| |
 Traveller's Tales: Shopping suggestions in New Zealand
Get the best advice on shopping in New Zealand. You may read about shopping malls, souvenir items and best buys in the area. Also, you might want to read our
Auckland city guide,
Bay of Islands city guide,
Dunedin city guide,
Queenstown city guide,
and Wellington city guide.
Pages (1 of 2):
1 2
| P Taylor |
07 August 2003 |
Stayed at Christchurch YMCA - Christchurch, New Zealand.
|
There is a great coffee house up the road a few metres that was brilliant for late night lattes and cakes, we also had a main meal there and it was brilliant also for $NZ15. We did the ride on the gondola/chair lift to the mountain peak, was foggy and no real views that day, make sure you go on a clear day! We also found a flyer in the YMCA for horse riding tours. We booked on their 24hr hotline and they picked up and dropped off for $NZ50 each, consisting of a 1hr ride and brief lesson, we had never ridden horses before and found it to be excellent for the beginner. We visited Christchuch in August and found it to be cold and you need a good jacket and thermal underwear. Around the gift stores as you will notice there are huge differences in prices from store to store, we held out buying clip on kiwis and found them for $10.80 at a smaller store compared to $22 at larger stores.
|
| L Chiang |
22 June 2003 |
Stayed at Carlton Hotel Auckland - Auckland, New Zealand.
|
The Auckland Museum (or War Memorial Museum) is an excellent museum, approximately 20-minute hike from the Carlton. Extensive Maori collection. Be sure to attend the Maori concert held at 11am & 1:30pm. Queen St. is the major street with lots stores & restaurants.
|
| K Newland |
15 June 2003 |
Stayed at Novotel Capital, Wellington - Wellington, New Zealand.
|
The Angkor restaurant on Dixon street is awesome, would recommend dining there (Cambodian cuisine).
The Novotel is in a good location to the main shopping area Lambton Quay and Willis St and an easy 10-15 min walk to the restaurants and night clubs, taxi's are reasonably priced and are easy enough to get. The Westpac Trust sports stadium is also within easy walking distance as is Parliament.
|
| A Fradley |
18 December 2002 |
Stayed at Hyatt Regency Auckland - Auckland, New Zealand.
|
Seemingly addicted to the Americas Cup, the new harbour is the centre of nightlife.
Auckland has a wide range of designer shops.
Internet cafes are easy to find and are cheap.
Visit Rotorua, you can do it in a day, but stay overnight and take advantage of the natural spring and mud baths.
|
| D Davidson |
05 September 2002 |
Stayed at Hyatt Regency Auckland - Auckland, New Zealand.
|
Auckland is a beautiful big city, but it tends to shut down pretty early in the evening (in the CBD anyway).
|
| K Dare |
30 August 2002 |
Stayed at Hyatt Regency Auckland - Auckland, New Zealand.
|
Hotel is in the heart of downtown Auckland, New Zealand with easy walking access to the Sky Tower and downtown shopping. Bush and Beach tour was marvelous, if you go on the Bay of Islands tour, be sure to do the Cape Brett portion or you will really miss out on the full experience. The buffet in the Sky Tower was great - lots of food choices, reasonably priced. Good bus service available to major tourist sights, including the museum.
|
| S Liew |
31 December 2001 |
Stayed at Novotel Tainui Hamilton - Hamilton, New Zealand.
|
it is conveniently located and within walking distance to restaurants, bars and shops.
|
| H Foo |
29 September 2001 |
Stayed at Hyatt Regency Auckland - Auckland, New Zealand.
|
What more can you say when the hotel is well located on a hill within walking distance to CBD and other shopping centres.
A fantastic and relaxing mood to take a walk down to the town from the hotel.
|
| M Marsick |
26 August 2001 |
Stayed at Carlton Hotel Auckland - Auckland, New Zealand.
|
As an Aucklander I would love to promote our city. It has a wonderful waterfront, The Viaduct, famous for 'The America's Cup'. Wonderful volcanoes, that enable people to get an amazing view of Auckland and it's environs. There are ferry rides to many of Auckland's islands in the Hauraki Gulf. Vineyards to visit on Waiheke Island, and the West of Auckland. Beaches everywhere, the west coast beaches are amazing for their sheer rugged beauty and their surf, especially Piha. The bush walks of the Waitakeres in the west and the Hunua's in the south east. The restaurants dotted all over Auckland. Mikano is especially wonderful, it overlooks the harbour, the port and the Police helicopter, 'The Eagle' has it's heliport right outside and it can make for interesting dining! Try the seafood at most of the restaurants and you will be amazed. Public transport is a hassle, but the Council is trying to do something about that. Taxis are rather expensive, however with the value of the NZ dollar, tourists probably think everything is cheap! On a sunny day Auckland is stunning. To sample Kiwi life, go afield to the suburbs, Westfield St Lukes is a small mall in the heart of Mt Albert, not far from the city, but it is a lovely place to see local and international shops, and you can have a nice coffee at the Muffn Break. Parnell is a neat place to shop for exclusive boutique goods. The Phillip's Aquatic Centre in Mt Albert is an amazing place to take the kids, warm swimming pools and a hydroslide, popular with the locals. Try and catch a game of rugby at Eden Park, a great venue, full of good old kiwi 'jokers'. Go to the Zoo we have 4 new baby lion cubs, it is leading the way in making zoos a nice place to be for the animals, enclosures are changing. The Auckland Musuem is an amazing place, there is a place just for children 'Wild and Wonderful', hands on exhibits, kids love it. There is also an amzing Maori exhibition that has live entertainment. GO!! But what I recommend the most is give Auckland a go, stay there not just for the obigatory one night before you go to Rotorua or the South Island, Auckland has a lot to offer. A very cosmopoiltan city, a third of the population live here, and we are the largerst Pacific Island City, come,enjoy our vast cultures.
|
| S Czupryna |
20 March 2001 |
Stayed at Hyatt Regency Auckland - Auckland, New Zealand.
|
Auckland is a great place to wander around aimlessly. From the Hyatt, you can head downhill to Queen Street and from there to the water front or uphill to the tower that looms mightily over the cityscape. The trip up the tower is well worth the admission price as is the "reverse-bungy-jumping" rig they have nearby the tower.
I'd advise anyone that visits Auckland (who's home currency is tied to the US Dollar) to bring along some spare money to take advantage of the exchange rate (now NZ2.40 per USD1.00). I found excellent deals in most shops and restaurants. For example, I found a great deal from a VERY helpful shop attendant on a computer case that was about 30% cheaper than the exact same item in Malaysia and about 50% cheaper than the prices sought by the thieves that sell such goods in Hong Kong.
Wow, what can I say....Auckland is a great place that makes money-spending tourists feel like their business is greatly appreciated! Not once did I feel that shop-keepers were trying to cheat me, short-change me or take advantage of me. Quite the contrary really, they (incredibly) went out of their way to (gulp) EARN MY BUSINESS! Can you imagine, a place where the local business-people try hard to give you as MUCH as possible for your hard-earned tourist dollars instead of trying all the pathetic Asian shop-keeper tricks to give you as LITTLE as possible?
In my particular case, I was in the Queen Street area at about 3 pm on a Saturday...normally past the close of business hours. I saw an Optometrist's office that was already closed, but decided to inquire about an appointment for the following Monday. To my surprise, the Optometrist herself answered the door and took the good time to explain their services and make a booking for the few hours I had available on Monday morning. The service at the office was great, the Optometrist spent more than an hour checking my eyes, doing all the important tests and working out a rather complicated multifocal prescription. I was so impressed, I also ordered my glasses and arranged for shipment to my home in Kuala Lumpur......much to the disadvantage of the Malaysian opticians that have repeatedly tried to rip me off in the past.
To these fine folks I say "THANKS, I'LL BRING LOTS OF CASH NEXT TIME I VISIT".
|
|
Pages (1 of 2):
1 2
Book a hotel in New Zealand
|
