Things to Do in South Island (NZ)

CheapCoffee on 14/10/2016 - 23:06

A group of friends and I are looking to go to NZ (South Island) for a few days in upcoming December. We are all mid-20s and we are looking to have a relatively chill time there with sprinkles of fun activities. Our plan is to arrive at Christchurch but we have not planned anything in particular yet! We love outdoor stuff including more "extreme" things like bungee jumping but we are more than happy to do things like horseback riding and whatnot.

Any tips or suggestions (that are appropriate for a relatively tight budget travellers - ie Ozbargainers) would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,
CheapCoffee

Travel

Comments

  • ctd on 14/10/2016 - 23:26
    +2

    I've been planning a similar trip recently. FWIW, found Queenstown to be a lot cheaper for accomodation than Christchurch.

    • CheapCoffee on 15/10/2016 - 00:07

      Ye, we will be driving down from Christchurch to south after a day or so. Probably stay in Queenstown for 2 days or so?

  • chickentaste on 14/10/2016 - 23:29
    +2

    Never been to Christchurch but had a great 10 days in Queenstown last year.

    1. Rent a car/van (or do a campervan relocation) and take a car all the way to the far south via some hot springs
    2. Flyfishing. Lots and lots of flyfishing.
    3. Rent a mountain bike and get dropped up a mountain somewhere (this was the highlight of our time in Queenstown)
    4. Brewery tour
    • CheapCoffee on 15/10/2016 - 00:15

      Thanks for the suggestions mate.

      Definitely going to rent multiple cars/vans for the trip. We have at least 10 people in our group so ye, we will need to sort something out! haha

      Fly fishing sounds super fun, but I'm not sure if the other guys will be up for it :(

      Do you have any recommendation for specific company/location for the mountain biking?

      • chickentaste on 16/10/2016 - 22:35

        We did the Vertigo Bike Taxi up to Arrowtown. Great ride back to town, mostly gentle downhill and great views. Anyone who's moderately fit and rides a bike fairly regularly will have no problems with this:

        http://vertigobikes.co.nz/bike-taxi/

    • sween64 on 02/08/2018 - 20:05

      Is there a Brewery near Queenstown you can recommend?

  • kiribatian on 14/10/2016 - 23:56
    +1

    Yep, NZ has great scenery all year round. Get a few of you in a campervan and just drive. Queenstown is obviously really popular and lots of fun. Milford Sound and Lake Wanaka just spectacular. There are heaps of people exactly like you travelling in campervans (including lots of hot Europeans of a similar age). Caravan parks are really easy to find to get a powered site. It can be done really cheap but I would splurge on some of the many extreme activities in Queenstown!

    • CheapCoffee on 15/10/2016 - 00:19

      Ye you are right. I think is the plan is to save some money on accommodation and what not and spend it all on activities. Any recommendations for specific stuff (and companies) to do in Queenstown?

      • kiribatian on 15/10/2016 - 13:03

        AJ Hackett has a few bungees/swings all close to town. There are a couple of Skydiving and Jetboat operators as well.
        They all have stores in town itself and then there are also the Peter Pan Travel Agents etc.

  • inherentchoice on 15/10/2016 - 05:10
    +1

    Definitely get to Milford Sound and get on a boat. Probably also want to trek on either Fox Glacier or Franz Joseph Glacier.

    It will cost money but it's totally worth it IMHO.

    If you want to do the extreme stuff then two days in Queenstown is not enough. They have about three different bungy places and four different jet boating rivers plus a luge and zip lining and more. They are the world's adrenaline capital. Ferg burger is worth it too.

    Personally I also did this and really enjoyed it… http://www.riverboarding.co.nz

    You're gonna have so much fun!

    • CheapCoffee on 16/10/2016 - 15:54

      Looking forward to it!

  • cypher67 on 15/10/2016 - 09:55
    +3

    FergBurger

  • globalgirl on 15/10/2016 - 19:51
    +2

    Check out www.bookme.co.nz for discounts on a whole range of activities (incl in and around Qtwn)

    • CheapCoffee on 16/10/2016 - 15:53

      Cheers :) This was what I was looking for, I think!

      Are there any Groupon/Livingsocial like sites for this purpose as well? (aside from Groupon NZ)?

      Edit: Found this list - No real deals unfortnuately :(

    • sween64 on 02/08/2018 - 20:20

      Thanks! Book Me looks great.

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