Quote:
Originally Posted by prasad14 Hi,
Have a few questions:
1. Please suggest motels in Invarcargill, Catlins, Dunedin and Chch.
2. Please let us know time it took to get the NZ visa.
3. Possibly once the T-log is done, request you to please write a post on
DOs and DONTs of driving in NZ and other general tips (there are a few in
almost every post, I thought it might be nice to have an exclusive
summary, though its more work for you.
Thanks,
Prasad |
Motels in Invercargill: Best Western (where we stayed), Ascot Park Hotel, Kelvin Hotel, Balmora Lodge Moel, Homestead Villa Motel. Do a search, there are many in Inver, you would be staying only for night, probably so anything in the range of 100-120 should be OK.
Motels in the Catlins, google them, they all have websites and check out Trip Adviser for reviews:
Curio Bay Salthouse Motel, Catlins Mohua Park , Catlins Gateway Motels, Nugget View & Kaka Point Motels, River Ridge Retreat, Southern Secret Motels, The Catlins Inn, Pounawea Grove Motel, Papatowai Motels and store and Owaka Lodge.
There are a couple of backpackers we checked out, we found the Slope Point Backpackers the best, they have self contained rooms with common kitchen and also a suite with a kitchen, costs 70/- should be good to gell with other crowd there, there are many backpackers points all around like: Porpoise Bay Getway, Nadir Outpost, Batlins Beachhouse, Anchorage, Surf Inn Cottage, Nugget Lodge, Chaslands Farm Cottages, Catlins Farmstay B&B, Greenwood Farmstay, CAtlins Retreat B&Bm Waikawa Waterside accommodation etc.,
For food once you leave Invercargill till Kaka Point: Blue Cod Blues takeaway, near Waikawa Museum, The whistling Frog Café and Motels, Chaslands hwy, Nadir Outpost, Tokanui, Stirling Tides, Fortrose, Papatowai Motels, Papatowai.
Dunedin is a student city but expensive, Adrian Motel, where we stayed was excellet but expensive at 130 $ per day, we found budget hotels with good reviews below 130 difficult. There are a few you can try like: Bealla vista, Dunedin Motel, Commodore Motels, Alexis Motor Lodge (was a 2nd choice for us), Dunedin Holiday Park and Motels etc., search here, you’d get an idea:
http://www.jasons.co.nz/dunedin/motels-motor-lodges
Christchurch: Also found hotels expensive! We booked in Avenue Motor Lodge @ 144, expensive and not good. A few others we considered are Abbey Motor Lodge, Southern Comform Motel, Airport Palms Motel, have a look see here too:
http://www.jasons.co.nz/christchurch...s-motor-lodges
An caveat about Christchurch: We were not warned about earthquakes there, the day on which we went had a big one at 5.5 and many after shocks, brought back memories of the mama quate in Gujarat we experienced, it was so out of the blue and really shook us in the night. The walls of our motel, 1st floor were thin, I think by design, to reduce weight of the buildings, we could hear from the other side, the kitchenette was also poor. You’d find the quakes are still alive, nothing to get alarmed about, don’t tell your family about it
Unfortunately, Chch is the only major option to fly out at the tail end of the tour, check out the quake map here:
http://www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz/
The whole town is rigged for quakes, one section of the city closed out fully and still under repair, everyone is aware of it, so nothing to really worry, you need to be aware of it.
The Visa took 15 days, give it to a good agency. Will do the Do's and Don's one of these days, will have to think through it.
Hope this helps and does not increase the confusion.
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