mountain scenery,
however
the best also has to be the drive between Haast and Queenstown - Haast Pass
followed by the beautiful Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea (so we have two "bests").
Walking and Tramping. Unlike the hiking possibilities we
have in England we found it quite difficult to find circular 15 to 20km walks
whilst in New Zealand.
The trails, paths and tracks in the country are mostly
long distance one way affairs - in other words you start at one end of the trail
and maybe camp or stay in huts for 4 or 5 days or more whilst walking sections
of the entire trail.
We were able to walk three sections of the Abel Tasman trail since you
can be taken to and picked up from different locations along it's route by using
taxi-boats. On other trails though we had to be content with just walking a
section and then returning the same way.
Sightseeing. The thing about New Zealand and touring around
was that the beauty of the countryside, lakes, rivers and streams, mountains and
hills just kept coming.
So trying to get anywhere in a reasonable time was often quite difficult because
you end up stopping all the time to look at the views. Another true delight was
when you are out walking along the largely deserted beaches you might easily
come across seals and penguins.
Although we have seen many of these animals at
various zoos there really is nothing like wandering along a beach and then
spotting perhaps 4 or 5 seals either basking on rocks or doing a bit of surfing
- because they are in their natural environment. We were on one isolated beach
and a few 100 yards ahead of us a single penguin crossed the beach and into the
sea - it was brilliant to see.
Eating Out. This can be quite difficult if you don't want to
eat fast food stuff - finding a proper food restaurant in many of the towns we
visited proved to be quite difficult and there also was the added problem that
many of the food outlets closed at around 2000hrs or so. Admittedly we were in
New Zealand in early summer so perhaps things alter somewhat as the real holiday
season starts after Christmas. Of course in the larger
locations such as Queenstown, Dunedin and Christchurch the proper restaurants stayed
open as late as 2200hrs or occasionally even later... but places like Thames were
like ghost towns after around 1900hrs or so.
Quite often the various D.O.C. areas had visitor centres and also a cafe available
but even these facilities closed at around 1600hrs.
Hazards to think about. Apart from trying to avoid the
logging lorries when driving on New Zealand's roads the two things to watch out
for that spring to mind are:
Sand Flies - especially on
South Island and on it's west coast beaches and forests these are a real
nuisance. As you come across one of the many gorgeous beaches along the coast
and think about maybe a crash-out on the sand for a while these sand flies
descend on you en mass. The bites are surprisingly painful too - the answer is
to ensure you have a repellent spray and cover all exposed parts with it.
The Sun. Apparently the
atmosphere is really thin now and the Sun's UV rays are even more dangerous
than in Australia - you really do need to have a descent hat on whilst out and
about on a sunny day - quite often whilst out we wore sleeved shirts/t-shirts
and also wore trousers rather than shorts for instance. (This also of course
helps keep the sand flies off.)
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