When will you be there Trey? Hopefully it will coincide with my visit back home to NZ!

I spent about 30 days in NZ in March/April 2004. I rented a small 2 person camper van. Very convenient to get around (after you get used to drive on the left side). You would need about 2-3 weeks on the south island and 1-2 weeks on the north. Most impressive parts were the Tongariro Crossing, the Glowworm caves, Moeraki Boulders, Wanaka area.
Did I mention weather? Be prepared for rain; can go on for days.
Cheers! and have fun!

I vote for the Glow Worm Caves! Oh! You should see if you could possibly view the few remaining Kakapo Parrots – the ONLY flightless parrot in the world.

Trey,
I am such a fan!! Don’t want to boast but my company Dive! Tutukaka might just be the most award winning tourism company in New ZEaland; and we will do anything to assist you, directly or indirectly. It just so happens that the destination we service (Poor Knights Islands)has the most mind blowing scenery above the water, under the water and in the World’s Largest Sea Cave. But apart from that we offer any assistance at all with planning, connections, support, accomodation, etc.
Just drop me a note.
I am SO thrilled you are coming!!!

one great place is to go to a beach out of motueka near nelson called kaiterrterr sorry cant spell they have a national park you go by small ferry and get dropped off in the park and walk back along beautiful beaches about two or three day trip or can arrange to have ferry pick you up been a long time since i left nz for minnesota enjoy allan

If You can fit in a workshop I would be a starter. I can show You some of the sights in middle of the North Island like the bridle veil falls and the volcanic activity around the hot spots. Bill

WARNING: MEGA COMMENT (also emailed incase it’s cut off)

wow. I’m now kicking myself I’m in the UK, not in NZ (where I’m from). As this is so long, I’ll email it to you too.

BTW, all prices in NZD unless otherwise stated $1 NZD == about 70c USD.

Camper and internet: depends how badly you want to be online all the time. Get a prepaid USB modem thing from Vodafone or Telecom. You may even be able to rent them in the airport (or a phone with a datacable or bluetooth). Keep in mind that casual mobile data in NZ is STUPIDLY expensive. Expect to pay $1 for the first 10MB a day, and $1/meg after that. If you pre-pay, it’s a lot cheaper tho.

We have 2 mobile carriers – telecom nz, and vodafone. Both are about the same (yes, there is 2degrees, but thats EDGE only…. SLOW). Their speed and coverage are mostly the same.

I really can’t fault this: http://www.vodafone.co.nz/shop/mobileInternetDetails.jsp?skuId=sku5850074&:selectionKey=internet

Telecom do something similar: http://store.telecom.co.nz/mobile/prepaid/mobilebroadband/telecom-mf626 at the same price even Theirs is per calendar month or when it runs out – VF is until it runs out. If you are only there in Feb, you should be ok with either.

$100 for the USB stick, and you get 0.5 GB of traffic with it, and another 0.5GB is $30, which is REALLY good for NZ. Thats about the best deal I’ve seen for a long time. Get someone who’s over there (hello other posters here) to get it for you before you get there – should be much easier than finding a shop, tho as it’s prepaid, they dont care about ID etc (maybe just take your passport with you to be sure). Might even be able to find someone to buy it off you when you are done (I would, for my parents, but as I said, I’m in the UK)

That said, most places around the country have either an internet cafe, or a cafe with wifi (difference: internet cafe == computers only. Cafe with WIFI == food, but also has wifi). Most starbucks do, and they blight the landscape like anywhere else in the world, and a lot share with the likes of Boingo. McDonalds is often a good one too. Maybe take a small WIFI router (eg Apple Airport Express) – a lot of internet cafe’s may let you just plug it into their network and still pay by the hour or whatever. Saves you having to use their machines.

Cafenet (www.cafenet.co.nz) is a good start. They have pretty good coverage over a lot of the north island. Wellington has far better wifi options than Auckland…. but it’s not hard to find an internet cafe pretty much ANYWHERE.

I usually manage on WIFI when I go home (iphone roaming from the UK: £10/meg!!). Works everywhere but my parents place – they still have dialup!

Campervan Rentals are not hard to find – look for Maui, Britz etc. They all do pick up from the airport, or are based there etc. Paying the extra to pick up in auckland, and drop off in Christchurch (or the other way around) might be a good idea. Saves you having to drive back up the country, and taking a car on the ferry between islands is about as much (maybe more) than a one way flight from CHCH to AKL – air new zealand have them for about $80pp at the moment.

I think that covers 1a and 1b

2) If I spend 3 weeks there, I’ve heard I should spend 2 of those on the South Island. Any vehement disagreement?

No. Not from me. We did 6 weeks around the coast (all of it) of the North Island before we came here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/leoniewise/sets/72157601972017457/

Here’s my “wish list” if I was doing 3 weeks, assuming you start in Auckland, and then go south, and fly out of christchurch, and you are focusing more on photos and the country, rather than on seeing the tourist sites (tho some of that too):

Auckland: hit Rangitoto (the big volcanic island in Auckland Harbour, day trip) and the West Coast beaches (Piha, Bethals, Karekare). I’m _sure_ a local would take you there, tho they are not hard to find if not.
Here’s why: http://www.flickr.com/photos/leoniewise/2861184596/in/set-72157607310556912/ (this is Piha, about 45 mins from central auckland, the others are close by)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicwise/2873468607/in/set-72157607401913345/ (Karekare, where the movie The Piano was filmed)

Go north of Auckland for a few days – esp Bay of Islands and Cape Reinga, eg: http://www.flickr.com/photos/leoniewise/1363010273/in/set-72157601972017457/ . Doing the sand boarding there is fantastic, esp for the kids. It’s hard work walking up the big dunes tho!

Maybe go to Coromandel (the whole peninsular, not just the town), then down thru Tauranga, and to Rotorua if you want some NZ “culture” and hot mud pools. Actually, I’d recommend it – it’s good if you want to get a feeling for Maori culture, at least kinda how it was before the white folks got there.

From there, I’m going to suggest something that 90% of NZ’ers would not suggest, because chances are they have not been there: Go to Lake Waikaremoana.

http://maps.google.co.nz/?ie=UTF8&ll=-38.764792,177.100983&spn=0.42778,0.85762&z=11

It’s a rough road (well, it’s not sealed, just gravel, but you don’t need a 4WD by any means – we have taken a campervan there often, just drive a little careful), and about a 3 hour drive from Rotorua, one way. This whole area is a national park, and covered – and I mean _covered_ – in native bush. Basically, it’s my favourite place on the planet, without exception. These might tell you why:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/leoniewise/1364437193/in/set-72157601972017457/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/leoniewise/1365423246/in/set-72157601972017457/

Both were taken on top of Panikiri Bluff, which is at the south east end of the lake (where it says Onepoto on the map), about 1 hour walk, all up hill, on the around the lake track. Totally worth it. There is also a DoC (dept of conversation) camping ground there, with showers, cooking etc. Might be an idea to book first tho. I’d spend 2-3 days here if you can. Do some of the shorter walks, eg to Lake Waikareiti.

Side note: there is nothing (aside from people of course) which can kill or really hurt you – no bears, no mountain lions, no snakes, no (big) sharks in the water, almost no ticks etc. OK, so there is one spider, but it’s an endangered species, and very very very rare (the Katipo). If you find it, tell the Dept of Conservation. I’ve only ever seen one. Chances are, even if you get bitten (sooooooo unlikely, even if you manage to find one! they are not at all aggressive), it’ll just be like a nasty bee sting, and easily treated. So kids wandering around where-ever in the bush is fine. Now, the weather is another thing, esp in the bush: it can be sunny one minute, and tanking down the next. Or snowing. I’ve had a few white Chirstmases in NZ in the mountains (keep in mind christmas is summer in NZ!). Be prepared, tho in February, it should be around 25degC most of the time. Also: SPF 30 sunscreen is a requirement, not an option, in summer. I can go without sunscreen in the US (Wisconsin) or the UK all year around, except for my bald head. In NZ: 20 mins and I’m baked. Hats and sunscreen. Rinse, Repeat.

From there, head down to Wellington via Napier (lots of Art Deco architecture), or maybe go from Napier to Taupo (which is in the middle of the island), and travel down to Wellington via the central plateau, which has the three main mountains in the north island in it. Including Mt Doom (Mt Ngaruhoe)

I’d avoid the glowworm caves unless you want to specifically see glow worms or go caving. They are good, but not that good.

And now the south island.

You will start at Picton, ‘cos thats where the ferry comes in. BTW, book the ferry before you get there. Or get the campervan place to do it for you. Or even drop the camper off in Wellington, go on the ferry, and get another one on the other side. The camper company should be able to assist you.

I’d suggest, not in any order except it’s north-to-south:

Farewell Spit. Furthest north (west) point on the south island. (http://maps.google.co.nz/?ie=UTF8&ll=-40.695217,172.988663&spn=0.415966,0.85762&z=11) but also all of Golden Bay. My 2nd favourite place in the country. Book an early morning tour onto the spit if you can. Hit the Mussel Inn for a pint of Cider The beaches there are lovely, too.

The west coast. All of it. Especially Gentle Annie Beach: http://www.gentleannie.co.nz/ (camping place there is great – has internet, but I’m not sure about powered sites). If you go up there, go to Millerton and Stockton – both are abandoned coal mining towns, about 30 mins south of Gentle Annie.

Think about cris-crossing the island. eg go picton -> golden bay -> westport -> greymouth -> thru Arthurs Pass to Christchurch (or close to it), then back over to the west coast via Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki, Wanaka, and Queenstown. If in Queenstown, drive up the lake to Glenorchy.

Head from there over to Te Anau and up to Milford Sound. I’ve only managed to get there once, but I usually go in winter, and there are a lot of avalanches there. It’s fine in summer.

Depending on how much money you want to spend, around that area (Te Anau/Queenstown/Milford Sound), a helicopter could get you to places that, literally, no one has set foot on, or deeper into the back country. The scenery will, I hope, blow you away. It does it for me. For example, in Fox Glacier (a few years ago), you could get a helicopter trip up around Mt Cook & surrounds, with a land on a glacier – well worth the expense!!!

From there, you could go as far south as Stewart Island, but I’ve not been there (yet), so I can’t tell you what it’s like. Lots of Kiwi there tho (the bird, not the people (kiwis) or the fruit (kiwifruit, _not_ ever “kiwi”))

I’d recommend coming back via the Catlins Forest Park, which is at the south east corner of the island, then Dunedin and back to Christchurch to fly out, either international or back to Auckland and out to the US. You could drive back to Auckland, or maybe even fly out of Queenstown too. Given your timeframe, flying back up is a better option.

Not sure how long this would take you, as we can spend 6 weeks just doing the north island, but if you did all of it in 2 weeks, I dont think you’d be too rushed (some do it in 1). You’d be moving a lot, but not just driving. If you can do 4 weeks, do 4 weeks – it’s a long trip from the US! But 3 should be ok too. 1 or 2 is definitely not enough.

As for moving to NZ:

Have a look on http://www.immigration.govt.nz/ – should give you a start. It’s quite easy to come to NZ, I think, if you have either cash (and are starting a business), or qualifications (eg a graduate degree). Even easier if you have a job waiting. Not sure about if you are self employed.

A friend of mine, Brian Radke, did this, and did a DVD on how to do it: http://www.nzimmigrationdvd.com/. Sadly, on so many levels, he went back to the US when his wife died… but I think the DVD is still for sale.

Moving a business? Just close the old US one down and start an NZ one. It’s easy – find a good accountant (email me if you want – ours is brilliant, and has worked with overseas people in the past – she’s from South Africa, and based in Auckland), and it’ll be setup in a day or 2. Stuck In Customs (NZ) Ltd sounds good

For (c), I’d go with Wellington, tho I’m biased, ‘cos that’s home for us now, tho I’m from Auckland originally. It’s a major city by NZ standards (around 500K people, tho the main city is only around 150K – Auckland is 1.2mil). It’s beautiful, not too big, no broadband issues (cable, even, which is rare in NZ, and some fibre in the middle of town). It’s right in the centre of the country, so you can get anywhere easily – Auckland is 1 hour flight / 8 hours drive, and thats right in the north, and the south island is 40 mins flight (christchurch) or less, or a 3 hour ferry if you want to take a car (can hire them too). Nelson might be another option, which is top of the south island, tho I prefer a larger city.

On the internet side, NZ has data caps for everything. A normal internet connection (eg cable) might be 40GB a month (you pay $3/GB over that), for around $60. So, compared to the really unlimited plans in the US, it’s kinda constrained, but I think, over all, it’s a better way to do it.

West coast of Auckland is also a good option, I think. Keep in mind that anywhere in the North Island, you are no more than 3 hours from either a fairly large town/city, or the coast. Or both. The south island is a little more remote in places, but still – even “small towns” like Greymouth or Westport have everything on your list. I dont know if I’d live there – too much rain in winter, not enough IT work for me – but 30 mins outside of either one, working from home…..

New Zealand public schools are generally of a high quality, so your kids should be sorted.

Good coffee in New Zealand isn’t hard to find, esp in the larger cities. Be prepared for Espresso, not filter/drip. Also keep in mind I’m a coffee snob.

In New Zealand, the coast is only ever about half a day away, as is the snow. There are two main ski areas – (1) central plateau, north island (mt doom), (2) around queenstown, south island. There are other small ones, though they tend to be for locals only, or those who are used to skiing off piste.

One of the contributors to the Unofficial Apple Weblog (tuaw.com) – I think his name is Chris Rawson (http://www.tuaw.com/bloggers/chris-rawson/) – recently moved from the USA to NZ so he may also have some advice.

Regarding moving to New Zealand – as awesome as that would be if you’re still looking to travel the world and photograph many diverse countries NZ is probably one of the worst countries to base yourself in – unless you don’t mind the exorbitant airline prices (well, exorbitant isn’t the right word as we literally are in the middle of the ocean, so the prices are pretty fair).

I work for a travel agency so if you’re interesting in knowing more I may be able to point you in the right direction at least.

Regarding your other questions:
- Motor Homes: Maui are a good starting point, they have a number of motorhomes across the spectrum (http://www.maui.co.nz/new-zealand-motorhome-rental), however from what I can tell none of them are satellite-equipped.

With regards to communication on the road, the major centres of New Zealand are covered with 3G signal, so if your phone is unlocked and takes a SIM card, just bring it over, purchase a prepaid SIM card on Vodafone’s network and chuck it in – data is pretty expensive so I’d suggest turning off images and downloading just the ones you want to see. There’s some movement in Wellington and Palmerston North to blanket the city in free Wifi (I’m not terribly up with the play anymore but it’s called ‘The Free Net Aotearoa’ and used to use Meraki equipment – not sure how out of date this network map is: http://p7.meraki.com/network/aotearoa).

If you’re looking for a decent mobile phone that can tether to a laptop, I can recommend the Sony Ericsson W910i, it was my workhorse for a couple of years and can share internet to a PC over Bluetooth or USB (can’t pickup wifi, but your laptop should anyway). However, I’m not sure if it can connect to a Macbook, nor if the software exists on the Mac platform sorry.

As in America, most of the major Starbucks outlets have free wifi if you buy their products (by major I mean the places where you can sit and relax, not the mobile ‘coffee on the go’-type places). There’s a bit more of a move for other cafés to offer this as well, but it’s not like San Francisco yet!

Agreed with spending 2 weeks in the South Island – it’s a lot less populous than the North Island and there’s more of it, Fiordland especially is well worth the trek (way down in the lower left of the South Island) – don’t forget decent rain jackets though!

With regards to house-hunting, Wellington is a great (albeit windy) city, has a lot of charm and character, lovely bush walks and so on around it and no matter where you are, you’re never more than 30 minutes from the rest of the city. However unless you get really lucky, nowhere in the country will give you the kind of broadband you’re probably used to at the moment – our national infrastructure is fine (so loading other NZ websites is no problem) but we’re so massively oversubscribed for international bandwidth that sometimes it can feel we’re a little backward – Youtube videos don’t play smoothly, that sort of deal. Most of the time though, it’s acceptable, if a tad annoying.

Hope that helps! If you have any other queries don’t hesitate to email

Hope you and your family have had a wonderful Christmas and continue to have a fantastic New Year – hope to see you soon!

Cheers,
Matt.

2) If I spend 3 weeks there, I’ve heard I should spend 2 of those on the South Island. Any vehement disagreement?

Completely agree.
When i went to New Zealand 2 years ago to this date, I was only 12 at the time, but that’s what really got me into photography. I would really like to go back with a camera & lens better than a tiny compact camera right now.

I’m sure you can find lots of places to go in the south island – queenstown, lake tekapo, lake pukaki, milford sound, etc etc.

In the North Island i can only recommend one thing to do – The Tongariro Crossing. “Mathieu” already mentioned this. It’s something that you won’t regret to do at all.
You start quite early, around 6am, and it’s a walk which is about 18km long, although the terrain is quite difficult in places. The hardest bit is near the beginning – The Devils Staircase – however, when i was there they were building a walkway so it may be easier now.
The rest of the walk goes across volcanoes (literally about 2 metres from the edge), and across huge lakes, mineral lakes, deep forests.
it’s just incredible, if you did it, i couldn’t wait to see the results
here’s the main website on it:
http://www.tongarirocrossing.org.nz/

Meg – I wasn’t disagreeing with you either! But, as an adopted Kiwi, I can be impartial and see the beauty on both the main islands! We’ll discuss this over a drink one day! LOL

Clarification: when I recommended driving in to Awaroa Lodge? I over simplified. You can’t. Well, not to the door. The Totaranui Road gets you close – instead of turning left to Totaranui, you turn right for Awaroa, and you get down as far as the Awaroa Inlet. From there, you can walk across the mudflats and wade the streams, as long as it is Low Tide, give or take a bit. Which means if you catch it on the way out and head back for the vehicle as it starts coming back in, you’ve heaps of time for a meal.

To be unfazed by the tides, you can drive to somewhere like Kaiteriteri or Marahau, and then you take a water taxi to the restaurant.

Yes, there is literally no road in to the restaurant.

Some kind soul has set up a page to collect free hotspot info: http://jahoog.org/wifi/

More info on pricing for wifi access at pay-hotspots: http://www.nzconnections.net.nz/Internet_Plan_and_Pricing_Comparisons:_Wi-Fi_plans

with the Tomizone one looking like it has the best coverage, though different pins appear and disappear at different zoom levels, so you can’t tell from just one zoom level! http://www.tomizone.com/wifi_users/locate

Hi Troy

Fantastic news that you are visiting us here!

I would be very interested in a workshop, photo-walk or any photography related outing. I expect many others will be too!

I don’t think you will be chased off by any police or rent-a-cops here. Has only happened to me on one occasion… uh and I was trespassing so that will teach me!

Regarding internet access, I have a USB cellular modem on a monthly contract which I make very little use of. It allows 2gb of traffic per month without any additional charge (overage is very expensive tho). 2.7mbps down and about 300kbps up. Works all over the country. I’d be happy to loan it to you for the duration of your visit.

Feel free to get in touch.

Mark

Great to hear you are coming!
Where I live, in the Canterbury Plains is pretty boring, but the Waimakariri River, just north of Christchurch, or the Rakaia river south are pretty impressive because they are Braided rivers. The very wide stone and water channels against the backdrop of the Southern Alps are very beautiful

Also you could try out some of the short walks at Arthurs Pass in the Southern Alps for some great photos.

The Mackenzie Basin (High Country) has been used for The Lord of the Rings trilogy because of it’s wild rugged look of wide tussock lands against mountains. Lake Pukaki has very blue water.
I would imagine Mackenzie Basin would be great for a starry night shoot with all the lakes in a large natural basin setting.

Banks Peninsula (five minutes from Christchurch) contains Lyttelton Port, and also Akaroa harbour. You can swim with the (hector) dolphins in Akaroa, or go whale watching at Kaikoura Peninsula, a couple of hours north.

I am sure that if you take the time, you will find Canterbury a beautiful place to take photographs.

I will like to see your HDRs of Milford Sound when you shoot them because so far all the photos I have seen are pretty much the same with Mitre Peak right in the middle of the photo. Yours should be full of colour

Thin Smek

I am not a photographer, but i do know art and talent when i see it, so its good to see you are visiting our fair shores. Having lived in both islands, the South is by far the best. My wife is from the north and wont move back. The schools are fantastic and there are two universities here. The north does have its good places but they are few and far between and if on limited time its recommended you spend most of your time in the south. Most comments have been covered off well, especially about the Abel Tasman Track. I spend a week there every year and was camping and hiking there last week with my two boys. We were the only ones siting on the 5th best beach in the world (as voted by lonely planet), it was brilliant. Christchurch is great and my father and i are trying to make our way through the 280+ coffee shops. I don’t rate Starbucks in the top 100. I work at the airport in Christchurch and have all of February off, let me know if you need any assistance or steering in the right direction.

Hi there, I’ll be happy to assist if you need help in Christchurch. I’m sure my wife won’t mind helping discuss the finer art of domestic details of this city. Being the garden City, it will be easy to walk from the botanic gardens with its massive old English trees, through the arts and museum centers to the square and old cathedral in the middle of town. Much of this part of town is historical and has many old buildings. A short distance from the center of town is a place called the strip and it is a selection of bars and cafes all with outside street seating over looking the placid tree covered Avon river. Its a shame you are not here in Feb as Christchurch is hosting the international buskers festival and it will have numerous street performers around the town and in the square.

Hi Trey, Great to hear about the photowalk; I’ll be there. I suggest that you look for a house in Pukekohe, it’s turning into a great place to live. Only 30 mins or so from the center of Auckland, 25 mins from the airport, and my fiber broadband just keeps getting faster. Last night measured the speed at 67Mb/s download, 32Mb/s upload. Anyway, look forward to meeting you.

Hi there, I just found this link via BlueRose – welcome to NZ, and so glad you’re coming to Christchurch. Along with BlueRose, I’m really happy to work with you to get a photowalk going. Head to The Christchurch Cluster on Flickr to meet more of us, we’re a very friendly group of people!
I’ve lived half my life in North Island, half in South Island – Auckland, Wellington & Christchurch and a couple of places in between – and see where I’ve settled!
Look forward to seeing you when you’re here.

Hi there I ma a freelance photographer as well I am involved with NZ’s largets camera club. We would love to have to you speak to us if you have time we meet on a Wednesday at 8pm and talking slot is 1 hour. I have a space free on the 17th March.
Also there is a guy I know who may be interested in being involved with helping organsie your walk here Ferg Campbell.
Carole

Hi Trey

Count me (and a friend) in for the Auckland photo-walk next week.

Cheers
Tim

Fantastic news! We live in Wellington – you simply MUST do a photowalk here .

We moved back here to NZ in 2000 (my wife is from WA state), so can give lots of advice (not here) on the joys of raising 4 kids here.

Let me know if I can help get you to Wellington. I’m just starting out with HDR… so much fun.

It seems you are only here for a flying visit next week, but if you get the chance later on I highly recommend the Tongariro Alpine Crossing as many others have mentioned before me. I did this a couple of weeks ago, and shot a few HDRs (inspired by you of course!)

If you are to do it I recommend a carbon fibre tripod, as it is hard going, especially the climb to the summit of Ngaruahoe (aka Mt Doom)

Here is a few of my shots if you are interested: http://www.isaachenry.com/posts/tongariro-crossing.php

You lucky man! NZ, the best place on earth for someone who love the outdoors and photography. If in christchurch, consider a (multiple day) trip to the Banks Peninsula / Akaroa. But there are lots of great places to go. Can’t wait to see the photo’s!
Have a good trip.

Hey, This reminded me of reading about TidBITS contributor Steve McCabe’ recent post about having moved to New Zealand with his family. http://db.tidbits.com/article/10917 Might give you some insights.

My family moved to Christchurch for 7 months last year for an exchange with the Canterbury University and we loved it. We definitely would love to move there permanently. (maybe in a couple years…) We lived in a suburb of Christchurch called Sumner. A fantastic place for a family, it still has the village feel and the city is right there for all the services. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonathanbird/3612820091/

It is also close to Lyttleton which has a great farmer’s market. You have to have the chocolate from “She Chocolat” a little boutique chocolate shoppe (based in Governors Bay) that has a booth in Lyttleton every Saturday.

Good luck, have a great time, looking forward to some HDR shots from NZ!

Hi Trey,

Thank you for the walk yesterday, it was great to meet you!

I’ve created a group on Flickr for people to post their photos from the Christchurch Photowalk here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1335617@N24/

Hope you like the city and move here soon (although Queenstown is pretty cool too… maybe too cool for someone used to very hot Texas weather )

Sebastien.

This is all incredible feedback! So fun to get all this inside info.
—————
Thomas