New Zealand 2017

[38 coupe]

I just got married earlier this year and we are planning a very belated honeymoon. We are going to attend the 2017 Early Ford V8 Club meet in New Zealand. Since we live in Houston Texas we are hoping for some advice on visiting New Zealand in general, and on the V8 club meet in Napier in specific.

We are thinking about flying into Napier, going to the meet, then staying in New Zealand for a second week of exploration. We are also considering flying into Auckland and driving to Napier. What advice can the New Zealand residents give us?

Thanks!

[KiWinUS]

Visit the South Island !!!!

[swoopNZ]

If you only have 2 weeks...
Fly into Auckland.
Then fly on down to Napier.
Attend the EFV8 meet.
Fly from Napier to Wellington and on to Christchurch.
Take the Trans Alpine train over to Greymouth ( about 5 hours ).
Bus down to Franz Josef, stay the night, then continue by Bus down to Te Anau.
Stay overnight and take the day trip into Milford Sound.
From Te Anau head over to Queenstown and stay a couple of nights.
Fly from Queenstown back to Auckland.

I spent some time in Odessa and Kilgore many years ago.
We are good people down here but lock up your valuables.

[KiWinUS]

Right on Swoop !!!
Now I would include going to Invercargill , the Truck Museum = AMAZING best 3-5 hours you could spend !!! ( about to include the Nelson motorcycle collection ) & Hayes Hardware Store to see the awesome "Original" Bert Munro Special & all the cool stuff that were Berts & you thought were only movie props ! A museum in itself along with being an awesome hardware store ! Be sure to meet Neville Hayes a grreat friend of many of my very close friends !

[Brian]

Great choice on hunny moon venue!! I think NZ as a whole, has so much to offer tourists that, although we're only small in size, compared to the States, there is no way you can fit it all in in a two week timeframe. Obviously, taking in the V8 nationals in Napier is gonna keep you happy, your lovely bride is also gonna want to be entertained.
You'll not get a direct flight into Napier; you'll fly into Auckland. From there you can either drive or fly onto Napier. Be advised, we drive on the other side of the road from you guys!
I think you'll find that us Kiwis are a friendly lot.
You do not 'tip' for services rendered over here.
I am sure you'll get many suggestions from the Kiwis on here, all good, well intentioned. Without knowing your exact travel plans [which you're obviously in the process of formulating], anything is possible.
Personally, I think a road trip would be the way to go, you are more than welcome to stay at my place [2 1/2 hrs south from Napier - on your way to South Island], and you could probably find several more Kiwibarners who would put you up, show you their collections/ local sites. Some of them might even interest your wife, [just so it's not all car related]
I think you'll get a great response from the Kiwis on board here.
Enjoy.

[Brian]

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For example....Masterton, my hometown, boasts the world's largest flying collection of WW1 aircraft, courteous Sir Peter Jackson, the film director. You can actually 'touch' these things, maybe even get a flight!

[trevo]

Hi 38 coupe,
Most likely my wife and I will attend the meet in 2017 we live comfortably here in Napier and would be happy to host you for a time best PM me swap email address if you are keen congratulations anyway as for visiting NZ happy to make suggestions best go online and work out what interests you both NZ is a mountainous country our roads away from the big centres are relatively narrow and care must be taken with our terrain again research will help you cheers

[Voycey]

If you get to Masterton visit Pointons Car Museum, Magoos Street Rods and Gasoline Alley in Carterton. Shoot over the hill to Wellington to Southwards Car Museum it is a great set up, 250 cars including Marlene Dietrichs 34 Caddy.

[swoopNZ]

They are from Texas.
Air New Zealand now have a direct flight from Houston to Auckland.
About 12 hours in a Boeing 777.
Texas is a pretty flat State over most of it.
The mountainous terrain of the South Island and Milford Sound will impress them.
Along with the flights into Wellington and out of Queenstown.
They will not have time to visit many places - hence my idea of an itinerary.
Driving themselves will eat up too much time - let the Bus Driver do it.
I visited the Jerry J Moore car museum in Houston ( long gone now )
Made Southwards look like Horopito.

[Graeme / New Zealand]

Swoop I enjoyed Southwards but Horopito is better!

38 coupe
If you're into Art Deco, Napier is the Art Deco capital of NZ. The reason it is that Napier was well and truly F'd by an earthquake in 1931 and had to be rebuilt. Kiwis will ensure you have a good time here.

GB

[fordlovr]

Hi 38 Coupe. Hope to see you in Napier, I just sent in my registration, Its limited to 200 people and registration closes 31st October, so don't shag about to long, although I'm sure they would find space for you. I will have a 9 hour drive each way with a 3 hour Ferry crossing each way in the middle, so am looking forward to a great trip, although not as EPIC as Old Henry's !! cheers

[trevo]

38 coupe,the EFV8 Club is very strong in the Hawkes Bay and generally classicars/ motorcycles also very prevalent in the area as suggested ArtDeco is well worth researching online its a fabulous time mid Feb interestingly NZ was a drop off place being at the bottom of the world for lots of cars/ motorcycles that now today are so rare and desirable sadly many have been re exported due to the high values a Packard phaeton has recently left for Germany sadly but the values internationally means they often end up going overseasmy mate has an 34 Auburn Speedster one of 5 produced sitting locally in a shed alongside
fabulous Packards and Buicks rare Fords also exist!

[Karl]

Happy to provide accommodation at our home if required . We are 2 hours South of Napier but on the west side of the lower North Island. Brian is on the East side and that side offers a bit more in Tourist stuff- Peter Jackson's museum is amazing but so are the Martinborough vineyards. Yum Yum !

[Bored&Stroked]

This whole thread is what I love about the Kiwis - great, hospitable and fun people . . . and one bad-ass rugby team! (Now don't get all excited). I've had the pleasure of spending some time in New Zealand - hope to make a trip once again.

[47Merc]

Hi 38 Coupe
I live in Australia and have just spent 2 weeks in New Zealand motoring around the North Island.
We stayed in motels all the way and some of them were very nice but the 2 nights we spent in Napier we were at the Pebble Beach Motor Inn which is right in the city and it was the best by far of any that we stayed at. I would stay there again any time.
http://www.pebblebeach.co.nz/

The Speights Ale House is also a great place for an evening meal.

I would also echo the itinerary that swoop gave you but I would drive from Auckland to Napier through Rotorua so you can see some of the country and then leave the car there and fly out.

[FlatheadTed]

If your are heading to Auckland ,contact me and I can show you around some of the Ford collections ,/tourist sites ,Ted

[swoopNZ]

Plenty of art deco in Galveston.
Museums in Houston - go to the Johnson space centre.

[38 coupe]

Thanks for all the advice so far. At this point we have the first week or so fairly set. We arrive in Auckland airport the morning of 9 January. We rent a car and drive to Napier. On the drive to Napier we see a few sites. Our basic route looks like this: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Auck...39.4928444!3e0

We then spend the week in Napier enjoying the V8 Club meet and the area in general. If we could catch a ride in an early Ford during the driving events we would really appreciate it.

Question, does the New Zealand meet include judging cars? The nationals in the US are always looking for judges and I like getting to take a close look a nice car.

Following the meet we are thinking of flying from Napier to Christchurch. We don't have definite plans yet but we like the sound of Swoops suggestions. We do have a definite end point, we fly out of Queenstown on the afternoon of 21 January. My wife Rae is really interested in seeing Sutherland Falls and some of the other sites at the south end of New Zealand.

I appreciate all the car related suggestions. I think Swoops is right though, I can see a lot of cars in the United States. We have a limited time to see New Zealand and want to make the most of it. I remember seeing the thread that fordlovr did about crossing the South Island in his 38 Ford, here. The roads in that thread look amazing. We intend to drive that route or take the train between Christchurch and Greymouth, we don't know which.

Many thanks to all who have offered their homes or their time. We would enjoy taking everyone up on their offers. Depending on how the schedule works out we may have the opportunity to take a few of ya'll up on those offers.

Thanks,
Fred Mills

[swoopNZ]

5hrs 57 minutes driving time from Auckland to Napier is very optimistic.
I've worked with a lot of Americans over the last 30 plus years on oil rigs.
Be very careful while driving here, especially on blind corners ( of which there are plenty ) when you suddenly come across an approaching vehicle.
Your natural tendency will be to swerve to the right.
Learn to resist that tendency.
Paste a sign above the steering wheel saying " KEEP LEFT ".
Happy motoring.
Swoop.NZ.
PS: Always lock your car and have any valuables hidden out of sight.
Tourist's cars are often targeted.
I live in New Plymouth.

[38 coupe]

Thanks for the advice. I figure that we will spend at least nine hours on the drive to Napier. Not only the drive but stops for pictures, food, and restroom. Our limit on that drive is our need to get to the meet registration before 5 p.m.

Progress on our planning: we have booked the flight from Napier to Christchurch and we booked the train ride from Christchurch to Greymouth. We also realize that we don't have time for the hiking trip required to see Sutherland Falls. We are planning to drive down the west coast of the south island though.