Sweetness

My husband& Ihave 6.5 days over Thanksgiving/end Nov. in NZ after a few days in Sydney. For background, we LOVE beaches(mexico, caribbean islands, greek islands, hawaii, thailand for comparison). We are struggling with our NZ plan. Yes, this trip short& we ARE ambitous, but we are good at traveling quick to fit it all in. If we like certain areas, I'm sure we'll get back to spend more time.Though we are beach people, we love a trip that we get to sample local food/wine, scenery, activity and culture.We can't imagine visiting NZ without seeing Milford Sound,so Queenstown&MS is a strong must. with lack of time, less interested in glaciers, whales or vineards, as we have been to Napa Valley many times & plan to do alaska in the future. We are flying out of Auckland back to USA. How do we decided btw Abel Tasman, Coromandel,Rotorua, Napier, Wellington-Picton Ferry. Help.... what should we pick& how do we do it? Car,boat, flight, train are all options.
Milford, Auckland, Routora, North Beaches... Is Auckland area not too impressive? Trip ideas below.
1-2 day: Queenstown and Mildford Sound-2 days
3 Fly Auckland
4 Routora day trip
5 Coromandel day trip
6 Day trip North, west beaches or bay of plenty ??? Open to ideas
7 Fly home
OR #2 Milford, Ferry, Routra and Auckland
1-2 day: Queenstown and Mildford Sound-2 days.. .Is the ferry experience worth all the traveling?
3 Fly to Picton, ferry to Wellington, overnight
4 drive to Routora via Taupo or Napier, stay overnight
5 Routora all day
6 Drive to Auckland, stay overnight
7 Fly home
OR #3Are the Able Beaches worth all the driving?
1-2 day: Queenstown and Mildford Sound(scenic flight)
3 drive north along west coast, Franz Josef
4 drive north along west coast, Punakaiki ~ 3 hours, then to Marahu ~ 3.5 hours)
5 Abel Tasman National Park
6 Abel Tasman National Park or Picton to Wellington Ferry
7 Fly to Auckland, then home to USA

ElendilPickle

You have so little time in New Zealand that I would stick to the South Island.

Spend your first two nights in Queenstown. Explore the town, maybe drive up to Glenorchy the next day to hike or take a jet boat ride?

Then I'd suggest driving to Milford Sound and booking a package at Milford Sound Lodge. www.milfordsoundlodge. We did their Bed and Boat package in May and it was really enjoyable, though I see the summer package doesn't include dinner (the winter package does).

I suspect people who have spent more time on the South Island than I have will have other good ideas for you.

Lee Ann

tasmangirl

Stick with the South Island. Travelling fast means you never really see anything properly. And driving here is not like driving in the States!
Coromandel is a day trip from Auckland but Rotorua is not.
It's unseasonably cold here at the moment with a snow dump in Queenstown last week. It may have warmed up in a month but it would be a pity to plan too much at the beach if the weather was grotty.
No. 2 is almost doable ..but fly from Queenstown to Rotorua.
No. 3 is too much driving just to see Abel Tasman NP. Not at this time of the year when the weather maybe grotty.
What about :
Day 1 Queenstown
Day 2 Milford Sound trip
Day 3 Queenstown/day trip to Wanaka or Glenorchy or lake boat trip - the Earnslaw is lovely.
Day 4 fly to Rotorua
Day 5 Rotorua day trip to Taupo
Day 6 drive to Auckland - visit Hobbiton if that interests you.

tasmangirl

Oops left off Day 7 - fly back to the States

Sweetness

Thanks for the advise. So am I hearing that Abel Tasman late November is not a good idea? Can anyone tell me more, will it be too cold there to swim,, etc. If that's the case, what would be most advisable,, Rotorua or Coromandel day trip, Auckland west beaches or bay of plenty,Ferry experience Pitcon to Wellington ? Why? Which is most impressive??

tasmangirl

Your trip is only 6 days which is a very short timeframe for the wish list of seeing most of the country.
In New Zealand it takes time to get from place to place because there are not direct flights, or even hourly flights as there maybe in the States, or one bus departure a day.
Abel Tasman will be too cold for swimming in November but go there if you want to. November weather can be unsettled but you take a chance with the weather wherever you are. I love sea swimming but it's not usually warm enough until Jan/Feb/Mar.
Here's the options rated IMO:
1. Rotorua - if you have not been to thermal/volcanic areas it's a good choice. A long day trip (13 hours)from Auckland is offered by various tour companies but it does includes Waitomo Caves.
2. Auckland West Coast beaches - easy day trip
3. Coromandel beaches
4. Bay of Plenty - nice but not with such limited time
5. Ferry from Picton to Wellington - there is not time to do this. The closest airport is Blenheim with no direct route from Queenstown so would take all day just to get there before you even get on the ferry..you get the idea.
"which is most impressive" well that's very subjective and hard to answer. Don't overthink just come here and enjoy New Zealand!
Some of your questions have already been answered in the July post.