Hi All,
I'm trying to quickly map out an itinerary for my family as we have planned a last minute Spring Break vacation to New Zealand! My kids are 8 and 5, so any kid friendly things to see/do and hotel ideas would be much appreciated! Can anyone tell me if some of the Hostels would be family friendly or is a different type of accomodation better? Some looked more like motels to me and seem to be popular so need to ask....Also, since the earthquake is it best to not go to the Christchurch area and do other areas? Also if anyone on here could recommend a good Farmstay we thought that sounded neat! Thinking of skipping the Glaciers as I'm thinking this wouldn't be that exciting for young kids and thinking I would need to have pretty warm clothes to be there.....
I'm thinking of renting a car the entire time, but realized it might be challenging with the whole driving on the left side....anyone experience this and how hard is it to get the hang of?
Fly in and out of Auckland arr. Mar 19 Leave April 6
Areas we will want to go;
Rotorua
Glow Worm Caves Waitomo
Bay of Islands
Wellington
Need a beach area for sure which would you recommend for kids swim beach (commodel peninsula, bay of islands??)
Can't decide what to try and see in South Island....got my work cut out for me! 
Thanks so much!
Have 16 days to travel around New Zealand with young kidsl? Ideas?!
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Regarding driving on the left - if I can do it anyone can. Yes, it's weird at first, but you get the hang of it easily enough. I highly recommend that you don't drive until after you've had a good night's sleep to recover from your journey.
Take your time, stay alert and keep left.
Christchurch is slowly recovering from the earthquake, but still has a long way to go. It's definitely worth a visit though, and walking the perimeter of the Red Zone around the earthquake ravaged CBD is quite interesting...and sobering.
You'll be in NZ over the long Easter weekend, so you'll want to book your accommodation the minute you've got your itinerary sorted - it's a busy time of year.
How many days to you plan to spend on the SI? What city are you flying into - Christchurch?
Thanks, will book a flight to SI based on what we need to see. I wasn't sure what was good to do there with the kiddos in tow...long hikes are not going to work and either are long boat rides....let me know your thoughts!
Well...
There's Puzzling World in Wanaka, which is popular with kids.
There's an underwater observatory and Kiwi park in Queenstown, the TSS Earnslaw steamship cruise, which includes a visit to a sheep station where you can see sheep shearing and sheep dogs in action.
Lots of lake activities in Wanaka and Queenstown.
Plenty of beaches, short rainforest walks.
The Antarctic Center in Christchurch.
More ideas here:
http://www.kidzgo.co.nz/