Trip Report - New Zealand ABD March 13 - 24, 2023 Updated 1/17/24!

[chuff88]

They sent out the pins in advance, with the rest of "the box". (Although they forgot to include my "Insiders" pin, so I had to call ABD to get that one sent).

There *were* water bottles for my New Zealand trip, but I'm not sure if it's for all trips or what. They sent them to us because New Zealand is very eco-conscious, and we were told the Guides would not be providing bottled water on the motorcoach and during the trip (we did still get them in our hotel rooms) so we needed to bring them with us. The Guides actually had extra water bottles when we met up with them on the first day, in case anyone hadn't brought theirs. The tap water in New Zealand is excellent. But again, I don't know if they are doing the no bottled water/sending water bottles for all trips now or what.

They do not appear to be giving out duffel bags anymore. So if you like using those (I use it for stuff I want to carry back & forth for the motorcoach) bring one from home!

Sayhello

What's the Insiders pin? The trip we have in August is our second ABD, should I be looking for that? Or do you start getting that after 3?

 

[sayhello]

What's the Insiders pin? The trip we have in August is our second ABD, should I be looking for that? Or do you start getting that after 3?

You start getting them with trip #2. They used to give them out the first day, acknowledging how many trips each "Insider" had taken, but now you get them before the trip, with the rest of the pins.



Sayhello

 

[AquaDame]

They sent out the pins in advance, with the rest of "the box". (Although they forgot to include my "Insiders" pin, so I had to call ABD to get that one sent).

There *were* water bottles for my New Zealand trip, but I'm not sure if it's for all trips or what. They sent them to us because New Zealand is very eco-conscious, and we were told the Guides would not be providing bottled water on the motorcoach and during the trip (we did still get them in our hotel rooms) so we needed to bring them with us. The Guides actually had extra water bottles when we met up with them on the first day, in case anyone hadn't brought theirs. The tap water in New Zealand is excellent. But again, I don't know if they are doing the no bottled water/sending water bottles for all trips now or what.

They do not appear to be giving out duffel bags anymore. So if you like using those (I use it for stuff I want to carry back & forth for the motorcoach) bring one from home!

Sayhello

They sent us water bottles for our Arctic Expedition cruise next month, as well as a nice black backpack instead of the duffel. Those items seem standard nowadays. We won't be bringing them with us, as folks who were with ABD/Ponant in Antarctica ALSO received water bottles in their stateroom anyway. There is one trip before ours that starts 6/19 so I'll know for sure if we can just use those!

 

[chuff88]

They sent out the pins in advance, with the rest of "the box". (Although they forgot to include my "Insiders" pin, so I had to call ABD to get that one sent).

There *were* water bottles for my New Zealand trip, but I'm not sure if it's for all trips or what. They sent them to us because New Zealand is very eco-conscious, and we were told the Guides would not be providing bottled water on the motorcoach and during the trip (we did still get them in our hotel rooms) so we needed to bring them with us. The Guides actually had extra water bottles when we met up with them on the first day, in case anyone hadn't brought theirs. The tap water in New Zealand is excellent. But again, I don't know if they are doing the no bottled water/sending water bottles for all trips now or what.

They do not appear to be giving out duffel bags anymore. So if you like using those (I use it for stuff I want to carry back & forth for the motorcoach) bring one from home!

Sayhello

So I just got my box for our Germany trip in 5 weeks and wanted to come back and update in case anyone else was interested.

We did get two water bottles (one for each of us) in this box, as well as our two sets of trip pins and our #2 Insider pins for this being our second ABD. We also got 2 new luggage straps (hooray, ours were looking pretty grimy since we use them ALL THE TIME to help identify our checked luggage on the carousel) and our nametags.

We did not receive a duffel bag or the collapsible backpack that we got last year for Norway, but we did get a very nice black backpack with subtle Adventures by Disney branding that I am very excited about. I do love that collapsible duffel, but this backpack appears to be at least as nice at the CalPak Luka backpack that I just spent $100 on, so it feels like an upgrade to me.

 

[EllinK]

Loving this trip report!

 

[sayhello]

Loving this trip report!

Thanks! So glad you're enjoying it! I've been busy doing a show (Mary Poppins!) but that's just finishing up, so I should have more Trip Report up soon!!

Sayhello

 

[sayhello]

Well, that stinks. I went to open the online ABD Handbook for my New Zealand trip (working on the next installment of this Trip Report) and the Handbook is gone! Page not found! I'm pretty upset about that! At least the online version had previously stuck around for a while, but now it's gone after not quite 4 months. I am not a happy camper! I reference that handbook frequently for my Trip Reports. I'm going to contact ABD and see if there's any way to get it back, but I'm not going to hold out much hope!

Sayhello

 

[Mathmagicland]

Well, that stinks. I went to open the online ABD Handbook for my New Zealand trip (working on the next installment of this Trip Report) and the Handbook is gone! Page not found! I'm pretty upset about that! At least the online version had previously stuck around for a while, but now it's gone after not quite 4 months. I am not a happy camper! I reference that handbook frequently for my Trip Reports. I'm going to contact ABD and see if there's any way to get it back, but I'm not going to hold out much hope!

Sayhello

Could you use the itinerary on the AbD website? While there might be minor changes to the remaining days, most of it should be similar.

 

[aggiedog]

Can you download it? I do that and save it under books for another group I travel with.

 

[sayhello]

Can you download it? I do that and save it under books for another group I travel with.

I'm pretty sure I tried, but it didn't download correctly. How did you do that? It's too late at this point, as there's nowhere to download it from. But hopefully I could do that next time.

Could you use the itinerary on the AbD website? While there might be minor changes to the remaining days, most of it should be similar.

That's what I'm doing, but it doesn't include stuff like the Theme of the Day (although I guess I can get that from the pins). Hopefully I'll remember what was changed.

Sayhello

 

[Mathmagicland]

I'm pretty sure I tried, but it didn't download correctly. How did you do that? It's too late at this point, as there's nowhere to download it from. But hopefully I could do that next time.
That's what I'm doing, but it doesn't include stuff like the Theme of the Day (although I guess I can get that from the pins). Hopefully I'll remember what was changed.

Sayhello

The 2023 season handbook is still out on the website. You are correct, there’s no Theme of the Day for the website itinerary. @Grifdog22 and I included the Theme titles in our NZ November trip report, if that might be of help with your pins,

 

[sayhello]

The 2023 season handbook is still out on the website. You are correct, there’s no Theme of the Day for the website itinerary. @Grifdog22 and I included the Theme titles in our NZ November trip report, if that might be of help with your pins,

Thanks. This is where I'm getting myself confused. I'm looking at the pin for day 7, and it's Russell from Up, and the theme says "Tiki Tour". But I'm not sure why it would be called that. When I look at your Trip Report, it says "All Aboard" for Day 7. What does your pin look like? I'm so confused!

ETA: Well, I looked at @Eastridge 's report, and they posted their pins, and that's the right pin... Interesting

Sayhello

 

[distravel]

I'm pretty sure I tried, but it didn't download correctly. How did you do that? It's too late at this point, as there's nowhere to download it from. But hopefully I could do that next time.
That's what I'm doing, but it doesn't include stuff like the Theme of the Day (although I guess I can get that from the pins). Hopefully I'll remember what was changed.

Sayhello

Darn. I had the app of the handbook on my phone but I guess it didn't download correctly because it no longer exists. I would love to have a choice of getting a printed handbook. How much can that possibly cost ABD.

 

[sayhello]

Darn. I had the app of the handbook on my phone but I guess it didn't download correctly because it no longer exists. I would love to have a choice of getting a printed handbook. How much can that possibly cost ABD.

Same here...

Sayhello

 

[Mathmagicland]

Thanks. This is where I'm getting myself confused. I'm looking at the pin for day 7, and it's Russell from Up, and the theme says "Tiki Tour". But I'm not sure why it would be called that. When I look at your Trip Report, it says "All Aboard" for Day 7. What does your pin look like? I'm so confused!

ETA: Well, I looked at @Eastridge 's report, and they posted their pins, and that's the right pin... Interesting

Sayhello

Yes, very interesting! My pin #7 is also Tiki Time, but timing wise that name doesn’t seem to fit with the train ride day…?? I don’t recall anything tiki-related that day, or even on the South Island. We too used the handbook as a guide for both activities and “names” for each day, so I’m wondering if they changed the name of the day for the handbook.

 

[sayhello]

Day 6 - Island Hopping

Today was a travel day, flying from Rotorua to Christchurch. For a travel day, it wasn't too early. Luggage had to be out by 7:30am, and our meetup time to leave was at 8:45 am.

This morning was spent at the Te Puia New Zealand Māori Arts & Crafts Institute. It's pretty much what it sounds like, a school where students study various traditional Māori crafts, such as wood carving and making jewelry and decorative weapons out of stone (including pounamu) and weaving intricate baskets and art pieces.





We had a Māori guide from the school show us around.



There were students there while we toured, and watching them work was really very interesting.









These folks were standing around for quite a long while, staring at these wood figures. We think that they were discussing the fact that one of them was badly cracked, and what they would do about it, but it was really just a guess.



Some of the very intricate basket work done by the students.





Continued in next post.

 

[sayhello]

They had a model marae onsite. We didn't go in, but it looked pretty from the outside.



Once we were done touring the school, we headed out to the backside of the property which is a very active geothermal site. There was steam and very active geysers back there that were *very* dramatic.









We watched one geyser spit and spray for a while, before it erupted. Unlike other geyser eruptions I've seen, it went on for a relatively long time! I'm assuming this is the "World-famous Pohutu geyser" from the sign out front.



I thought this was funny, because Te Puia was doing enough smoking itself for all of us!



Photos were taken, we were given some free time to walk the area, take more photos, use the bathrooms, check out the onsite gallery and the gift shop.







At the appointed time, we met up, returned to our motorcoach, and headed out to the airport. We apparently deliberately arrived very early to the airport and had boxed lunches we'd selected earlier to eat as we sat in the waiting area. We also got drinks at the snack bar next to where we ate. It was a good boxed lunch, and I don't think anyone went hungry! People also shared some interesting flavored chips they'd purchased. It was one of the least stressful times I've ever had in an airport.

Continued in next post.

 

[sayhello]

Then we boarded our Air New Zealand flight for Christchurch.





It was an uneventful 2 hour-ish flight. Once we arrived in Christchurch, we grabbed our luggage and loaded them on carts, and headed out across the airport to our motorcoach.

We headed directly to the site for our activity in Christchurch: Punting on the Avon River. We were dropped near a smallish bungalow beside the river - Antigua Boat Sheds, established 1882.







From what I've seen, punting on the river is very, very similar to riding the gondolas on the canals of Venice. After the requisite safety lecture, we climbed into our assigned flat-bottomed boats along with our Punter, in his Edwardian straw hat, vest and tie. He was a very funny character, who kept us entertained while we floated down the river, with silly jokes, descriptions of what we were passing and some of the history of the area, and even a sung rendition of "Hakuna Matata"!



I don't think I could have come up with a more perfect activity for this point in the trip. It allowed us to just sit back and relax and soak in the scenery and decompress after the active days we'd had and the flight that afternoon. It was a positively *gorgeous* afternoon, and just very peaceful and beautiful to float down this river like people have done for well over a century, and enjoy just being there. Parts of the trip go through the Botanic Gardens, and the area around the river was just lush and green.





Heading back to the sheds.



Me and our Punter.



Continued in next post.

 

[sayhello]

We then walked out to the front of the Botanic Gardens to meet up with our motorcoach.

Some shots into the Botanic Gardens.





Our motorcoach driver then took us on a brief bus tour around the town, pointing out some of the main landmarks and buildings around a town that is still actively re-building and recovering from the devastating earthquake they had there in 2011. Some people were saying they found it sad, but I found it hopeful and beautiful.

The temporary Cathedral (called the Cardboard Cathedral because some of the decorations - see under the eaves - are made of cardboard tubes. No idea why!)





We eventually ended up at our hotel for the night, the Crowne Plaza Christchurch. It was a nice hotel, although my particular room had a fairly small window, with absolutely no view (the roof of part of the hotel and the wall of the hotel tower opposite). It made the room seem dark, but we were only staying there one night, so it was OK.





The room had this insane shower that was totally visible to the room (along with the rest of the bathroom).



Fortunately, if there was more than one person in the room, there was a blind you could lower completely to block the view. I still don't understand why they do stuff like that!



The rest of the afternoon/dinner/evening was On Your Own. I met with Kira and Nettie in the lobby, and got a map and suggestions from them for dinner and things to see. I decided to head out along the riverfront walkway to an area where there was a newish indoor/outdoor Food Hall past the Bridge of Remembrance war memorial.





Continued in next post.

 

[sayhello]

I ended up buying some soup and spring rolls from a Thai place, and found an outdoor picnic table facing the river to eat at. The weather was still gorgeous (if a tad windy) and I really enjoyed it.



Once I finished eating, I decided to just do some sightseeing, and headed out to find the Christchurch Cathedral, which our motorcoach driver had pointed out during our drive-through of the area. It's an icon of Christchurch, and was really badly damaged during and after the 2011 earthquake. It is still under re-construction, as there were many years of contention as to whether it should be knocked down and re-built or if the original building should be stabilized, preserved and renovated. (The tower and spire had collapsed during the earthquake, and been demolished to facilitate search & rescue efforts. The rest of the building was severely damaged.) But the folks pushing for renovation won, and the work started in earnest in 2019.







I then walked to a cute area called New Regent Street, which is pedestrian only, lined with cute pastel-colored buildings with shops and restaurants. I got some very yummy ice cream there, and then eventually wended my way back to the hotel. I relaxed and eventually settled in to bed, as we had an early day the next morning (luggage out at 6:15am!) to head out on our train and motorcoach ride, to Arthur's Pass and, eventually, to Franz Josef.



Next up: Day 7 - Tiki Tour