Korean Job Discussion Forums

[r.]

Planning a 10-14 trip to New Zealand... largely to go skiing around Queenstown. I have many, many questions.

What's the best mountain to ski there? Or are there a few in the same area I should go to?

What kind of minimal budget would I be looking at per day (excluding skiing fees)? I like outdoors type things.

What else is there to see or do in the general area (easily accessible)?

Besides skiing...If this is the only time I go to NZ in my life, what would you recommend I see or do?

Is New Zealand an ok place to travel alone?

[blackjack]

I am in a hurry so if you want more details pm me or i will reply indepth later. I lived there for 2 and a bit years

Nz is a very safe place to travel alone provided you use common sense (i.e don't pick fights with great big rugby heads and don't dish the local rugby team).

in queenstown you are within 1 1/2hrs of four main skifields if you are there for 10-15 days try them all. you can ski everywhere on the mountain in a day (don't expect N American/europe style resorts).

money depends how much you drink tramping is free even in national parks, the great walks have a charge but it is still cheap.

bungee ranges from 70-200 dollars (from 30m to 140m) spend the extra it is worth it.

there is also jetboats (well worth it) white river rafting, paragliding, you name it.

(p.s if you smoke or drink buy dutyfree you can get three bottles of spirits and five packs of tabac/1 carton local tax is crazy expensive)

also watch the exchange rate our dollar is all over the place at the moment. was up to 80 cents to the dollar a few weeks ago then dove down to the 60s and now is back up to the 70s. if it gets back down to the 60s change your money as fast as possible

[snowy32]

If you're going to be in the lower South Island I would suggest driving/ busing your way up along the west coast on the South Island. I think it's been called one of the 10 most beautiful drives in the world. It follows along past the glaciers (which are good to stop and look at) and then you could make your way up to the top of the South Island and then hop on a ferry at Picton and head to the North Island.
The North and South Island's are very different, so I would suggest taking a look at both.
I personally love the drive through the Lewis Pass, I've done this drive a million times and it still takes my breath away.
So, North Island:
-Rotorua (kinda the obvious one)
-Wellington (if your looking for a nice-ish city)
-New Plymouth (kinda understated beauty)
and a ton of other places that I can't really think of right now.
South Island:
-Queenstown (like you said)
-the area surrounding Queenstown (Wanaka, Arrowtown etc)
-central Otago (Clutha, Cromwell -all close to Queenstown)

I hope this helped and didn't make things more difficult for you.
When abouts are you going? you might want to get here soon if you want to do some skiing!

[r.]

Thanks for the help in this thread. A few more questions before I get a stupid lonely planet book:

Is it easy to travel by public transportation? I don't have a driver's license, so I'm a little worried about getting to beautiful, possibly remote outdoors areas, like Lewis Pass, glacial areas, or Milford Sound.

Also: does anyone know of a guided hike up a famous mountain or something of the sort?

Ok I realize I just need to buy a guidebook now. I know close to 0 about the country.

[blackjack]

public transport can be okay. your best bet would be just book in to a backpackers and ask around. hitching is still safe (there has been a couple of high profile cases where it has not turned out safe) but overall it is safe.

guided walks i know nothing about but if you are experienced then i would just go into a DOC (department of conservation) office there is one on the main street of queenstown and ask for good safe day or overnight trips (take a down sleeping bag it gets cold in the mountains)

your best place to see glaciers would be on the west coast the fox glacier and the Franz Josef. they do have tour buses which run there

but regarding your transport problems one easy (and cheap) solution is to simply ask around at backpackers and offer to supply fuel

[chris_J2]

Coronet Peak?