Immigration

• You need a visa when entering New Zealand from the UK. We downloaded their app called NZeta and it took about a day for them to turn it around and provide the visa. There is a payment required for the ‘Tourist Levy’ but it’s not significant.
• They are quite rightly very keen on protecting their bio-diversity so your baggage may get checked at immigration to check it’s clean and free from dirt etc picked up from outdoor activities outside of New Zealand. We had to show the soles of our shoes when passing through immigration which seemed fastidious but does set a marker to show that they are keen on protecting their beautiful country.

Getting about

• We used a Motor Home as we wanted to stay in remote areas on the South island, of which there are many and to do this we needed to be ‘self contained’, ie; have a toilet and holding tank. It really is necessary to book your motor home many months in advance. We booked about 2 months prior to traveling but there were limited vehicles available. We used Britz who are part of the THL group. I would NOT recommend them as we had a few issues with the motor home for which they provided minimum support (eg; service mechanics not working at weekends despite this being a peak holiday time). Rumour has it that Britz pick up the old Motor Homes that Mauii have used so perhaps better to try and use Mauii albeit they are all part of the THL group. Perhaps use someone else like Wilderness but we have no experience of any other company apart from Britz. We returned the Motor Home to Christchurch and flew with JetStar to Aukland. The car hire company we chose was APEX who provided us with a newish Toyota RAV4. No issues with using them and lots of feedback on the internet seems to be positive.
• Distances between petrol stations can be large , perhaps 200km in some cases, so it’s always worth ensuring you’re topped up. Given the nature of some of the steep and windy roads, times to cover large distances can be quite long.
• SIM and eSIM – We used Spark whilst in New Zealand. Coverage was ok except for in Fjordland in the south of the South Island.
• Google Maps was our friend and 30GB on our Sims was enough for just over 5 weeks of travel.
• When hiking, keep to the trails, especially in the Kauri forests, and make sure you use the disinfecting stations where applicable.
• When in Christchurch, we used their electric scooters run by Ario. They were great fun and saved on footwear and helped us see a lot of the city.

Activities

• The Christchurch public bus purple line takes you to The Gondola and is a fraction of the cost of the tourist buses running there.
• Milford Sound
  • There seems to be lots of negative reviews of the time it takes to get there from Te Anua and concerns are raised over difficulties driving. We were in a large motor home and it took us 2.5 hours to make the trip back to Te Anua. None of the driving is particularly difficult as long as you’re staying at the right speed and ensuring traffic behind you can get past.
  • Parking near the Milford Sound wharves is about $10/hour. If you park about 30 mins walk away, it’s free but fills up fast.
• Mount Cook gets booked up quickly if you’re in a vehicle. However, they do have over spill parking and limited facilities for overnight camping.
• Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland is excellent and worth a morning visit. The Lady Knox geyser spouts at 10.15am and is worth seeing. It seems the best approach is to arrive at the Wonderland at 08:30, spend an hour wandering around and then leave to drive a few mins to the geyser to watch the show. Whilst there, there are some Mud Pools nearby which are worth taking a look at. You can then get re-entry to the Thermal Wonderland to complete your trip.
• Cathedral Cove parking is well signposted and free. We parked here and wlaked to the Cove on a very hot day. In retrospect, we could have taken the local vans for $10 each which take you up the steep hill to the entrance to the walk to the Cove.
• Tane Mahuta tree visits stop at 4.pm in the summer as they are hosted by local guides.
• Hot Water beach is best visited 2 hours either side of Low Water. Be careful, the water really is scalding hot!