Vacation [Anywhere?] in the Pacific

Inquisitor77

Hey guys! I have, once again, come to you in my hour of need. You guys came through when I posted my earlier thread about having to live down here, so I'm sure you'll come through again for this one. My [strike]six-month[/strike] year-long secondment in Melbourne is rapidly coming to a close, and I will be traveling back to good ol' San Francisco in October. However, I have managed to finagle a two-week vacation in between. So far on my list of potential places is New Zealand and...really, it's just been New Zealand. That's why I've come to you!

If you had two weeks in early October to spend anywhere in between Melbourne and San Francisco, where would you go, and what would you do?

I'm open to anything and everything.

For those who are curious, I've only had a chance to do Sydney and the Great Barrier Reef (Port Douglas) while I've been down here in Oz.

Kalkino

Well, do you think it is likely you will be back in the region any time soon? If not, then you are probably better to go to NZ, as that has to be one of the longest travel times from the US or Europe.

Limp moose

phuket thailand and hong kong.

Def hong kong.

Orestus

Depending on how much money you want to spend, I would do some combination of:

Bali
Hong Kong
Cambodia
Tokyo

If I had two weeks, limitless money, and had never been anywhere, I'd do all 4. If that's too much, go to Bali for a week and HK for a week.

Quid

I'm really loving Hawaii so far. If you're looking for outdoors type stuff so you might really like The Big Island, Kauai, or Molokai. Even Oahu is good for that sort of thing if you go to the right spots, it's just a lot more touristy everywhere else.

If you're looking for a vacation where you mainly explore the wilderness and spend the rest of the time lounging by the beach it's a great spot.

Orestus

Hawaii is absolutely beautiful and a great place to spend any amount of time, but my opinion is if you are already out in East Asia/Oceania, I'd take advantage of that. Hawaii is not an easy trip from anywhere in the US really, but its a heck of alot more reasonable/practical in most cases than Southeast Asia or East Asia.

Hypatia

Taiwan! Well, if you like hiking and really good chinese food without worrying about rocks in the rice and things, Taiwan, it is very yummy and because it's tropical they have fantastic selections of fruit.

Serpent

Forget Hawaii

There is Fiji, Vanuatu, the cook Islands, Tahiti to visit

Alsop, Phillipines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand

Inquisitor77

Taiwan and Hong Kong are interesting choices... For some reason, I really don't feel like going to places in SE Asia or island-nations like Fiji, Vanuatu, etc. What exactly is there to do there besides lounge around on the beach?

I guess I'm leaning towards New Zealand, but I'll have to give Hong Kong/Taiwan a serious look, too. Thanks guys!

firewaterword

New Zealand so hard buddy. South Island, specifically, assuming you don't hate nature or beauty. I wrote up a thing about a trip I took down there a few years ago in someone's NZ travel thread - I'll try to find it if you want.

Inquisitor77

Yeah, that would be awesome! I was thinking of backpacking or something, but like I said, I'm open to anything, so link away!

Fizban140

If you like prostitutes Thailand is a must. Thailand is great but you have to plan in advance if you want to avoid massive crowds or tourist areas.

Zython

Japan. I spent 3 weeks in Tokyo, and loved it. However, it's the only place I can recommend from personal experience. Your tastes probably differ.

Hypatia

For Taiwan, there's a lot of really beautiful hiking, great food, there's the National Palace Museum which has a ton of really interesting and cool artifacts and pieces from China. There's the night markets, and depending on when you go there are things like the lantern festival or other events. There's nice beaches and touristy boardwalks if you like that sort of thing, but there are also really nice national parks.

You can also hit up the more citified stuff like Taipei 101 and things like that as well, but I'm less versed in that stuff because we usually don't do that sort of thing.

If you do end up going to Taiwan and want to stay in Taipei, the Ritz Landis has an incredible breakfast spread and when we went it was around $140/night, which wasn't too too bad. There's also a really old hotel (I can't remember the name off the top of my head) that people like to stay at that's got 4 poster beds and is really old school. They showed it in that Eat Drink Man Woman movie.

firewaterword

Inquisitor77 wrote: »

Yeah, that would be awesome! I was thinking of backpacking or something, but like I said, I'm open to anything, so link away!

Sure thing buddy! I've spoilered my post below, and there's a link to the original thread as well - feel free to PM me if you have any questions or whatever.

I spent about a month traveling around NZ with an old college housemate. We spent about 4 days in Queenstown, and it was one of the most amazing places I’ve ever been. I’m not sure exactly what you’ll be interested in doing, but there’s no shortage of excitement!

Personally, I’d recommend getting out to the Shotover river, either via Jet Boat or raft. We ended up doing both – I enjoyed the jet boat, but felt it quite tame compared to the rafting. The Shotover is the site of many historic gold mining sites, and running the river on a raft is the best way to see everything. The NZ gov’t put a stop to gold mining in the 70s, but there’s still a great deal of it in the river – you’ll actually see flakes floating around during the calmer parts! It is, however, home to some fairly serious rapids, but nothing too crazy.

As for the town itself, it is somewhat touristy (though nothing compared to American tourist spots!), but there are a lot of great local places if you look. I’d specifically recommend the Red Rock beer garden if the weather’s warm. Also, be sure to take the gondola up to the mountain station for some of the most breathtaking views you’ll ever see. Another great thing to do is rent bikes and spend a few hours riding around the lake. There is an easy bike trail that goes out from Queenstown around lake Wakatipu, taking you past some pretty amazing vacation houses. Depending on your level of comfort, I’d also recommend paragliding! I went off of one of the many amazing mountains (Mt. Coronet), and it’s a fantastic way to see the area. We did not get a chance to visit Milford Sound, something I regret a lot! It takes at least two days to see the place properly, and we did not have the time.

From Queenstown, we rented a car and drove down to the west coast, following the route dad described in his last email. The drive itself is stunning! Where else in the world can you go from crystal-clear alpine lakes, passing through a rainforest, to a glacier in a five hour drive?! Franz Joseph is a small town almost entirely supported by tourism to the glacier, and I would definitely recommend at least walking up to the face. There are outfitters, who offer tours on the glacier itself, and I’m told it is a great experience (we chose not to, as the weather wasn’t fantastic). From there, we chose to continue north, up the west coast, stopping again in a tiny town called Punakeiki. For many kiwis, the west coast is sort-of a last frontier. To put it in perspective, 3 quarters of NZ’s population live in the North Island, and those who live in the South are almost entirely in and around Christchurch and Queenstown. Anyway, driving up the west coast was one of the best parts of our trip. It almost has a sort of “Lost World” vibe to it, and the people there are incredibly friendly.

From Punakeiki, we continued north to a town called Graymouth. I took another rafting trip on the Buller River, which I cannot recommend enough. Somewhat less wild than the Shotover, but the scenery is AMAZING. Finally, we drove to Nelson, which is the “big town” on the northern area of the South Island. Nelson is great – it’s pretty much Napa set in New Zealand, complete with many great wineries. From Nelson, we traveled to Picton, which is where the Inter-islander Ferry departs. Regarding the crossing, the scenery leaving the south island is stunning. However, it can be a fairly rough trip, even in the best of weather. Having taken the trip (it’s about 3-4 hours in good weather), I would recommend using one of the small airlines that flies between Nelson/Picton and Wellington, as it doesn’t cost much more than a ferry ticket. I very much enjoyed the time I spent in Wellington (two nights), but definitely experienced a sort of culture shock, having spent the two weeks prior traveling through such sparsely populated areas.

Anyway, sorry for such a long winded email – it’s a slow morning at work! I would be more than happy to help answer any questions you may think of. Long story short, you could spend a year in the south island and not see everything there is to offer, but know that no matter where you go or what you do, you’re sure to have a great time. I don’t think there’s another country on earth as traveler-friendly as NZ!

http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=91677&highlight=Zealand