NZ Frenzy South Island New Zealand 3rd Edition

Even as Scott would say in the book about an amazing obscure trek, shhh don't tell anyone about this! All kidding aside, this guide book is a MUST have for anyone visiting New Zealand. No need for any other guide books that are just going to take you to the places and tours that paid them to get into their book. You can get all that information through a google search. Scott writes everything from first-hand experience and it is all extremely detailed. I promise you can feel comfortable ignoring the bad reviews on this book because "it is not in color" and "it doesn't have maps." The book being in black and white makes no difference and maps are not necessary in the book (even though he does have basic maps showing approximate location of each trek in each region).Scott lays out tons of different treks around the island and breaks them down by region. He then also breaks each region down by giving you which ones are treks you can't pass up. Even more helpful was that he describes both how to get to the trailhead and what to expect on the trail in great detail. Scott also gives you an idea of how crowded the trek typically is and there are exact coordinates for each trailhead. This is where not needing detailed maps in the book comes into play. Instead, download the Maps.ME app to your phone before your trip and put in the coordinates for the treks you want to do, then save the locations as a favorite. When you arrive you will have a GPS app for driving that will take you to all the locations and it does not require any data from your plan to work. Oh and guess what, you can then see the sight for yourself.....in color!I can't tell you how many times we passed up the jam packed parking lot for a popular trek to instead opt for one that Scott suggested and had our minds blown by how beautiful it was and how few people we encountered. This book is worth its weight in gold, it did not leave our side the entire trip

I can’t say enough nice things about these books that would repay Scott Cook for making our trip to NZ so wonderful. There wasn’t one place we chose to go out of these books (North and South) that wasn’t worth the time and effort. I used these books almost exclusively to plan the sights my husband and I would see on our extended stay in NZ (34 days). The choices of spots were obviously wonderful and off the beaten path as promised, the descriptions and pictures were helpful in narrowing down the choices we needed to make and there were enough options that all of our days were full including car travel days. This is the best travel book I have ever used. I wish I could find other similar books for other places we want to go, but I haven’t found any this good yet.

This is a fabulous book. It is the ultimate “insiders guide.” It gives good, succinct, descriptions of all the really interesting places to go in New Zealand. Having this guide made our trip SO MUCH better. The book gives no advice on lodging or restaurants but that doesn’t matter because that info can be found at many online sources. It does tell you about all the best outdoor adventures you can have (most of which are free or have very minimal charges). The author provides GPS coordinates for all of the sites he describes which we found to be highly accurate. It is far and away the BEST guidebook on travelling in New Zealand.

Probably should've given it 2 stars, but it's Cinco de Mayo...Found errors with many of the hikes, and we only did a handful so that's not good.Author stresses that the book s/b used in conjunction with the website, but glaring gaps still exist.It has good content, and if things were tighter it'd probably get a 4-star rating. However, you want something you can throw in the backpack and go. I don't want to have to link with a website in order to get a full picture. And the errors...Given some of the errors we encountered, I wonder if the author has actually done the hikes listed. He often talks about drinking beer during his work; maybe a few less would be good - he can party when his product is complete and tight, rather than getting stuff wrong in the book.Anyway, good value in listing off the beaten path places, but come on man. If you're sending folks off the beaten path make sure they have good instructions/details/directions.

Ein cooler Begleiter im Süden...

I bought this to help us plan our 2nd trip to the South Island. It really is fantastic, well laid out and informative, especially, if like us, you like to get off the beaten track. Already have a few ideas in mind for when we go and it will be going with us.

Envoi soigné et rapide. Livre très intéressant un des meilleurs sur la Nouvelle Zélande avec des infos sur des sites plus confidentiels. Une bonne raison de retourner rendre visite aux Kiwis.

This book has been so useful in planning our trip through the South Island. Full of useful Information with lots of out of the way places to stop and explore. The GPS co-ordinates are an extremely helpful idea. I bought the Lonely Planet guide also, but preferred the NZ Frenzy book. Loved all the anecdotal snippets.

beautifully constructed guide to the hidden secrets of this wonderful country! highly recommended over any guide if you want to make the most out of your trip