[Junnifer USA]

Dear Friends~
Do you have suggestions for us....we are absolutely exhausted... but finally got approval.

We will be leaving from Atlanta headed to towards Aukland in February. 2 Adults and 10-yr old son. We need 5-7 days of R&R ! Something warm, and not expensive! Husband likes golf too. ANything enroute or a good buy... we don't know the Pacific area very well. We definately need a little time to recover and recoup as a family. Any ideas for a good buy?

Excited Family.... needing to 'chill - out' a little before we arrive!

Thanks - please feel frree to PM too.
Jen and Bill

[clg]

Look into the cook islands. Air NZ flies there and you can go LAX-Cook Isalnds-NZ for the cost of LAX-NZ.

I have not been there but no people who have and they really liked it.

[markkellaway]

Jen,

Savannah's pretty nice in February, you could have a vacation there! ;) (I might actually be in Savannah in January for a few days, I think it is a really nice "town", but then I don't live there!!).

Seriously though, is it a requirement that the stopover is outside the States? If not then why not stop over from LA and go somewhere nearby? I know LA itself is a bit of a dump (sorry if anyone lives there!) but there are some nice places around as you probably know. That way when you get on the plane at LAX it'll be NEXT STOP NEW ZEALAND!!!! :nice1

Mark. :P

[Junnifer USA]

No No No. Savannah is out! No shopping and no city!
We need a warm beach. A little golf for the huby. A place to walk and enjoy the weather!

Anyother ideas?

Cheap is good too!

[toesonthenose]

There is always the lovely islands of Hawaii! No problem getting here from Atlanta, then Air NZ flies direct and overnight from Honolulu to Auckland every Monday and Friday night. The flight is about 8.5 hours and there is only a 1 hour time change (and 1 day ofcourse), so jet lag is not bad. Other island groups to consider would be Tahiti, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, or the Cooks as mentioned above. Though I don't know about golfing in many of those islands.

[karltsmith]

Fiji, Raratonga, Vanuatu, Solomans, Tahiti etc...

[toots]

Cook Islands are supposed to be very nice. They are on my list for a holiday later in the year.

[Wiggy]

Make sure you look into the weather situation. My boyfriend and I went to Rarotonga (Cook Islands) for a 2 week holiday at the end of October having researched the monsoon season and being promised we'd avoid it........little did we know that we'd have 12 out of 14 days with rain. Might pay to check as the seasons look out of sinc

[Annierobrigado]

No No No. Savannah is out! No shopping and no city!
We need a warm beach. A little golf for the huby. A place to walk and enjoy the weather!

Anyother ideas?

Cheap is good too!

how about the philippines? we live outside the city, near the golf course, we have a pool in the backyard, and if you need to go to banks or malls, no problem, coz alabang is only 30 minutes away from us and not too much traffic, unlike manila or makati.

you can also stay in alabang and just relax, then just drive south for your golf course, or hot springs baths, or mountain climbing. another option would be tagaytay, it's a higher place, with views of the taal lake and taal volcano. it's a favorite vacation spot coz it's cool. there are golf courses there too, or buy fruits and vegetables on the wayside, there's a mini zoo, a picnic garden, horseback riding or casino.

if you like the beach, boracay is the white-sand, diving, snorkeling, jetskiing or plain swimming place. it might be crowded during the christmas season.

the subic bay (used to be a us base) is north of manila, a community in itself, has malls and stuff but not the big-city feel. outside the base is the city of olongapo for your nightlife, if you want. inside the base you find swimming, golf course, jungle survival, museums, bat sanctuary, and the new ocean adventure park (ala sea world) with seals, dolphins and whales. I think the zoo is already open.

try visiting www.yehey.com and click on travel. you can visit many places online, and even book where you want. You'll find anywhere in the philippines is cheap, because you get 56 pesos to your dollar.

The climate here is a cool breezy sunny 23-26 degrees Celsius (I don't know what that is in fahrenheit).

SO come, visit the PHilippines! it will be a nice stopover on your way to bangkok, where you will get your final plane to new zealand.

pm me for more details
:laugh

:nice1
annie