- You are currently viewing DISCO4.COM as a guest - Register to take part or Log In
jeffersj
Member Since: 22 Oct 2007
Location: Near Preston
Posts: 207
  
|
Hello to all D3 fans in NZ! We are travelling to NZ on 18th Feb, staying in Russel, North Island for the first few days. Only hiring a saloon but wondered if you have any tips about driving in NZ and places to visit off the tourist routes?
Cheers Jeff
Ex 1968 Series 2A 88"
Ex TD5 Defender 90
Ex 2004 D3 XS
|
 10th Feb 2010 11:52 am |
|
|
DingMark
Member Since: 14 Sep 2007
Location: Perth Oz or Erbil, Iraq
Posts: 388
 
|
I get to NZ about monthly. I know, there ought to be a law against building natural gas plants in such beautiful places. First thing is to learn about their quirky "cars turning left yield to cars turning right" rule. I suspect it's their way of extracting finds from foreigners (even Aussies get befuddled by this one). Secondly, don't believe solid yellow lines mean don't pass and lack of them means it's safe to pass. Seems to be more a case of "lets put down some paint here but not there!"
Nearly everything there is some sort of tourist route, but if you stay of the main Auckland-Wellington highway and keep at least 3 hrs out of Auckland it's all quite nice. I suggest you just get a good map in advance and look at any hiking trails or fishing rivers are noted - they're nearly all top spots. Of course if you want to see natural gas plants  drive the coastal road between New Plymouth and Hawera. However that said, the same road gives access to the "surfing coast". Can't get away from any tourist routes there. The wines are inexpensive, plentiful and excellent, but the roads to the best Nth Island wineries are horrendous. Jim Dowell - D4 HSE TDi, 12,000 hydraulic winch & hidden winch mount, MTRs, TyreDog, Traxide 2 x aux battery system, fixed air compressor, Dolium roof rack, MitchHitch.
RIP 2005 D3 HSE V8 5 seater gold (stolen and torched)
|
| 10th Feb 2010 12:13 pm |
|
|
jeffersj
Member Since: 22 Oct 2007
Location: Near Preston
Posts: 207
|
Thanks DingMark!
Had been told about this turning left rule, seems very strange but I suppose it keeps traffic moving on busy roads.
Will also be touring South Island later on so I presume same rules apply there?
Cheers Jeff
Ex 1968 Series 2A 88"
Ex TD5 Defender 90
Ex 2004 D3 XS
|
| 10th Feb 2010 12:42 pm |
|
|
drivesafe
Member Since: 23 Feb 2006
Location: Gold Coast, Australia
Posts: 867
|
Hi jeffersj, I haven’t been to the north island yet but from just about everyone you talk to, New Zealanders or other wise, the south island is the better of the two.
The left turn rule actually works well and it wasn’t till I went to NZ that I realised why every second person driving on the Gold Coast in Oz, gives way. They’re all New Zealanders living in Oz.
The roads on the south island are as DingMark posted about the north island.
As posted, anywhere else a broken line means it’s safe to over take if there’s no oncoming traffic. Not in NZ, a broken line is just there to show where the middle of the road is and you’ll find them on hill crests, blind corners and so.
The roads on the east coast are pretty well what you will find any where, but the roads on the west coast are a bit wild in places and they don’t seem to waste their time marking curves that are anything faster than 55, so you can be happily sailing along and suddenly you coming up on a tight curve.
Can be interesting.
There’s a lot less people on the south island and from what I’ve been told, their a lot more friendlier that the northerners.
We were only there for two week but we had a ball and have every intention of going back.
Given half the chance, we would happily move over there, and for the opposite reason they are all coming to Oz, they are chasing the sun and we want the cold weather.
Anyway, I’m jealous and am sure you will love the place. 2008 TDV8 RR Lux + 2009 D4 2.7
|
| 10th Feb 2010 3:03 pm |
|
|
jeffersj
Member Since: 22 Oct 2007
Location: Near Preston
Posts: 207
|
Thanks Drivesafe
I hope that it is not too cold as we are coming from the North of UK and are trying to get way from the snow!
I appreciate that the Southern island will be cooler especially around the glacier areas but we are starved of warm sunny days so would like it to be a bit warmer.
Had no responses form D3 owners in NZ, there must be some out there.
Cheers Jeff
Ex 1968 Series 2A 88"
Ex TD5 Defender 90
Ex 2004 D3 XS
|
| 10th Feb 2010 3:21 pm |
|
|
jm105845
Member Since: 21 Aug 2007
Location: dublin
Posts: 271
  
|
hi jeffersj
myself and the better half spent 3 weeks in NZ about 3 years ago
it is an amazing country and the people are very friendly
the flight is the worst part,it is at leat 24hours in the air and when
you arrive you will be shattered
we took 2 days in auckland to get over jet lag and it was the best thing to
do,we probably slept for 24 hours solid but at leat then we were ready to go
we spent a few days on north island but south island is the way to go
we flew to christchurch and rented an RV nad basically drove anti-clockwiase around
island and back thru queenstown and back to christchurch
the Rv is the way to go as you have you accomadaion and car hire in 1
driving is same as home and roads are not very busy
drop me PM if you want some more info
jj
|
| 10th Feb 2010 4:37 pm |
|
|
jeffersj
Member Since: 22 Oct 2007
Location: Near Preston
Posts: 207
|
Thanks JJ
We are breaking the flight in Hong Kong for a few days so hopefully we will not be so tired.
We have booked through a specialist company and agreed an itinerary which includes a hire car. Not so adventurous as you I'm afraid since this is our first visit, maybe next time thye RV would be a better idea.
I was kind of hoping someone in NZ would say you can come and stay with us and borrow our D3 or maybe take us to some off road sites in their D3 of course. No harm in dreaming I suppose.
Cheers
jeff Jeff
Ex 1968 Series 2A 88"
Ex TD5 Defender 90
Ex 2004 D3 XS
|
| 10th Feb 2010 5:05 pm |
|
|
BLFarrar
Member Since: 02 Aug 2006
Location: Deepest, Dankest, Darkest, Dingiest......Le Halifax, West Yorkshire...with strong links to Ireland
Posts: 6222
  
|
others have made you aware of the weird give way rules if you are at crossroads with lights & are turning left
you have to give way to the oncoming traffic turning right....
OK...you get used to this
another one is be wary of parking in towns & cities...the we will tow you signs mean what they say
be careful not to park on the opposite side of the road...you will get a ticket for this
& not to forget speed....100k limit & its well enforced..
......in cities the magic hairdryer
......outside cities stationary cars (with boot / tailgate open) with reording equipment inside
...also Police cars have awesome kit to detect speed..
Dont drink & drive...they have regular road blocks where all are tested
& if you drive long distances you may encounter Police stops that get you out of the car to get you to rest...they may give you coffee & a burger
You wil find distances map wise are written & if asked "in hours"...as if travelling at 100k's......its time
Dont argue with Policeman...they can confiscate your keys if they think you are angry or agitated
Above all be realistic about the distances you want to travel per day......look for accommodation at or around 4 o'clock
later than that you wont have the choice......motels are low cost & mostly good.
Places to go.....
the Coromandel
Waitakere beaches
Rotorua (stink city)
Taupo
Napier (& stay there awesome place)
.....you must drive the Desert Road....I used to drive both ways every two weeks
Wellington....you must explore.....TePapa....Vivien Street...Cuba mall
Over to Picton on the Ferry.....stay outside awesome views in the Marlborough sounds
stay in Blenhiem & expore the wineyards
down to Kaikura.....see the whales
then you have to make a decision....do you drive all the south island clockwise or anti-clockwise
you must see the west coast...drink plenty Montieths
see the glaciers.....
go past Haast.....
onto Wanaka
c\Crown Range over to Queenstown (if you dare)
Milford Sound is a must....fly there
Dunedin...vist the Speights brewery
Christchurch......
if you dont go around the island go across Arthurs pass
see Akaroa...the French village
you wont have enough time if you have a few years
but above all enjoy yourself !
I used to live there & still have family there....
you cant see it all & ought to do a little bit really well.....
you will go back BREXIT - done properly.
Right now ...We need Government - not Politics
Save the Dipstick Flagbearer-keep it simple, less likely to fail campaign-agenda items:Starting Handles, Acetylene Lamps.
Founder: Dipsticks-R-Us Inc
D3 HSE-perfectly formed, passenger friendly...has real DIPSTICK
Jag XK-but sadly no DIPSTICK...HUGE design fault
FL2 has DIPSTICK..."real comfort in rear seats"
VW Golf wondermobile (?)..has real DIPSTICK
Morris Minor..original DIPSTICK technology..and a real KEY.
|
| 10th Feb 2010 7:56 pm |
|
|
DingMark
Member Since: 14 Sep 2007
Location: Perth Oz or Erbil, Iraq
Posts: 388
|
If you want lots of sun, then the northern part of the South Island, between Christchurch and Blenheim, is semi-desert, sunny and sometimes hot (well not quite hot to an Aussie, let's say warm). There's good wine there. Even in the winter in NZ you can go water skiing one day and snow skiing the next, the cold air tends to stay in the NZ Alps. One other delightful spot is Picton, nth end of the South Island. It's where the ferries between the 2 islands lands (ferries start at Wellington). My natural gas project used Picton to weld together the offshore pipe and put it on a huge reel ship. The welders were a bit befuddled as they never work in stunningly beautiful fiords, but they did in Picton.
There's not a lot of people in NZ (seems like more New Zealanders are in Oz than back in NZ). The South Island is about the size of Honshu (Japan's biggest island with Tokyo and Osaka) but has less than 1 million people in it (okay, more sheep than people). That makes driving less stressful if you keep off the main highways.
As someone mentioned, be wary of distances translating into hours. I learned that the hard way. Drove from Nelson to Picton (looked to be about 60km on the map) but the road is extremely windy, hilly and ended up taking 4 hours. The locals are very helpful about giving advise, but generally only after you've had a 15 minute chat. To practice "chatting" to a Kiwi (New Zealander) go to Scotland (rural area preferred), find the most dour Scotsman you can and try talking to them. The Scotsman equates to an optimistic Kiwi  Jim Dowell - D4 HSE TDi, 12,000 hydraulic winch & hidden winch mount, MTRs, TyreDog, Traxide 2 x aux battery system, fixed air compressor, Dolium roof rack, MitchHitch.
RIP 2005 D3 HSE V8 5 seater gold (stolen and torched)
|
| 11th Feb 2010 2:04 am |
|
|
jeffersj
Member Since: 22 Oct 2007
Location: Near Preston
Posts: 207
|
Many thanks BL and Dingmark
Very comprehensive and some very useful tips.
Since having a D3 I have had more speeding tickets than in my whole life of driving also taking the Speed Awareness course to avoid more points on the licence so I have learned my lesson and try and keep within speed limits 
I am sure it will be fine and enjoyable, have driven all over America with their quaint rules without problems.
Cheers All Jeff
Ex 1968 Series 2A 88"
Ex TD5 Defender 90
Ex 2004 D3 XS
|
| 11th Feb 2010 11:09 am |
|
|
jm105845
Member Since: 21 Aug 2007
Location: dublin
Posts: 271
|
hi jeffers
probably the most exciting thing we did was to take a helicopter trip
up to middle of the glaciar(west coast of sth island)where they drop
you off and then you are given a guided tour around glaciar
they provide crampions for your shoes
and if you want you can strip off and go into a glaciar pool
anyway you will have a ball
jj
|
| 11th Feb 2010 12:02 pm |
|
|
jeffersj
Member Since: 22 Oct 2007
Location: Near Preston
Posts: 207
|
Sounds great JJ
Will be visiting the glacier so will give it a try.
Cheers
Jeff Jeff
Ex 1968 Series 2A 88"
Ex TD5 Defender 90
Ex 2004 D3 XS
|
| 11th Feb 2010 12:30 pm |
|
|
|
Posting Rules
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
|
DISCO4.COM Copyright © 2004-2024 Futuranet Ltd & Martin Lewis
|
|
