places of intrest ??..

[mozziemad]

Evening, I hopeing to spend about 10 days in the south island around easter next & apart from the obvious in wanaka the tour the no fixed path.. i was planning to travel down the east coast from picton & any ideas would be helpful as long as i can join the dots together..

Cheers for your help..

[jonesy]

Heres a good idea-double the time you can travel. I think the Sth Island's just superb, and rushing through it just doesnt do it justice....Rushing thru Auckland...well thats another matter...

[corsairarm]

Well your obviously a plane fan so Omaka museum, Airforce world and Ferrymead, Ashburton then wanaka. After that then its Gore and the Croydon aircraft company for the old planes.
Now if your traveling with the wifey then don't forget to allow for time for shopping and the like.
If traveling up the west coast then see if you can visit John Smith in Mapua. After that you should be all done. ;D
Definitely need more than 10 days.
Jonsey
You can't rush through Auckland for this reason. I work in Wiri and live on the shore and on a bad day it can take me two hours to get home. Thats 34km. Auckland needs more of both public transport and motorways and I need a job closer to home.

[jonesy]

Oct 28, 2011 20:45:58 GMT 12 corsairarm said:

Jonsey
You can't rush through Auckland for this reason. I work in Wiri and live on the shore and on a bad day it can take me two hours to get home. Thats 34km. Auckland needs more of both public transport and motorways and I need a job closer to home.

That must suck- I travel 90km over the Kaimais to get to work and it takes me an hour-including driving thru 2 towns at 50km/h. If only petrol was cheaper, then my life would be complete...

[Dave Homewood]

Welcome to the forum mossiemad. Where are you coming from, overseas? Or are you a North islander?

From Picton the journey south should include:

Blenheim (half an hour south of Picton)
The Aviation Heritage Centre at Omaka - world renowned and probbaly the best WWI aviation collection anywhere on public display

Founders Museum (just down the road from Omaka) they have some nice aviation themed exhibits too and other stuff.

Christchurch(three hours south of Blenheim)
The Air Force Museum of New Zealand at Wigram, Christchurch - one of the really great museums of NZ

Ferrymead Heritage Museum - a very good museum but if I were you I'd link up with one of the Ferrymead guys on the forum here and ensure you pick a day when the aviation section is open. They ahve some great projects and exhibits there.

Ashburton
Ashburton Aviation Museum - about an hour south of Christchurch I think. I've not been there but the photos look great. From Ashburton you can then turn inland hand head south to Wanaka from memory.

Also if you can fit in time at the beginning a trip across to Nelson is well worth it. A lovely town, and they have a few aeroplanes around there like the Bristol Freighter in their museum, and at Wakefield there's the Bill Reid collection if you can arrange a visit. Ansons, Hudson, etc.

As the guys said, yes Croydon Aircraft Company at Mandeville also sounds like a must-see destination. One day I'll get there. i know a number of the staff and they're great people. Some of them are on the forum here too.

[nuuumannn]

Don't forget to visit the Argosy Cafe next to Woodbourne (Blenheim Airport) and go inside the Argosy. The burgers in the cafe are not to be trifled with. ;D

[mozziemad]

Thanks for your help, the general idea is of the trip is to head straight to Wellington from Tuakau.. hopefully catch late ferry across and start down the island the next day.. doing it on a bike so no wifey this time (paid the price.. new puppy.. ) but there is bound to some bloke shopping.. Ferrymead is already on the list as well as Wigram.. i wish it could be longer but work payes for the habit & it won't be last time.. once again thanks for the idea's as the plan is flexible..
cheers

[shorty]

If it's a choice between Ferrymead or Omaka Heritage I'd go with Omaka everytime, it would be a better use of your time!