Coming to visit

Hi gottawalkit. I'm going to go out on a whim and suggest that one of the first things you might want to do from Auckland is jump on another flight and go to somewhere further South, perhaps Christchurch or Nelson. There's accessible outdoor recreation all over, but the South Island is likely to give you more satisfaction if you're only here for a couple of months. My experience is geographically bounded so I can't comment well on plans to walk over large parts of NZ. It's true that NZ conditions are probably quite different from Canada, and most people here will be cautious about taking guesses without actually meeting you, but you shouldn't rule out some kind of lengthy mission. 2 months is extremely optimistic for the length of NZ, but you'd see a good part of the South Island in that time, and it's likely to be more rewarding than the North Island. Feb/March tends to be the most stable weather in NZ on average, December/January tends to be less predictable with more storms & rain between the fine weather. Even Te Araroa (the partly-completed route through New Zealand) follows routes through some quite exposed areas so no matter what time of year, if you're planning to head away from the very touristy tracks, you should anticipate potentially being stuck camping in odd places for days at a time waiting for rivers to drop, or waiting for the weather to be appropriate to get into some of the more alpine areas. If you haven't already, it may be worth asking around some of your more local forums to get an idea from people who've visited New Zealand about what the most relevant differences are that you could expect based on what you're already familiar with. Just make sure you're talking to people who've done some lengthy tramping in New Zealand beyond just zipping around Great Walks and popular areas. Have fun.

ooooh that hurts nothing exists between auckland airport and he south island of any great value. I thought only Aucklanders where guilty of such breathtaking generalizations :)

Ha! Well that's a gross generalisation of what I've just said so I suppose you're living up to it. :) I do spend probably 90% of my tramping time in the (lower) North Island, and I'd hardly say there was nothing here of great value. If a visit's for a limited time and you're looking for bang for your buck, though ...

True i am known for gross generalisations. I must have spent too much time north of the bombay hills. The two months would probably be better spent in the south to be fair.

Hi again, gottawalkit. A few more things... you may hear lots of warnings about people dying and so on, which happens of course, but it sounds as if you're fairly self-sufficient for shelter and food and so on, so you'll likely be fine with a long trip if you take a few things into account. There's no dangerous wildlife in New Zealand, but the big killers here which it sounds like you're probably prepared for anyway with your attitude tend to be one or a combination of the following: * Dangerous river crossings -- people get impatient or hungry and try to get through rivers before they've dropped enough to be safe. * Hypothermia -- often people not having clothing that stays warm when it's wet, or not having appropriate clothes to keep off freezing winds etc if they get caught in exposed areas. * Lack of shelter -- sometimes people go out assuming they'll stay in back-country huts, then fail to reach them for whatever reason (or just find someone else got there first and is taking all the space) and don't have a backup plan. [You might have noticed that all three of the above relate closely to the weather. It's very changeable in NZ coming straight off the sea, can be quite extreme and has a tendency to catch people out, including locals.] * Falling off things -- stereotypically this is a mountaineering thing, but if you're leaving the main tourist trails there's a good chance you'll be on marked routes and still be going through places where you could be in a lot of trouble if you slipped even slightly. Having reliable footwear that you trust is pretty important. Some people wear runners/shoes, but personally I think it's risky to go to most places without decent boots, unless you're certain you know what's there beforehand. * Having a mishap, and not leaving intentions with anyone. I guess if nobody knows that you should be showing up somewhere, nobody will know to look for you or where to look if needed. You'll find New Zealand's Department of Conservation will take intentions in some locations, but not everywhere... an alternative would be to simply be in touch with someone you trust (even back in Canada) and ask them to raise an alarm and provide all the relevant info to the NZ Police (so someone here can make a decision) if they haven't heard from you by agreed points in time. * Making moronic decisions like walking snow-blind into a blizzard on a wide plateau with zero visibility, no emergency shelter and no useful navigation tools and assuming everything will be fine. (That one just irks me, but amazingly it happens from time to time.) If you plan to spend lengthy periods of time out and about in places where there aren't many people, you should probably get an EPIRB, so you can press a button if you find yourself in serious trouble (for absolute emergencies only). There are places here that'll hire NZ-registered ones for reasonable prices. Enjoy your planning.

Oh yeah -- if you're bring in any gear (boots, packs, tents, etc), make sure it's sparkly clean and doesn't have any foreign dirt or plants hanging off it. New Zealand biosecurity is very pedantic and will happily confiscate expensive gear at the arrival terminal if they think there's a risk of any hitch-hikers. It's for good reason, though.

I have found that as well when going into Christchurch customs go through my gear with a fine tooth comb but when i go back to Brisbane they don"t bother i have only got pulled up once in 5 years so what does that say about Australia and there Bio Security Lindsay

It says you have already got all the bad bugs, creatures and plants in Oz, and nothing you would take in from here could be worse!

The australian Apple Board would beg to disagree

Well said fruitbat