New Zealand

Australian Pacific Touring

New Zealand Tour Number NCC14

We booked our two-week tour of New Zealand through Brendan Worldwide Vacations. They were strongly recommended to us and while we did have a minor situation with them and their phone systems leave a lot to be desired, the overall experience was outstanding. The itineraries reached us on time and they were thorough.

Luggage Tag

When we landed in Auckland, New Zealand and emerged from customs and immigration, we expected to be greeted by a representative of Brendan Worldwide Vacations. It was at that time we discovered that the tour was actually hosted by Australian Pacific Touring (APT). When we referred back to the itinerary provided by Brendan, we found a one sentence disclosure in the middle of the pamphlet that stated: "This tour operates in conjunction with Australian Pacific Touring." Even if we had seen that in advance, we would not have realized that the entire coach trip had no relevance to Brendan Worldwide Vacations whatsoever. So while the trip started off with a concern as to who we were traveling with, we soon learned that APT would take excellent care of us and we were in for the vacation of a lifetime.

A small group of us were taken by a small van from the Auckland International Airport to the Sky City Hotel in the center of Auckland. We arrived to the hotel at around 10 a.m. Sadly, after having been on planes and in airports for over 36 hours, we were advised that check-in time was not officially until 2 p.m. and a room would not be available until 1 pm. We checked our bags and tiredly began a self-driven tour of Auckland nearest to the hotel. We took the trip to the top of Sky Tower, visited a tourist market and found our way to a McDonald's for an informal lunch as we were not yet ready for finer dining in our traveling clothes. At 1 pm we found our way back to the hotel and told that rooms were still not available. At this point I pressed to speak with a manager and we were soon provided a key, a room and a venue to shower and for me to shave.

On our first evening in Auckland, we were invited to meet our Tour Manager in the lobby of the hotel. We had fallen asleep in the early afternoon, so we made our introductions the next morning and we were presented our name tags.

The luxury coach that took us from city to city in New Zealand was the same one throughout the trip. A tour manager was Mr. Dennis Spence of Australian Pacific Touring. He had been the head of the English Department at Thames High School (75 minutes from Auckland) for many years. His background clearly benefited us in two important ways. First, he was well educated and spoke succinctly about his country, the history, the culture and geography.

Secondly, he was very good at keeping the group on time at all venues. As predictable as a classroom bell, Dennis had us either on the coach and ready to go or off the coach in due time for scheduled attractions. A couple of fellow travelers reported that Dennis was a bit more stern than they felt he need be. I once complemented him a comical way and he told me that I didn't need to be sucking up to him unless I had done something wrong. On the other hand, Dennis jumped to our defense on two occasions when we were wrongly assigned smoking rooms. In a short time, the hotels reassigned us to a non-smoking accommodations promptly with Dennis' assistance.

Our driver was Mr. David Kinnaird of Johnston's Coachlines. His driving was outstanding. He clearly stayed within all speed limits, stopped at all railroad crossings and watched the rear view mirror like a hungry Kea looking for food whenever a passenger stood to take care of something while the coach was moving. David waits for change in the photo at right while purchasing produce from the popular Mrs. Jone's Fruit Stall near Cromwell.

Although this was only their second or third time working as a team, Dennis and David worked very well with each other. They both revealed a healthy sense of

humor with appropriately dry, yet amusing jokes as well as interesting trivia about our surroundings.

We found that coaches can be very different and we learned that we were blessed with the one that we were assigned to on our trip. On one short optional side trip, the coach provided by Canterbury Leisure Tours broke down on a mountain road. It was far less comfortable and not nearly as well kept as the one we grew accustomed to from Johnston's Coachlines.

Our five star coach

offered very comfortable seats. Although they reclined, I never noticed that anyone used that feature and risk missing the beautiful views that might pass them by. There was a door at the front of the coach and another in the middle of the coach. A toilet and rubbish receptacle were located adjacent to the center door. For the most part, the audio system to hear the stories told by both Dennis and David worked well. Sometimes the rear air conditioning fans made it difficult for some people to hear them, but that was never a serious problem.

The coach was designed to lower so that the steps were not as high for easier boarding and offloading. David pointed out that the coach could also be raised if necessary to travel though a flooded street, but we never found need to enjoy that experience. All of the windows were very large and we never found seats that didn't offer an acceptable view. Some seats were perceived as more desirable than others due to

their proximity to the front windows or an easy exit. To ensure all passengers an opportunity to enjoy the better locations, APT numbered the rows seemingly at random throughout the coach. Each day, we were expected to take the next numbered row on the coach so that by the end of the trip, we all had a chance to sit near different passengers and enjoy various views out of the vehicle.

At right, Dennis checks the day's schedule to be sure that everyone is accommodated.

We debated a long time before booking the trip as to whether we might enjoy a tour of New Zealand by coach. The answer is YES. We are extremely glad that we decided to tour New Zealand by coach. The experience provided the following valuable benefits:

BENEFITS TO A COACH TOUR OF NEW ZEALAND

4 pt

We always reached our destinations on time. There was no such thing as getting lost or having to back track.
New Zealand roads are very different to those in the United States. Apart from having to travel on the left side of the road there are also issues with the proper way to pass slow automobiles and to adjust to the numerous one lane bridges and tunnels.
While on the road, everyone is able to enjoy the vast scenery. No one needs to be concerned with road signs, turn signals or lane changes.
When arriving to hotels, there was essentially no check-in or check-out. Rooms were assigned in advance and the keys either handed to us as we got off the coach or in locks of our assigned rooms. The luggage was quickly taken directly to the room and in several cases, already in the room depending if the coach was able to stop by the hotel on the way to an attraction. We left our bags outside of the rooms before breakfast and they were collected and stored on the coach as we ate.

As a group, we were often assigned tour guides at attraction venues. That enabled us to learn more about the sights and surroundings and to ask questions we might have otherwise found difficult to have answered.
We were never turned away from things we wanted to do, because everything was pre-booked and handled professionally by our tour manager. In some cases, we had options presented to us on where we could go or what we might do. Dennis would call ahead while on the road or in the evenings while most of us ate to ensure all proper reservations had been made. To Dennis' credit, he also reconfirmed optional arrangements some of us made on our own and apart from the APT package.

Important information we may not have gotten was status quo. For instance, a departure tax of $25NZ per person is required to leave the country. Dennis made sure we were all aware how that worked in spite of the fact that it had no relevance to our package tour with APT.
Parking was never a problem, but may have been if traveling alone.
Traveling with a group provides a measure of security although we never felt at risk anywhere in New Zealand.
On our trip, gratuities to food servers and bag handlers was included for meals and stops that were a part of our tour package.

Leaving bags outside of the hotel room while going off the breakfast was initially a difficult concept to live with. Especially during times where travelers might be asked if the bags were always in their control. We adjusted to it quickly and no one ever lost a bag. In fact, our driver inventoried the bags at each and every overnight venue. He made it clear to all of us that it was important to let him know if we ever changed the number of bags that we were traveling with.

There was only one location where room doors opened to the outside. David noticed that many of us put off going to breakfast until we saw that our bags had boarded the coach.

DISADVANTAGES TO A COACH TOUR OF NEW ZEALAND

Venues and attractions are prepaid and locked in. Although coach travelers may opt out of some attractions that may have too many steps or detract from an alternative activity decided on later, no refunds are made available to skip a planned activity.
Although the coach makes frequent stops for either morning tea, lunch or to take in a roadside photo opportunity, the schedule prohibits dramatic changes to the itinerary. If a particular city or town seems more appealing than another, travelers on a coach may still feel they spent too long some where or not long enough.
We were blessed to have met as great of fellow travelers as we could have hoped for. Although we got to know some more than others, everyone was cordial and fun to be with. But, it would be possible to spend 14 days in a coach with people that may not get along with each other that well. This would be a risk that coach travelers have to take.
Coach traveling also presents risks that the coach, the driver or tour manager may not be as professional as the ones were on out APT tour or that the booked overnight venues may not be as luxurious as the ones we enjoyed.
Access to goods or services for special needs are more limited when traveling with a group. One cannot suddenly stop for an ice cream, aspirin or more film whenever the need arises. Although APT did always find the best places to stop so that personal needs could be reasonably met.
Motion sickness can be a factor on a coach as it might be on an ocean cruise. At least the coach stops frequently to help stabilize on firm ground. We found that a ginger based remedy helped some people and Chemists (Pharmacists) in every town have more stronger solutions that seem to have worked for everyone.

We were allowed one bag per person and one carry on. At times this became a challenge for a 14-day excursion when laundry facility access was not predictable and the bags might swell with souvenirs. At left is a view of some of the bags loaded on the coach beneath our seats. David took care not to stack and crush the bags as they were relocated.

In the photo at right, David is actually backing the coach up on a ramp to The Lynx at Wellington. The Lynx is one of the ferries that take travelers between the north and south islands of New Zealand.

This photo was taken after everyone had gotten off the coach and boarded the ferry. Once we reached the south island, everyone had to be on the coach as it drove off to avoid blocking all the vehicles that were parked behind us.

Our trip commenced on February 28, 2005 from Orlando International Airport (MCO). Parking in the remote lots at that airport are $7 US each day and we decided that access to and reasonable security of the car was as economical as any other alternative to get to the airport. Although Brendan Worldwide Vacations booked our flights to New Zealand from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), we booked our own flights to LAX from MCO and saved a great deal of money. We enjoyed a non-stop flight on Delta Song on the way to LAX and had a lesser enjoyable flight back from LAX on Delta Airlines with a stopover in Atlanta.

While en route to New Zealand, we waited 12 hours at LAX for the plane to depart. It was a very long day of travel, but we found the experience on Air New Zealand to be surprisingly comfortable. We were fed dinner and breakfast and shown quite a number of current films to help pass the time. I recall that flight to be around 13 hours. Drifting a sleep once in a while helped to pass the time as well.

New Zealand is one of the first countries to enjoy a new day's sunrise as they are located just west of the I nternational Date Line. We seemingly "lost" a day by crossing it, but we would "regain" it when we crossed over it again to return.

We landed in Auckland and joined the coach tour on the next day.

The trip we were on was called The Highlighter by Brendan Worldwide Vacations. Three days earlier the coach we were on had taken some of our group north to the Bay of Islands. The coach returned to the Sky City Hotel in Auckland on the third day of their tour to pick up those of us who purchased The Highlighter tour. A week later, we would pick up another small group of people in

Christchurch. Those individuals purchased just the south island portion of the tour. APT also offers a similar tour that travels north. The map above is courtesy of Backpack New Zealand and can be found here:

http://www.backpack-newzealand.com/mapofnewzealand.html.

The cities and towns we stayed in each night in order were as follows: Auckland, Rotorua, Wellington, Blenheim, Christchurch, Fox Glacier, Queenstown, Te Anau, Dunedin, Twizel (Mt. Cook) and back to Christchurch. On our final day, we took a domestic Air New Zealand flight back to Auckland and connected with our longer flight on back to LAX. In most cases we stayed at somewhere new every night and every stay was a pleasant one. On more than one occasion, the manager of the hotel boarded the coach to welcome us or to bid us a safe journey to our next destination.

Brendan Worldwide Vacations offered a choice of meal plans. We decided to purchase a plan where most breakfasts and dinners were included. No plan included any lunches or snacks. We are glad that we did. In most cases we dined in the hotel that we stayed in and we were always welcome and accommodated promptly. Sometimes, those not on the meal plan had a problem finding a suitable place to dine having no reservations made for them in advance. Breakfast was usually served as a buffet. Eggs, toast, bacon (fried slices of ham), cold cereal, fruit and sausage were common options. Sometimes pancakes or fried eggs would be provided. There were always a variety of juices, tea and coffee as well.

Dinner was also a buffet in most cases, but we found most to be bland and dry. We always had plenty to eat, but we sometimes found that the highlights were not the types of foods my wife and I would eat. Lamb is a popular meat, but we often found beef, chicken and pork as options to enjoy as well. In some cases, a table d'hôte menu (a.k.a. TDH; i.e., the set menu) was provided either in addition to or instead of a buffet. The TDH menu was designed to offer an abridged selection of meal options that fit the budget of the meal plan.

Juice, coffee and tea were always provided as part of the meal plan for breakfast. At dinner, any drinks aside from water, coffee and tea were a separate charge. This included soft drinks as well as mixed drinks, beer or wine.

At left, Dennis stands watch while his tour group witnesses a sheep herding exhibition taking place in a field behind the coach. The exhibition is part of a sheep shearing attraction at the Agrodome in Rotorua, New Zealand. I think that I would have skipped the attraction had it not been an integral part of the tour, but I am very glad that I did not miss it. The show is world renown and the packed audience included visitors from the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Chile and many portions of England and the United Kingdom.

The sheep shearing at the Agrodome as well as many other attractions has its own section on this web site. Look for it to appear as soon as time permits.

Although Dennis never did any of the driving, he was compelled to try out the driver's seat on one occasion. In this photo, Dennis gets ready to jokingly wave good-bye to David as he returns to the coach from a toilet break.

They don't have washrooms or restrooms in New Zealand. All such facilities are bluntly referred to as toilets throughout the country. The good news is that they do always separate the women from the men. The bad news is that the men sometimes find that the urinal is actually a long stainless steel trough for a number of them to use at one time. In fairness, I've seen like models in public washrooms in the United States too.

At the Hermitage Hotel located in the line of sight from Mt. Cook, the coach almost appears larger than the hotel rooms in the background. Some people enjoyed optional helicopter or ski plane rides while the rest of us simply took in the views from a safe (and much less expensive) ground position.

At right, the coach stands waiting as APT travelers find it difficult to tear themselves away from the splendor and awe of Mt. Cook which is snow capped in the distant background.

At the front steps of Larnach Castle near Dunedin, Colleen and Doris (Mum) pose for a photo. Unlike most of us on the APT tour, Colleen and Mum are New Zealanders and reside near Auckland. It was a great pleasure to have them with us. We enjoyed stories of Colleen's husband and his tractor as well as candid perspectives of the wonderful place that she lived.

Here, Dennis answers some questions that Shirley has about the area. They are standing at the foot of Fox Glacier which is out of view on the left. Shirley was from England and enjoyed the stories of how the British influenced the history of New Zealand. She and Dennis shared a well-informed interest in politics and found numerous opportunities to learn about the other's culture.

There are three inhabitable islands that make up the country of New Zealand. The population of the entire country is only 4 million and about half of that number live in or around the city of Auckland on the far north of the north island. To the far south of the island is the capital, Wellington. The mountains of the north island were primarily formed by volcanic activity.

The "south" island is a larger land mass but is home to a far less number of people. The mountains on this island were primarily formed by glaciers.

The third island is very small in comparison and is just south of what is referred to as "the south island".

SOME TRIVIA ABOUT NEW ZEALAND AND OUR TOUR

We expected to see a number of Australian-centric wildlife such as kangaroo and koala bears. We actually saw none, even in captivity. Much of the wildlife and foliage as well in New Zealand has been imported. Noteworthy examples include rabbit and possum that were originally imported to deal with one kind of food chain problem only to create new ones later. The California Sequoia (Redwood) is another interesting example and New Zealanders found that the tree grows much faster in the rich New Zealand soil.
The country was originally settled by Polynesians known as the Maori. Their culture and history are fascinating to learn about. At The New Zealand Maori Arts & Crafts Institute, we learned that Maori artisans purposely distorted the human form in their art because they would not dare try to replicate the work of their god. Maori history was passed solely by word of mouth until the eventual settlement of the Europeans. The Maori's have no native written language.
New Zealanders no longer bother themselves with "senseless" handling of pennies. The smallest coin they trade with is a 5 cent piece. Most businesses rounded their prices to an exact 5 cent amount, but operations such as a grocery would add a "rounding" figure to their final price if the amount was not ending in a five or zero. We noticed that if we paid by credit card, there was no rounding.
New Zealanders handle a lot of coins. Although they no longer trade in pennies, they have 5, 10, 20 and 50 cent coins. They also trade with $1 and $2 coins. Their bills are in $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 denominations. When we toured the country, the American dollar was worth between .73 and .78 New Zealand dollars. That hurt when we originally converted several hundred dollars, but psychologically eased the pain of buying things when we considered the things we were buying would have "cost less" in American terms.
The primary sports enjoyed by New Zealanders are Rugby and Cricket. Football and baseball as we know those pastimes in the United States are not played by the children or watched by the adults.
Tipping is a relatively new concept to the New Zealand service trades. Early on our trip I caused a female bartender to flinch simply by trying to hand her a couple of $1 NZ coins when she handed me my change for the drinks. She was not familiar with the gesture and she was not sure what I was handing her. Before I realized that bag handling gratuities were already incorporated into our stays, I did offer a rough $1 NZ per bag to porters if we were in the room when our bags were delivered. The coins were accepted graciously, but we received equally superb service when we stopped offering the "bonus". The bottom line is that exceptional service always deserves a suitable reward, but at present day, it is never expected as a part of New Zealand hospitality.
Brendan Worldwide Vacations recommended that we offer a gratuity to our tour manager and driver and suggested an amount of $5 per person per day. Since two of us were traveling and we had two escorts during the entire trip, that would have amounted to $280. We felt they did an outstanding the job, but we thought that amount was absurd. After getting to know fellow passengers better we discovered that APT guidelines recommended between $2 NZ and $4 NZ per person per day. This amount also seemed a bit high, but it suggested that the $5 we were told was in American Dollars which helped those figures sound more compatible. In the end, one of the passengers offered to route an envelope so that the amounts we each gave could be what we felt was right, but became part of one larger sum to each person. We put in an amount early on and later contributed a bit more after giving it a bit of additional thought.
All off the roads we were on throughout New Zealand were in fantastic shape and very well maintained. We may have it a half dozen points where road work was being done, but those locations were all well signed and never a long delay.
We saw one a small amount of graffiti and essentially no rubbish on our entire trip. I would have expected to see rubbish along the roads because it was often difficult to find a rubbish receptacle (although the coach did have one on board.) At one toilet stop the information center actually had signs telling travelers with rubbish to take it down to the city dump inferring that they had no interest to handle it. This was probably the only instance of non-hospitality we experienced in New Zealand.
The Kiwi is a beloved bird of New Zealand as well as the name of a popular fruit. The Kiwi bird is at risk of extinction due to imported predators brought intending to deal with different kinds of pests. The bird is flightless and nocturnal and most New Zealanders have never seen one in the wild. We saw three of them in special exhibits designed to make the daytime seem to be late at night to them.
We selected a trip that commenced on March 1 and later learned how lucky we were to have chosen that time slot. It is the end of summer in New Zealand at that time and we enjoyed a tempered warmth on most days and avoided the driest heat of mid summer. School had started so we enjoyed seeing campuses buzzing with activity as we passed them and avoided distractions of school age children and college kids at the places we visited and shopped.
New Zealand is where most of the three Lord of the Rings films were made. The stripped remains of Hobbiton can be visited on a tour provided by Rings Scenic Tours Ltd in Matamata which is not far from Rotorua . Much of the film was made near Queenstown and Nomad Safaris offers an off-road adventure to visit many of the original film locations. We were planning to take that Safari of the Rings, but we had experienced some motion sickness on the day prior and the guide suggested we not take the side trip and risk making the illness worse. Early in our trip, our tour manager pointed out Mt. Ruapehu and Mt. Ngaruhoe that Peter Jackson combined to make Mt. Doom.
Ticketed merchandise in stores already includes any and all applicable taxes. If the price printed is $12.90NZ, then $12.90NZ is exactly what is collected at point-of-purchase.

Near the end of the coach tour, Shirley says a few words about the great jobs performed by Dennis and David. She speaks of Dennis's passion for his country and of David's extraordinary and safe handling of the coach.

While Dennis handled sometimes complex logistics to confirm reservations or to book options, David cleaned the coach each and every night. It almost felts as if we boarded a new coach each day.

Not all tours offer a separate tour manager and driver. David's next task was to perform both duties on his next tour.

On the last day of the coach tour, David waves his arms to demonstrate that Christchurch has a great deal to offer in all directions.

Here is a sentimental parting shot as David pulls the coach away from the Copthorne Central Hotel in Christchurch. He is heading for the depot near the Christchurch International Airport. Most of us would be staying the night at the hotel and leaving the city over the course of the next two days.

For reprints or bookings, contact qtgroupphotos@hotmail.com.

The APT tour group of NCC14 taken in Queenstown on Tuesday, March 8, 2005.