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We've finally solidified our 'twice a decade' trip, to New Zealand - no stopover in Fiji. Will go late October for about 3 weeks, starting and ending in Auckland. Other than that no solid plans yet. I have been once before and enjoyed it ... a little blandly. In my case the old joke, "what's the difference between NZ and yogurt? Yogurt has culture," seemed relatively true, I'm hoping it was my choice of itinerary and not the destination.
So! All comments about NZ, or for that matter about making travel exciting and enjoyable, cheerfully accepted.
Also, we have the layover from hell: nine and a half hours in LAX. :0! Please please please if anyone has good advice for what to do not too far from the airport or how to get there, feel free to contribute! Funny, it's perhaps the one city in the US I'm not comfortable with, too big and sprawly and this perception that if you get stuck somewhere in traffic, it could be for hours.
I just googled "things to do near LAX" apparently your situation is not all that uncommon - I was surprised all the
things that came up. Now I am thinking you might want longer than 9 hours!
Have a great time in New Zealand. We spent a couple days there coming back from Australia - such a beautiful place.
New Zealand has been producing some wonderful films, this one is a must-see:
http://www.gstatic.com/tv/thumb/movieposters/165197/p165197_p_v7_aa.jpg
I just googled "things to do near LAX" apparently your situation is not all that uncommon - I was surprised all the
things that came up. Now I am thinking you might want longer than 9 hours!
Have a great time in New Zealand. We spent a couple days there coming back from Australia - such a beautiful place.
Oh snort, I've actually seen Black Sheep. So Baaaaad it was almost good. :D
Thanks Greg, I'll google.
iris lilies
8-31-15, 11:23pm
New Zealand is a place I could move to and I know I would like it without ever having been there. South Island, please.
kib, you were probably gone during the time when zoebird was posting here. She and her husband emigrated to NZ and ran a business for a while, then came back, not by their choice.
I hate the idea of L.A. and have no suggestions. I might figure out a cheap way to get to Venice Beach which is interesting with all of its canals and billion dollar houses on those canals, plus the beach. It's the only place I've been in L.A. Also, for me, if there is an "architecture of film" tour, I would take take. I would like to see houses and buildings used in movies.
We have had long layovers in various places. Never left the airport. Too much chance of issues and we always had things like carryons to lug around.
Suggestion: buy the access to the lounge. Check reviews for the airport lounge you can get into. Ours had all the alchohol you could drink (no wonder there are drunks on planes), food, magazines, comfortable chairs and tables, good wifi, clean bathrooms and showers. Oh, and it was very peaceful.
I have an online friend in NZ. She recently posted this travel "itinerary" to our group so we could get to know her homeland:
I promised to tell you of some interesting places to visit whilehere in NZ’s capital city, Wellington. There’s quite a lot, actually and I knowI’ll have forgotten many of them.
If you’re into adventure quad biking, then there’s a great placejust across the road from my home, where you can scale up into the ruggedRimutaka Forest Park ranges down to the Wairarapa Coast seal colonies, withjaw-dropping views over Wellington and over to the South Island across CookStrait. Fishing and snorkelling are things you might like to do, or would keepthe men-folk happy if they were to accompany you.
A tour of our Parliament Buildings is a popular pastime. You getto walk all around inside this magnificently restored stone building, learn thehistory of our parliament, watch parliamentary sessions in the visitor’sgallery, gaze at lovely artworks, shop for souvenirs and send postcards homewith the parliamentary postmark on it.
A Weta Workshop tour is an absolute must see for film-buffs.Here you can see where special effects for films such as Lord of the Ringsseries, X-Men, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Hunger Games, King Kong, VanHelsing, The Lovely Bones and many, many more are created. Weta Workshop is apartnership between Sir Richard Taylor, Tania Rodger and Sir Peter Jackson, andhas won many Oscars and other awards for its work.
Te Papa (Our Place) Museum and Art Gallery on Wellington’sbeautiful waterfront will take up at least half a day of your time. One of themany exhibitions showing at the moment is the Gallipoli one which is well worthseeing. It tells the story of this WW1 battle through the eyes of eightordinary New Zealanders. Each person is captured in a moment of time in theform of a sculpture 2.4 times human size. The giant sculptures took 24,000hours to create and countless hours to research. The exhibition is apartnership between Te Papa and Weta Workshop. Te Papa is considered a hands-onmuseum with many of the exhibits being interactive. Well worth a visit.
A trip up Mt Victoria will give you a magnificent view ofWellington City. Take some fish and chips and enjoy watching the sun go down onwhat is arguably the world’s coolest little capital. Wellington is said to havemore restaurants and bars per capita than New York City, so you’re bound tofind lots of delicious eats – I know you won’t go hungry. Being a small city,you can walk just about everywhere in it, and there are great transport linksto make use of.
Quilters are not forgotten – there are some wonderful quiltshops in the Wellington and Hutt Valley areas, including Thimbles and Threadsin Upper Hutt, The Sawmiller’s Quiltery, also in rural Upper Hutt (where youcan relax in their charming garden over a Devonshire Tea with freshly out ofthe oven scones and artisan teas and coffees). The Busy Bee Quiltshop inKilbirnie has a glorious range of fabrics as well as lots of quilts on display.A visit to the wonderful Minerva Bookshop in Wellington’s Cuba Street, whereover 3000 quilt, craft and textile books will keep you occupied should also beon your list. You’ll be able to pick up the latest edition of NZ Quiltermagazine to browse over a wine.
My brother and niece have been in NZ the last 2 weeks and have a week or so to go. They are doing a lot of winter hiking and having a great time.
We have had long layovers in various places. Never left the airport. Too much chance of issues and we always had things like carryons to lug around.
Suggestion: buy the access to the lounge. Check reviews for the airport lounge you can get into. Ours had all the alchohol you could drink (no wonder there are drunks on planes), food, magazines, comfortable chairs and tables, good wifi, clean bathrooms and showers. Oh, and it was very peaceful.
I've decided this sounds like the easiest thing to do, but which reviews are you referring to? We're traveling economy on a budget airline that doesn't seem to have its own lounge. I see mention of day passes but when I try to get specific info I wind up looking at annual memberships, serious overkill!
Spent several weeks on the South Island a couple of years ago and spent 10 days on the North Island this past spring...
South Island:
Did everything from cycling the world's steepest street in Dunedin to whitewater rafting to hiking the glaciers to catamaran sailing and lots more. Did a tour of a chocolate shop and several wineries.
Went to a movie, Holiday, and the small lovely theater served beer, wine, and tea. Your tea was delivered on a tray with cream, sugar to your seat during intermission!
The terrain and views reminded me a bit of Alaska, very beautiful.
North Island
Loved Auckland, visited several galleries, museums and generally enjoyed just relaxing in coffee shops while working on my art installation.
Had to visit Hobbiton! I usually don't care about visiting movie sets, I feel it ruins the fantasy of the movie itself but I really, really enjoyed going to Hobbiton.
Spent most of our time in Taupo for the Ironman. Nice town with amazing Indian restaurants, Yum! Nice volcanic park close by.
I liked the history museum in Wellington.
Looked a lot like southern Wisconsin with all the cows. More sheep are on the South Island.
I can offer more details if you see anything that you'd like to try.
Not sure why you would choose to visit NZ again if you think it's so bland?
sweetana3
10-18-15, 8:08am
I could do your research but better to explain:
I input "los angeles airport day pass lounge" into Google and it brought up a variety of sites and info about day passes. You will need to delve deeper to ensure that the rules have not changed but it is a start.
My cousin purposely does a long layover in LA. Books a hotel room nearby and gets 6h sleep. She swears it's the right thing to do before a very long flight and worth every penny.
Thanks everyone! We decided to do what you suggested, Gardnr; at LAX the day pass regulations seem like a lot of hoops and running around from one terminal to another, which requires going through security each time, and if there is available space in a lounge it will cost as much as the hotel. I think I could have gotten free passes with the right credit card but it's too late for that. This will also mean we don't have to eat two meals in the airport, always a plus.
I have to be honest, I'm pushing myself to be enthusiastic about this trip, it feels like a mountainous undertaking. Really hoping that it provides the sense of "fresh eyes" I used to get from my longer travels. Hoping we have the stamina and strength for a place that seems geared toward the young and athletic. Steeling myself for the fact that while our saved budget for the trip seems like a fortune, past experience tells me whatever we've saved will be about 75% of what we want to spend. Hoping my husband's bungee jump :doh:doesn't leave him injured. Finding myself in that stupid place of worrying about ridiculous details: should I bring nail polish remover? :0!>8) Good grief, I can't wait to get going and stop fussing!
NZ has everything you'll need.
Packing list: Passport, clean underwear, credit card. (medications)
Why not make it a relaxing vacation?
I've come to just do so many of my regular things when out traveling, no matter the country.
Get my hair cut, go to a movie, relax with a tea, find a used bookstore, take a macrame class...
These kinds of regular activities will bring you in real contact with NZers more than the touristy stuff ever will.
They will often have great suggestions about places they enjoy away from the tourist crowds.
My first trip was all about adventure, my second one was all about relaxing.
Make the trip your own because that flight is mind-numbingly loooooooong!
This will definitely be an adventure trip. We've already got reservations all over the place and we've rented a van, none of this is refundable. If I were doing a "staycation" I think I'd do it either in the US or a place I really love, like Italy - and I'd probably do it alone, that kind of trip would drive DH insane. Sounds lovely, maybe next time. I am hoping that our camp hosts along the way will have more interesting or spur of the moment suggestions than the standard tourist fare. ... I'm starting to feel like I've bitten off more than I can chew, just wish this was underway so I had something real to work with.
I've already made one horrid mistake. Our tickets are with Fiji Airways, not known for ... much of anything but cheap seats. I've tried about fifteen times during the four months I've owned these tickets to confirm our seat assignments online (including this morning) and was told the flight wasn't available yet, and finally gave up on the useless websites and called the airline directly, only to be told the only seats left are center middle seats. For a ten hour overnight flight. This is basically guaranteed to make the flight and the first few days of our trip miserable. I was probably the first person to buy a ticket on this flight, precisely so I could choose good seats. I'm furious and feel like throwing a tantrum right about now.
Teacher Terry
10-18-15, 7:23pm
I think the trick when you are traveling that far is too stay long enough to make it worthwhile. Years ago My sister & I took a 7 day trip to Thailand which was really stupid. It is 24 hour flight so lost 2 days immediately & then jet lag etc. Next week we are taking a 3 week trip with 5 days in Boston, 13 day Caribbean cruise & a few days in Tampa. Have fun Kib!
messengerhot
10-21-15, 10:29am
Ooooh I want to see Middle Earth! I want to experience the LOTR location tour :)
Home again, home again, jiggity jig, I had a great time but I'm a fat pig. :~)
Excellent trip! Some of our highlights included a canopy tour ziplining through a forest that is being restored and cleared of "noxious pests" (non-native predators), a day trip to Milford sound, the amazing Wai-o-Tapu thermal display, hiking to a glacier, seeing Kauri trees, DH's bungie jump (shudder), and lots (and lots and lots) of really delicious not on the diet menu food. We met a renaissance man, a sculptor who had built his own railroad so he could transport clay and wood for his pottery. We rented a campervan for travel and lodging, and perhaps my favorite moment was coming across a small roadside farm of free range pigs and chickens. The owner was a charming if filthy man with unshod hobbit feet who came out to greet us when we stopped to take a picture, and let me cuddle a little piglet smaller than a cantaloupe which promptly fell asleep in my arms. I'd say I could have stayed home to do that, but somehow I couldn't. While New Zealand may be the most tourist oriented country in the world, there were still nooks and crannies of real and unusual people everywhere we went.
Amusing, the "worst" thing that happened to me was that Outlook wanted me to update my email app on my phone, and the moment I did, it had a heart attack over my identity and refused to let me look at my mail for nearly a month. (A gift in disguise, DH was obsessed with getting free wifi and I let the whole thing go, marvelous!!)
I have so say that every moment of real aggravation or distress I experienced was due to some computer/electronics malfunction. That in itself was a revelation; I spend a ridiculous amount of money on "love-myself" technology that seems almost designed to be upsetting and problem-laden. New thoughts are in order about this.
Honestly, being cut off from the "real world" of horrible things about which I can do nothing was ... actually it was eye-opening. I was a happy person for three weeks. We had problems but they were human sized problems; I find myself extremely reluctant to take up the "public duty" of anxious, guilt-ridden attentiveness to the world's misery again.
iris lilies
11-17-15, 2:26pm
Home again, home again, jiggity jig, I had a great time but I'm a fat pig. :~)
Excellent trip! Some of our highlights included a canopy tour ziplining through a forest that is being restored and cleared of "noxious pests" (non-native predators), a day trip to Milford sound, the amazing Wai-o-Tapu thermal display, hiking to a glacier, seeing Kauri trees, DH's bungie jump (shudder), and lots (and lots and lots) of really delicious not on the diet menu food. We met a renaissance man, a sculptor who had built his own railroad so he could transport clay and wood for his pottery. We rented a campervan for travel and lodging, and perhaps my favorite moment was coming across a small roadside farm of free range pigs and chickens. The owner was a charming if filthy man with unshod hobbit feet who came out to greet us when we stopped to take a picture, and let me cuddle a little piglet smaller than a cantaloupe which promptly fell asleep in my arms. I'd say I could have stayed home to do that, but somehow I couldn't. While New Zealand may be the most tourist oriented country in the world, there were still nooks and crannies of real and unusual people everywhere we went.
Amusing, the "worst" thing that happened to me was that Outlook wanted me to update my email app on my phone, and the moment I did, it had a heart attack over my identity and refused to let me look at my mail for nearly a month. (A gift in disguise, DH was obsessed with getting free wifi and I let the whole thing go, marvelous!!)
Honestly, being cut off from the "real world" of horrible things I can do nothing about was ... actually it was eye-opening. I was a happy person for three weeks. We had problems but they were human sized problems; I find myself extremely reluctant to take up the "public duty" of anxious, guilt-ridden attentiveness to the world's misery again.
Awww, the little piggy raised by a hobbit-man sounds cute.
Outlook sucks so much, am glad I no longer have to deal with it in retirement.
New Zealand has very strict agriculture rules that prohibit ANY plant coming into the country. None. Nada. Only seeds are allowed in. So, that means they are cut off from having specific plants improved by hybridization, can only have strains. Since this rule has been in place only a few years, things aren't bad YET but their garden plants will eventually suffer from lack of DNA diversity.
catherine
11-17-15, 2:30pm
Too bad Zoe Bird is no longer visiting the forum.. she'd be a great cheerleader for your trip, kib.
I think NZ was doing just fine with biodiversity, but it wasn't human-friendly - no mammals meant primates/humans were not part of the food chain on these islands, nothing evolved with us in the picture. The Maori colonists weren't as destructive as the Europeans (who are?), but they didn't belong there either. So now the Kiwis stand with a foot in both worlds, wanting to preserve the non-mammalian biosphere, and wanting to cultivate the island for human habitation. I don't know that this is possible, but doing away with the most destructive non-natives is a possible start to co-habitation, and a moratorium on importing anything else seems rather prudent to me.
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