shveta86

Hi,

We are planning to visit NZ from 8th Dec, 2014 to 23rd Dec. 2014 on our Honeymoon. We will be landing in Auckland and will be leaving back from Queenstown.

We need your help in finalising the itinerary. Having gone through so many Trip Reports and guides.. My mind is swimming with options.. But I need your guidance for the practicality aspect. We want to cover NI and SI both and we do realise that this short duration will not to justice to the beauty that is NZ. But, we can't stretch beyond this and would really like to cover as much as possible.

Having said that, I'd also like to mention that I don't mind backpacking the entire NZ but my fiance (even though he won't admit it) would like a relaxed time there. But we both enjoy road-trips and want to self-drive all around NZ.

Please review my itinerary and do let me know if it would ensure we relax as well as touch the highlights of NZ. We are going to concentrate on the SI more because I've heard Bay of Islands etc. is too crowded that time. Also, I have planned a north to south trip. Would it be better if I reverse it? Since our trip ends on Christmas Eve.. Should we be at less crowded cities that time.. Because I've kept Queenstown in the end.

Day 1: 8th Dec. Arrive at Auckland. Collect rental car.
Day 2: Head to Rotorua (via Hobbiton). Rotorua overnight
Day 3: Rotorua
Day 4: Catch a flight from Auckland/Rotorua to Nelson
Day 5: Spend the day at Abel Tasman National Park. Nelson overnight
Day 6: Punakaiki. Greymouth Overnight
Day 7: Greymouth
Day 8: Fox Glacier
Day 9: Fox Glacier
Day 10: Wanaka
Day 11: Te Anau
Day 12: Te Anau
Day 13: Queenstown
Day 14: Queenstown
Day 15: Queenstown
Day 16: Take flights out of Queenstown
We are not into wineries, museums, architecture etc. More into nature, adventure sports, walking around etc.


1) Would we be relaxed tripping with this itinerary or always on the rush. If on the rush.. How bad is it going to be? Should we remove something from the itinerary? Taking a domestic flight would give me 1.5 days extra.. Otherwise I was keen on travelling to Wellington after Rotorua and catch the ferry for Nelson.
2) Also, we are on a tight budget so should we consider booking accommodation and tickets for rides etc. through a travel agent or should we go about doing this on our own? Will it save us some bucks? Do I need to keep specific NZ Govt. taxes etc in mind if I book everything on my own?
3) Like I mentioned earlier, would this itinerary be more cost-effective if we reverse it?

Keenly waiting for some answers as its already too late in booking air tickets and accommodation considering Dec is peak tourist season.

Melnq8

Hi shveta86 -

I assume you're arriving in Auckland over a long (possibly overnight) flight. If so, hopping into a rental car in an unfamiliar country isn't a good idea.

<<Day 5: Spend the day at Abel Tasman National Park. Nelson overnight>

Do be aware that the drive from Nelson to Marahau (the gateway to Abel Tasman Nat'l Park) will take over an hour. As you only have one day, you might consider basing yourself closer to the park.

<<Day 6: Punakaiki. Greymouth Overnight>>

The drive from Nelson to Greymouth will take you well over four hours. It's doable, but might limit your sightseeing en route.

<<Day 7: Greymouth>>

Why? Greymouth isn't all that exciting from a visitor's standpoint. You'd do better to continue on to the glaciers IMO and spend this day elsewhere (such as around Nelson).

Day 9: Fox Glacier
Day 10: Wanaka
Day 11: Te Anau

Fox to Wanaka is a long drive as is Wanaka to Te Anau. Only one night in Wanaka doesn't give you any time to do anything while there.

<<Will it save us some bucks? Do I need to keep specific NZ Govt. taxes etc in mind if I book everything on my own?>>

No. Tax is included in the quoted price of accommodation, food, activities, etc. I fail to see how a travel agent could save you any money, but it doesn't hurt to ask them.

<< Like I mentioned earlier, would this itinerary be more cost-effective if we reverse it?>>

I can't imagine how it would be. High season is high season.

shveta86

Hi Melnq8..

I've read your name and replies over a lot of posts and I'm feeling so happy you replied on mine

Day 1 we plan to collect the rental car and stay in Auckland itself.

Day 6: Should we stay at Punakaiki itself then?

Day 7: I guess we can push this day somewhere else then.. Maybe an extra day in Nelson.. Or should we actually take that ferry instead of the flight?

The most important thing I need to know is if this itinerary is feasible and it wont make us feel like we're rushing from one place to the other.

annhig

Hi shveta,

congrats on your wedding and on finding your way here. Melnq8 helped us a tremendous amount when we were planning our first trip to NZ last year - I jsut wished I'd listened to her more! She is absolutely right about the driving times - you are really saving up problems for yourselves trying to do Fox to Wanaka and then Wanaka to Te Anau on consecutive days.

it is possible to do Nelson to Fox in a day, albeit a long one, but you'd only want to do that if you had longer stays either side of it. If you want to follow Mel's advice, I think you could tweek your itinerary like this:

Day 1: 8th Dec. Arrive at Auckland. Collect rental car.
Day 2: Head to Rotorua (via Hobbiton). Rotorua overnight
Day 3: Rotorua
Day 4: Catch a flight from Auckland/Rotorua to Nelson
Day 5: Nelson overnight
Day 6pend the day at Abel Tasman National Park.overnight nearby.
Day 7: travel to fox via Punakaiki.
tDay 8: Fox Glacier
Day 9: Wanaka
Day 10: Wanaka
Day 11: Te Anau
Day 12: Te Anau
Day 13: Queenstown
Day 14: Queenstown
Day 15: Queenstown
Day 16: Take flights out of Queenstown

personally i would take a day from QT and add it to Wanaka, which we greatly preferred, but you may enjoy QT more than we did.

mlgb

Personally I would reverse your trip and fly from Auckland to Queenstown on the day you arrive. It should be a nonstop flight, you will be a bit jetlagged anyways, so just use it as a travel and rest day and get as far south as you will go.

You do not even need to pick up a car immediately if going to Queenstown, you can take the Supershuttle or taxi to your hotel, walk around and enjoy the Remarkables and look into booking any tours you might take from Queenstown (eg Skippers Canyon). Saving a few days car rental can help on the budget and Queenstown has decent bus service over to Arrowtown which is a nice excursion.
http://connectabus.com/timetables/Route-10-Arrowtown

Then work your way north. I would reconsider flying into Rotorua if you are on a budget. It isn't cheap. Instead fly into Auckland, it is not far, I would probably save the airfare and just rent a car return from Auckland airport.Or look into whether booking a bus or shuttle tour is a better deal, sometimes they combine these with a visit to the glow worm cave.

A tip on saving on airfare, log into the NEW ZEALAND version of Air New Zealand. www.airnewzealand.co.nz and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by the airfares if purchased in advance at the lowest rate

Shop around for your car rental too. If you have a US Visa card, you may not need to buy any additional insurance. Apex is a good local firm but you may find discounts on the international companies such as Avis. I often was able to get a free rental for a day through Avis if I picked up an airport car and dropped it off in the city (of course if you've never been to Auckland not necessarily a good plan, but the Avis in downtown Auckland is actually pretty easy to find.)

Melnq8

mlgb makes some good points about flying into QT first.


<<Day 6: Should we stay at Punakaiki itself then?>>

There's not a whole lot on offer in Punakaiki other than the Pancake Rocks and some great walking tracks, but it is a good place to overnight and break up your journey from Nelson.

The following day you could take your time getting to the glaciers, stopping to explore Greymouth and Hokitika along the way if so inclined.

I'd use that extra day in Nelson or Wanaka.

shveta86

Thank you so much everyone

I'm have serious doubts on choosing NI + SI for 2 weeks or concentrating on only SI for the whole 2 weeks..

Everywhere I search.. There is SO MUCH TO SEE and DO in each place..

Plus I know my fiance will definitely prefer the relaxed trip over this hectic schedule!

I'll make a draft SI itinerary and get back here?

Thank you so much for helping me take this decision

mlgb

Ahh yes, that is always the problem!

I actually was going to suggest dropping Rotorua, there is also Lord of the Rings scenery on the SI although not Hobbiton.

Punakaiki and Greymouth are very close together. Really I would probably rather stay in Hokitika, since at night you can go up and walk through the glow worm dell.

Also the weather can be very "changeable" and the west coast isn't much fun in the rain, so stay a bit flexible and try not to lock in too many nonrefundable hotel rooms and activities. The weather service is www.metservice.com. I got very good at forecasting by reading the Tasman sea surface pressure maps http://www.metservice.com/maps-radar/maps/tasman-sea-nz

I often went in that time frame. Last visit the only area that had good weather was around Queenstown. It seemed to be in a bit of a rainshadow.

shveta86

Hello once again

Dearest Melnq8, annhig and mlgb.. Thank you so much for all your comments so far..

Due to certain reasons back home, we have had to cut short our trip by a few days.. Have booked flight to and fro Auckland.. Reaching Auckland 9th Dec. afternoon and returning late night 21st Dec. This gives us around 13 days.. Due to this and my previous confusion of keeping it relaxed with only one island + trying to cram both islands in 2 weeks.. We finally decided to stick to South Island only..

I've thought of 2 itineraries.. Please let me know if I'm missing out on some imp. place or if I should increase my stay someplace and reduce someplace..

Also.. I shall start looking for accommodation for each of the cities.. Should I pre-book all the hotels? Or will we be able to find good places (at good rates) there itself? Please give me a few names which I can check out.. We shall be 'cheaping out' on accommodation majorly so would prefer motels and B&Bs only..

So here are the options for final itinerary.. Your suggestions would definitely help me make my final plan.

9th Dec.: Reaching Christchurch at night. O/N Christchurch
10th Dec.: O/N Kaikoura.
11th Dec.: Kaikoura to Nelson. O/N Nelson.
12th Dec.: O/N Nelson.
13th Dec.: Nelson to Punakaiki. O/N Punakaiki.
14th Dec.: Punakaiki to Franz Josef. O/N Franz Josef
15th Dec.: O/N Franz Josef
16th Dec.: O/N Wanaka
17th Dec.: O/N Te Anau
18th Dec.: O/N Te Anau.
19th Dec.: O/N Queenstown
20th Dec.: O/N Queenstown.
21st Dec.: Queenstown to Christchurch (8 hours driving). Fly to Auckland by evening.


9th Dec.: Reaching Christchurch at night. O/N Christchurch
10th Dec.: O/N Hokitika
11th Dec.: O/N Franz Josef
12th Dec.: O/N Franz Josef
13th Dec.: O/N Wanaka
14th Dec.: O/N Wanaka
15th Dec.: O/N Te Anau
16th Dec.: O/N Te Anau
17th Dec.: O/N Queenstown
18th Dec.: O/N Queenstown
19th Dec.: O/N Queenstown
20th Dec.: O/N Lake Tekapo
21st Dec.: Reach Christchurch. Fly to Auckland by evening


First option includes Nelson but excludes Mt. Cook. Second option does the opposite. I've realised that I'll have to let go one of them. Plus 1st option will mean my last day will be spent in travelling all day from QT to CHC and then onward flights. But that's something we can still endure if Nelson is going to be worth visiting..

So, which option should it be?

annhig

why not fly back to Auckland from QT? That cuts out the terrible drive from QT to C/church and gives you one more day, which on Plan A i would give to Wanaka because the drive from FJ to Wanaka one day, followed by Wanaka to Te Anau the next would be very tiring, and probably make you too tired to do much the next day.

I think that if you made that change, I would prefer Plan A as we liked Nelson a lot.

shveta86

I've already booked tickets for AKL - CHC - AKL through Jetstar.. :/

Songdoc

The stargazing at the observatory in Lake Tekapo was UNBELIEVABLE. If that interests you, don't miss it.

Melnq8

I prefer your second itneraty - the first is too much diving IMO. You can still see MT Cook on your drive day from QT to Tekapo - it's about a 55 km detour but well worth it.

I'm at this moment sitting in a Christchurch motel having arrived last night at midnight. It's cold and gloomy today, hopefully it will burn off.

shveta86

Thank you everyone for all your help so far We have decided to go ahead with the second itinerary though I really wanted to visit Nelson.. Maybe some other time

@Melnq8: What motel are you staying at? Would love to get some inputs for motels and lodges for the itinerary we've planned.

Has anyone stayed in Beachfront Hokitika??

Melnq8

shveta -

I'm currently in Hanmer SPrings, not on your itinerary.

In Hokitika we like the Shining Star Motel.

osteorach

Hi there,

Not sure if hostels are your thing but I'll throw it out there.
Your trip seems to be coming along well and the second itinerary reads better. I like the yha at franz josef, we had a single room to ourselves and the communal / cooking area was fantastic. This was however ~10yrs ago and it had been renovated close to that time. Check out the yha site and look at the recent feedback on the establishment. The queenstown hostel was more tired and well used but still adequate. Otherwise the copthorne in QT has been suitable for recent trips and came at a very reasonable price.

The hostel in te anua was likewise excellent with a nice outdoor lawn. Again it was a single room (not shared)...

Good luck

Melnq8 I'm jealous that you are there now.

shveta86

Thanks Melnq8 and Osteorach!

Melnq8.. You mentioned you were in a motel in Christchurch.. That's why I asked

Osteorach.. Thank you for your recommendations! Like I said earlier.. We do prefer cheaping out on accommodation rather than activities etc. but we'd still prefer motels or lodges instead of hostels..

I can't seem to find options in Tekapo area.. Recommendations anyone??

bea_001

I´m also planning a trip for late February to the South Island.
I´m looking into Peppers Bluewater Resort for our stay in Tekapo.

Melnq8

Sorry shveta, I misunderstood. I was in a motel near the airport for a matter of hours, just a place to sleep and not a place I'd recommend for any longer than that.

I do like Merivale Manor in Christchurch as well as several other places the names of which escape me at the moment.

Osteorach - absolutely fabulous day on the Queen Charlotte Track today walking between Ship Cove and Furneaux!

shveta86

Point noted Melnq8!

Gosh there is so much to see and do in New Zealand! I wish we had more time :/