New Zealand Zoo Tour - advice

I just had a look at Tripadvisor (Paradise Valley Springs Wildlife Park - Rotorua - Reviews of Paradise Valley Springs Wildlife Park - TripAdvisor) and I'm a bit surprised nanoboy that you singled out one comment as a reason to question whether visiting or not. I only looked at the first three pages of 78 comments but almost all of them were four or five stars out of five. The only bad comment was that one you picked out and even his general comment on the park wasn't a bad one.

nanoboy said:
For argument sake, let's say that the lion encounter is not available and we had time to visit just one zoo, which is better: Paradise Valley Springs, or Rainbow Springs?
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I haven't been to Rotorua but I would definitely choose Rainbow over Paradise. I know you like animal encounters but really how common are lions?! They are everywhere! And the other animals there are llamas and wallabies and such-like critters. If you're coming all the way over to NZ visit a collection that isn't a repeat of numerous collections in Australia. Rainbow Springs all the way for the kiwi!
 
My wife has a habit of making a scene when people cut in line. :D
So for me, that comment stood out the most. :D
Makes sense? ;) Lions are everywhere, true, but Steve won't let me interact with his lion cub, so where else can I do it in Oz. :D

Fair comment about exotics vs native though. Still planning an itinerary - will post V1.0 tomorrow.
 
just point in the opposite direction and yell "Look! Capybara!" and then when Steve turns around jump into the lion cage. Problem solved ;)
 
Auckland Zoo entry = $22 pp
Rainbow Springs = $35 pp
Zealandia Night Tour = $76.50 pp

These costs are adding up! :D
 
Kiwi Birdlife Park entry = $38 pp !!!
National Kiwi Centre entry + behind the scenes tour with Chlidonias = $18.50
 
Steve Robinson said:
Jumping out again might pose a bit of a problem
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there will be no jumping out again. That's how one solves the problem.
 
nanoboy said:
Kiwi Birdlife Park entry = $38 pp !!!
National Kiwi Centre entry + behind the scenes tour with Chlidonias = $18.50
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Surely that should read

National Kiwi Centre entry = $18.50 + behind the scenes tour with Chlidonias = Priceless! ;)
 
Steve Robinson said:
The bargain of your trip!!!!

Don't forget that all these prices you are getting can be marked down by about 30% due to the currency difference.
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Good point. I forgot that.

Having said that, it looks like Kiwi Birdlife Park is the Australia Zoo of New Zealand in terms of prices! :D
 
nanoboy said:
Good point. I forgot that.

Having said that, it looks like Kiwi Birdlife Park is the Australia Zoo of New Zealand in terms of prices! :D
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So, ask yourself - what have they got there that I really want to see that I can't see somewhere else? If the answer is nothing - cross it off the list. If the answer is a very rare fluffy-backed tit-babbler ask yourself - how much do I really want to see it? If it is a "must see at any price" - cross a couple of other parks off the list and use the entrance money to go to this one.
 
Chlidonias said:
only if Chlidonias had actually been asked about it first!
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Well, I already invited myself over to Steve's place to hang out with his lion cubs, so you should feel honoured! :D
Once plane tickets are purchased I'll send you a formal request. :p

Steve, good point. That's the way I am approaching the short-list process. At the moment, I think that I will give the kiwi centre in Queenstown a miss. The one in Hokitika still looks to be the best value for money though. :p
I have made a list of all the zoos that you folks recommended, and done a table with the cost and the attractions. I will then have to cross-reference that with the days that various encounters are offered relative to my prospective itinerary. Any project managers out there? Or better yet, anyone with a travel agency? :cool:
 
Well folks, I just crunched the numbers for a 10 day tour of both the North and South Island for my wife and I. Take a deep breath.... make sure you are sitting down.....

AU$7,000 - including food, accommodation, a couple tours, car rental, zoo visits.

We will need to discuss this tonight, because that's +50% more than how much I budgeted. It's a bit of a disenchanting anti-climax really. I even bought a new waterproof jacket and gloves yesterday for this trip!!
 
um...I'm not sure what to say to that. That's about NZ$9000. How the heck can you spend NZ$900 a day!!!!??
 
Chlidonias said:
um...I'm not sure what to say to that. That's about NZ$9000. How the heck can you spend NZ$900 a day!!!!??
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Well, averaging the cost per day is not an accurate representation of the cost.

For example, a whole week before Easter, the flight from Melbourne to Auckland is about $275pp = $550

A budget car rental for 5 days to get us to Rotorua is about $350, with the corporate discount. On average, car rental is about $70pd throughout NZ.

Hotels are about $150 per night for 9 nights.

Rotorua to Wellington flight is about $120pp. Wellington to Queenstown is about $350pp.

Milford Sound Cruise is about $130pp, Franz Josef helicopter tour = $200pp. TranzAlpine is about $200 (I assumed for 2 people).

Zoo entries, lunch and dinner almost every day, and a few souvenirs here and there, plus petrol.

I will recalculate a total - I wrote everything in a diary, and used Google to add up the numbers. Here's hoping that I made an error. But based on the prices quoted above, I doubt that I did......
 
well the obvious thing to do would be to restrict this trip to just one island. That will save you about $1000 on internal flights right off the bat. Either fly in and out of Chch, or in and out through Auckland and Wellington (or conceivably in and out through Wellington and Chch).

You can get car rental for as little as $55 or so per day for a ten day trip (eg I used a random ten day period in April to get this selection of prices: https://vroomvroomvroom.co.nz/book/...rom=NZ&a=&dosearch=true&tick=832012182250.883).

Use this site to find and book hotel deals: http://www.wotif.com/?country=NZ. What are you paying $150 per night for?
 
Chlidonias said:
well the obvious thing to do would be to restrict this trip to just one island. That will save you about $1000 on internal flights right off the bat. Either fly in and out of Chch, or in and out through Auckland and Wellington (or conceivably in and out through Wellington and Chch).

You can get car rental for as little as $55 or so per day for a ten day trip (eg I used a random ten day period in April to get this selection of prices: https://vroomvroomvroom.co.nz/book/...rom=NZ&a=&dosearch=true&tick=832012182250.883).

Use this site to find and book hotel deals: Wotif.com: New Zealand hotels, accommodation, motels, serviced apartments, B&B - Online hotel bookings with instant confirmation. What are you paying $150 per night for?
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Cheers. I did say this was a feasibility study, and that the itinerary was V1.0, so all is not lost yet.

When you "reduce the excess" on car rentals, the price goes up to around the $65 or $70 dollar mark, and then I was picking up at X and dropping off at Y. Nonetheless, I like that rental comparison website, so thanks for alerting me to it.

Getting cheap accommodation is not a problem at all! Getting good 4 or 5 star accommodation for cheap, however, means that $150 is the average price per night for a standard room. The Novotels in the various cities look like good bets, based on reviews, locations, and price. I wouldn't compromise on the accommodation, so it looks like the obvious way to cut costs, would be to do just one island, as you folks originally suggested. I'm rooting for South Island. :D
 
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