HELP New Zealand highlights in 10 days

Old Mar 10th, 2012, 05:51 PM
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HELP New Zealand highlights in 10 days

We are very close to making a decision to visit New Zealand. Though I know you need more time to enjoy it has to offer we have neither the time nor the money to stay longer than 10 days. What are the highlights that we should not miss? What airport should we fly in and out of? We would like to visit both NI & SI we want to see some of the LOTR locals and whale watching and I'd love to see the beauty. I would like to end our trip relaxed so maybe our last 2 nights on a beach taking it easy and flying out from somewhere close. Any suggestions, ideas, advice?
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Old Mar 10th, 2012, 06:31 PM
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What time of year? Where are you coming from? Are those 10 days 'on the ground' or inclusive of travel time?

It's difficult to see just the highlights of one island in 10 days, let alone both. I strongly suggest you limit yourself to one island, and I'd recommend the SI. If you're traveling from a distance, don't underestimate the affects of jet lag.

In 10 days, you could arrive and depart from Christchurch, and make a loop via rental car. A popular route with first timer visitors goes something like this: Christchurch-Arthur's Pass-West Coast (glaciers)-Queenstown &-Milford Sound-Wanaka-Mt Cook-Christchurch.

Or, since you're interested in whale watching, you could head north to Kaikoura first, then turn south via the West Coast. You can save time by driving only one way, then returning to Christchurch via plane from Queentown, Dunedin, or wherever, but you'd potentially miss either the West Coast or the inland route. Too see both, it's best to drive, and make a loop.

Keep in mind that distances in NZ are longer than they appear on a map; roads are narrow and winding, and it takes much longer to get from point to point than you might expect. Trying to fit too much in will guarantee you a lot of time spent in your rental car.

Another reason for keeping to one island is cost...it will cost you more to fly/ferry between the islands and short term car rentals are generally more expensive.

This travel distance/time calculator might help:

http://www.aatravel.co.nz/main/td-calculator.php
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Old Mar 11th, 2012, 12:44 PM
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Thanks so much for your reply, the suggestions and the map calculator are awesome!

We are thinking about toward the end of October. And we will be traveling from the U.S. so there is a lot of travel time and there will certainly be jet lag. So the 10 days include my travel days. I wanted to do one island but my husband wants to do both he says one is all nature and beauty but the other is where the people are. I don't know how much truth there is to all of that. Can you expand on that a bit?
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Old Mar 11th, 2012, 04:18 PM
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The South Island is indeed about nature and beauty. The largest cities on the SI are Christchurch with a population of about 367,000 and Dunedin at around 117,000.

The South Island claims to have more sheep than people - perhaps that's why I like it so much!

The low population and stunning beauty of the SI are it's two biggest attractions as far as I'm concerned. In the off season (such as October) it's quite possible to have world renowned walking tracks completely to oneself. The beaches are uncrowded (especially in the off season) and pristine.

The NI is much more populated. Auckland is a big city with a population of about 1.3 million and Wellington has a population of about 393,000.

We've visited NZ some 10-11 times...we visited the NI once, and never felt the need to return. The SI however, keeps calling us back.

If you're city people you'll no doubt enjoy the NI. If you prefer fewer people and endless stunning scenery, you'll enjoy the SI. Visiting both would be the best of both worlds, but with only 8-9 days on the ground to work with, you just don't have sufficient time. What time you do have will be spent getting from place to place instead of experiencing the destination.
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Old Mar 12th, 2012, 12:52 PM
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I agree with Melnq8, especially if you want to visit LotR sites. The most stunning ones are on the South Island.

We spent 10 days on the North Island in April 2004 and had a great time, but there was no way we could have fit the South Island into that time frame.

Lee Ann
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Old Mar 12th, 2012, 12:53 PM
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I forgot to mention that Ian Brodie's The Lord of the Rings Location Guide was really helpful when we planned our trip. You might want to look for a copy.

Lee Ann
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Old Mar 12th, 2012, 05:44 PM
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Hi there

If you are looking to see some of the LOTR locations etc that is in Matamata which is in the North Island. Close by is Tauranga and our beautiful beaches at Mount Maunganui. Very relaxing place and you could end your trip here and fly from Tauranga airport to Auckland and home from there. Close by also is Rotorua which is the tourist capital of the North Island with alot of Maori Culture and fun tourist ventures to take part in. Great place to stay also. The North Island has alot to offer and depending on the time of year we have our mountains and snow which is an awesome visit. I agree it is alot to visit in 10 days so one island this time would be recommended. Good luck and if you need further information feel free to contact me on [email protected]
Thanks Karen
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Old Mar 13th, 2012, 02:44 PM
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Certainly there are LotR sites on the North Island as well. We didn't go to Matamata, but we reenacted a lembas scene on Mt. Ruapehu, went to Kaitoke Regional Park to see where they filmed Rivendell, and spent a morning on Mt. Victoria in Wellington exploring filming sites. We also did a drive-by at Weta Workshop and Weta Digital in Miramar.

Lee Ann
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Old Mar 13th, 2012, 02:47 PM
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ItsMe

What others say is perfectly true: 10 days is very little time, but it is roughly what we spent in NZ (I have a trip report: Blitz tour of NZ and Oz in 3 weeks).

If you want to see both north and south island highlights, it can be done, but only if you're prepared to fly between the islands to save time. Take a look at Air new Zealand 'multiple destinations' fares and see if they will fit your budget.

As for travel days, a lot depends on where you live, and how much tolerance you have for long flight itineraries. It's 12 hours or so just from LAX to AKL, so we opted to overnight in LA to break up the trip a bit.

You will in any case be spending a night on the plane to Auckland, arriving at Auckland the next morning (in calendar days because you cross the dateline, the morning AFTER the next morning.)

After landing at AKL, we immediately flew to Queenstown for 3 nights; including the plane night and at least one night in LA, this brings us to to nights 3,4,5.

We flew back to Wellington for 2 nights (actually stuck in some time in Australia in between, but it nets down to the same thing); if we cut out our Australia portion, this would be nights 6,7.

And then flew from Wellington to Auckland where we picked up a car and doubled back to Taupo for 2 nights (for you, nights 8,9) before finishing up in Auckland for the tenth night. The eleventh night was spent on the plane back to LA - you get back a calendar day though cuz you recross the date line. In our case we again overnighted in LA before catching our final flight home. If you include the night at home following your flight home (which I always do since travel days aren't days available for work) this makes it twelve nights, minimum.

I suppose depending on where you live and your tolerance for long flights you could drop any overnights in LA and just make it one continuous nonstop itinerary, and this would bring it to 10 nights. Which is even faster than we did it, but it is still doable.

I thoroughly enjoyed our time in NZ (see my trip report) but heed what others say - if you are more like them than me, you might prefer to allocate all your available time to one island or the other.
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Old Mar 13th, 2012, 02:56 PM
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I obviously can't count. Eleventh night is plane back to LA, twelvth night in LA, THIRTEENTH night is the night at home following the flight from LA to home. So that's 13 nights if you include a night in LA coming and going, 11 nights if you drop the overnights in LA.
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Old Mar 14th, 2012, 03:15 PM
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You all have given my a lot of great info and a lot to think about. Sue_xx_yy thanks so much for your tips on the quick trip. I would say we are somewhere in between; it would be great to end the trip relaxing and to come back home relaxed instead of feeling we need a vacation from our vacation.

We actually had previously considered going to Bora Bora but are afraid we will get too bored there but not enough time to go there and another destination. We also considered Europe but I can't decide where in Europe I'd like to go. But NZ; wowza; it doesn't seem to get better than that!!
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Old Mar 16th, 2012, 03:35 AM
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Hi itsme:

It sounds like you haven't yet had a chance to do much traveling. If I've got this right, then here's my suggestion: put a trip or two elsewhere under your belt before going to NZ. Unless you live in Australia, the odds are that airfare to NZ will be quite an investment for you, indeed substantially more than anywhere in Europe. (I'm again guessing since the exact figure depends on where you live, season of travel, how far in advance you're willing to plan, etc. etc.) The point is, it could be hard to maximize your investment in a short trip all the way to NZ unless you have fairly focused objectives, and that in turn is a lot easier once you have some travel experience. Best of luck.
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Old Mar 30th, 2015, 06:56 PM
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Thank you to all who have responded. I have great information on AUS and NZ but I have decided to go with a trip to Italy and we can visit AUS and NZ for my husband's 50th! All of this information has been so helpful as this is on our bucket list (more so my husband's) Cheers!
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