South Island - New Zealand

[papsyxx]

Just spent a month end of dec to end of Jan rain rain and more rain when the sun came out the humidity was high the seasons have gone haywire like everywhere else in the world. End of march is now recognised as the summer season by the locals so anyone listening to the travel experts that dec jan & feb are the best months are wrong. Dont get me wrong I still had a wonderful time the scenery is breathtaking ,people dont seem to care about the rain and still go to the beach I managed to get sunburnt at a thermal baths in the pouring rain so beware!!

Auckland area is very hilly for anyone who has difficulty walking . It is years behind England for disabled facilities .I managed to hire a mobility scooter!!! it wouldn't go up my sons drive so I was very reliant on other people . All that said the people are wonderful and so helpful . Even though the kiwis are pretty gungho as far as sports and outdoor pursuits go they are very laid back in every day activities (ie work home etc) to sum up its a wonderful experience that I will definately do again but better planned next time .

One last thing if you want to travel around any where book it in new zealand at one of the (i) centres that are everywhere they will taper trips to suit individuals they couldn't be more helpful from day trips or longer our tour operators could take some lessons from them I was really impressed hope this is helpful to someone
Pat

[sally woodward]

any idea best place for flights. looked at going new zealand lots of times but for 2 adults and 2 children flights very expensive never see any offers at all.