How long are you staying? First and foremost, NZ is about seeing the country rather then doing things.

You have to travel to the Te Anau area and see the Milford sound.

If your family is able for overnight or 2-3 days hikes then this area is your playground. Milford Track, Routeburn, Kepler, Greenstone are all world class hiking just south of Queenstown (close to Wanaka).

Driving from Wanaka to the west coast to see the Fox/Franz glacier. Lots of hikes in that general area too.

Guided mountain biking in Wanaka/Queenstown.

I live in Wanaka so I'll buy you a beer if I'm around (I'd love to do the race, too...). Not a question of what to do and see, but rather what NOT to do and see. Resist the urge to see the entire country in 10 days or something equally ludicrous. How long do you have?

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Eliot
blog thing - strava thing

We have not yet decided on the length of stay but it is likely not more than 8-10 days, and it hinges on me actually getting in the race and my team mate getting there too.

I surely have no plans to explore the whole country but the greater region. Seeing "everything" is a crazy and not very smart challenge when you are alone, and emotional suicide with a family and 5-year old twins

i was about to post something similar. we're going (honeymoon) for 2 weeks to the south island Dec 31-Jan 12.
wanaka is one spot i'm really excited to see. i was on the north island for a week 7 years ago.

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Fruit snacks are for winners

I spent 3 weeks in NZ in 2012 (as part of the Auckland Grand Final) and I would move to Wanaka in a hearbeat. That place is heaven!

You guys are out of your minds. Wanaka is a bit of a shithole, and spending time here is about as fun as dysentery. Spend as little time here as possible and hurry along to somewhere sweet like Hamilton.

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Eliot
blog thing - strava thing

It's an incredibly beautiful part of the world. We've lived in NZ for nearly 20 years. Bearing in mind you have 5 year old twins, here are some suggestions:

Queenstown - skyline gondola ride then do some of the walk up from the top of the gondola to enjoy awesome views. Steam boat trip on the lake. Hanging out on the waterfront in the evening. Walk in the park on the lake. Kiwi bird house. Watching jet boats and bungee jumpers at Shotover canyon. Patagonia ice cream parlour on the waterfront.

Arrowtown - quaint little old gold mining town. Fun to try gold panning. Cute little historic shops including a great old fashioned sweet shop. Interesting museum. Easy riverside walks. A chilled place for an afternoon an evening meal.

Wanaka - Iron mountain walk...just about do-able with 5 year olds with patience and incentives! Fantastic views.

I would stay in Queenstown. Magical place. Buzzy atmosphere, full of travellers from all over the world and loads going on. The town itself is, imho, very beautiful in comparison to Wanaka. It's older, hillier and has more characterful architecture. Wanaka has a lovely setting but is a lot more modern and (dare I say it) a bit suburban in style of architecture. Wanaka scenery is stunning.

We recently stayed at The Heritage Hotel, Queenstown. Was pretty good. Great room and beds, Good location, close enough to walk to the town. For the money it was good value. There are plenty of other options...tripadvisor and air bnb probably best source of info.
If you do stay in Queenstown, try and stay within walking distance of the centre as its busy and parking is a bit of a faff.

The road trip to Milford Sound is a very long way for 5yo kids...I wouldn't do it. If you have the $, take a flight there over the glaciers (fab) then do the boat trip at Milford, which is out of this world.

Just about all the paid attractions in both places are expensive but generally very well done. There are a lot of scenic walks you can do for free.

Don't diss the tron. There is a reason why it was once known as the chlamydia capital of NZ. Palmerston North has now taken over though I believe.

I grew up in Cambridge 20 mins south and there is a reason why the elite rowing, cycling, triathlon and canoeing hp centres are all based there. Some great cycling in and around Cambridge. Cambridge is probably one of the highest per capita places in the world when it comes to Olympic medals.

So it is certain now, I signed up for this Breca Wanaka SwimRun race with Jan Kriska as my partner.

http://www.brecaswimrun.com/breca-wanaka/


Booom. My very first trip to that part of the world

Herbert.

If you ask 100 kiwis what is the one best thing about NZ, you will get 1000 answers!

You will likely be flying into Auckland. Auckland is nice (I love living here) but there is so much to see, skip it. The only exception would be to take a ferry to Rangitoto Island and take a relatively easy stroll to the top of Rangitoto Island. It's a dormant volcano with awesome native bush experience and epic views from the top.

In the North Island, I'd suggest you gotta hit Rotorua. It's the one stop shop, home of Maori culture and epic geothermal stuff to see. I recommend Waiotapu, about 21km south of Rotorua (on the road to Taupo). Then on your drive south, hit Taupo, the home of IMNZ. The IMNZ swim along the beach in Taupo is epic. Crystal clear water. Awesome variety of underwater views and then when you breath away from the beach you get the volcano view south of the lake. skip the rest of the north island and get to the South Island.

Getting off the interisland ferry, in Picton, you're near one of the vineyard areas if that's your thing. Head via Christchurch to see just how much devastation a serious earthquake can do. Then it's off to the real South Island. Queenstown, not far from Wanaka is a must. Epic views but a bit touristy. Still, lots of cool adventure type activities, and the last place for decent food. Then Wanaka for the event. They say that overseas visitors holiday in Queenstown and kiwis holiday in Wanaka. I'm hoping/planning to retire in or around Wanaka. skiing in winter, fishing cycling, hiking etc in summer. Good vineyards around Wanaka also. Wicked awesome place. On the way back from Wanaka to Christchurch (Chch) you can either go through Central Otago (my preference) or via the wild, bushclad west coast and visit glaciers along the way.

I'd suggest that given you'll have 3-4 days minimum around Wanaka or the race, that 2-1/2 weeks would be the MINIMUM the above would take 3 weeks would give you more time. distances look short on the map but the roads are pretty winding and you will stop lots to wear out your camera.

Back in 1980 I spent 13 months hitchhiking, skiing, and mountaineering around NZ and thought I'd pretty much seen it all. I've been living here for 20 years now and every year I find another epic awesome place that's like no other place in the country. Bring lots of sunscreen for that time of year, and a good raincoat. It can rain at any time here, and when it rains, it rains like nothing else. Fiordland (Wanaka is right near there) gets about 400 inches of rain a year, and I've known it to rain over 14 inches in a single day!

In Wanaka, if there's any space left, try to stay at the Altamont Lodge. It's an easy walk to town and the race venue and the people are super friendly. (it's a good backpackers/family lodge with lots of options, depending on your budget.)

Skip Australia. The Top 10 deadliest things in the world live there. And march is bush fire season. 11 of the tope 10 deadliest things in the world live in Australia, come to think of it.

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

If you look on the ribbon, just above the txt area, you can see where you can change the txt colour to pink. I fixed it for you :-)

When people in Wanaka die, they get to heaven and ask for a refund. Other than a shortage of decent restaurants, Wanaka is about as good as it gets.

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

Vacation time for my wife will be the deciding factor how long we will be there. I imagine it is likely going to be 10 days . :-(

Did "The Tron" lose it's chlamydia crown when you left?


Does Hamilton still hold the teen pregnancy title at least?

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

Fly into Auckland, then on to Chch. Rent a car and head to Queesntown then over to Wanaka. From Wanaka head back to Chch via the west coast. That will be 10 days. seeing lots but not rushing toooooo much.

The fly back here when your kids are old enough to stay 10 weeks or more! Honestly, New Zealand really IS the entire world in one place. From the tropical north to the glaciers in the south. Mountains to plains. We have it all, and a handy exchange rate :-)

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

I assume with ChCh you mean Christchurch. How far is Wanaka from there?

Agree with this (though you may be able to fly straight into Christchurch. Spend a day driving to Queenstown via Tekapo (it's about a 5 hr drive but some gorgeous scenery along the way). 5 or 6 days in Queenstown/Wanaka (maybe Milford Sound/Doubtful Sound etc as suggested above) to do your race, then 3 or 4 days back up the West Coast stopping at the Glaciers etc, and back into Christchurch via Arthurs Pass. You'll have an amazing 10 days and book to come back for longer I imagine!

Yeah Chch is the common written short form for Christchurch

Wanaka is 5 hours to 10 years from Chch, depending how often you stop to take photos. The area around Twizel (on the way to Wanaka) is my favourite place in the world.

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

leaving tomorrow for our honeymoon(south island only) and can't be more stoked

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Fruit snacks are for winners

I spent 3 months driving around the South Island sampling rivers (literally doing loops of the island for work). Wanaka proved to be one of my favorite locations for its combination of amenities and natural beauty.

If Ionly had 10 days I would strongly recommend flying into and out-of the south Island (Christchurch or Queenstown) rather than Auckland or Wellington. Auckland would involve a particularly large amount of rather boring driving. If I could only do one trip from Wanaka I would go to Aoraki (Mount Cook National Park). I remember doing to drive in a long day where I was stopping to work along the way so it is doable as a 3-4 day diversion. I was far more impressed with Aoraki than with Fox Glacier or Franz Josef Glacier which would be the other options. The fjorlands are amazing but getting their involves a lot of driving. Queenstown is very touristy but not in a bad way especially if you have little ones you need to keep entertained.

I spent 3 months riding my bike around the South Island way back when, and a few other long trips racing their season and just hanging out, and I agree with the other poster that you should fly into Christchurch if you can. Only having 10 days and a race to do, you really should just stay local to the race and hit maybe 3 places. Queenstown would be the best for the kids and you wife I would guess, lots to do and see, and a great place to vacation. Christchurch would be my other stop other than Wanaka, you could spend several days there. You could also drop in on Molina and Erin Baker, they are in Sumner right next door. He would have a good handle on the tri scene if you are interested, he certainly has a handle on the dive bars on the area.

There is one nearby in a port town he took me too, looked like a bar in Star Wars. Every kind of misfromend human you could imagine, all having a party as if nothing was different about any ones looks!

Keep it simple, the more you try to do the worse the experience will be. Spend time talking to locals and seeing local stuff, they are quite accommodating if you are friendly.

It turns out it will be just me, so I will keep it super simple

saw the thread subject line and first thought was "amy better be going too"

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36 kona qualifiers 2006-'23 - 3 Kona Podiums - 4 OA IM AG wins - 5 IM AG wins - 18 70.3 AG wins
I ka nana no a 'ike -- by observing, one learns | Kulia i ka nu'u -- strive for excellence
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It turns out it will be just me, so I will keep it super simple //

I was going to say that for the whole family to go that far and at that expense, you should stay at least 3 weeks. I know for us to travel even to Hawaii as a family it is a month minimum stay if I'm going to schlep all those kids and crap for 6 hours on a plane and pay a small fortune, then I want to stay long enough to unpack the bags.


So just you, that will be good as you can now make quick friends at the race and go do just about anything that comes up. Should be lots of locals there, like I said they are quite friendly. I would definitely sit down at a poker table in Queenstown, meet some real characters there for sure..

Amy and the boys will come to Otillo SwimRun Engadin in July instead