Oceanic Discoverer NZ sounds

We have just signed up for the Feb 6, 2014 expedition cruise of New Zealand's coastal South Island. We start in Wellington on Feb. 6 and visit Marlborough Sound, Kaikora for whale watching, Akaroa, Dunedin, Stewart Island, Dusky Sound, Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound. The Oceanic Discoverer has a high speed motorboat that takes the whole set of passengers to landings on islands and near seal and penguin colonies and into the ports. The motor boat goes up and down on an "elevator" so stiff oldies like me don't have to climb in and out of dinghies so much.

Anybody done something like this? We found out about this cruise because we traveled on a cruise of the Great Barrier Reef with coral princess cruises (we call them Australian Princess because have nothing to do with the large Princess corporation. ) but don't see much advertising. Small ships between 35 and 72 passengers. Great for South Pacific and Australia.

We have had several hoidays in New Zealand, although not on a cruise ship, and have visited about half of the places you mentioned. A couple of thoughts for you! It can be helpful to recognise the scale of many of the places you will see. In Milford Sound, for example, Mitre Peak, which rises directly from the sea, is over 7,000 feet high and, on the left hand side of the Sound (going in from the sea) you should see two or three waterfalls (there will be lots more if there is/has recently been heavy rain) - they are a quarter of a mile high!! Second thought - suggest you adopt the New Zealand Tourists motto which is "expect the unexpected".

That looks like a magnificent itinerary you have there.

I think so too. DH did not want the regular cruise experience because he kept going back to this experience. It is expensive but then most of our trips are -- we did the cheaper closer stuff long ago:p

If you would share how you "did" NZ we are in the process of trying to put the land package together. We have lately been having a car and driver and guide in city based Beijing, Xian China, Bangkok, Rio Brazil, and Santiago Chile were last year's) but NZ is sort of spread out and I would like to NOT do day trips based in Auckland but need to know about getting from place to place. What places must we see? Our list so far includes Auckland city, Bay Islands Hole in the Rock or Cream trip, National Park in World Heritage site book, Queenstown and Wellington city trips (start and finish of trip) and the Agrodome show or something about farms, Maori culture and thermal sites.

It looks like maybe temporary residents! Trip probably will be about 25-30 days. Anything more is just too much. Thanks for any hints.

A lot of people cruise around NZ and have a great time. Bowie's trip on the Oceanic Discoverer is the perfect way to do it - a small ship like that can get to so many interesting places.

Personally, having both cruised and driven around NZ, I think it's more of a land-based country because the roads and accommodations are exemplary and also because several companies offer either day-trips or overnighters on boats around Fiordland.

Our driving trip took 4 weeks. It took weeks of research to get our route finalised and then we booked everything up my email. We never used a travel agency and stayed in a mixture of motels, self-catering and luxury lodges.

After that we took a cruise to the Bay of Islands and then up to Melanesia.

My only regret is not getting to the Chatham Islands - any cruise which goes there would be brilliant.

New Zealand is about 1,000 miles from top to bottom!! Getting around by public transport is not appropriate for a holiday.

I cannot see clearly from your comments so far at which NZ airport you arrive at / depart from to go home. Is your land bit after your cruise - I will assume it is for my comments below.

Suggest you start you land bit in Auckland (if departing for home from Wellington or Christchurch) - that might mean a local flight to Auckland to start with.

Starting from Auckland suggest just 2 or 3 days in a hotel there. Go up the Sky Tower. Walk along the waterfront and have a trip out (2 hours) on the Americas Cup racing yacht there. (I can suggest one or two more things later). The way to get around NZ is by hire car (e.g. Avis). Arrange hire car in advance and pick up in Auckland. (Unless you wish to take coach trips)

Suggest staying in Motels for your land trip. Motels are a way of life for holidaymakers. On arriving in NZ buy / pick up the Motel Guide book (about 1 inch thick) This is updated and reprinted each year. Can be found in book and similar shops. Suggest you get a decent map of NZ at home whilst you are planning your holiday (?? on Amazon or your local bookshop)

No need to book your trip in detail before you go. You can do that as you go along. Years ago one could just turn up at a motel and book for the night. Now, with increased tourism, best to phone in advance the day before (phone numbers are in the guide book) or on the morning that you intend to arrive. In the guide book look for small / medium sized Motels with family proprietors and with price range from midldle to higher. Most motels make available a washing machine so, when you arrive, you can wash any clothes that you wish and dry them in drying machine or put them out to dry. Makes it easy to get around with only one suitcase each!

Starting from Auckland, drive northwards to the Bay of Islands (maybe a stop or two on the way) In the Bay of Islands suggest 3 or 4 nights in Paihia. We have stayed in the Swiss Chalet Motel there three or four times over the years - see what you think of that in the Guide Book. In / from Paihia you can:-

One day - the "Milk" cruise that you mentioned is good (preferable to the Hole in the Wall trip). On this cruise you can have a stopover at lunch time on one of the islands (cafe there). Walk to the top of the hill there - magnificent views out over the Bay of Islands

Another day - do the ninety mile beach (actually only sixty miles) trip on a small bus from Paihia. A long day! The bus travels about 45 miles along the beach and comes back on land (or the other way round). You MUST NOT take hire cars along the ninety mile beach

(Both the above trips can be booked in the shops in the entrance area to the pier in Paihia)

Other days - Take ferry across to Russell and have a look around. In your car travel to the Treaty House at Waitangi - one or two other tourist things along the way. In addition to visiting the historic Treaty House you get beautiful views from the garden area out over the Bay of Islands.

Paihia is not a large place but there are several nice restaurants there for dinner.

After Paihia make your way south through / past Auckland to other attractions.

Can you get a NZ tourist type guide book to study at home - ?? from Amazon again.

NZ is not really a "City" holiday - most people go to see the Country.

I have quite a lot of information about NZ that I have kept over the years and am very happy to look that up for you and make some more suggestions - would be helpful to have a clearer picture of your arrival / departure points.

Basically if you go the car hire route then, once you get outside the Cities, you are free sprits on the open road.

This message is a little hurried as we are going off for a few days holiday in a couple of days time so I may not be able to make another post until about the 18th May.

Back to cruise ships for a moment. Have you considered one of the Starclipper ships - the Royal Clipper maybe. Sailing cruise ships - magnificent. We are repeaters on them.

Hope this helps - willing to provide some more input if that should be your wish.

Thanks for your help. The trip is beginning to come together. We would like to have a private guide but it will push the price of the trip to SHOCKING!

We are now coming to the conclusion that hiring a car is the only way. We have done car trips all over the world but on some of our latest trips they were to countries where we could afford a guide and needed one due to language and traffic (Bangkok and Beijing and Rio in Brazil). New Zealand has prices similar or higher than US, probably less traffic than where we live in Washington, DC, and the biggest negative factor is that we don't like to drive on the "other side". In positive is that we can speak the language sort of:p

Probably are going to do 11 days before cruise in North Island with a rental car. The cruise is 9 days and covers most of coastal South Island and ends with us in Queenstown. Perhaps 2 days in Queenstown doing day trips and then taking transalpine train and going to Christchurch. Might just fly out either through Auckland or Christchurch. Much to do but we have all the tools to do so with guidebooks, 100% NZ website, and lots of experience booking trips for 40+ years. Planning is just about the most fun part of the trip.

In Queenstown a good trip is on the Earnslaw. The Earnslaw is a coal fired steam paddle ship and the views from it as it goes along the lake are excellent - especially of the Remarkables. As in many things New Zealand a question arises - how did they get a ship that big on to an inland lake?? Have a super holiday

To be perfectly frank, Bowie, NZ is not a country you will need a guide. They speak English, things are very well signposted, the maps are great, the sightseeing hotspots are beautifully organised . . . driving around here is an absolute doddle. And also, ahem, there really isn't that much to see except the scenery - NZ is not a country where you can think of a single building that's world famous. It doesn't have any cultural meccas, or Roman ruins, or a Louvre, or a Great Wall. It has masses and masses of scenery, wild stretches of coastline, mountains, fiords, penguins, albatrosses, vineyards, some pleasant towns, an appealing capital at Wellington (good museum there).

We started in Christchurch and then did a sort of figure-of-eight and ended up in Auckland - you'll need to change cars between the islands if you rent from someone like Avis or Hertz.

Thanks Fletcher that is what we are finding out. There are self-drive tours set up but I can't think of why I would pay someone to make a few reservations and throw in a map. Now there is one World Heritage site (National Park in central North Island) and another that is a wilderness islands out in Pacific. As we decide what to see I will update here so you can comment.

A question about the Franz Joe. glacier. If we decide to visit the small town will we be able to see the glacier or do you have to take a NZ tramp. I don't tramp though I could walk about 2 KM at the most. Not doing a helicopter either. So what would we see? Thought we wanted to do transalpine RR but now not so sure as it takes us not in the way we need to go.

Is Christchurch worth making arrangements to go there from Q'town?

We will be in Q'town for end of trip and we will fly out of Auckland by all likely hood. How would you spend a week in South Island before flying out of AKL.

Hello Bowie - We chose Fox Glacier over Franz Josef as we really wanted to photograph Lake Matheson. There is a lively Forum on NZ over on TripAdvisor -

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g255104-i125-New_Zealand.html

and if you scroll through that you will find masses of reliable info and quite a few opinions about various places. I found it indispensable when planning our trip.

The weather is the big issue on the South Island so I would always urge people to stay at least 3 days in Fiordland to have a chance of a nice day or two. We never went to Queenstown as we thought it looked much too big and resorty for us. So we stayed at a rather pricey but lovely place called Fiordland Lodge near Te Anau. But your cruise is doing these places so you may not want to stay here as well.

We liked Dunedin - interesting architecture and there's a penguin and albatross colony nearby that's worth seeing. The winelands around Blenheim are lovely and provide lots of opportunities to visit wineries. Blenheim itself is dullsville - we stayed for 3 days at a nice self-catering place called Vintner's Retreat and shopped and cooked (and drank) for ourselves. Our view was of the Cloudy Bay label for real. The nicest town up there is Nelson. We actually thought of leaving the UK and going to live there.

The World Heritage Site on the North Island, Tongariro, is a spectacular volcanic landscape and is probably a scenic drive-through rather than a stay. The offshore islands are uninhabited wildlife zones that used to be regular stops for a cruise ship called Orion which has recently been bought by the US operator Lindblad.

The ship that we are going on Oceanic Discoverer is about 50% of the time rented out to both National Geographic and Lindblat or other high end tour operators. We look for the weeks that are run by the company itself because they are about 30% cheaper. Guides are hired by the week and can be NG one week and Lindblat the next. We got what we consider a great deal for this cruise when priced by what the packages cost.

In Queenstown a good trip is on the Earnslaw. The Earnslaw is a coal fired steam paddle ship and the views from it as it goes along the lake are excellent - especially of the Remarkables. As in many things New Zealand a question arises - how did they get a ship that big on to an inland lake?? Have a super holiday

We read about this on a trip advisor report of a bus tour of 19 days. They wrote of taking the Earnslaw over to the Colonel's Homestead for a dinner and another commented on going to a sheep farm. Do you remember any of these options on the Earnslaw? Trying to get a handle on how much time to allow. They also gave extremely high marks to the views and the fun value

In general I remember the options but the detail has faded somewhat now! On the WEB if you type in earnslaw new zealand several sites come up with some helpful information on them.

Thanks. Will do.

My husband's cousin who often travels with us has just signed up for this trip. Car might be hard with the luggage but the companionship and adventure will be even better. Waiting to hear if the special from Air Tahiti Nui for flights from LAX to AKL with discounted stopover hotel in Tahiti really is a good deal or if it is a "gotcha" deal. Price was good if it works out. Ziacasso pricing has also been asked for (travel agents bid on vacation packages) but I wonder if they can beat what I have found.

Trip is coming along. Making hotel reservations, got 2 rental cars - one for North Island Jan 30 - Feb. 6 and South Island Feb. 15 - Feb 20. The cruise is 9 days in between. So in love with what we will do and see.

Air is from DCA to LAX to PPT to AKL and back. Air Tahiti Nui. 3 days each way in Tahiti -- my line is better to be in Tahiti in Jan/Feb than Maryland so if going to be just flying by might as well stay a while and go fishing for blue starfish.

Hi!

Have been reading this with interest as you will be able to see we are NZ'ers! Your itinerary looks good and suggestions have been good too. One thing that hasn't been suggested are Bed and breakfast accommodation and Home/Farm Stays. This type of accommodation is much more readily available in NZ than in the past. In November we spent about 10 days going across central Otago from Dunedin after going to a wedding there and then through the Haast Pass and up the coast from there ( spectacular scenery). We stayed mainly in B&B's and homestays and they were, without exception, very good value and excellent accommodation. Driving in NZ is not a problem. Our roads, especially in the SI are very quiet. Another very popular option for travelling around are motor homes. There are many places where you can just pull off the road in a lovely spot and stay the night as long as your van has full facilities.

As regards booking ahead. This depends on time of year. It is hard to get accommodation from Christmas until end of January on a casual basis. February can be a bit hard too but probably OK if booking a few days ahead. Best time of year for ease of travel and probably the best weather is March/April. Autumn colours will be starting down south in April and they are spectacular.

Hope this is some help.

Thanks for all the reassurance. DH just is not a camper or RV person. Even the 4 year old grandson attraction can not get him to camp (they own a 6 bed camper and the other grands also have a 6 bed camper). I think we have gotten spoiled in the last few years. We have a SIL who works for a major luxury international hotel chain and with his relative discount card have stayed in some of the finest hotels in the world AND we really liked them!! No discount now and it is still hard not to just go with the 5 star automatically. Now we try to find a little more reasonable right next door to the 5 star. We economise a bit by having breakfast at Mickey D's or Starbucks or from the grocery store and the same for lunch. I have wonderful memories of camping trips with a silver teardrop camper all over the American West in the 1950's with my Dad and Mom.

Just added in 3 nights in French Polynesia ( 1 IC Tahiti and then 2 IC Moorea) and 28 hours layover at the IC Tahiti on the way back. Gotta love it! Feb. and snow or Feb and beach and snorkel!!:D

Going to buy the flights to NZ this week. Price is steady and we have made all flexible reservations but they are based on a certain afternoon flight from LAX to PPT (which my husband loves not missing a night in the plane.).

Still cheaper to buy one way BWI to LAX on Southwest (overnight) then RT LAX to AKL with 3 day stopover in FP and back to LAX on Air Tahiti Nui (overnight day of rest in LA) then one way Alaska Air back to DCA. Hoping will be easier on body also than the 14 hour nonstops which are more expensive even with the LAX nights.

Anybody want to join us on this cruise that highlights photography, natural features and animals and nice style of living Wellington to Queenstown.

We booked the flights and are going a week later than originally planned so most of the self-drive tour is now after the cruise. We leave 8 days before the cruise starts and don't arrive in Wellington until Feb. 5. (Leave Baltimore on Jan. 29 fly to LAX then the afternoon flight on Jan. 30 to Tahiti on Air Tahiti Nui. Leave Feb. 2 for Auckland and loose the day arriving late on Mon Feb 3. One half days to explore Auckland and fly to Wellington on Weds morning. Board the boat on Feb 6 at 5 PM. On the back end we leave the boat in Milford Sound on Feb 14 and have a bus tour over the alps to Queenstown. Self Drive 5 days from QT to Fox Glacier to Christchurch (already did 9 day cruise from Wellington to Milford Sound and Stewart Island so will have seen some good parts of SI) Fly back to Wellington and get a car to visit Napier, Rotorua, Bay Islands, and Treaty Grounds areas for a week and then 2 days Auckland and back to Tahiti for 30 hours and fly to LAX then the next day fly home. Bet we will spend March very quietly!!

If any of you have used Hertz or Apex car rental, please tell me about your experiences. I did not think that Hertz was all that expensive compared to the huge bills for rental cars here in US (the add on fees set by local governments etc are edging up to be as much as the fee for renting the car) but I see Apex is only about 60% of the cost of Hertz and includes 3 drivers and no one way fee. Please advise as I have 2 cars rented right now and both can be cancelled later (when I make up my mind:p).

Bon Voyage We are off to a week long Walt Disney World visit followed by a 4 day cruise to Bahamas with daughters and grandchildren. Mouse Time!

Disney does it so gooooood! We had an absolute blast with grandchildren and daughters/son-in-laws. Disney is worth the money and it is a lot of money:rolleyes:

We just got an update from Oceanic Discoverer and there are still cabins available. Small ship cruising in and out of the fiords of the South Island is going to be so fabulous. They said most of the passengers are Aussie and believe me they are the wackiest cruisers of all. Maybe I shouldn't be pushing for people to go -- then I get a better cabin than I paid for:D:D

Cabins still available and so just come join us. You will discover a wonderful secret of small ship cruising in a most beautiful spot.

We read about this on a trip advisor report of a bus tour of 19 days. They wrote of taking the Earnslaw over to the Colonel's Homestead for a dinner and another commented on going to a sheep farm. Do you remember any of these options on the Earnslaw? Trying to get a handle on how much time to allow. They also gave extremely high marks to the views and the fun value

Earnslaw Website -

https://www.realjourneys.co.nz/en/experiences/cruises/tss-earnslaw-vintage-steamship-cruises/

Thanks for the link. We are really thinking of doing this. Do you think that we can wait until we are in QT to book it (3 days in QT after the cruise) -- then would know at 3 1/2 weeks in what our energy level is looking like.:rolleyes: