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 New Zealand travel tales
Our customers share their travelling experiences in New Zealand.
Read about first hand stories on travel tips and guides, events, entertainment,shopping, food, business and transportation.
Also, you might want to read our
Auckland city guide,
Bay of Islands city guide,
Dunedin city guide,
Queenstown city guide,
and Wellington city guide.
Pages (13 of 15):
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| A Schara |
17 September 2001 |
Stayed at Quality Pavilions - Christchurch, New Zealand.
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With vehicle all sites were easily accessible.
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| A Schara |
09 September 2001 |
Stayed at Manary Lakeside Resort - Rotorua, New Zealand.
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All attractions easily reached by car.
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| A Schara |
07 September 2001 |
Stayed at Hyatt Regency Auckland - Auckland, New Zealand.
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Walked and took cabs to various tourist sites and restaurants.
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| A Mitsuro |
27 August 2001 |
Stayed at Hyatt Regency Auckland - Auckland, New Zealand.
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National park of tongarilo by train from Auckland. One night stay at the national park was so easy from Auckland.
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| M Marsick |
26 August 2001 |
Stayed at Carlton Hotel Auckland - Auckland, New Zealand.
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As an Aucklander I would love to promote our city. It has a wonderful waterfront, The Viaduct, famous for 'The America's Cup'. Wonderful volcanoes, that enable people to get an amazing view of Auckland and it's environs. There are ferry rides to many of Auckland's islands in the Hauraki Gulf. Vineyards to visit on Waiheke Island, and the West of Auckland. Beaches everywhere, the west coast beaches are amazing for their sheer rugged beauty and their surf, especially Piha. The bush walks of the Waitakeres in the west and the Hunua's in the south east. The restaurants dotted all over Auckland. Mikano is especially wonderful, it overlooks the harbour, the port and the Police helicopter, 'The Eagle' has it's heliport right outside and it can make for interesting dining! Try the seafood at most of the restaurants and you will be amazed. Public transport is a hassle, but the Council is trying to do something about that. Taxis are rather expensive, however with the value of the NZ dollar, tourists probably think everything is cheap! On a sunny day Auckland is stunning. To sample Kiwi life, go afield to the suburbs, Westfield St Lukes is a small mall in the heart of Mt Albert, not far from the city, but it is a lovely place to see local and international shops, and you can have a nice coffee at the Muffn Break. Parnell is a neat place to shop for exclusive boutique goods. The Phillip's Aquatic Centre in Mt Albert is an amazing place to take the kids, warm swimming pools and a hydroslide, popular with the locals. Try and catch a game of rugby at Eden Park, a great venue, full of good old kiwi 'jokers'. Go to the Zoo we have 4 new baby lion cubs, it is leading the way in making zoos a nice place to be for the animals, enclosures are changing. The Auckland Musuem is an amazing place, there is a place just for children 'Wild and Wonderful', hands on exhibits, kids love it. There is also an amzing Maori exhibition that has live entertainment. GO!! But what I recommend the most is give Auckland a go, stay there not just for the obigatory one night before you go to Rotorua or the South Island, Auckland has a lot to offer. A very cosmopoiltan city, a third of the population live here, and we are the largerst Pacific Island City, come,enjoy our vast cultures.
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| A Mitsuro |
23 August 2001 |
Stayed at Hyatt Regency Auckland - Auckland, New Zealand.
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West Auckland was very easy by one hour drive from downtown Auckland. We enjoyed calm and beautiful views in such near place to Big City.
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| R Lai |
16 July 2001 |
Stayed at Airport Gateway Hotel - Auckland, New Zealand.
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What can I say, New Zealand the land flowing with milk and honey. Most courteous and friendly people on planet earth.
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| S Yeo |
10 April 2001 |
Stayed at Duchess Motor Lodge - Auckland, New Zealand.
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Auckland is a nice city. Places to visit include Kelly Tarlton's Underwater world near St. Helier and the new Sky Needle where you get a great view of the city from the Southern Hemisphere's tallest tower.
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| S Czupryna |
20 March 2001 |
Stayed at Hyatt Regency Auckland - Auckland, New Zealand.
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Auckland is a great place to wander around aimlessly. From the Hyatt, you can head downhill to Queen Street and from there to the water front or uphill to the tower that looms mightily over the cityscape. The trip up the tower is well worth the admission price as is the "reverse-bungy-jumping" rig they have nearby the tower.
I'd advise anyone that visits Auckland (who's home currency is tied to the US Dollar) to bring along some spare money to take advantage of the exchange rate (now NZ2.40 per USD1.00). I found excellent deals in most shops and restaurants. For example, I found a great deal from a VERY helpful shop attendant on a computer case that was about 30% cheaper than the exact same item in Malaysia and about 50% cheaper than the prices sought by the thieves that sell such goods in Hong Kong.
Wow, what can I say....Auckland is a great place that makes money-spending tourists feel like their business is greatly appreciated! Not once did I feel that shop-keepers were trying to cheat me, short-change me or take advantage of me. Quite the contrary really, they (incredibly) went out of their way to (gulp) EARN MY BUSINESS! Can you imagine, a place where the local business-people try hard to give you as MUCH as possible for your hard-earned tourist dollars instead of trying all the pathetic Asian shop-keeper tricks to give you as LITTLE as possible?
In my particular case, I was in the Queen Street area at about 3 pm on a Saturday...normally past the close of business hours. I saw an Optometrist's office that was already closed, but decided to inquire about an appointment for the following Monday. To my surprise, the Optometrist herself answered the door and took the good time to explain their services and make a booking for the few hours I had available on Monday morning. The service at the office was great, the Optometrist spent more than an hour checking my eyes, doing all the important tests and working out a rather complicated multifocal prescription. I was so impressed, I also ordered my glasses and arranged for shipment to my home in Kuala Lumpur......much to the disadvantage of the Malaysian opticians that have repeatedly tried to rip me off in the past.
To these fine folks I say "THANKS, I'LL BRING LOTS OF CASH NEXT TIME I VISIT".
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| B Ling |
10 March 2001 |
Stayed at Christchurch YMCA - Christchurch, New Zealand.
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The tram is near the Arts Centre which makes it easy to go to the city. But it ends at 7pm. I would request for bus service. The free shutter bus does not cover the area near to YMCA, I had a difficult time to walking all the way from city carrying a bottle of 3L orange juice!
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