New Zealand Master Thread

[JBG]

Planning a 3 week trip to Australia / NZ in late Nov - early December. Considering spending 5 days in NZ - any helpful hints? Should we focus on the Northern or Southern regions

[AJK]

Planning a 3 week trip to Australia / NZ in late Nov - early December. Considering spending 5 days in NZ - any helpful hints? Should we focus on the Northern or Southern regions

Southern. And spend more than 5 days.

[JBG]

Decided to stay for a week! I noticed there are a ton of restrictions around food. Can I bring frozen meat in from Sydney? Any helpful hints?

[AJK]

Can I bring frozen meat in from Sydney? Any helpful hints?

Read earlier in this thread. I go through it in depth.

[Emkay]

Ritz opening in Auckland.

[Thingywingy]

What are the cheapest miles to use flying in economy?

[AJK]

What are the cheapest miles to use flying in economy?

Come on. What route? Are you talking intra-NZ? From Australia? New York? Beijing?

[Thingywingy]

From NYC area to Christchurch. Because of date line, going to Australia for shabbos. I see AA is 40k OW going through LAX, but availability is weak...I'm flexible on routing (including using different miles for different segments). Does that help?

[AJK]

Cheapest is 60K JAL RT.

[Yaalili]

What are some of the highlights you can do in New Zealand in the winter? We really wanted to go but didn't think there was much to do at that time of year.

North island is warm that time of year, great activities like Bay of Islands and White Island volcano. South Island will be plenty of snow. And Sydney is great weather that time of year or a connection to a different island.

[Yehoshua]

North island is warm that time of year, great activities like Bay of Islands and White Island volcano. South Island will be plenty of snow. And Sydney is great weather that time of year or a connection to a different island.

I know about Australia, it's mainly NZ. I'm not looking for snow activities, but wanted to see the nature of the southern island. All the sites I've looked at for ideas all say skiing, dog sledding, etc. which doesn't interest me.

[benjie1305]

Again, you can do as you please and if you don't want to shlep somewhere in the countries respective winter that is fine but at least know that there are reasons to go and have a good time:

-Awesome slopes
-some great hot pools
-active whale watching
-dog sledding
-it isn't even that cold across the country
-much less tourists making it more fun to explore (would be for me)
-might be able to spot the Southern Lights

I can check on more potential "+"'s for going tomorrow when I check-in with the local experts but those are some Ive always known of.

[AJK]

http://gizmodo.com/hundreds-of-whales-are-dead-following-a-horrific-mass-s-1792213145

 

[efflpetzel]

http://gizmodo.com/hundreds-of-whales-are-dead-following-a-horrific-mass-s-1792213145

 

happens almost every year

[eandd]

For those been to NZ south island, is this too crazy of an itinerary (the driving and stopping for views is part of the fun):
Tues nt:Arrive CHC (from SYD)
Wed: dolphin swim in akaroa, drive to hotitika
Thurs: FJ glacier, drive to wanaka
Fri: Roy peak hike, drive to ZQN
Sat nt: drive to te anau
Sun: Milford sound
Mon: drive to twizel (mt cook and tekapo)
Tues: drive to CHC
wed flight back
Also, any dateline issues re Shabbos on sun?
Thanks!

[mordechain]

https://www.star-k.org/articles/kashrus-kurrents/493/a-travelers-guide-to-the-international-dateline/

[eandd]

Thanks, forgot that Rabbi Heber is expert in these things

[eandd]

For those been to NZ south island, is this too crazy of an itinerary (the driving and stopping for views is part of the fun):
Tues nt:Arrive CHC (from SYD)
Wed: dolphin swim in akaroa, drive to hotitika
Thurs: FJ glacier, drive to wanaka
Fri: Roy peak hike, drive to ZQN
Sat nt: drive to te anau
Sun: Milford sound
Mon: drive to twizel (mt cook and tekapo)
Tues: drive to CHC
wed flight back

Thanks!

Is this at all realistic?

[Thingywingy]

Anyone have experience renting a camper van from Jucy https://www.jucy.co.nz?

They offer special coverage for the campers at either $20 or $30 a day. Anyone research if that is needed? Would a camper in NZ be covered by an american CC?

[Big4Flyer]

Anyone have experience renting a camper van from Jucy https://www.jucy.co.nz?

They offer special coverage for the campers at either $20 or $30 a day. Anyone research if that is needed? Would a camper in NZ be covered by an american CC?

It depends on the credit card as far as which will cover campers in NZ.   The Citi Prestige/Premier cards were the only ones I know of that offer coverage on all vehicles.  Most (such as the CSR, CSP, Barclays) have restrictions for specialty vehicles such as campers, pick-up trucks, etc so they would be unlikely to offer coverage.  Citi is discontinuing this coverage beginning in September or October this year IIRC.  You also need to check whether your CC has coverage in New Zealand as many don't offer coverage here, along with countries like Ireland, Jamaica, and a few others.  I know the Citi Premier/Prestige and Chase Sapphire Preferred/Reserve offer coverage here, but others exclude New Zealand.  Do you know what cards you have that you would be using?

One thing to keep in mind is that NZ has the AAC, which covers all medical expenses for individuals who are injured in accidents in New Zealand, so liability coverage is not necessary.