Hi All,

We have 14 full days in New Zealand and we want to squeeze in as much as we possibly can! Below I have broken down what we would like to see/do while in the North and the South along with some questions. We don't care whether we do the North or the South first but we arrive and depart from Auckland. Thanks in advance for any help!

NORTH: Spend time in Auckland and while in the North do a day trip and overnight cruise to Bay of the Islands, float the Waitomo Caves and stay Lake Taupo (to do the Tongariro Crossing hike).

SOUTH: Spend time in Queenstown (4 nights if possible) and while in the South do a day trip/overnight to Fox Glacier/Franz Josef for an overnight to hike the glacier and drive to Fiordland National Park.

NORTH QUESTIONS:
*What area of Auckland or landmarks should we stay in/nearby?

*Do you recommend seeing one of the volcanos? If so which one? What is the approximate time commitment? Do you recommend we drive or go through a tour company?

*What do you recommend to eat, see or do in Auckland? Is the Sky Tower cool to do? Is the walking tour a good way to see the city?

*We are thinking of flying to Bay of the Islands for an overnight cruise....
-Is this worth it?
-Is the drive back to Auckland enjoyable?

*We would like to visit the Waitomo Caves and do the Tongariro Crossing hike in Lake Taupo per a friends recommendation....
-How far of a drive are the caves and the Tongariro Crossing from Auckland?
-Is this a day trip or two separate day trips? Or, do you recommend we stay overnight in this area to do both activities?
-Do you recommend we drive from Auckland or go through a tour company?

SOUTH QUESTIONS:
*We are interested in visiting Fox Glacier/Franz Josef for an overnight from Queenstown...
-Which glacier do you recommend visiting?

*We are interested in visiting Fiordland National Park....
-How far is Fiordland National Park and how long does it take to get there from Queenstown?
-How long and where do you recommend staying?
-What are must sees?

*Is Dunedin worth visiting or just cheaper to fly out of than Queenstown?

Thanks so much for your help!

If you do the Tongariro Crossing, you'll see three volcanoes up close and personal. In fact, Mts. Tongariro and Ruapehu have both erupted in the last few months. You'll need to be in pretty good shape, and be sure to check the weather forecasts before you do it. You will need to stay in Taupo or Tongariro National Park to do the crossing, as it's an all-day hike.

For distances and estimated driving times, check http://www.aa.co.nz

We went blackwater rafting in Waitomo, which was a lot of fun. http://www.waitomo.com/black-water-rafting.aspx

It's been eight years, but if you click on my screen name and look through my trip reports, you can see how we spent 10 days on the North Island. Or you can just go to http://www.fodors.com/community/aust...april-2004.cfm

Lee Ann

Thanks Lee Ann! We really appreciate your help.

<*We are interested in visiting Fox Glacier/Franz Josef for an overnight from Queenstown...


-Which glacier do you recommend visiting?>

First off, do be aware that you're looking at a six hour drive from QT to the glaciers, so you'll need more than one night there. Two nights will only give you one full day, and eat into the third day with your drive back. The glaciers are not an easy day trip from QT.

The glaciers are only about 30-40 minutes apart so it's easy enough to do both in the same day, assuming you have a full day to work with. We've walked to the terminal face of both in a day and had time to spare.

<We are interested in visiting Fiordland National Park....>

It's a four hour drive EACH way to reach Milford Sound from Queenstown.

<How long and where do you recommend staying?>

I recommend staying in Te Anau. I like The Croft B&B and Birchwood Cottages (units 1&2). The trip to Milford Sound is a full day (lots to see enroute, lots of walks and diversions, etc, so three nights in the area will give you two full days to work with. I prefer a minimum of three nights in each place when I visit the SI, four when possible.

<What are must sees?>

Depends on your interests, but Milford is usually at the top of everyone's list. Doubtful Sound is also very popular, but harder and more expensive to get to and will take the entire day. Loads of walks in the area, do you like to hike?

<*Is Dunedin worth visiting or just cheaper to fly out of than Queenstown?>

Depends on who you ask and what you're interested in. I'm not a fan of Dunedin, but many people like it. It's only 'worth visiting' if you have the time to see it though.

Cheaper? I have no idea, but don't forget to consider the time and petrol it will take to get there from Queenstown when you do the math.

hi there
we have just come back from an 18 day trip to south island nz but we did it all in a motorhome

we did try to get to milford sound and almost made it...but 30km out there was road closure( yes there was a sign earlier but we ignored it because we didnt realise that the road closure was actually going to prevent us from getting to the sound...we thought it mightve been a side track that was blocked ( wish it were plainer to understand...e.g.' YOU CANT GET TO MILFORD SOUND< DUMMY>>TURN BACK " lol

still we did get to see mirror lakes which were gorgeous and we got some good photos out of it and a stay at the offbeat petergunn camping ground


luckily we did see doubtful sound the day before and in fact had prebooked camp ground and cruise there in te anau
we did get a full refund due to the landslide so we were ok about it

having been to norway doubtful sound didnt make such an impression on me
so in my next lifetime i will see nz first...then either canada and norway afterwards
but thats obviously a personal slant on things
( im whispering here...because OH loved loved loved doubtful sound and i dont want to get into the whole norway fjords vs nz fjords debate...yep apparently theyre real fjords and the word ' sound' is just a misnomer...kept out of historical nostalgia for the explorers who were responsible)

i loved lake tekapo///we had good light so the water was an amazing blue .that was a highlight for me but i did enjoy the visit to teanau also


we didnt see dunedin properly...we were running out of time on our drive back at the end of our trip but i was determined to see the otago peninsula
so glad we did
we drove the long and windin road along the peninsula...visited the albatross centre but didnt go on the tour...40 dollars each and a nov is a bad time to see albies cos theyre on eggs
we paid five dollars each admission and had a coffee and i saw one albatross soaring so that was better than nothing

we did get directions to go to sandfly bay...taking the road to lanarch castle and ended up having a magical afternoon walking a desolate beach with sealions lolling about
wow
that was the true highlight and im so so grateful to the young man i spoke to at the coffee shop...had i not..id not have learned about sandfly bay...goes to show...striking up a conversation pays off sometimes!

be warned -sandfly bay is accessed via a very steep sand dune
fun on the way down but a good solid five minutes of clambering back to the track that leads back to the carpark

oh
and we did enjoy oamaru..north of dunedin..we spent the morning at a victorian festival walking round the fair before heading to akoroa -a beautiful spot and the drive was gorgeous...hairy summit drive on the way back but i was very brave !