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Thread: New Zealand

  1. #11
    Senior Member Dhiana's Avatar
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    Spent several weeks on the South Island a couple of years ago and spent 10 days on the North Island this past spring...

    South Island:
    Did everything from cycling the world's steepest street in Dunedin to whitewater rafting to hiking the glaciers to catamaran sailing and lots more. Did a tour of a chocolate shop and several wineries.
    Went to a movie, Holiday, and the small lovely theater served beer, wine, and tea. Your tea was delivered on a tray with cream, sugar to your seat during intermission!
    The terrain and views reminded me a bit of Alaska, very beautiful.

    North Island
    Loved Auckland, visited several galleries, museums and generally enjoyed just relaxing in coffee shops while working on my art installation.
    Had to visit Hobbiton! I usually don't care about visiting movie sets, I feel it ruins the fantasy of the movie itself but I really, really enjoyed going to Hobbiton.
    Spent most of our time in Taupo for the Ironman. Nice town with amazing Indian restaurants, Yum! Nice volcanic park close by.
    I liked the history museum in Wellington.
    Looked a lot like southern Wisconsin with all the cows. More sheep are on the South Island.

    I can offer more details if you see anything that you'd like to try.

    Not sure why you would choose to visit NZ again if you think it's so bland?

  2. #12
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    I could do your research but better to explain:

    I input "los angeles airport day pass lounge" into Google and it brought up a variety of sites and info about day passes. You will need to delve deeper to ensure that the rules have not changed but it is a start.

  3. #13
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    My cousin purposely does a long layover in LA. Books a hotel room nearby and gets 6h sleep. She swears it's the right thing to do before a very long flight and worth every penny.

  4. #14
    Senior Member kib's Avatar
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    Thanks everyone! We decided to do what you suggested, Gardnr; at LAX the day pass regulations seem like a lot of hoops and running around from one terminal to another, which requires going through security each time, and if there is available space in a lounge it will cost as much as the hotel. I think I could have gotten free passes with the right credit card but it's too late for that. This will also mean we don't have to eat two meals in the airport, always a plus.

    I have to be honest, I'm pushing myself to be enthusiastic about this trip, it feels like a mountainous undertaking. Really hoping that it provides the sense of "fresh eyes" I used to get from my longer travels. Hoping we have the stamina and strength for a place that seems geared toward the young and athletic. Steeling myself for the fact that while our saved budget for the trip seems like a fortune, past experience tells me whatever we've saved will be about 75% of what we want to spend. Hoping my husband's bungee jump doesn't leave him injured. Finding myself in that stupid place of worrying about ridiculous details: should I bring nail polish remover? Good grief, I can't wait to get going and stop fussing!

  5. #15
    Senior Member Dhiana's Avatar
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    NZ has everything you'll need.

    Packing list: Passport, clean underwear, credit card. (medications)

    Why not make it a relaxing vacation?
    I've come to just do so many of my regular things when out traveling, no matter the country.
    Get my hair cut, go to a movie, relax with a tea, find a used bookstore, take a macrame class...
    These kinds of regular activities will bring you in real contact with NZers more than the touristy stuff ever will.
    They will often have great suggestions about places they enjoy away from the tourist crowds.

    My first trip was all about adventure, my second one was all about relaxing.
    Make the trip your own because that flight is mind-numbingly loooooooong!

  6. #16
    Senior Member kib's Avatar
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    This will definitely be an adventure trip. We've already got reservations all over the place and we've rented a van, none of this is refundable. If I were doing a "staycation" I think I'd do it either in the US or a place I really love, like Italy - and I'd probably do it alone, that kind of trip would drive DH insane. Sounds lovely, maybe next time. I am hoping that our camp hosts along the way will have more interesting or spur of the moment suggestions than the standard tourist fare. ... I'm starting to feel like I've bitten off more than I can chew, just wish this was underway so I had something real to work with.

    I've already made one horrid mistake. Our tickets are with Fiji Airways, not known for ... much of anything but cheap seats. I've tried about fifteen times during the four months I've owned these tickets to confirm our seat assignments online (including this morning) and was told the flight wasn't available yet, and finally gave up on the useless websites and called the airline directly, only to be told the only seats left are center middle seats. For a ten hour overnight flight. This is basically guaranteed to make the flight and the first few days of our trip miserable. I was probably the first person to buy a ticket on this flight, precisely so I could choose good seats. I'm furious and feel like throwing a tantrum right about now.

  7. #17
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    I think the trick when you are traveling that far is too stay long enough to make it worthwhile. Years ago My sister & I took a 7 day trip to Thailand which was really stupid. It is 24 hour flight so lost 2 days immediately & then jet lag etc. Next week we are taking a 3 week trip with 5 days in Boston, 13 day Caribbean cruise & a few days in Tampa. Have fun Kib!

  8. #18
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    Ooooh I want to see Middle Earth! I want to experience the LOTR location tour

  9. #19
    Senior Member kib's Avatar
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    Home again, home again, jiggity jig, I had a great time but I'm a fat pig.

    Excellent trip! Some of our highlights included a canopy tour ziplining through a forest that is being restored and cleared of "noxious pests" (non-native predators), a day trip to Milford sound, the amazing Wai-o-Tapu thermal display, hiking to a glacier, seeing Kauri trees, DH's bungie jump (shudder), and lots (and lots and lots) of really delicious not on the diet menu food. We met a renaissance man, a sculptor who had built his own railroad so he could transport clay and wood for his pottery. We rented a campervan for travel and lodging, and perhaps my favorite moment was coming across a small roadside farm of free range pigs and chickens. The owner was a charming if filthy man with unshod hobbit feet who came out to greet us when we stopped to take a picture, and let me cuddle a little piglet smaller than a cantaloupe which promptly fell asleep in my arms. I'd say I could have stayed home to do that, but somehow I couldn't. While New Zealand may be the most tourist oriented country in the world, there were still nooks and crannies of real and unusual people everywhere we went.

    Amusing, the "worst" thing that happened to me was that Outlook wanted me to update my email app on my phone, and the moment I did, it had a heart attack over my identity and refused to let me look at my mail for nearly a month. (A gift in disguise, DH was obsessed with getting free wifi and I let the whole thing go, marvelous!!)

    I have so say that every moment of real aggravation or distress I experienced was due to some computer/electronics malfunction. That in itself was a revelation; I spend a ridiculous amount of money on "love-myself" technology that seems almost designed to be upsetting and problem-laden. New thoughts are in order about this.

    Honestly, being cut off from the "real world" of horrible things about which I can do nothing was ... actually it was eye-opening. I was a happy person for three weeks. We had problems but they were human sized problems; I find myself extremely reluctant to take up the "public duty" of anxious, guilt-ridden attentiveness to the world's misery again.

  10. #20
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kib View Post
    Home again, home again, jiggity jig, I had a great time but I'm a fat pig.

    Excellent trip! Some of our highlights included a canopy tour ziplining through a forest that is being restored and cleared of "noxious pests" (non-native predators), a day trip to Milford sound, the amazing Wai-o-Tapu thermal display, hiking to a glacier, seeing Kauri trees, DH's bungie jump (shudder), and lots (and lots and lots) of really delicious not on the diet menu food. We met a renaissance man, a sculptor who had built his own railroad so he could transport clay and wood for his pottery. We rented a campervan for travel and lodging, and perhaps my favorite moment was coming across a small roadside farm of free range pigs and chickens. The owner was a charming if filthy man with unshod hobbit feet who came out to greet us when we stopped to take a picture, and let me cuddle a little piglet smaller than a cantaloupe which promptly fell asleep in my arms. I'd say I could have stayed home to do that, but somehow I couldn't. While New Zealand may be the most tourist oriented country in the world, there were still nooks and crannies of real and unusual people everywhere we went.

    Amusing, the "worst" thing that happened to me was that Outlook wanted me to update my email app on my phone, and the moment I did, it had a heart attack over my identity and refused to let me look at my mail for nearly a month. (A gift in disguise, DH was obsessed with getting free wifi and I let the whole thing go, marvelous!!)

    Honestly, being cut off from the "real world" of horrible things I can do nothing about was ... actually it was eye-opening. I was a happy person for three weeks. We had problems but they were human sized problems; I find myself extremely reluctant to take up the "public duty" of anxious, guilt-ridden attentiveness to the world's misery again.
    Awww, the little piggy raised by a hobbit-man sounds cute.

    Outlook sucks so much, am glad I no longer have to deal with it in retirement.

    New Zealand has very strict agriculture rules that prohibit ANY plant coming into the country. None. Nada. Only seeds are allowed in. So, that means they are cut off from having specific plants improved by hybridization, can only have strains. Since this rule has been in place only a few years, things aren't bad YET but their garden plants will eventually suffer from lack of DNA diversity.

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