Hi All,

My cousin's going to be here in December from England. She wants to explore the South Island, so I was thinking we go to Queenstown/Milford Sound.

What do you all recommend? Mr KF? Sydney? Since you guys have been there.

Whats the best way to get to Queenstown in the first place? And from Queenstown, how do you get to Milford Sound? Coach?

How cheap are the air tickets from AKL to Queenstown? We need to keep busy for 5-6 days :)

CHEAP accomodation aswell?

I know absoultely nothing about the place. :) So any suggestions would be helpful. We're on a tight budget :S

Milford Sound is 4 hours from Queenstown by bus. Wanaka and Te Anau might be worth it too while you're in the area, you go through Te Anau to get to Milford anyway.

http://www.nztourmaps.com/images/imgs/milford_sound2.jpg

double post

Nicco the best way to get down is to fly, and the sooner you book, the cheaper it should be. The flight is approx 1:45 minutes and currently only takes off and lands during daylight.

You will need to hire a car, but if you want to combine your accommodation and driving into one you can rent a camper. The weather will be great around then so it won't be freezing. Failing that, car hire is pretty reasonable and there is a range of accommodation from back packers to 5 star.

In terms of your 5 to 6 days you can get a lot done.

You need at least 1,5 - 2 days in Queenstown itself to walk around and see the town and all it has to offer. You should also go up to the summit in the Gondola and do the luge. Remember Queenstown is the adventure capital of the world so there is plenty to do - bungees, shot over jet etc etc etc

There are numerous coach trips to Milford Sound but you can drive there as well. You should include a cruise on the sound. That would be one day.

Other day trip would be

Queenstown to Arrowtown to Wanaka to Queenstown. Depending on how much history you want to take in Arrowtown is at least 2-3 hours of exploration if not more. Then leave Arrowtown and head over the Crown Ranges (splendid drive) to Wanaka. On your way there stop over at the Cordrona Hotel which has a great yard and lots of history. Onto Wanaka which has a beautiful setting alongside the lake. When leaving Wanaka pop into Puzzlingworld (http://www.puzzlingworld.co.nz/) and have a look around before heading back on the SH6 to Queenstown. On the SH6 you will find Cromwell which is worth visiting as a lot of the old town centre (http://www.cromwell.org.nz/museum/index.html) is intact and has been moved to the edge of town.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3242/3952383647_04d24aae6d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/craigsyd/3952383647/)
Puzzle World (http://www.flickr.com/photos/craigsyd/3952383647/) by craigsydnz (http://www.flickr.com/people/craigsyd/), on Flickr

So we have changed our plans and its only going to be the upper North Island and Coromandel.

Flights to the SI are too bloody expensive and everything is so hard to get to.

I remember you and Sydney once went to Coromandel from Auckland (via ferry with car on?) and went on that train thing? Would you recommend it??

ORGANISING A HOLIDAY IS MUCH MORE COMPLICATED THAN IT SOUNDS GRR...

^^

We took the ferry which is only a passenger ferry for a day trip. When you arrive at the Coromandel, a bus will take you into Coromandel town which is part of the ferry fee. (The ferry wharf is a distance from the town). From there you can take the tour bus to the Driving Creek Railway. (The tour is a separate fee). If you want you can hire a car in Coromandel Town and tour further. I suppose it would depend on what you want to do when you get there. We enjoy sightseeing and discovering new places - even parts of places we have been to before so we never get bored. Driving there is an option but takes longer and the Kope bridge is still 1 lane so expect traffic jams.



http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3636/3436706631_c998fcc60e.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3351/3437514034_7cb913b2eb_b.jpg