Preparing For Maori Land

My leave is approved! We will be away from the twenty-fourth October to ninth November, so minus away weekends and the Deepavali holiday, I only need to take ten days off! Seventeen days, excluding two days on the plane, there will be fifteen days to tour North and South Islands! Heavenly! :-)

We have signed on a package that includes a car rental and accommodation at youth hostels. In other words, we are sort of roughing it a little. How fun! That is the beauty of travel - to experience the good and the bad. Seeing another country and another culture more than make up for whatever ruggedness that will come. We will by flying Qantas! Good, at least it is an airline I like! It will take us about ten hours to get to Auckland, and probably twelve hours or so to come back from Christchurch.

One thing about travelling is that I can never know what to pack. Okay, if I am going to temperate countries like Europe or Japan where they have relatively mild summers and cold winters, at least I still have an idea what to bring along. But in sub-tropical / sub-temperate climates like Australia and New Zealand, it is hard to predict how the weather will be like. My experience in Australia tells me the temperature can jump very fast, ie it can be twenty degrees one day and suddenly thirty plus degrees the next day!

I found out that the temperature in New Zealand around that period of time will be around five to nineteen degrees, since it will be late Spring. Which means long-sleeve T-shirts, sweaters, track pants and jeans. Anything too light will be too cold, and anything too heavy will be too warm. Besides, we will be on the road most of the time, so it is not a good idea to bring too many things along. South Island will be colder though, so I have to plan in such a way that the "heavier" clothing will be worn when we are there.

Anyway, we have come up with the final itinerary (although plans never really go by exactly, there will always be changes when the time comes). We are having a rather comprehensive tour of both islands, starting from Auckland, then down to Waitomo, Rotorua, Taupo, Palmerston North and Wellington, where we will board a ferry to South Island to Picton, then down to Hanmer Springs, Fairlie, Dunedin, go west and up to Te Anau, Queenstown, Arrowtown, west and up to Franz Josef Glacier, up to Hotikita, east via Arthur's Pass and finally east to Christchurch.

The itinerary is as follows :

North Island

24/10 - Arrive in Auckland.

Accommodation : Auckland Youth Hostel

25/10 - Auckland - Waitomo
Auckland Sky Tower, Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter, Parnell Village (Ewelme Cottage), lunch at Iguacu Restaurant & Bar

Accommodation : Waitomo Caves Kiwi Paka Youth Hostel

26/10 - Waitomo - Rotorua
Waitomo Glow Worm Caves, Te Puia Maori Village / Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley (geyser)
Rotorua : Skyline Skyride and Luge, dinner at Fat Dog Cafe

Accommodation : Rotorua Kiwi Paka Youth Hostel

27/10 - Rotorua - Taupo
Rotorua Agrodome Sheep Show
Taupo : Huka Prawn Farm, lunch, Volcanic Activity Centre, "Craters Of The Moon", Huka Falls, dinner

Accommodation : Taupo Youth Hostel

28/10 - Taupo - Palmerston North - Wellington
Palmerston North : lunch at Barista, Rose Garden
Wellington : Te Papa Tongarewa Museum, City tour : historic government building, "Beehive" / Parliament House, Cable Car, dinner at Kai (Maori Hangi dinner)

Accommodation : Wellington Youth Hostel

29/10 - Wellington - Picton
Wellington half-day Lord of the Rings tour (YES!!), Katherine Mansfield birthplace (YES AGAIN!!)
Cross-island Ferry to Picton

South Island

30/10 - Picton - Hanmer Springs
Thrillseeker's Bungy / Jetboat (Finally can go bungy-jumping!)
Hanmer Springs Thermal Reserve

Accommodation : Hanmer Springs Youth Hostel

31/10 - Hanmer Springs - Fairlie
Fairlie Farmstay

Accommodation : Farmstay

1/11 - Fairlie - Moeraki - Dunedin (Otago)
Moeraki Ancient Boulders (Coastal Sanctuary)
Dunedin City : Baldwin Street, Railway Station (Gingerbread House), Elm Wildlife Tour

2/11 - Dunedin - Gore - Te Anau
Dunedin Cadbury World (YES YES YES!!!!), Otago Museum / Otago University
Gore (tea break)

Accommodation : Te Anau Youth Hostel

3/11 - Te Anau - Milford Sound - Queenstown
Milford Sound : Redboats Cruise / Underwater Observation

Accommodation : Queenstown Youth Hostel

4/11 - Queenstown
Kawarau Bungy Centre, Williams Cottage (lunch at Vesta), Kiwi Birdlife Park, Skyline Gondola

5/11 - Queenstown - Arrowtown - Franz Josef Glacier
Arrowtown : breakfast, Lake District Museum, Chinese Settlement
Queenstown : Wanaka Puzzling World
Lake Matheson (near Fox Glacier)

Accommodation : Franz Josef Glacier Youth Hostel

6/11 - Franz Josef Glacier - Hokitika
Guided Glacier Valley Walk
Hokitika : Tancred Street Jade Shops, Glass Blowing Studio

7/11 - Hokitika - Christchurch
Hokitika West Coast Historical Museum
Arthur's Pass, lunch at Wobbly Kea Cafe
Christchurch : Canterbury Museum, Gondola

8/11 - Christchurch
Mona Vale, Market and Art Centre, Christchurch Cathedral

9/11 - Home Sweet Home