I'm off to New Zealand

Have a wonderful trip grannyactivist!

Have a wonderful trip. Will this be the first time you have met your DGD?

South Island...

Interisland ferry from Wellington to Picton takes you through Marlborough Sound, Queen Charlotte Sound

Marlborough vineyards

Nelson is a lovely city

Golden Bay; Abel Tasman National Park

Kaikoura whale watching (road/rail could be tricky after ecent earthquake)

Christchurch

Banks Peninsula/Akaroa, originally French territory, still has a lot of French influence. Beautiful scenery. Penguins. Fur seals. Dolphins

Glaciers - Fox or Franz-Joseph, free to walk to base of glacier, also guided walks

Mt Cook National park

Milford Sound + boat trip in large catamaran

Queenstown - loads of activities related to mountains, eg gondolas, walks fab views, paddle-ship trip on Lake Wakatipu, views of Remarkables Mts

little blue penguins and yellow-eyed penguins Oamaru Penguin Colony

Tranzalpine train from Greymouth-Christchurch, over Arthur's Pass

Have a super time ga. And i can't help thinking that your dgd cannot be nearly 2! You'll see a huge change in her!

Lovely area to go around I don't know anything about the South Island but my son lives near Auckland..l Rotarua is typically a more Maori area so there are lots of historic sites , last time I was there we did a Maori trip I know it's all put on for tourists but it was really interesting and good fun and you do learn a lot about the wonderful culture that is so lost by the western infiltration the wonderful geysers are well worth a trip My son took us on a white water rafting trip which was the most terrifying thing I ve ever done and I wouldn't recommend it unless you love 'thrills' there are the blue and green lakes near there and a buried village

NZ is VERY expensive so most times I go it's just beaches walks and spending time with grandkids it was just this once we did the touristy thing and I m glad we did... but it did cost an arm and a leg Auckland itself is a nice city not too big and you can go up the space tower which gives you marvellous views through a glass floor again not cheap and a lovely marine harbour

If your budget is tight I d say do the geysers as you ll never see anything like them again and maybe a Maori culture visit otherwise just enjoy the scenery the beaches and MAINLY your granddaughter

I used to correspond with a girl who lived in a place called Taurikura. It looked beautiful in photos she used to enclose with her letters. It was on the south island I think.

I bet your excited. Enjoy your little granddaughter and New Zealand.

Excellent suggestions so far. I know you will have a car but the train journeys are wonderful and mean everyone gets to see the views. May be worth trying the odd one. If You are in QUeenstown I would add in Arrowtown and Wanaka. A boat up Milford Sound. I admit to being biased to the south island!!

Enjoy

How wonderful grannyactivist I hope you have a wonderful trip xxx

Have a fantastic time GA

If you make it down to Dunedin to see the incredible little blue penguins (which run over your feet if you stand still), do call in at the Royal Albatross Centre. I don't know if it'll be the right time of year for baby albatross though but you get very close.

We didn't get to the west side of the South Island for the glaciers there as I discovered I'm highly allergic to the sand flies over there, but we did take a plane flight up onto the Mount Cook glazier instead which was beyond amazing.

Then there's Queenstown. If you're fit there's white water rafting, riding through snow melt rivers on tall horses, helicopter flights!! Or just sitting watching and enjoying the fabulous scenery and taking a jaunt on the Shotover Jet. Thrilling, but safe.

You'll need to save quite a bit for your next trip!

Thank you all for your good wishes and advice for places to visit. I have almost packed, but when he went up to bed at midnight the Wonderful Man hadn't even started his packing!! Living up to his name he spent almost the whole day helping other people (including me - I can't get the printer to work and I need to print the boarding passes). We leave at lunchtime tomorrow - yippee!!

(I flew out to NZ and spent some time with my granddaughter when she first came home from hospital, but my husband hasn't met her yet - he's really good with children and so looking forward to meeting her properly.)

Have a wonderful holiday!

Doubtful Sound beats commercial Milford hands down.

We travelled with a'man and boy' company, google it, but it was our highlight, as was 100 mile beach in the N.

I cant say we found it at all expensive, but each to their own.

I've been to both Doubtful and Milford Sounds and there's a lot to be said for both. Unfortunately it was very wet when we went to Doubtful but there was a spectacular pod of Dolphins doing stunts around the boat. The little Hector's Dolphins at Akaroa are also worth seeing.
Don't try to see it all, or you will be exhausted. Save some of the highlights for your next visit - I'm sure this won't be your last.

Have a great time GA. Perhaps Absent could give you some recommendations.

Have a fabulous time grannyA, I loved NZ when we went there 10 years ago. Rotarua is amazing and there are great things in South Island too. Kaikoura was a favourite place for whale watching but thinks it's been affected by earthquakes etc recently. Wanaka and that area was stunning too as was the area around Fox Glacier.
We did an overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound which although very pricey was an amazing experience and worth every penny. Sitting on the boat in the early morning with the engines switched off, all the passengers were asked to keep silent, no cameras clicking just quietness. That silence filled only with the sound of the water and some birdsong stands out as one of the most moving experiences of my life.
We did a mixture of homestay (a bit like b and b but less formal) and budget motel accommodation, the latter had a fridge and microwave so a bit of self catering was easy. We found NZ people very friendly and with a real pride in their country so we're always happy to offer suggestions of things to see or do locally. Enjoy every moment!

Can anyone advise about managing the flight? We are going at some point this year and we're both dreading the flight and the jet lag. Even with stopovers, it sounds horrible. I hate flying, I get claustrophobic, stiff and uncomfortable, restless legs and my gut fills with air, when I flew to New York I had a bloated stomach and violent pains by the time I arrived. Enough to make me think twice about New Zealand. I also can't sleep on planes.

I can't sleep on planes either. A good opportunity to catch up on films! Perhaps the doctor can prescribe something?

We stopped over for three nights in Singapore, but it was very hot so we didn't do as much as we'd liked to have. It did seem to help a bit.

Top tip re bloating on long haul flight - stretchy trousers!

Good reminder Jane, I noticed that a lot of women wear jogging pants, so did the same on our last flight. It did help a lot.

Actually Nfl confession time - I wear them all the time!!

That's Nfk of course!

Nfl. Like it!