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- fewer cars on South Island roads than North Island. A pleasure to drive!
- the number of foreign tourists on the move, particularly Germans on the West Coast, all enjoying our great scenery.
- the number of campervans (motorhomes) on the road (this may be tied in with the previous observation), and some of them actually travel as fast as 100km/h!
- the price of various attractions often seems to be set to extract maximum dollars from foreign tourists, and anyone else prepared to pay, but I guess that's life. Perhaps $95 for a 30-minute jetboat ride doesn't seem too bad at $66.50 in US dollars, or £35 to an English visitor, but when it totals $405 for the likes of a New Zealand family of five (no family concessions being available), it's a big amount. We rode with Kawarau Jet whose $215 family rate for a 55-minute ride seemed better value for money. And paying more than $200 for a few seconds of bungy jump (including the cost of the 'optional' DVD and still photos) leaves a hole in the customer's wallet whilst bumping up the owner's bank balance. [I'm currently looking for a good site in the Wellington region to set up my own bungy-jumping operation!]
- with the cost of many attractions/rides being anywhere from $35-$180 (per adult) or $600+ for some helicopter flights, the gondola ride at Queenstown seems reasonably priced at $18 per adult, especially when a 'combo' ticket of $31* allows for three rides on the luge as well. (*$89 for a family ticket). Makes me realise how good a deal we got when we went on a 4-hour excursion two years ago to see the gannets at Cape Kidnappers (way up in Hawkes Bay - click here) for only $25 per adult, the current price being $28.
- from a scenic point-of-view, State Highway 6 - the length of the West Coast - travels through a lot of pleasant bush, and along some nice coastline between Westport and Greymouth. The area around Queenstown is rather picturesque, and is part of the reason for its popularity with tourists. And a visit to Milford Sound, including the drive to the sound, is definitely recommended, wet or fine. It was one of the highlights of the trip for me.
- Malcolm Sparrow
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