Travel advice! New Zealand & French Polynesia

[musey]

FI and I are starting to buckle down on our honeymoon plans, since we're ~1 year out now.

We very easily agreed on New Zealand as our primary destination. It's perhaps not the best time to go (highs in the lower 60's and RAINY this week) from what I can tell. We were thinking that since it won't be the best of weather, maybe we could stop over on one of the gorgeous tropical islands on the way home! Tahiti/Fiji/Tonga etc... just to get 2-3 days of warm, relaxing beach weather on our way back. We'll need it after all our rainy adventures in NZ!

Our trip will likely be about 2 weeks, Oct 11-25 (or somewhere around there) of 2008.

So please, advice! Both on New Zealand and on the islands between there and Los Angeles. Neither of us have ever been to the South Pacific so we're very much starting from scratch!

 

[fleur-de-lis]

Oooh! Nice trip. I''d recommend looking into the less populated Society Islands of French Polynesia (Bora Bora, Taha''a, Moorea, Huahine) or the Iles Marquesas.

 

[Clio]

I don''t have any advice stemming from firsthand knowledge, but I have a friend who did this, and she highly recommends it. Her stopover (Tahiti and Moorea) was on her way out to New Zealand, but I think it would be great on your way home as well.

 

[musey]

Thanks, fleur and clio!

 

[musey]

I''m surprised more people don''t have opinions! Have no PSers wandered this far south of the equator?

 

[fleur-de-lis]

Date: 10/10/2007 1:21:25 PM
Author: musey
I''m surprised more people don''t have opinions! Have no PSers wandered this far south of the equator?

They would if we told them that the coriolis effect somehow also makes diamonds look bigger south of the equator.

 

[musey]

LOL, fleur!

 

[Mara]

we visited Tahiti and Moorea and loved Moorea big time, it''s more mellow and laid back than Tahiti which is more like the bigger city of the islands there. Moorea reminded us of the Kauai of the FP islands. Anyway highly recommended...we are dying to go back!

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 10/10/2007 1:21:25 PM
Author: musey
I'm surprised more people don't have opinions! Have no PSers wandered this far south of the equator?

I looked into it because it looks gorgeous but we priced it and for a week it would cost us $10,000 so we didn't go. Hopefully someday. My neighbors are going on a cruise to NZ and the French Polynesian Islands for a month. I am so jealous but they deserve it!!!

Mara, now you make me want to go since you said it is like Kauai. I saw your pics somewhere and they looked amazing!!!

 

[AsscherGirl]

My best friend''s did that trip for their honeymoon last October. I am trying to get my friend to post here for you!

They had 2 weeks in New Zealand and they were on a tour I believe. They did TONS of biking and hiking and all sorts of adventure activity type stuff. The pictures are beautiful!!! Then they did 5 days in Fiji where they were unfortunately sick for most of their time there. Fiji also looked beautiful in the pictures

.

 

[Tali]

Have you chosen N or S Island of NZ? I was able to go there for 6 months to live/work in 2006. Happy to give some advice as we travelled it pretty thoroughly in that time. What are your interests and how to you plan to travel, if at all, while there?

 

[musey]

Thank you all so much for posting!!

Mara, thanks for the Moorea tip. We'll have to look into that one first

Tali, we haven't chosen between north or south and have NO idea how we plan to travel! We really are in the beginning stages, and open to any and all suggestions.

 

[Maisie]

We looked at Tahiti and Bora Bora for our honeymoon but unfortunately for us it was too expensive! It looks amazing though!

Also I read that there are loads of rats on Tahiti and they are the size of cats!! I hope thats not true!!!

 

[Deelight]

My message got wiped *cry*

have you considered Fiji?


http://outrigger.com/ meant to be really good (only officially internationally rated 5 tar resort in the pacific islands) and the prices are great compared to what I researched personalized butler service (free canapes and champagne delivered every afternoon) if you stay in anything over the entry lvl room stay free night deals and starts at $143pp per night AUD

We looked at staying there but decided to leave all our spare cash for a trip to Europe next year "(

NZ is magnificent or so I have heard

I have been to New Caledonia very beautiful but very expensive :/ as with alot of French Polynesia.

 

[Tali]

there will be tons to do on either island, but getting from A to B can take some time (unless you have the budget to fly btw points.) Based on the time of yr, if you''d like some more mild weather, you might want to stay on the N island. S is still going to be pretty brisk. Doable, of course, but brisk.

What do you want to do on your honeymoon? outdoorsy stuff? City/cultural stuff? nothing but lying around relaxing?

 

[musey]

Thanks for the Fiji tip, Deelight! We stayed at an outrigger in Kona, HI and I have to say it was one of the nicest hotels I''ve ever stayed in! (Disclaimer: definition of "nice" up ''til then was a Best Western

we usually travel on the cheap!)

Tali, we really like to see the outdoorsy stuff, and the great natural sights. Neither of us are into a lot of strenuous physical activity while traveling (we have to work out enough while at home!!). For reference, if this means anything (?) my favorite activity while traveling thus far was the "drive to Hana" on Maui. long, windy drive along the coast with lots of stops and mini-hikes to beautiful natural scenery.


FI''s traveled a LOT, so he''s pretty much seen it all (though not NZ specifically). I, on the other hand, have only been to Hawaii and Egypt in my life. Oh, I went to Canada once, too

So since NZ will be like nothing I''ve ever seen, I just want to do it "right," regardless of how I like to vacation in general. I''m pretty flexible, and I know that different locales call for different vacation styles!


Tali, what are the must-sees in your opinion?

 

[Tali]

Hi Musey,
Sorry it''s been a while. I had family in from out of town and had to work this weekend. I''m starting to catch up now.

Let me think: must see''s: On the N island, I''d definitely go to the Coromandel Peninsula, and to Northland. There are short hikes and some lovely scenery. Northland (the N tip of the North Island) has lots of hte ancient stands of kauri trees (bigger around than Redwoods!) and you can go to the very N end where and literally see where the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea. The currents colliding were amazing. Hokianga Harbor is just a lovely laidback little place in the Northland that has hostels/hotels and lots of beach walking at low tide. We saw lots of storms and clouds in NZ as the weather tends to be a bit volatile (long skinny islands have weather blowing thru quickly), and they were perhaps the most vivid at Hokianga. The light was amazing and a photo I took there remains my screen saver on my laptop. Not a lot to do as far as culture in Hokianga, but if you''re in the mood for reading and relaxing, that''s a great place. We stayed at a hostel there, but many many motel/hotels there have kitchenettes so you can cook on your own if you''d like.

In the Coromandel, you can stay at a place called The Church, a B&B in Hahei which has individual cabins and is just lovely. It is, appropriately, centered around an old church that is now converted to the dining hall/restaurant. The church was moved there, board by board from a town in central NZ. I can''t recall where currently. It''s just charming. There''s a hot water beach nearby (8-10k) that you can literally dig your own hot tub in the sand. It is really fun.

We also really loved Wellington. More than Auckland and Christchurch, by far. It''s a small city, tucked at the south end of the N island and has TONS of cultural stuff: galleries, museums, opera, international film, shopping. We''re perhaps a little partial as we lived for 4 months about 100k N of there in a town called Levin, so had lots of time in Wellington. It''s by far, though, one of my favorite cities. Water on 3 sides. Cool city scapes. Tons of walking. It''s also the jump-off point for the ferry to the S Island, a three hr trek, one way, so not really a day trip. The ferry goes to Nelson in Marlborough, which is a big wine growing region. Definitely a must if you''re a wine-o.

They do drive on the L, which took a bit to get used to, but it''s doable. No crashes, thankfully. Due to our length of stay, we bought a car and sold it when we left. For two weeks, though, that''s clearly not worth it. If you or your FH have done some driving in any British colony, and/or are willing to do so, I''d totally rent a car and drive. You see so much more there., and experience NZ and the people so much more. For that type of trip, you might consider exploring flying in to either Wgtn or Auckland and slowly driving your way thru the island, returning the car at the opposite end. That time of yr, you shouldn''t have any difficulty getting accomodations, even w/o a reservation. If you like travelling w/o the confines of an itinerary, you can really take your time.

I totally miss the pie shops there. At almost all the small towns, there are little lunch shops with meat pies, like individual little pot pies that you can get very inexpensively, and are just a great bit of Kiwiana.

Ah, I loved it there. If only I could have worked there long term. It just wasn''t what I wanted to do....

I''m happy to answer more questions if you have any. I really love NZ, and the people there. It was a very good time for my DH and I.

 

[musey]

Tali, thank you SO much for all your tips! I''m just starting to look into everything you posted about. Found a website about the Coromandel Peninsula, and it looks SO amazing, so much to do. I really appreciate all your advice!!

I hope you don''t mind if I come looking for you on PS in the future, I''m sure we''ll think of more questions for you

Thanks again!

 

[kanne]

I would avoid staying on the main island - Tahiti - but the smaller islands (bora bora, Moorea, Tahaa) are lovely. We loved Bora Bora.

NZ sounds fabulous!!

 

[Tali]

Date: 10/16/2007 8:29:21 PM
Author: musey

I hope you don''t mind if I come looking for you on PS in the future, I''m sure we''ll think of more questions for you

Thanks again!

No worries! It is an amazing place. You''ll have fun no matter what you do there. It is your honeymoon afterall!

 

[rainwood]

Musey -

I second the notion that there is a great range of weather in NZ, moving from north to south. We didn''t spend much time in the north part of the North Island which is more tropical, and the Coromandel Peninsual is supposed to be fabulous. We went in what was closer to their summer so spent our time elsewhere. On the North Island, we enjoyed Auckland, Rotorua, the wine country around Hawkes Bay, and just generally driving around. We only spent about 24 hrs in Wellington and it turned out to be both very windy and very rainy which we''d been warned about. It was still nice, but limited the amount of time we wanted to spend outdoors.

We then took the ferry to the South Island which we loved. We stayed in Nelson and went kayaking in Abel Tasman National Park, went whale watching in Kaikoura, did a 5-day organized hiking trip called the Milford Track, stayed in Queenstown which is the adventure capital of the country, and stayed twice in Christchurch. We thought the Antarctica Museum in Christchurch was really interesting and we really liked the city, nice size, not too big, and seemed very English. We then headed much further down to Dunedin, which was also quite interesting, especially the albatross colony, but might be too cold at the time of year you''re going. It would have been mid-December when we were there so early summer for them. There''s a lot to do, and I doubt you''d go wrong anyplace you went in NZ.

We also went to Australia on the same trip, and loved it there as well. Sydney is one of my favorite cities of all time. Gorgeous.

 

[musey]

Thank you, lovey and rainwood! Rainwood, I really appreciate all the detail, it''s so so helpful!