"Ian Hoare" wrote .......

>>> It would be an amazing coincidence if we were there at the same time.
>>> At present our plans are to spend Christmas with my brother in the UK,
>>> pop briefly back to attend to various boring details in France
>>> (probably flying) and then leave from the Uk in Early January (2012,
>>> of course)
>
>>Ian, just remember, the entire month of January is summer holiday time;
>>school is out and locals hit the road to the popular holiday spots (think
>>July in France)
>>
>>Notwithstanding, I would love to spend time with you - both in Central
>>Otago, and, of course, Northland, where I now reside.
>
> This is something of a dilemma. I take your point abou tthe holiday
> period. When we were there (Dec) the weather wasn't fantastic, unlike
> the welcome, but we never had the slightest difficulty in finding
> accommodation. I'd imagne that it would be harder in January, but by
> no means impossible without booking. Does that sound about right to
> you? At the moment, our plans are entirely flexible of course.
>
> My thought was that because we've rather got into the habit of
> spending Christmas with the family, it would be good to be able to
> continue to do so. Not only is it Christmas, of course, but the New
> Year and our wedding anniversary (which will be our 44th at the end of
> Dec 2011). But it's not essential by any manner of means.
>
> Tell you what. In principle we are free as air between the end of
> November and the middle of February. We'd probably want to spend
> around a month away from home, taking maybe 2-3 days to travel in each
> direction, to avoid having to sit 23 hours on the trot in a plane.
> What would YOU advise?
>
>>We shall correspond directly in due course
>
> Indeed we shall! However, I quite like the idea of at least _starting_
> the plans here, just in case anyone (Like Joseph) wants to join in
> too, So I hope you don't mind me talking about it in advance here.


Hi Ian (and JT and Joe Coulter and any one else interested!!!!!)

Thought I would start a new thread!

While the whole month of January is regarded as holiday month in NZ (meaning
school holidays) the busiest period is generally the three week period
commencing 24 December through to (about) 10 January.

However, you are correct - visiting "touristy" regions (and Central Otago
and Northland both fit into that category!) is by no means impossible - with
a little planning and advance bookings - certainly no "off-peak"
accommodation though!

And you are also correct - while December is regarded as the first month of
summer, things (weather) start getting more settled as summer advances.

From my perspective, with so much advance notice, I can be very flexible
too - and would have no trouble having the best part of a week in Central -
and the same to show you "my place" up North.

So, an arrival some time around the 7/8/9/10 January 2012 could definitely
be OK with me.

Regards

AB