Welcome to the TravelPod forums

[familiasa]

Hi everybody.

I just joined, mostly because I was liking what I was reading in this Forum.

I am going to spend the whole of the month of August with my family (2 girls, 8 and 9 years old) in NZ. Any advice will be very welcome. We are the travelling kind, this would be the 4th year we take a whole month moving around, each year daring bigger moves with the kids (uk, europe, costa rica, and now down under).

We would like to move around, see wildlife (if I don't take them to see/watch dolphins I'm a dead man), walk, kayak.

And specifically a couple of questions:

- motorhome or car and motels/hotels? There doesn't seem to be a big cost difference and I'm a bit afraid of moving around with something so big (also, I love the freedom of the 4wd)

- what about the weather? is it going to be very cold and rainy? will that take the joy of the trip? we are Spanish and love the sun, but we are now living in the UK

Any info and/or advice will be very much appreciated

Manuel

[kiwi_surfer]

Well yeah it’s very cold at the moment, but it’s really what you make of it. I spent the last 2 weeks surfing in Taranaki(north island) I felt like I had the whole ocean to myself…. August Isn’t the warmest time of the year in NZ as its still winter. It depends on what you want to do once you get here. If you’re going to the south island then winter should be no problem as you will be seduced by the mere beauty of it all. I would recommend October of November which is spring (the kids will love it). There are heaps of Dolphins and whales are in Kaikora(east coast of south island). Hope this helps

I would love to go to Spain one day…

[starlagurl]

Welcome to the forums, Manuel! Glad you like it here already.

I would say, if you are comfortable traveling without a motorhome, then you should do it. Your impact on the environment will be less and you'll probably be able to maneuver yourself around more easily that way.

[familiasa]

thanks guys,

should I expect a lot of snow on the roads on the South Island?

and another one, I love sea kayaking, would you recommend any nice place and people to do it with?

to kiwi_surfer, you'll love Spain, big waves in the north also
M

[kiwi_surfer]

yes,

snow may be abundant in august. The locals have a set of chains for their tires in their boot, just in case. Especially moving from Arrowtown to Queenstown/Wanaka.

Hmm Sea kayaking... I'm not to sure about that. You might have to Google it. kyaking in general is pretty big in NZ.