Has anyone been on a Contiki tour to New Zealand? Help!?

Question

I'm thinking of going on a Contiki tour to New Zealand in the summer of 2007. I went on a Contiki to Europe this summer for 2 weeks and had a blast. Can anyone who's been on any of the Contiki New Zealand tours tell me which excursions are worth going on? What are the pros and cons of the whole trip? Which cities did you enjoy most and why?

Answer 1

Haven't done Contiki...did Kiwi Experience. I very fun trip but most of the people will be young (25 or under) and drink a lot. So if this is not what you are looking for, KE probably not the best choice. If you have limited time and no previous knowledge of the country, a tour is a great idea though. I don't know what Contiki does, but KE knew all the good places, activities, and locals to refer plus it pretty much guarantees you will have a room wherever you go. Remember that Summer 2007 on the North side of the world will be Winter in New Zealand.

One of my favorite places in NZ is Kaikoura. There is a great hostel there (top of the rock) and you can go diving with sharks or seals, swim with dolphins, whale watch (grey & killer whales), horseback ride, and even fly a small plane yourself for low cost at the local flight club. But there is no shortage of great things to do anywhere in NZ, 2-weeks won't be close to enough. A very cool keepsake, if they are still around, there is a bone carving studio in Christchurch where you can carve your own bone necklace. A very cool experience and memory. -- If you are there in September check out Wearable Arts Awards:
http://www.worldofwearableart.com/tickets.html
Probably have to call the radio stations and sign-up at the local tourist center to get tickets.

If you have time, get off in Christchurch, rent a car, drive down to Dunedin stopping to see some of the smaller towns along the way, a day or two in Dunedin if you have time (great culture), then drive on through Otago Pennisula (scenic tour, get a map at tourist info and pick up a few travellers in Dunedin to share the costs - the Adventurer hostel is good), then end up in Queenstown to jump back on tour. Or, drive on up the coast to see Franz Joseph at your leisure.

Answer 2

OK it's a long time ago now and it wasn't Contiki but pretty much the same because we saw Contiki tours at most of the places we stopped. Took two weeks to cover the south island only and I slept 15 hours when we got of the coach so I must have had a good time. Best places in south island are Christchurch and Queenstown. Queenstown was where bungee jumping was invented. There are horse trail riding, jet boats, bungee jumping, ski-ing (in season). Jumping off place for fjords and glaciers is near Queenstown too. Mountain scenes in LOTR shot in the area.

Christchurch is a large country town or small city with plenty of facilities and not a bad sort of a place.

Auckland on the north island is like a smaller version of Sydney or maybe San Francisco and is probably the liveliest town in NZ. Napier on the east coast of the north island has heritage listed Art Deco streets.

Bay of Islands north of Auckland is really beautiful and is where New Zealand goes over the Christmas holidays (middle of summer) so it's crowded then.

Rotorua has geysers, hot springs and plenty of smells from hydrogen sulphide gas. It's probably the centre of the tourist end of Maori culture and you will see some fantastic Maori art there.

Answer 3

I did a contiki NZ tour about 2 years ago and I would recommend it to anyone!! I had so much fun! I toured the north and south island. I would recommend every part of the tour.

I would recommend that you take a fair bit of extra money, the extra activities can sometimes be a bit pricey but really worth every cent.

Have a wonderful holiday!!