Disney or NZ?? we chose NZ

[Duke]

Good day to all,
Well, we made a round trip of the SI, NZ from Lake Milton,Oh. and back, safely. Air New Zealand was A-1 service. My daughter(Bailey5yrs) was a natural on airplane travel, this was all of our 1st trip overseas, and again she was great, me,, well I was scared(because there is no place to land over water)(I wish there was a ship,Popeye is my mentor, not Superman)....My wife(Kathryn), did good, she's a natural at being calm,,not like me, freakoid. I watched some movies, and listened to music, it went surprisingly fast. Arrival Auckland.
In Auckland it was a damp morning,chilly, but nice(to be on vaca) we got onto our last plane to desination: Christchurch. WOW!!! the scenery from the plane at sunrise. Touchdown was like a feather. We got checked out(which was a breeze) and got a cab, I opened the door and low and behold,,,the steering wheel. haha..
I have an aunt that lives in the Virgin Islands which has a friend that has an apartment in CHCH, we lucked out. So we get to this apartment....and.... its part of the all girls college of Cantebury...we were like the RICH, put on the rosy glasses,,we are livin...This apartment was decked out with fine material and artwork. We enjoyed this very much, Hagley Park was right there, the tree place to be. After visiting CHCH,Banks Pen. and NewjobZ/Skillsnz we decided we have to part with this apart-ment to see the NZ we came for this time around.
Before I left the states I rented a campervan online...from Escape rentals.. They gave us a decent product for value...the only reason I chose Escape rentals was the artwork, each one of there vans is a mural, by local artists.
Van living was great, there are plenty of parks to sleep, shower,cook. One negative about NZ I found was the snakes on the road..I felt whiplash. We stayed in the following areas: Lake Pukiki, Otago Peninsula, Catlins, Hotel in Queenstown, Haast, Hokitika, Nelson, Takaka, Blenhiem and Kaikoura.
My favorites were Blenhiem,Kaikoura, Otago, Ivercargill and ChCh. Overall they all seem to be great towns, small but neat.
This was a research visit to NZ....and look at me now,,researching more. It seemed like a lifestlye Im already living, but more to my likings. NZ is by far perfect,,,,yes..,,,, I heard the hoons, and I hope he has a stop watch because NASCAR could use more foriegners. My brother in-law asked me what negatives I found on NZ...I could only come up with the roads, and being far from family. The peoples were real friendly and helpful, yes, we ran into a few maybe attitudes but it probably was us just tired. I think a lifestyle in NZ would be healthy one for those that like to be natural. For Bailey I think an upbringing in NZ would be an original for her, and that is my drive. Find me trees find my laughter.

[Dawn]

So pleased to hear that you enjoyed your trip. Sounds like you were impressed. We haven't booked our van yet so will look into that company. Do they do 6 berth? Would love to hear more about your trip Duke. Got time?

[Taffy]

Hi Duke,

Welcome to the forum

Sounds like you had a great trip around NZ. There's certainly plenty of trees here, so perhaps it's the ideal place for your daughter

Good to have you on board, Duke

[KiwiHopeful]

Thanks for sharing your experiences, Duke. Perhaps you'll be making that flight again soon?