help on NZ trip itinerary, what to keep what to skip

Old Jun 27th, 2016, 11:54 AM
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help on NZ trip itinerary, what to keep what to skip

Hello! My boyfriend and I are flying into Auckland from the US for a 16 day trip of the north and south island in Feb 2017. I am working on our itinerary but i've been told it is too ambitious and we need to eliminate a few stops. These are some places we would like to hit, can you suggest how to do this in 16 days, if it is feasible, and what to eliminate? The only set plan is that we fly into auckland on feb 1st and we fly out the afternoon of feb 16th. we are planning on driving most of the trip with the exception of flying from queenstown to auk on the 15th. we are open to other travel options (local flights) if it will cut on time and be more feasible

In the north we would like to visit: auckland, bay of islands, waipoua kauri forest (if time) hobbiton, waitomo caves, rotorua, taupo, wellington (if time, were told to get rid of this or bay or islands, but BoI seemed like a great destination)

in the south: marlbourough/bleinheim for a wine tour, abel tasman park and nelson, kaikura, christchurch, te anau, queenstown...we had dunedin on here too but were told to take it off

during this we are looking to get some nice hikes in as well as fishing and snorkling so if there are spots on here where we can do this and it is redundant please let me know so we can consolidate.
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 03:12 PM
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Too many destinations! It's not possible to visit all those places within 2 weeks.
4,5 and 6 Feb 2017 is our Waitangi weekend (kiwi 4th of July)and everywhere will be really busy and bookings for anything will be essential.
Here's a suggestion for some of your highlights :
1/2 Auckland, hire car, acclimatize to driving on the left
2/2 Hobbiton, Rotorua for the night
3/2 Explore Rotorua
4/2 Taupo (about 1 hour from Rotorua)
5/2 Taupo to Wellington (this is a long day's drive)
6/2 Wellington
7/2 ferry to Picton, stay in Blenheim
8/2 Marlborough winery tour
9/2 Kaikoura
10/2 Christchurch
11/2 Christchurch
12/2 Fly to Queenstown OR drive via Mt Cook and 1 night there
13/2 Queenstown
14/2 Queenstown
15/2 Queenstown, back to Auckland
16/2 fly home
Skip the Bay of Islands as it's a one way road there and back and will take up too much time. Likewise Waipoua Forest will not be possible. Waitomo Caves are awkwardly placed on the other side of the North Island but you could do them instead of Hobbiton.
Nelson and Abel Tasman can't be squeezed in. 3 days in Queenstown will let you do day trips from there. Milford Sound is worth visiting.
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 04:56 PM
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Thanks for the feedback...Does this seem like a reasonable itinerary?

day 1: Fly into Auckland, spend day exploring and spend night

day 2: waitomo and hobbiton, stay night in hamilton

day 3: explore and spend night in rotorua

day 4: Taupo, but night in rotorua

day 5: drive through Mt Ruapehu and spend night in Wellington

day 6: explore wellington

day 7: ferry to Picton, drive Queen Charlotte Drive to Nelson

8 explore Able Tasman NP, night in nelson

9 drive to Blenheim, wine tour, night here

10 drive to Kaikoura, night here

11 drive to Chch, night here

12 drive to Aoraki/Mt Cook, night here

13 drive to Queenstown, night here

14 explore, night here in queenstown

15 tour Milford Sound (13 hour bus tour or 8 hour bus/cruise/fly) stay Queenstown

day 16: fly from queenstown at 9am to get to auckland by 11:30, our flight home departs at 3pm
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 10:13 PM
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No I don't think this looks better! Do you like fast paced travel with only an afternoon or morning in a place?
Hamilton is actually north of Waitomo and Hobbiton so there is no point in a night there.
Driving to Taupo twice is a waste of time and petrol. Stay in Taupo overnight. It's not far from Rotorua so you can do something in the morning or afternoon. Orakei Korako is a great thermal park on the way between Rotorua and Taupo.
The South Island is far too much driving. Roads here are narrow and winding, often over hills with slow traffic. It will take much longer than you think. And driving here takes concentration and effort.
Google maps really underestimate the time needed to drive here. aa.maps.co.nz will give a more accurate travel time.
Day 7 to 13 is driving everyday and squeezing in a sight as you go past and doesn't leave much time for hiking or fishing when you get there. It's probably over 1000 km of travel.
Skip Taupo and Wellington and look at flying from Rotorua to Blenheim. You would need two separate rental cars then. Slow down and enjoy your trip.
There are great wineries on Waiheke which is only a half hour ferry ride from Auckland CBD. Marlborough is not the only wine area in NZ.
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Old Jun 28th, 2016, 02:20 PM
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We traveled to NZ a few years back and had the same amount of time you have. My best advice is don't rush your trip. Spend a minimum of 2 nights and three if you can beacause there is so much to enjoy. We flew into Christchurch and spent two nights. Then drove to Punakaki, two nights. Nelson and Abel Tasman 3 nights. (Fishing 1 day) Then took the ferry to north island, lunch in Wellington and on to Taupo (Turangi) 3 nights. Walked Tongariro. Best fly fishing in NZ. Two nights in Napier, 1 night Rotorua and two night Auckland.

We were able to stop and take hikes along the routes, picnic, sightsee, shop, fish with a guide, and relax. It's a beautiful country so don't just do a "drive by". We've been back twice and are planning another trip. Enjoy.
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Old Jun 29th, 2016, 12:56 AM
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If you make it to Hamilton - whether or not you stay there - be sure to-
(a) go and see the statue of Riff Raff, a tribute to Richard O'Brien, writer of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, who came from Hamilton, and
(b) visit the Hamilton Gardens (which are on the way out of town). Not to be missed, they are world-class and absolutely outstandng.
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Old Jun 30th, 2016, 07:29 PM
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I spent many a high school weekend watching the Rocky Horror Picture Show at a local theater, tossing toast at the screen.

I had no idea it was written by a Kiwi from Hamilton!
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Old Jul 5th, 2016, 10:58 AM
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When we did our 6 week driving tour of NZ we limited our drive time between destinations to no more than 3 or 4 hours and stayed at each location for 3 to 4 nights. That "driving distance" allowed us to make periodic stops along the way to "see and enjoy" various points of interest while on route and/or stop for a nice lunch and stroll through quaint villages & towns. It also afforded us ample time at each "stopover" destination to fully explore that particular area at our leisure. It turned out to be the best trip we have made in our 35+ years of travel. Even though we spent 6 weeks doing this we only scratched the surface.

Lesson learned - take your time, don't try to do too much in too short of a time frame.
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Old Jul 17th, 2016, 09:56 AM
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We had a trip of 17 nights in NZ and did something not dissimilar to your trip. Thought we are experienced [left-hand side of the road] drivers we still found some of the roads in NZ very long-winded and tiring. Tasmansgirl's itinerary is pretty good I think and would give you a good balance of places seen v distance travelled.
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