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#921371 by Smid
15 May 2016, 14:09
Any suggestions as to what to do over there. I know _of_ Christchurch, but not sure distance, cost and time. Glacier stuff and mountains?

Managed to take advantage of the Qatar flight from Pisa, which got cancelled in a few days, so rebooked via Doha/Hong Kong and Sydney/Doha on way back. All business. BA Gold card might be useful to see the likes of the HKG and SYD lounges, probably only time ever (if I make it over that way I will probably not be in First or BA Gold).
#921386 by SGJ
15 May 2016, 19:58
We also bought on QR but didn't fancy Pisa so going ex LHR. Hope to be upgraded again to F! AKL is not SYD so a day or two will be enough. Take a car and drive for 2/3 days, then fly south and go to Marlborough for the wines or Queenstown for the scenery. Driving is quite easy and internal flight are not so expensive. Visit hobbits in the North, glaciers in the south?
How come you had to re book? Pity to miss the F lounges in SYD and HKG but the others aren't bad either. With so many sectors you must be Silver BAEC when you get home?
#921416 by Smid
16 May 2016, 09:23
SGJ wrote:We also bought on QR but didn't fancy Pisa so going ex LHR. Hope to be upgraded again to F! AKL is not SYD so a day or two will be enough. Take a car and drive for 2/3 days, then fly south and go to Marlborough for the wines or Queenstown for the scenery. Driving is quite easy and internal flight are not so expensive. Visit hobbits in the North, glaciers in the south?
How come you had to re book? Pity to miss the F lounges in SYD and HKG but the others aren't bad either. With so many sectors you must be Silver BAEC when you get home?


Well, if we'd booked from Frankfurt, we could have rebooked to Heathrow. But since we booked from Pisa, it's not within 500 miles for a rebook. I think some managed to rebook to land back at LHR. Didn't think of that....

We were over Christmas and New Year, and since they cancelled those, we had to rebook.

We are doing the Hong Kong and Sydney lounges, because I doubt I will be gold when I ever return there.

But since we did Maui/Big Island Hawaii at Easter, I will requalify gold. But the missus is in that stupid different year end, and she'll qualify silver when already having a safe landing.

We did consider routing via LHR, ie: FRA to LHR HKG, but done BA's A380 about three times so far, so pretty used to their product. So some Qatar for a change...
#921425 by whiterose
16 May 2016, 13:37
Skytower in Auckland, Bay of Islands while on North Island, Queenstown on South Island, cable car for fantastic views, then tiny plane for flight over the mountains to Milford Sound and boat trip down the Sound and back.

Am very envious, we spent five weeks in NZ a few years ago and loved every minute. Auckland is the only place you will encounter traffic in any volume. On South Island, you can drive for miles and never see another car.
#921440 by SGJ
16 May 2016, 18:48
The QR new seats are just in a different league to BA but 17 hours is still a long time. Snap! I'm doing Big Island in July. Hotels are booked inc The Volcano National Park, any tips about places/things to do ?
#921478 by Smid
17 May 2016, 10:41
SGJ wrote:The QR new seats are just in a different league to BA but 17 hours is still a long time. Snap! I'm doing Big Island in July. Hotels are booked inc The Volcano National Park, any tips about places/things to do ?


How handy, we did Maui and the Big Island in Easter.

Found Maui quite expensive, stayed at the Best Western in Lahaina. Did the road to Hana, which is, erm, bendy.

We stayed two nights in Volcano Village. It's quiet, shops close at 5pm, petrol station closes at 7:30. All the restaurants close at 9pm ish. Dark and quiet. Very near the national park, but if you are over the Kona side of the island, you can drive there in a couple of hours.

Can be very voggy in the national park, but we got a view of the crater. You can't get near the lava from inside the NP. I suspect the other end of it, down on the south east of the island are equally inaccessible, and perhap really viewable by boat or helicopter. It was very interesting the scale and coverage of previous eruptions though....

We then moved onto a condo in Kailua-Kona, where we spent 5 days. Didn't really use the car much after that, plenty of restaurants and bars within walking distance there. Didn't feel like hiking, and not really beach types...
#921479 by TimCrawley
17 May 2016, 10:47
South Island for Christchurch, Milford Sound, Fox Glacier & Queenstown etcetera is probably a bit tight on only 7 days in NZ - even a fully packed coach tour of the South Island is usually 8 or 9 days (with a couple of days in Queenstown for the adrenalin junkies to do the shotover jet boat, white water rafting, bungee jump etcetera).... so maybe you just do the North Island highlights with extra time in Bay of Islands?

Depending on your flight arrival time you could save a hotel night and do the overnight train Auckland to Wellington, morning ferry with spectacular views to South Island then daytime train with stunning views down to Christchurch for an early evening arrival (lots of the hostels have reps usually meeting the train with promo prices if you haven't booked a hotel up front, railway station only a short stroll from hostels and hotels) - I got whole thing as a package at the railway station, not sure if they still do that - and then after spending the following day in Christchurch head on to your choice of Milford Sound, Fox Glacier & Queenstown etcetera - the flight into Milford Sound is really spectacular as is the cruise (I flew in from close to Te Anau but there are similar flight & cruise options from Queenstown and other places too) BUT remember to spray on the insect repellent before the cruise!
#921598 by Smid
19 May 2016, 14:12
Thanks for the advice. I've got a guide book for my birthday now, so I can now contextualise the ideas here. Looks a busy time!

Got to arrange a visit to Hungary, and a visit to San Diego/Reno/Lake Tahoe in August too.
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