dec528

short notice, but we will be visiting NZ for 1 week (I know - I would love to spend more time...) next week, arriving in auckland on sunday Oct 29 morning from the US. we will have 7 nites in NZ before flying to melbourne for 1 week in australia, flying out of sydney 2 weeks later on a monday. we are 2 moderately active 40 somethings (but no extreme sports) who want to see as much of NZ without running ourselves ragged. We are not big on museums though we do enjoy cities also. Tentatively we will spend the first 2 days in the auckland area and then head towards the south island, spending the last 4 days of the week there. A few questions:

1) should we pick up the rental car upon arrival in auckland, or pick it up when we are leaving auckland
2)should we keep the car the entire time (ferry crossing?)or should we drop it off before departing for the south island and pick up another car there (if so, where?)
3)if we drop off the car before heading to south island, which airports should we fly out of and into
4) there appears to be a nonstop flight that leaves christchurch in the evenings about 8pm. Is this the most convenient airport in south island to fly to melbourne?

thanks for any advice...

paulg

With only 7 nights, and if you definitely want to spend time in Auckland first, then I would fly directly to Queenstown from Auckland and spend the rest of your time in that area rather than driving all the way from Auckland to the SI. Alternately, if you don't mind skipping Auckland, you could immediately fly to QT after you get in and start your trip there (QT, Wanaka, Te Anau).

tasmangirl

1. Work out your activities and see if you need a car. Parking is a hassle in the city and if you want to get out of the city take an organised tour.
2. NO NO NO - one week is not enough time to drive all that way. Hire another car in the South Island if you actually need to as you could probably get away with not having a car.
3. You could drive to Rotorua from Auckland and leave the car there but again 1 week is not very long and you'd miss more of the South Island.
4. They are all non stop flights as you are crossing the Tasman Sea and there is nowhere to stop.
Honestly you are going to be running ragged if you don't keep it simple.
Days 1-3 days in Auckland and visit Waiheke Island and do a day trip to Hobbiton if that interests you or Waitomo Caves.
Days 4-7 fly direct to Queenstown as there is so much to do there. A Milford Sounds day trip is a full day.
Forget going to Christchurch (it's a great place but you have not got time) and fly out of Queenstown to Melbourne.
It's cold here at the moment which is unusual as it's often warming up by now. Bring a cardigan or jumper and a jacket.

dec528

thanks. I will do some research in the next few days to try and firm up an itinerary of sorts but will definitely consider flying to Queenstown. Do you know which is the best airport (most nonstop flights) from the south island to melbourne? seems it is christchurch? seems to be christchurch

dec528

thanks tasman girl, just saw your post. I will definitely consider your suggestions and try to simplify. I can consider skipping Melbourne to add a few days to NZ, and visit only the sydney area in AUS but I'm hesitant to do that at this time. If only I had 3 weeks...

tasmangirl

How are you getting on Dec528?
Sorry about my assumption all the flights are direct. Some go through Auckland which would be okay but going through Sydney to get to Melbourne is just too time consuming. It looks like there are only about 2 direct flights to Melbourne a day from both Queenstown and Christchurch. Pay a bit more to go direct I think.
Air NZ would be a better choice as it flies into Tullamarine but Jet Star flies to Avalon Airport which is a good 50 km south of Melbourne. We have daylight saving in NZ right now and we are 3 hours ahead of Australia so when you fly you arrive about the time you left NZ.
Sydney is the showstopper city really. I like Melbourne but it's more a shopping/eating/going to a show or exhibition type of city. Where as Sydney has the harbour, beaches, great zoo, day trip to Blue Mountains, climb up the Harbour Bridge and a whole lot of stuff to do.

dec528

thanks very much for the tips tasmangirl re the flights out of QT and Christchurch, and also re flying into Tullamarine. I need to do some serious trip planning over the weekend (hard to do it at work!) and figure out how much time to spend in sydney/whether to skip Melbourne, and also try to nail down a plan for NZ. I'm thinking now that we will spend a few days in the auckland area, possibly visit waiheki island/hobitton or Waitomo caves. Then fly to QT for 4 days (or more if skip melbourne). do you not recommend having a car in auckland for those day trips, or even rent it for 1 day, rather than taking organized tours? Also in QT, should we not rent a car for sightseeing/day trips etc? thanks again for your suggestions.

paulg

I personally would rent a car in QT, but I'm a do-it-yourself vacationer. That will get you to Milford Sound, Wanaka, Arrowtown, Glenorchy, etc. and you won't waste time messing with buses and tours.

tasmangirl

Depends on your travel style if you want to hire a car. It does give more freedom but you have to park it, drive it and figure out the roads yourself.
You have such limited time taking a tour means someone else does all thinking involved about getting from A and B so you can just enjoy the trip. It's up to you.

Melnq8

I'd fly directly to Queenstown from Auckland, rent a car and spend all of your time there - you can see a lot from a Queenstown base and I guarantee you will not run out of things to do.

Simple and smart.

dec528

ok, I've done some research, watched a few you tube vides of NZ travel, and have come up with a tentative plan. We arrive sunday morning at 830, after flying a total of 16 hours from the US (florida). We will have a total of 7 full days, before we leave the following sunday to Melbourne for 1 week in australia (melbourne and sydney most likely).

SUNDAY-WED: NORTH ISLAND
we will spend sunday touring auckland and taking it easy
Monday - possible Wakeke Island
tuesday-wed: Waitomo caves and Rotorua (overnight tuesday)

I know we would not need a car for sunday-monday, but I would prefer to rent a car for tuesday-wed rather than do a tour. Is it easy to rent a car in auckland city center, rather than going to the airport? or should we just pick up the car on arrival sunday am?

WED EVE-SUNDAY: SOUTH ISLAND
wed afternoon/eve - fly to QT. I know there is an airport in Rotorua, but the flights to QT from here seem to all have a stop somewhere. Do you suggest we drive back to auckland, return the car at the airport, and fly to QT, or drop of the car in Rotorua (or somewhere else) and fly to QT from this area (and are there nonstop flights)

thursday - explore QT
friday-sat-sunday: working this out, but would like to visit Te Anau, Milford Sound, an any other suggestions.
Need advice - should we base ourselves in QT for Thursday- Sunday and use the car for day trips (as Melnq8 suggests) or should we overnight at any of the other destinations?

Sunday:
the nonstop flights to melbourne leave from either QT or Christchurch around 345pm.

thanks again everyone for your advice (and patience!)

paulg

You could easily do everything from QT. However, Te Anau is much more convenient of a stay for Milford Sound, but you'll have to decide if it's worth packing up and moving along to save the 2 hours of driving. With more days, I would stay in Te Anau, but with only 3 or 4 nights, I don't think it's worth the effort personally.

Melnq8

I usually suggest at least two nights in Te Anau, but in your case, with so few days, I'd not bother.

Just keep in mind that the day trip to Milford from QT is a VERY long one - it takes close to 13 hours (return) - eight hours of which is spent in the car/bus. Not my preferred method, but it's done all the time.

If you can swing it, you might consider the drive-fly option instead and save yourself a lot of butt time.

tasmangirl

SUNDAY-WED: NORTH ISLAND
I think you are stressing out too much about the hire car. You have limited time so go with what ever gets you to the next destination in the least amount of time.
1.Check with your hotel if you have to pay for parking or if there IS any parking there.
2. There may not be so hiring the car on Tuesday is a better option. There are plenty of hire companies in the city.
3. Flying is always faster so drop the car in Rotorua and fly to Queenstown. Even with a stop enroute in Auckland you save so much time. Driving back is about 4 hours then dropping the car off and getting to the terminal will waste a whole day more or less.
4. There is nowhere else to drop the car really. Taupo has a tiny airport, Hamilton is small as well and whatever flight you get will probably go through Auckland anyway.
And I agree with Mel - that Qtown to Milford Sound is a long long day of driving in the car on a tricky road so that's why we suggest a tour.

dec528

thanks again for all the recommendations. am now looking into picking up the car in auckland downtown and dropping off in Rotorua, and flying from there to Queenstown, via Auckland. the layovers seem to be short and there are several flights each day.
And will look into the tour options for Milford sound.