Sounds like you had a great trip. 

Yes we fly into Auckland. Wife's brother  lives there. One of the rare Kiwi's who didn't desert the place:)

Planning to do North Island for 2 Weeks and then fly to Christchurch, pick up car at airport. Spending a few days exploring Milford Sound area.

You would be better flying Aukland Queenstown hiring car and exploring area including Milford if you only have a few days . 

The hotel at mt Cook that I stayed at was the Hermitage .when you get to Queenstown go on the Zip it truly is fantastic it is a giant flying fox where you Zip non Rudd style , between the trees . 

If you pick up car in Christchurch  I would suggest you take coast road and spend a couple of days in Dunedin . You will think you are in Scotland.lovely town.

thanks mate - we fly back to Oz via Christchurch. Had not planned on Dunedin, but we have a couple of days spare

We might do Dunedin as you suggest.

My kinda holiday, is where I plan the bare minimum, and go with the flow. The wife on the other hand has to plan every detail out. 

The spare days are mine to just "wing-it" :)

Cheers

I don't understand why you are flying into and out of Christchurch  it is a long drive down to Queenstown /Milford Sound area . It would be nice to do the drive one way . Why don't you fly into or out of Queenstown .

will check with da boss. she was doing the booking from Auckland to South Island and Te Anau area.

What you say makes perfect sense. thanks again

It might save a marriage long drives particularly timed to catch a plane can be stressful.

LOL - how true.

Hmmm - don't give me any ideas. !!!

I'm with you on minumum planning I usually only book the first night . Then I can stay as long or as little in each place . For the UK I buy Ist class Brit rail passes in Oz then hire car for the area . So for instance I stay in Derbyshire with friends Catch train straight to Torquay in Devon then hire car there might then catch train back to London where you do not need a car . It mixes it up the children love it and it takes the stress out of long drives .

When you off jags if you are going to keep in touch with the site hotels have Internet access or buy a local sim card as roaming costs can kill ya .

Viber is good for phone calls and text and is free over net .

Another suggestion is you join the A club on 1300363637  this group own Sofitel Novotel grand mercure Pullman etc 

For the joining fee you get a free nights accomadation ongoing discounts incredible special rates discount on hotel dining etc 

pete

i am a member of the Accor hotel chain.

you're right about roaming charges. I usually buy a local prepaid sim as soon as we land.

Wise men think alike they say :)

Hey thanks Viv. Didnt think we needed to pack for cold weather, but hey it's 24degrees in Brizzy today. We feel the cold if the temp drops below 20 lol.

i remember when we lived in Rotorua in the 90's, my brother and his then wife came to visit in Sept. We were in shorts and Tshirts, and they were in Jumpers!

Crazy ian't it our bodies are so adjusted for warm or cold weather, Tasmania or the South of WA in winter and I am wrapped up and grandchildren in shorts etc but then they come further North in summer and complain about the heat which doesn't bother me!

Have to add I just loved the quick changes in scenery in NZ.

Lol, not a very good kiwi "accent" , but appreciate the advice delivered with a sense of humour.

btw haven't see you post on the forum before.

Maybe NZ would like to take you in...apply now

Yes it's funny but I like the two extremes of the country best . Top of the North Island and the South Of the South Island. I think the top is about same latitude as Sydney and the south of the south is below Tasmania . 

I think I may set up as a marriage guidance Councellor I have lots of practise

Gonski. It was in "The Box" which Drew kiboshed on Friday.

anyway you were saying you needed to keep the Jeep for no 1daughter to drive.

the Bentley's for you. And perhaps ditch the Ranger and MX5. I wud da thought a teenager would have preferred the mx5.

my son drives a mazda3 to get to and from Uni. He's taken off to sydney with his mates for a few days. He begged me to buy him an Audi. Fat chance!

Then I said the four car garage would look empty and anyway I am doing ok on the  US market.

Daughter prefers Jeep it is a black four seater soft top very trendy . Never been in four wheel drive or off road .

Do you trade individual stocks or just the index.

i just trade the index. Had 60% of my super in US stocks until recently . Rebalanced down to 25% a few weeks ago to lock in some profits on the back of the recent bull run and the tanking of the AUD viz a viz the USD

I trade individual stocks followed Buffet into railroads was in and out of shale doing well on domestic property . 

Now looking at distressed Greek property but secure title difficult

Greek property ? For rental yields? who knows how long before you will get any cap gains. You might get upside from euro appreciation 

i almost bought a holiday home in portugals silver coast a few years back. Thinking we could spend 6 months of the year there.

canned that idea, because we did not want to be tied to one place only . Lucky i didn't, as I wud have lost heaps with property values and the euro crashing.

Perhaps mows the time to be counter cyclical 

Yes , you gotta be greedy when others are fearful, and fearful when others are greedy.

only problem with real estate is that its highly illiquid.

I'm already heavy on R/E. looking to divest a portion of this asset class when opportune.

Yes I don't own the property I live in it is far cheaper to rent and more mobile .

But the US market in 2010 was just to good not too . 

Excellent.

We might do a road trip to Melbourne early next year. Love to do the great ocean road again. Might drive all the way to Perth to catch up with old mates from N.Z.

Another beutiful day took my Favourite car out today a 1999 SAAB  9 5 SE perfect nick leather seats wood steering wheel mahogany trim  220,000 k on clock runs perfectly paid 3,500 for it three months ago .Dark blue and deeply tinted windows looking for a false black aerial for roof.

Which areas are you planning to visit? She's a lucky girl

Our last trip was 2 years ago to Florence, Rome and the Amalfi Coast. Absolutely loved it. Was just the 2 of was. First overseas holiday without our son. He was too busy having fun with his mates after finishing high school.

Stayed in a nice little b & b in Positano, Amalfi with room overlooking the ocean. Lovely old couple ran the joint.

LOL - The Dubai indoor ski field is amazing isnt it? Singapore Airlines is much better than Qantas IMO. The stewardesses are younger and prettier too :)

Good thing about SQ is you can break journey in Spore, and Dubai enroute, so the journey is more bearable

If travelling business class, then I prefer emirates. excellent in flight service, cute multicultural stewardesses. love their outfit! i also think their lounges are far superior to qantas or SQ (outside s'pore)

I did fly Emirites when I went via Dubai good Airline British Hosties  and pilots mainly .