Pity you missed the busker festival in ChCh. It was mucho fun!  The city walks are good & free! , sights include  monument to the womens movement, NZ was first country where women got the vote,  and  Rutherfords Den is interesting if you are into science. (he split the atom). I also like the Huge oak tree, grown from aa Acorn sent back by a soldier during WW I, he died, but his tree still grows on the banks of Avon river, ChCh, NZ.
Takes a couple of hours + stops along the way. 

Pity CHCH  police station is so ulgy!! 

Kayaking in Doubtful sounds was my best value activity in New Zealand. 2 days= $300. You get to Kayak under waterfalls, sleep in a rain forrest, and you have Doubtful pretty much to yourselves. Well you, the seals and the dolphins..

 http://www.fiordlandseakayak.co.nz/guided_fiords_doubtful.html

 

Tell them I sent you!

Justin

 www.withoutdirection.org

Danny and Lizzie Carsons VKNOW RESTAURANT was good when in Queenstown last year. It was the farewell dinner of a cycle trip. Cnr Richards Park Lane & Fernhill Road, (head towards Glenorchy and Fernhill rd goes up the hill about about 1.8km from Queenstown). A bit out of the main tourist trap town center but worth the effort. http://www.justqueenstown.co.nz/listings/showlisting.cfm/listingid/998/s...

When you get the opportunity to visit New Zealand, try to visit the town of Matamata, it's about 45 minutes from Hamilton (almost 2 hrs from Aukland). For only NZ$50.00 you will be able to visit the property that was chosen to be the home of the Hobbits. From matamata itself, it's a 10 - 15 minute drive to the perimeter of the property, and from the gate, it's another 10 minutes. When you get to the site itself, you'll really understand why this place was chosen to be the Shire (or Hobbiton). It's just acres and acres of fields and grass and trees ... and hobbit holes. Of the 37 original hobbit holes, only 17 remain. Tour guides will share anecdotes on how the place was selected, how life was during filming, and what transpired after the shoot.

here's what you can see there: 

     It took us almost the entire trip to figure out what to do about a bill at the end of a meal.  We would be waiting forever wondering why the server wasn't bringing the bill.  In New Zealand you must ask for the bill and sometimes bring your money up to the waitress.  They think it is rude to rush people and bring the bill.  We were afriad of being rude by asking where the heck our bill was.  So, when you're ready to leave, simply tell them!

Fox glacier is a great days walk and in my opinion better than San Josef but that's for another post, but while in Fox you have to go to Cafe Neve, they have the nicest pizza I have ever had, now were not talking Pizza Hut here this is real gourmet stuff, and the wine list is also very extensive.  I still dream of my meal there.

Zorbing is great.  It's not something that you can really explain or try to compare to anything else, it's just fun.  You get done at the bottom, you're soaking wet, smiling, laughing, and wanting to do it again.  If you have any questions about things to do or see there, I've travelled throughout the country all tolled for over 7 months now.  It's a fantastic place to be.  For images, check out my website:  http://homepage.mac.com/jasonkearns/nz or email if you have any questions about things to do, places to stay, whathaveyou.

 

Enjoy!

New Zealand is our first stop outside of the U.S. and it's a place where I've been itching to go since 1995. I'm not sure why I haven't yet. Things always seemed to arise that were a higher priority - school, work and more school. And now that school is done...

 

I happened upon this zorbing site whose quote seemed to match descriptions I've heard for some of the NZ tourist spots...

 
Where New Zealand once again leads the world in stupid things to do while you're not thinking about work. I love it.

Picture via www.richardandjo.com

At the West-Coast (also known as 'Wet-Coast'), make sure you wear insect repellent against the sandflies, as they can give nasty bites, which will bug you for days.