[real_sunfire]

Later this year I hoping to take my fiance on holiday in NZ to further suck her in to my dream of emigrating there. *:)

One of the things she would like to see are the fiords - so Milford sounds like the best possibility. However we have a few concerns:

1) Due to time constraints the only other part of the South Island we will be able to visit is Nelson and the Abel Tasman National Park. However getting to Milford from Nelson or even Wellington seems pretty time consuming involving multiple flights/coach trips. We are allowing ourselves three days for Milford which includes two days of just travelling there and back from Nelson/Wellington. It seems alot of travelling to see just one place.

Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to get to Milford from Nelson/Wellington?


2) My fiance would like to stay overnight on the shores of the fiords as it would be romantic. However from what I can see there is only one guest house at Milford (the Milford Sound Lodge). What are our other options for accommodation?


3) Finally the only time we are probably will be able to go to NZ is August. From what I have been able to see most of the cruise ships for Milford Sound seem to only run between November and April. Do many cruise ships run during August?


Answers regarding the above concerns and any other suggestions regarding visiyting the fiords would be gratefully received. Thanks in advance,.
Rgds.,
Nick.

[tigerlily]

I've stayed at the Milford Sound Lodge and the view is wonderful, couldn't suggest anywhere else. It's not fancy, but is clean and standard NZ hotel, just much better location.

You can fly to Queenstown from Christchurch I know, so probably from Wellington too. If I were you I'd rent a car and drive to Milford. Everything on the way is pretty too.

It's definately in season to be in Queenstown with the skiing. But there may be quite a bit of snow everywhere else too. I'd suggest talking to someone at the Lodge to ask for further details on what's available at that time of year.

[Glenda]

Flying within New Zealand is not as time consuming as you may think. You only have to turn up at the airport half an hour before the flight and within an hour you can be 800km away.

It does seem there are no direct flights from Nelson to Queenstown. To fly to Queenstown you have to nip north to Wellington to go to Christchurch.

If you can't get accommodation at Milford Sound, Te Anau is quite magical itself, with great places to eat.

:)

[veronica]

just a suggestion as it in August you are looking to come over. Thats right in the middle of the winter and as you are in the mountains its going to be weather affected. Snow may interrupt your journeys either by plane or car and its going to be a tad chilly. Have you thought about taking it a bit easier and visiting marlborough sounds area next to nelson and doing a bit of the west coast as well. Are you flying into Christchurch? cos hanmer hot springs would be a good place to visit too

[real_sunfire]

Thanks for everyone's comments.

I've discussed things with my fiance and we have decide to give the fiords a miss and spend mopre time exploring the other places we have planned to see. The amount of travelling involved just to see Milford is just too much unfortunately - we want to be able to relax. *:)

Rgds.,
Nick.