01.14.07 - 01.21.07 - Auckland, New Zealand. The Metropolis Extremely nice accomodations on the 16th floor with a killer view. Located directly in the center of town. The "high speed" internet connection failed to impress, so we'll be working from internet cafe's it would appear.
01.21.07-01.23.07 - Bay of Islands, New Zealand. Bay of Islands Gateway Motel Comfortable, extremely reasonable priced accomodations. It is about a 10 minute walk to the center of Paihia. Very friendly reception helped us to book a less touristy Cape Reinga and sand dune experience.
01.24.07-01.27.07 - Rotorua, New Zealand. Emerald Resort and Spa This place was such a find. It just opened in Nov. 06, so everything was nice and new, and most importantly clean! They had all the amenities, including flat screen tv, huge jacuzzi tub, FREE internet, and central location. All this, for around $100 US/night - such a score!
01.27.07-01.28.07 - Havelock North, New Zealand. Casa Dan and Judy Steiner Jason's cousin, Dan and his wife Judy, who we met for the first time, were kind enough to open their house to us for a wonderful stay. We even got an amazingly delicious home cooked Sunday morning breakfast c/o Dan and his wonderful culinary skills (picture shows them in action in the kitchen.)
01.28.07-01.30.07 - Wellington, New Zealand. Atrium Towers Great location on The Terrace, one block from the main street. Comfortable one bedroom, with washer/dryer for $100 US/night. The internet however was a real disappointment,costing $25/day for each of our computers ($50 TOTAL!), and terrible connection! Nice full gym that we took advantage of.
01.30.07 - 02.01.07 - Bleinheim, New Zealand. Copthorne Marlborough Hotel Only a 5 minute walk to the center of town, this hotel was great. They charged $10 for an internet connection that came in and out, but served it's purpose. Located in the heart of Marlborough Wine country, we arranged a private tour from here to show us the region. Continental breakfast was overpriced, but staff was friendly.
02.01.07 - 02.03.07 - Nelson, New Zealand. Delorenzo's Apartments Although we had not originally booked this as our accomodation, we ended up here after walking out of the Trailways Hotel that charged way too much for internet. This actually was great, since had a full size washer/dryer in the unit, and a pretty solid internet connection. Literally, a 2 minute walk from the center of town.
02.03.07 - Greymouth, New Zealand. Coleraine Motel A brand new motel, located about a 15 minute walk to the center of town. They informed us they had broadband internet, which actually turned out to be a dial-up connection. Jason finally figured this out after about an hour of trying to connect and getting quite frustrated!
02.04.07 - Fox Glacier, New Zealand. The Westhaven Seriously, this place had the most killer location in the tiny town. Comfortable and clean, but nothing special. No internet access there, which we new going in. WE did however manage to find a place in town to connect - phew!
02.05.07 - 02.12.07 - Queenstown, New Zealand. Pounamu Apartments Now this place will no doubt be the first on our list of favorite accomodations. This pad is a gorgeous 2 bedroom 2 bath, brand new apartment, looking out onto the lake. Some of the features of include a 42 inch plasma, lcd televisions in both the bedrooms, surround sound, a large balcony with glass doors that open to the living area, washer/dryer. On top of it all the place is insanely reasonable priced at around $125 USD! Plus it's is even getting cleaned and serviced everyday. Best of all the internet it free and reliable here :)
02.12.07 - 02.14.07 - Christchurch, New Zealand. Colombo in the City Motel Basic motel located close to Cathedral Square and CBD. The handicap accessible bathroom was a nightmare since there was just a drain in the middle of the floor of the bathroom with no way to contain the water. Lets just say Jason managed to spray down the two rolls of tp during his showers. Again, received misinformation about the internet accessibility here.
