New Zealand October-November 2022 Trip report

[Grifdog22]

ABD Day 7 All Aboard! Breathtaking travel day!

This was an early day for us as we had to catch a train. And what a train ride! A number of us were moving pretty slow, as there was a festival across the street from the hotel that went on until the early hours of the morning, making sleep a bit of a challenge. Armed with Espresso and Flat Whites, the group rallied and we arrived at the station with plenty of time to walk around outside and inside to explore this train. Once on board, we were in comfortable seats with tables. Our group could move around within the train.


This is the open car and the cafe car. Very nice!

The weather and view was constantly changing. We crossed many many rivers - here is a "braided river" as the water channels change as they flood and recede, moving the actual channel around a bit within the rivershed




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[Grifdog22]

Day 7 continued



We were set to detrain halfway to Greymouth at Arthur’s pass, near the crest of the southern Alps. Going back down the mountains, the train must add additional engine power and go pretty slowly to stay safe – so we took the speedier route back down. Once on board, Grifdog promptly beelined up to the open-air car – no one else was there yet. He spent most of the trip here hanging out and freezing, as people wandered up and back throughout the trip. This car is just behind the engine, so there is an occasional smack of diesel fumes. Briefly the open car was full of people going from one side to the next, and most were not very courteous of others. Most of the time, it was just a couple of people. The train was relatively speedy and many passengers actually use the train for transport, not just sightseeing. The drive across the Alps is not an easy one.



As you can see, some people just stuck their camera in front of you as you are also taking a picture....the downside of the open air car. You can see very well inside the train as well, with plenty of room so you don't have this issue. However, the glass is really clean, and often the reflection shows up, as you could see in the previous posting above. Grifdog was more interested in keeping the wind in his face and enjoying the view rather than taking 100s of pictures.
As we climbed, we could see Mother Nature's efforts to remove the railroad from her mountains.




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[Grifdog22]

Day 7 continued

We also passed through many many tunnels. The open car is not where you want to be in the tunnel as we are right behind the diesel exhaust. As we climb higher we lose the trees and get beautiful alpine meadows. We were there for their early spring, and thousands of tiny meadow flowers abounded. Hard to get a picture, as we were moving pretty fast and the train rocks a good bit, so you'll just have to take the trip to see them. Soon we are nearly touching the sky as we climb into cloud cover







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[Grifdog22]

Day 7 continued











And arrival at Arthur's Pass!



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[Grifdog22]

Day 7 continued



We traveled from Christchurch to Arthur’s Pass on the train as a crossing over the NZ Alps is a difficult journey. Taking the bus down from. Arthur’s Pass was a whole new adventure as well, given the sharp narrow drive. We had been told that the scenery is awe-inspiring and it is in fact simply stunning. The vibe for the trip changed here. There was an increasing level of excitement in our group and it showed. Again, notice on the bridge crossing pictures that the vehicle is taking the entire (single) lane of the bridge to cross, with not a lot of anything to keep you on the bridge if the driver doesn't keep things straight and just so...









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[Grifdog22]

Day 7 continued

Here we pass underneath a waterfall and go through a snowshed, built to help protect the roads from avalanches and keep the roads open during massive snowstorms

 

[Grifdog22]

Day 7 continued.

Once we reached Greymouth, we visited where the river meets the ocean, with ferocious waves and currents. There was also old WWII bunkers on the beach!















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[Grifdog22]

Day 7 continued

All that fast moving water was an inspiration to visit both the bathrooms and the brewery at Monteith’s with lunch!




Kiwi ingenuity to convert their kegs for "recovery" of the used beer...






This brewery put together a short tour with samples, followed by an excellent small buffet for our group. It was one of the most chatty meals we had – people comparing notes about what they had seen this morning crossing the southern Alps, what they were going to do at the glaciers, and how dramatic the landscape changes were appearing.

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[Grifdog22]

Day 7 continued

On to Hotitika! This was a leg stretching and quick shopping point and another chance to visit the west coast beach, which is also known for its driftwood collection....



There are several places that are best for picking up pounamu (New Zealand jade) and other bastions of Kiwi culture. This is one of them. We later discovered that Arrowtown also has excellent shops for these types of things as well – indeed, the artists are on premises in Arrowtown were very accommodating on answering questions and demonstrating some of their skills. Simply beautiful keepsakes, or really useful tools, knives, etc.

 

[Grifdog22]

Day 7 continued

Then, drum roll please, on to theTe Waonui Forest retreat at Franz Josef glacier. By this time, most people were ready to finish the travel day and settle in. The driver appeared to join this view, as we were moving pretty darn fast on these bumpy roads (thus some pictures are not as crisp as they should be).

This was an extraordinary, and quite different, hotel and town to visit. During our time, the hotel remained closed to the general public and were only serving organized groups with scheduled arrivals and departures. The dinner here was a multi-course event that really began the second half of this trip being as much a food adventure as an active cultural event. Yum! As the evening progressed, many of us made a visit to the hotel laundry to prepare for the second half of the trip. We covered just under 600 kilometers of travel to work our way down upper area of the west coast of the south island. Many times we could see the Tasman sea, as our adventure continued….





View from the deck of our hotel room and the hotel parking lot (yes that is Franz Josef glacier in the background)

 

[WeLoveABD]

Abdgeek: Did you book your OYO dinners while on the trip, or before you left? Also-- any dining recommendations for the OYO nights? Thanks-- and appreciate the trip tips!

 

[abdgeek]

Abdgeek: Did you book your OYO dinners while on the trip, or before you left? Also-- any dining recommendations for the OYO nights? Thanks-- and appreciate the trip tips!

These are the restaurants where I ate. I’m a foodie, so I wanted as close to a Michelin experience as I could get since NZ doesn’t have any Michelin restaurants. I came in early and stayed later, so that’s why I have more restaurants in Auckland.

Auckland—Ahi, Hello Beasty, Sails Restaurant, Grove Restaurant
Christchurch—Chillingworth
Franz Josef—Monsoon; only casual places
Queenstown—Tatsumi Modern Japanese

i made most reservations 60-90 days out. Some were only 30 days out. Check each website to see how far out you can book. Most required a cc to book, but didn’t charge anything up front. People who didn’t make reservations in advance typically weren’t able to get them the day of. It could have just been the fact that we were there during the Christmas holiday. NZ is still having some staffing issues and, having eaten there, I found the restaurants I chose to be more boutique in nature. Don’t expect huge restaurants like we have in the states. I think most restaurants I ate in had a dining capacity of <30 people.

 

[Grifdog22]

These are the restaurants where I ate. I’m a foodie, so I wanted as close to a Michelin experience as I could get since NZ doesn’t have any Michelin restaurants. I came in early and stayed later, so that’s why I have more restaurants in Auckland.

Auckland—Ahi, Hello Beasty, Sails Restaurant, Grove Restaurant
Christchurch—Chillingworth
Franz Josef—Monsoon; only casual places
Queenstown—Tatsumi Modern Japanese

i made most reservations 60-90 days out. Some were only 30 days out. Check each website to see how far out you can book. Most required a cc to book, but didn’t charge anything up front. People who didn’t make reservations in advance typically weren’t able to get them the day of. It could have just been the fact that we were there during the Christmas holiday. NZ is still having some staffing issues and, having eaten there, I found the restaurants I chose to be more boutique in nature. Don’t expect huge restaurants like we have in the states. I think most restaurants I ate in had a dining capacity of <30 people.

In Queenstown when we were there advance reservations are a must. We had a reservation for Pedros, but it was closed due to staffing issues when we arrived and we wandered for nearly an hour before finding something - it was a Japanese restaurant hosting a large party, who let us sit at the bar to order (Best asian food I've ever had). Otherwise we would have ended up with ice cream.

 

[Shiriki Utundu]

Day 1 Continued -

Still with the Time Unlimited tour - In addition to Piha and Waitakere areas, we went to Bethell’s Beach, the Gannett colony by Muriwai Beach with thousands of birds currently nesting & where we saw probably the first chick of the season, and had lunch at a Riverfront Tavern which has been there since 1869 and is alongside a river, which made for a quiet peaceful lunch.

Muriwai Beach

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Gannet Colony - each one of those white spots is a bird or a bird pair -

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@Mathmagicland tour ended the day back in Auckland atop Mount Eden, which overlooks the central areas of the city, such pretty views. In these pictures, you can really see how spread out Auckland is. Note the Sky Tower for reference, it is in the CBD not far from our hotel.


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While Halloween is not as big a thing as here in the states, the kids do dress up & do some trick or treating, and a few houses have decorations. In our drive to one beach, we passed a house that was all decorated for Halloween; this had the most of any house we saw. It must have been something as my guide Daniel even took pictures to show his grand-daughter, who had made her own Halloween costume for the evening.


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Grifdog22 and his DW report that they chose poorly for the day and should have booked with @Mathmagicland. They booked again with Bush and Beach for an afternoon tour of the western rain forest and Piha beach. The guide/company owner that day was not feeling too well, so many stops were made for a short “break.” There was a very long stop at a visitor’s center with nothing to see, and from here the leader discovered he had left someone behind. It took awhile to get the group back together. This brought us to a short thirty-minute slow walk in the “bush” which turned out to be a conservation area park and then cookies and tea from the van. Next stop - the ride to the beach. This was twisty and narrow, which didn’t help out our guide, so it took quite a while to arrive at the beach. Sadly, when we got to the beach, our time was short. We got out of the bus and went to the beach for 15 minutes. We headed into the water and our pants got drenched by a rogue wave. We put our shoes back on and grifdog’s boots started to detach at the soles, perhaps from the soaking in disinfectant (required in areas with Kauri trees to help spread a disease that is attacking a lot of trees) earlier that afternoon. Nevertheless, they were quite late returning, having insisted that they be brought back early. They rated this as a do not do this tour.

The AbD reception was drinks and hors d’oeuvres, followed by dinner in the adjacent room. Here we learned that we’d only have 15 for our group for the tour. What a nice, small group size! Dinner was served family style, with the servers pointing out specific dishes to avoid for those with any food sensitivities. This was the way for most of our group dinners on the tour, either family style or buffet; I think there were only one or two times where we were asked to choose a specific order for a lunch or dinner ahead of time. The family style worked out very nice, and we always had more than enough food.

In our group, we had both experienced AbD travelers, and a few first-time AbD travelers. We were fortunate as we had a great group of people for our tour.

After a long day, time to get some sleep & prepare for our first full day tomorrow.

Great report. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Shiriki Utundu]

Abdgeek: Did you book your OYO dinners while on the trip, or before you left? Also-- any dining recommendations for the OYO nights? Thanks-- and appreciate the trip tips!

Hey old man.

 

[AquaDame]

• The weight limit for horse riding in Glenorchy is non-negotiable. Apparently, the company sold off their larger horses during the pandemic—so that’s the reason for the limit. About half of our group of 35 did the ATV ride instead. I was bummed at first, but was instantly pleased when the ATV guide told us we were seeing more and going further than the horse riders did. They also stopped and showed us some of the LOTR/Hobbit filming locations. If you’re not a LOTR fan, no worries, the bulk of the tour is about the scenery and not the movies.
• 
  
• The majority of meals on this trip were family style. I was surprised at the number of families on the trip who were unfamiliar with this concept and took copious amounts of food when they came through the food line that meant other people had little to no food options if they were at the end of the line. The guides always made it right and finally had to make an announcement telling people to be respectful of those behind them and to wait until everyone had gotten food before trying to get seconds. While NZ does a great job with dietary restrictions, this is the first ABD trip I’ve taken where people experienced more food insecurity issues. Although companies said they were, I don‘t think they were really prepared for the way Americans eat. As long as you remember that NZs don’t eat the way we eat, you’ll be fine.

I'm kind of shocked at these two points... I tried googling the weight limit for the horses and found 105kg which means half your group was over 230lbs, despite this being a family departure (so there should have been some number of littles in there too), is that right? Even more surprising is folks taking so much there was little for the folks at the end to eat... despite the companies saying they had plenty? I feel like you somehow ended up in a very unique group if there were worries about food scarcity, even for folks from the US!

 

[abdgeek]

I'm kind of shocked at these two points... I tried googling the weight limit for the horses and found 105kg which means half your group was over 230lbs, despite this being a family departure (so there should have been some number of littles in there too), is that right? Even more surprising is folks taking so much there was little for the folks at the end to eat... despite the companies saying they had plenty? I feel like you somehow ended up in a very unique group if there were worries about food scarcity, even for folks from the US!

The weight limit for horseback riding was changed right before our adventure. No one over 210 lbs was allowed to ride horses and we had to give our weight to the guides at the beginning of the trip—trust me I tried and was told absolutely not by the vendor. It was my understanding that participants were also weighed. We were told the strict weight limit was because the vendor had to sell off their larger horses during the pandemic. IMO, the ATV ride was much better—they need to make that the permanent activity. We were also weighed at both zip lines, so if you’re over the posted limit you won’t be allowed to participate.

Our group may have been unique in that there were a couple of first time ABD families on the trip. However, we had several families that had been on multiple ABDs. There was not an unlimited supply of anything that we ate during lunch and dinner. It’s hard to explain, but (for some locations) think of different appetizers being put on a table and that’s what your meal is made of—5 or 6 plates of a particular appetizer being put on the table for 37 people to share. Everyone only gets a taste. Once the food was gone, it was gone. It wasn’t replenished. It got to the point where people who didn’t get enough food were allowed by the guides to order an entree off the menu. By the time we got to the winery, the guides made sure there was enough food. I’m lactose intolerant and at some of the meals, there wasn’t much I could eat without taking lactaid. Some meals all I had was meat and a little salad with no dressing. If I had a dairy allergy, there wouldn’t have been much I could have eaten. Vegetarians had similar issues in that there were typically only one or two dishes they could eat. I‘ve done 7 ABDs and I definitely liked the food the least on this trip and didn’t feel it was that filling.

 

[sayhello]

@abdgeek How many people were on your ABD? I know @Grifdog22 and @Mathmagicland had 15 on theirs, but I just checked with ABD (PIF was Saturday) and we have a full trip for our March ABD (40 people). Just wondering how a full trip does logistics-wise (assuming yours was full). We had a full trip for Iceland (39) and that was hard, due to Iceland's lack of infrastructure for a group that large. Don't know if that applies to New Zealand or not.

Sayhello

 

[abdgeek]

@abdgeek How many people were on your ABD? I know @Grifdog22 and @Mathmagicland had 15 on theirs, but I just checked with ABD (PIF was Saturday) and we have a full trip for our March ABD (40 people). Just wondering how a full trip does logistics-wise (assuming yours was full). We had a full trip for Iceland (39) and that was hard, due to Iceland's lack of infrastructure for a group that large. Don't know if that applies to New Zealand or not.

Sayhello

We had a full tour. I think it was 39 with the two guides. I don’t know what we would have done if there had been 40 guests. NZ is still having staffing issues. The activity vendors handled it by breaking us into 3-4 smaller groups. Unfortunately, that meant two groups didn’t have an ABD guide with them for the activities, but I don’t think people minded. I didn’t notice any issues at the hotels—we still had daily housekeeping and breakfast at most of the hotels was set up so that you sat yourself, ordered your entree, and then went to the buffet. We experienced most of the staffing issues at some of the smaller restaurants where we ate as a group. Anyplace we ate that didn’t have a buffet seemed to be a 2-3 hour affair with the different courses coming out very slowly. We were the first family ABD that went and the issues we had at each location with our meals was relayed to the guides leading the ABDs a couple of days behind us. Corporate was also notified. Hopefully, they will fix that particular issue before your trip.

 

[TravelJunkieHubby]

I just finished the Dec. 19th NZ ABD and it was awesome!!! Thanks to @Mathmagicland and @Grifdog22 for sharing their pearls of wisdom. It really helped with my trip planning. They are doing an excellent trip report, so I just wanted to reiterate some things they may have mentioned. I think my trip was the first family trip that went. I have to give a shout out to @traveljunkie and @TravelJunkieHubby who I met at breakfast on the first day of our ABD. They were on the one behind ours, so definitely come in early if you can to do additional things before the ABD. I did the Hobitton tour—which I absolutely loved and the Skywalk at the Sky Tower. Most families that came in early seemed to do those activities and the Allblacks experience, which is across the street from the Sky Tower.

• We were each given water bottles when we checked in with the guides. Although I brought the one that was mailed to me, I didn’t need it and never used it. The Park Hyatt is the only hotel that provides bottled water in the room. Although some bottles of water were on the coach, we were always told to come with our water bottle filled. You could do this from the tap in your room or from the buffet. I bought a couple of bottles of water from different stores as we went, but I didn’t need to. The water from the tap tasted great—and I don’t drink tap water. Each of the activities we did usually has a water refill station.
• On Day 3, you won’t return to the hotel until around 7-7:15pm. Plan accordingly if making dinner reservations.
• Even in December, the weather was unpredictable—NZs joke about it. Depending on your comfort level, you will definitely need shorts, long pants, and a rain jacket. It was really warm the day we did Franz Josef glacier, so we didn’t need the heavy jackets we brought.
• Because we were there Christmas week, some of the towns where we were supposed to do OYO time either had limited or no shops open. While that didn’t bother me, it’s something to keep in mind if you plan to travel during that time.
• The weight limit for horse riding in Glenorchy is non-negotiable. Apparently, the company sold off their larger horses during the pandemic—so that’s the reason for the limit. About half of our group of 35 did the ATV ride instead. I was bummed at first, but was instantly pleased when the ATV guide told us we were seeing more and going further than the horse riders did. They also stopped and showed us some of the LOTR/Hobbit filming locations. If you’re not a LOTR fan, no worries, the bulk of the tour is about the scenery and not the movies.
• Be prepared to pay $45NZD to check your roller board carryon for the flight from Rotorua to Christchurch —your checked bag is checked at no cost as long as it’s not overweight. Unless you have a really small roller board, it won’t fit in the overhead bin. Everyone in our group was told to check any bag that was larger than a backpack that could fit under the seat or a small duffel bag. The agent said you’re supposed be able to check an extra bag for $20 when done online before your flight, but since ABD gets the tickets, I’m not sure how that would work.
• The majority of meals on this trip were family style. I was surprised at the number of families on the trip who were unfamiliar with this concept and took copious amounts of food when they came through the food line that meant other people had little to no food options if they were at the end of the line. The guides always made it right and finally had to make an announcement telling people to be respectful of those behind them and to wait until everyone had gotten food before trying to get seconds. While NZ does a great job with dietary restrictions, this is the first ABD trip I’ve taken where people experienced more food insecurity issues. Although companies said they were, I don‘t think they were really prepared for the way Americans eat. As long as you remember that NZs don’t eat the way we eat, you’ll be fine.
• Although you can use public transportation in Auckland, I used Uber to get around there and in the other towns that had it. Franz Josef is an easily walkable town, so I didn‘t need it there. I pre booked my dinners for our OYO time in advance and was glad I did. Most families got casual food on these days, but I was surprised at how much of a culinary destination NZ is.
• Due to our group size, we were typically broken up into 3-4 groups for each activity. Tiffany & Ben made sure they mixed up the groups each day based on the company’s requests so that you weren’t with the same group everyday.

Thanks for the shoutout! It was great meeting you! @Travel junkie and I took your advice and did the Sky Walk on one of our pre-days. Our boys also enjoyed the All-Blacks experience by the Sky Tower if anyone is looking for activities within the walking distance of the hotel.

For the 12/22 adventure (34 guests) I think the only activity we missed out on was the first junior adventure night/Eat Street in rotarura. Our awesome guides Joy and Victoria instead gave everyone $10 NZD in Auckland and we did a white elephant gift exchange and buffet dinner at the hotel on Christmas Day - this was really fun and the group had a great time!

I agreed the food overall was less impressive than most of our previous ABDs but the guides did a good job of making sure everyone’s food preferences were accommodated.

The order of activities did change for us over Christmas… We ended up doing the Agrodome on the drive from Auckland to Rotarura. We did the glow-worms the next day which made for a long drive and some queasy stomachs

This was first ABD over the holidays, overall it went smoother than I expected and fortunately no flight issues from Dallas. My advice is for anyone considering a holiday ABD give yourself some extra days on both ends. We missed the farewell dinner but were happy to get back with a day before work/school started.