We had a great trip. Once again,
thanks for your effort in putting together another great itinerary for
us. New Zealand and Rarotonga were great experiences for us. We are
a little late responding because we have been swamped with work since
we got back. Sorry to hear about your foot. That is a bummer way to
end a vacation in Tahoe. In New Zealand, we pretty much
stuck to the itinerary; with the exception of taking the train to Christchurch
after visiting Punakaiki (Candice wanted to see the little dolphins).
We also took the train from Christchurch to the inter island ferry.
We also tried lots of wine. Queenstown: (3 nights) We enjoyed our time in Queenstown.
The time we spent there was about right because we went hiking in a
couple of different places. However, we never made it to Milford Sound,
or Dunedelin (we figured that we would hit those places next time).
Our favorite place to eat was Fergburger. The Crown was a great place
to stay and had a great view of the lake. The breakfast buffet was good
too. The Lakeview room was a little less than what we would expect for
the price, but consistent with the pricing in Queenstown. We would still
Franz Josef Glacier: (2 nights) We arrived late in the afternoon
after a great scenic drive. It was kind of rainy while were there, but
we persevered the weather and made it out to the glacier. Afterwards,
we went the Glacier Pools and got a private pool. We didn't stay at
the Westwood lodge because we figured that we would not be in the room
much. We stayed at the Scenic Hotel Franz Josef Glacier ($170 NZ/night,
including breakfast). The property has potential, but rooms need work.
However, it was probably as good or better as any of the others around
town, without staying at the Westwood lodge. They all seemed to be about
three stars. Breakfast was okay at the lodge. However, unless someone
doesn't mind roughing it a bit, I would advise them to stay at the Westwood.
On our first night, we ate the Speight's restaurant and didn't really
like it. The next night, we went to the store and bought lunch meat
for sandwiches. Punakaiki: (1 night) We really enjoyed it there.
If we had more time, we could have spent another night there. We stayed
at the Punakaiki Resort in the same accommodations that your recommended
(Eco Suite). We ate dinner at the resort and had a very nice dinner.
We didn't eat breakfast there, but dinner was really good. Christchurch: (2 nights) When we left Punakaiki, we went
back to Greymouth and caught the train to Christchurch. The trip was
about four hours and very scenic, although a bit bumpy. In Christchurch, we went on
a tour to see the little dolphins and then just basically walking around
town. We stayed at the Holiday in an executive room (I believe it was
around $200NZ/night). One of the better Holiday Inns that we have stayed
at. The next day, we took a 5 hour train ride to the inter island ferry
and then a 3 hour ferry ride to Wellington. We then rented another car
and had fun finding our hotel with very little street signing. Wellington: (1 night) We stayed the Novotel ($170/night
including breakfast), which was on par with the Holiday Inn, Crown Plaza
and Rendevouz. We enjoyed walking around Wellington and had some great
tai soup at a little place. Rotorua: (2 nights) We stayed at the Novotel ($169/night
including breakfast). We went to both of the parks and saw the various
hot pools (one of our favorite things to see) on Christmas day. We then
had Christmas dinner at our hotel, which was really good. Auckland: (2 nights) We stopped by the Waitomo Caves
on the way to Auckland and got to see the glow worms. The first night
we stayed at the Rendezvous downtown, where we did a lot of walking.
The second night, we stayed at the Ventura Inn Suites near the airport.
The Ventura Inn is on par with Super 8, or Motel 6, but it was the only
place we could find near the airport and we didn't want to have deal
with freeway traffic on the morning of our flight. Rarotonga/Rumors: (nights) We really liked staying here.
Rumors is top notch, very well managed. The private court yard with
the private pool and hot tub was very nice and the layout and amenities
of the villa is very nice also. They are set up to accommodate you for
anything you need. They give a nice gift basket with snacks and a bottle
of champagne, which is a nice touch and give you the choice of continental
breakfast, or bacon and eggs for you to cook. While there seemed to
be several nice looking properties on Rarotonga, I find it hard to believe
any place being better than Rumors. We liked the location of the Romance
beachfront villas a little better than the Spa villas. The spa villas
are about a 5 minute walk along the beach to the south. The Beachfront
villas are closer to the motu islands and more restaurants. We dined in about half of the
time although Candice didn't like the extra protein (weevils) that we
got with our pasta one night :-). Since we drank plenty of wine in New
Zealand, we picked up a bottle of rum at the duty free shop after we
got thru customs so we could have maitais instead. We were 2 for 3 when
dined out. The first place was Sails, which was recommended by the resort
and it was very popular. However, what we ordered was not that great
and the service was exceptionally slow even for island time and we happened
to get seated near a large family with a couple of two year olds who
constantly cried for about an hour. The other two places that we ate
at was the Point Resort and the Pacific Resort. We had good meals and
good service at both places. All three places ran about the same price
wise (meals and a couple of drinks ran around $80NZ). We will definitely return to
the Cooks Islands, although next time we will split our time with Atuitaki
as we discussed. We like the fact that there was easy transportation
to Avarua. I would anyone know that plans on dining in that they need
to figure on shopping in Avarua. Another nice thing that we liked about
staying at Rumors on Rarotonga is that we were only 15 minutes from
relaxation after we left the airport. However, it still doesn't compare
to the family atmosphere of Namale. Air New Zealand: We were real impressed with
Air New Zealand's and liked the LAX lounge. We really liked the lie
flat seats on the 777 plane. We thought the pitch (50") on the
767 made things a little tight (I seem to recall Air Pacific having
is 59" on their 747 planes). That little bit makes a different. Only negative: The only negative that we had
was due to the extra screening coming home (40 minutes late arriving),
we missed our connecting flight from LAX to Prescott, so we rented a
car and drove home. We were taking a risk because we only had a little
over an hour between flights, but figured that we could make it since
we didn't have checked luggage. There is only one flight per day to
Prescott anyways. Again, we always appreciate
all of your help in planning our vacations. Next year we are planning
on taking our niece to Australia with a stop off in Namale (on the way
home) for her high school graduation. We'll let you know when we have
a date because we will want to get Duavata again. Thanks Click
below for Happy Clients & Client Testimonials from...
January 14,
2010
Hi Lori,
recommend the Crown Plaza as the best place to stay there (with the
lakeview).
One funny moment, earlier in day, we were walking along the beach and
a storm suddenly blew in for 5 minutes and soaked us before we could
get back to the resort. We enjoyed beach walk and seeing the rocks.
However, it appears
that the Spa villas may have an easier time snorkeling right off the
beach because it looked like it was less shallow in places. The only
thing we could nitpick our villa would be that we were on the end next
to an upscale resort property that caters to families. The pathway to
the back villas went right by our deck and it sometimes seemed like
people were going to walk up on our deck. We joked that it would be
nice if they moved the palm tree in front of our deck over about 10'.
Again, that would be the only negative (and a very minor one at that).
While we were there, the families with children kept there kids quiet,
so there were no noise issues. Otherwise, it is hard to imagine anyone
not be being thrilled with
the accommodations.
A. & C. Stump
Prescott, AZ
2002 - 2003 - 2004
- 2005 - 2006 -
2007 - 2008 - 2009
- 2010
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