Thanks, sounds like a good combination.

Those two Otago Peninsula beaches are best for sea lions. In addition to sea lions on the sandy portion of the beach, Allan’s Beach has a rocky end that can be reached at low tide, where fur seals are often seen. To get to Allans Beach, you'll pass the adjacent Hooper's Inlet with its wading birds (and, from about late March to May, a sea lion nursery). Both beaches are scenic, however, Sandfly Bay requires walking down steep sand dunes (and climbing back up again).

Yes, two nts., one full day would be best for Dunedin/the Otago Peninsula.

Dunedin is known as the "wildlife capital of NZ". In addition to its easily accessible wildlife viewing opportunities and local wildlife tour operators, there is ample wildlife support here: various experts and researchers at Dunedin's University of Otago (NZ's oldest university) and at the local DOC (Dept. of Conservation) office, who work closely with other wildlife experts around the country; the Wildlife Hospital, which administers veterinary care (and not just for local wildlife) and OPERA penguin rehab, which cares for sick, injured and starving penguins; and local organizations, such as Yellow Eyed Penguin Trust, NZ Sea Lion Trust, Otago Peninsula Trust, Forest & Bird Dunedin Branch, Project Kereru, and countless community groups, volunteers and contributing businesses. Frankly, many NZ towns, municipalities, and regions offer wildlife support and excellent wildlife viewing opportunities, but possibly Dunedin has the most. Dunedin even holds an annual Wildlife Festival. Sadly, not all are protective of our local wildlife, there are also major threats to local wildlife, people who harass and harm them, or who'll throw things to get sea lions to move for their photos, or who'll try to take selfies with them.

You're best off taking a wildlife tour. Post-Covid, the highly regarded Elm Wildlife "almagated' with Monarch Cruise. Their "peninsula encounters" tour had previously included visits to a Otago Peninsula farm, instead it now visits OPERA (formerly Penguin Place), which has a penguin rehab and a working farm with penguin nest boxes, viewing hides, camouflaged walkways, and wonderful coastal views. In February, you should be able to see penguins moulting (who can't go out to sea), maybe some chicks, and, hopefully, a few hoiho returning from their daily fishing expeditions. The hoiho swim ashore in the late afternoon. You'll also see fur seals. Your visit will help support the penguin rehab. The Elm-Monarch peninsula encounters tour still offers hotel/motel pick-up, visits to Hooper's Inlet and Taiaroa Head, and options of visits to the Royal Albatross Centre and/or Monarch Cruise (for additional costs). They now also visit Allans Beach for sea lion viewing. Their guides are excellent.

The farm that Elm used to visit now operates its own small-group tours of its farm, Clearwater Tours.This private farm has hoiho nesting boxes, a small sandy beach with many sea lions (mostly males, I believe), and a viewing platform, from which you can view adult fur seals and pups on the rocks below and that includes a fur seal nursery, where pups can more safely play and hone their swimming skills. Clearwater picks up from the Octagon. I don't think their tours offer pick-ups from accommodation.

You don't need to take a comprehensive tour to visit OPERA or the Royal Albatross Centre, or Blue Penguins Pukekura, you can choose to go there on your own, but a more comprehensive tour makes things easier. Peninsula roads can be challenging (but views can be stunning in good weather).

The Blue Penguins Pukekura colony at Taiaroa Head's Pilot's Beach is smaller than the one in Oamaru. To view the penguins (also known as korora), you have to stand on a platform at the cold and sometimes windy mouth of the harbor. I have enjoyed seeing the penguins here, but I was cold. The biggest colony I've seen of these birds was on Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia. Otago's Blue penguins are supposedly genetically identical to Victoria's Blue penguins; other NZ penguins are genetically close but not identical!

If you happen to be in Dunedin on a Saturday morning, try to visit the Otago Farmers Market at the historic Railway Station. There is no better time to visit than January through February, when it bursts with Otago-grown summer fruits and flowers. You'll find free parking next to the market. It opens at 8 a.m.

I know it's not an isolated incident, but it shocks and pains me every time; I can't understand people harming or harassing the wildlife, for fun or a photo. It happens here too, so people are not posting locations of owls or other birds of pray nests. People would just go sooo close, stressing the poor parents and chicks for a photo. Unbelievable! And kicking a seal? What's wrong with these people?
Anyway, thanks for the tour links and all that good info. These little blue penguins are adorable, I can't wait to see them.
I don't have a final plan yet, and don't know the days of the week we'll be in Dunedin, but even if we miss the farmers market we'll have to visit the railway station. What an amazing building!

Bad behavior around wildlife ticks me off, too. My husband gets embarrassed when, on our beach walks, I remind overly eager observers to stand 10 to 20 metres back from sea lions and 50 metres back from hoiho (these are people that ignore the signs posted at beach entries). I remind them these animals have come ashore to breed or rest. But doing this is tiring and depressing. Sometimes, it's just ignorance: I once stopped a child from petting a fur seal, then warned the mother that this animal had sharp teeth.

Yes, the Little Blues are adorable!

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a63a47595c.jpg
Little blue penguins at Pilot's Beach, Taiaroa Head, swimming ashore in "rafts" after dusk. (Strength in numbers!)
Then, once on land, they disperse to their separate nests. The calls between the latest arrivals and their waiting mates or chicks is also impressive.
No flash allowed, which you can probably guess from my dark and grainy photo.

I was looking at your original schedule, and if you cut one nt. from both Rotorua and Oamaru, and use these two days for Dunedin, you will be left with the same number of days for your itinerary. You also said you could add couple of nts., if necessary. If so, you could add a nt. to Abel Tasman NP/Kaiteriteri or Wellington (so you can see both Te Papa and take your time at Zealandia)..

You've planned 3 nts. for FJ , 4 nts. for AMC, probably because you plan on taking a helihike to a glacier. If so, you'll want to read tripplanner001's 2019 excellent trip report (with photos) that includes a description of her walk with Mt. Cook Glacier Guiding.

tripplanner001, I hope you don't mind my bringing up that great NZ trip report of yours!

Don't forget if you'll be flying over the Pacific Ocean (and the international dateline), you'll arrive two days later.

Of course not, Diamantina; good to "see" you. And zyz99, feel free to ask questions as you review.

The thought for the overnight in Oamaru is (was?) to be close to the Blue Penguin Colony. It seems that we can see them at Taiaroa Head's Pilot's Beach, although in smaller numbers but a more natural setting. That would work better for our itinerary, but good photos are important to me too, and I think I can get those at Oamaru. In any case, that's an option to streamline the itinerary and I'm not against it.

1 day less in Rotorua is very doable. I've already made that change.

Yes, a helihike to the glacier would be so cool. I know weather is always a factor, so fingers crossed. I remember reading and saving tripplanner001's TR, and I need to go back and re-read it. Not sure if FJ or AMC is a better option, but I think I read somewhere that we could/should book both, and if we can do it at FJ (first in the itinerary) we can cancel the 2nd one. If weather is bad there, we can try again at AMC. Experience wise, are they similar?

It's good to "see" you, too, tripplanner001. I'll be looking forward to your next trip report as your last was so memorable and enjoyable. I also especially enjoyed your photos of your out-of-the-ordinary day on the Kepler Track.

xyz99, I'm sure your twilight photos would turn out better than mine as I had the most basic of cameras. It sounds like you are an experienced and well-equipped wildlife photographer and will be better prepared to handle the low light conditions of these quickly moving creatures. At Taiaroa Head's Pilot's Beach, there were no lights on the beach, but there was enough on the land above the beach to get good photos, though I suggest you email them to confirm this as I have not been there for years. Who knows? You might luck out by being there on a clear, full-moon light. More info here:
https://www.bluepenguins.co.nz/book-your-tour-

I don't think cameras are allowed during evening viewing at the Oamaru Blue Penguin colony. I think they were considering charging photographers, though I don't think they would ever allow flash photography because of the sensitive eyes of these nocturnally active penguins..You might be able to photograph outside the official blue penguin centre, as penguins cross the road from the harbor to nests outside the main colony.You might enjoy this short You Tube video.

Oamaru has more going for it than blue penguins. There is large shag nesting spot at Sumpter Wharf. Their Victorian Precinct is home to heritage buildings made of locally quarried white limestone, which have been beautifully preserved, while its Steampunk HQ captures the town's quirkiness. The Victorian Precinct almost looks like a movei set (and, in fact, Netflix has been filming the series "East of Eden", based on John Steinbeck's novel, there). Many of Dunedin's heritage buildings, including the railway station, are trimmed with this same "Whitestone". I've been in Oamaru for its yearly Victorian celebrations, when hundreds of people from all around turn up in Victorian and outrageous Steampunk attire: this and the annual Steampunk celebration exemplify Oamaru's uniqueness .Historically, Oamaru was a market town servicing the region's farmers and in the 1870s, the Port of Oamaru bustled with activity. These historic whitestone buildings were built thanks to this late 19th century properity. Outside of the Victorian Precinct, modern-day Oamaru is like most any other NZ small town, though whitestone buildings are scattered throughout it.

The Waitaki Valley is home to orchards, vineyards, the Elephant Rocks, dams, and fossil sites. The Clay Cliffs are near Omarama.

A night in Oamaru would break up your drive from Dunedin to Aoraki Mt. Cook and allow you to take your time. In traveling this route, you'd miss Lindis Pass, but as you'd be starting off from Oamaru, you could easily take a detour at Omarama to the Lindis Pass Lookout. This would not be too much out of your way.

If you like cheese, you might want to take a factory tour at Oamaru's Whitestone Cheese. (You can also sample their cheese at Dunedin's weekly Otago Farmers Market). Oamaru also has a lovely botanic garden, though it's not large.

You wrote, "...we could/should book both [helihikes at FJ and AMC], and if we can do it at FJ (first in the itinerary) we can cancel the 2nd one. If weather is bad there, we can try again at AMC." That sounds like a brilliant idea. I'm sure, if you cancel the AMC booking, someone would be grateful for the opportunity.

It occurs to me, if you can get that extra day, another option would be to stay a night in the Catlins. You could get some striking sunrise shots from there (weather permitting).

Diamantina,
I did not realize photos are not allowed at Oamaru Blue Penguin colony. I never use flash when photographing wildlife, but it seems any kind of photos (with or without flash) are not allowed. I'm disappointed, but I really understand and agree with this. Unfortunately, so many times, you cannot trust humans to behave. Because of that, the colony at Taiaroa Head's Pilot's Beach might be a better option for me. Not sure yet, it will all depend on what fits the itinerary and the schedule better. And of course, the desire to see it all :-) All the new ideas, links and great info you are including keep adding to the list.
Thanks for the video, they are adorable!!
I can live on cheese (plus a few other things), so now I need to try this Oamaru's Whitestone Cheese and other cheeses. I should've known, all these sheep, there should be a lot of good cheeses in NZ. I'm sure that even if we don't get to experience the Dunedin market, we'll still find plenty of options to sample the bounty.
A night in the Catlins is very tempting. I don't know if we can fit it, but...if we can, where do you suggest we stop? I know that Jan/Feb is high season, how flexible can we be? How easy will be to find accommodations without prior reservation?

Please DO NOT take Google maps as accurate information for travelling times in New Zealand.
https://www.aa.co.nz/travel/time-and...ce-calculator/ is a much better source.
Also look at https://www.journeys.nzta.govt.nz/journey-planner. This is run by Waka Kotahi which is New Zealand's Transport Agency. As Diamantina mentions we have unpredictable weather here and a road can be closed at any time. The TV news at 6 pm is good at mentioning closed roads but how many tourists are watching NZ TV while they are here?
Google Maps used to have Turangi Burger King in completely the wrong place! So who knows what other mistakes they have made? There is the classic example of tourists being given a route from Blenheim to Christchurch through the back hills of Molesworth Station! Sure there is a gravel road there but it would be very slow driving for a 4 wheel drive only.
We had a road trip through the Catlins in 2021 and it is a lovely area with so much history. We stayed at the Whistling Frog Resort for 2 nights because it had a restaurant and there are no shops in the area. https://www.whistlingfrogresort.com/
Check the reviews and decide for yourself. It was the perfect choice in terms of location. Catlins' roads are narrow and winding and there were quite a few big trucks on the road.
Diamantina mentions the Elephant Rocks in Waitaki - we went there last September. It was very cool.
New Zealand is long and skinny and often there is only one road in and out of an area. If that's blocked - well you have to find another route. I'm trying to say that driving here takes longer than you think!

Oops forgot to add about booking in advance - you need to do it! Tourist numbers are up to pre Covid levels now and in the lock down we all got used to taking holidays around NZ and realised what a great little place we live in so everything gets busy!
Auckland and Northland have their Anniversary holiday on the last weekend of January. Nelson and Buller have theirs the following Monday and the whole country has Waitangi Day on the 6th February. This means the last week of Jan and the first week of Feb are very busy everywhere as people take the last break away of summer. I would book any accommodation required in this period.
Could you move your trip to mid February? Weather here in Auckland is lovely right now and much better than over Christmas. It's cooling down at night but the days are still war. School kids and university students are back in their classrooms so it's not as busy out there.

Tarakona,
Thank you, great points!! I had an idea that google might not be the best source for directions, and thank you for the alternative link. As in other countries, I am assuming that adding about 25% to their estimates is a generally good approach, but the wrong directions...you can't anticipate those. We've had surprises even at home, so I'm not surprised to hear that their NZ directions are not always the best.
You are right about watching the news, we never do when traveling. Although I can see the benefit in case of road closure or other local events.
Yes, we'll get reservations, we always do. The good thing about that, you don't have to worry about it. The bad part, well...you can't be very spontaneous and change your plans, add a day here, remove a day from there, change the itinerary, etc.
Moving the trip to mid February...that might be possible, but then it will push it to mid March. Considering that we'll get to the southern part of the South Island towards the end of our trip, how is the weather there in mid March? I'm not concerned about temperature, but I am about rain.

xyz99, I thought maybe you and your spouse were teachers or college professors because you were planning on coming to NZ around school holidays-Waitangi Day. For sure, you might consider coming at a less busy time, but not Feb. 17 through Mar..3, 2026, as that coincides with Chinese New Year-Spring Festival-Lantern Festival, which is also a busy.time. (Unless relations between China and NZ deteriorate, which I don't expect--or hope--will happen.) From December through February, there are probably as many as 50 direct weekly flights between China and New Zealand.

It's also worth checking special events before you firm up your itinerary. For instance, you might not want to time your visit to Wanaka during Challenge Wanaka, a large triathlon that takes place in mid-Feb.

March, in general, is lovely in the south of the South Island, the weather becomes more settled and less windy, though it will start getting darker earlier and it's not likely to be as warm as mid-January to mid-Feb--but it'll still be warm. If you plan on longer hikes, you might appreciate the slightly cooler weather of March, particularly when walking on tracks with little shade. (This summer actually brought wetter, windier, and at times colder, weather to many regions, perhaps due in part to La Niña.). January and February are not necessarily dry months, especially when ex-tropical Southwest Pacific cyclones arrive in NZ. These are not common, but can happen (Cyclone Gabrielle, Feb. 2023 is one example) These mostly affect the North Island and at times the top of the South Island. The NZTA trip planner site Tarakona gave you is great. Also check weather alerts on Metservice. Local DOC (Dept. of Conservation) and I-Site Visitor Info offices will have info on track closures. DOC also has its own alerts link. For instance, right now, if you were to click on alerts for "Otago", you'd learn that Dunedin's popular Tunnel Beach Track is temporarily closed due to Oct. 2024 flood damage.

By the end of March, you will begin to see the changing colors of the autumn leaves (non-native deciduous trees such as poplar, maple, willow, oaks, etc.) Stargazing and astrophotography are best from March to September. If you enjoy eating oysters, .Bluff oysters (also known as Chilean oysters, or ostra verde) come into season in early March. Many hoiho and blue penguins moult in March, hoiho chicks fledge in February.

March is my favorite month for traveling around NZ. It's still a busy month, but not as busy as late December through Feb.

As the Catlins offers a variety of environments and experiences, there are many opinions about where to stay in the Catlins. I'm glad Tarakona is offering advice on this, as I haven't been there for a while; she might have more up-to-date info. Also, have a look at these websites offering an overview of your many options.:
Official Catlins website
Catlins map
Catlins birdwatching
Southern Scenic Route
Clutha District-Catlins

I will follow up with my suggestions for your one-day Catlins base soon (though I have been having many problems with my laptop). If you are as passionate about birdwatching as it seems you are (I can relate to this), I would urge you to consider spending one of two nights on Stewart Island instead. You have some difficult choices to make!

My apologies, I made assumptions that Tarakona is "she". I was going to correct this to "Tarakona" but my laptop died on me! Also, I meant to write, "I would urge you to consider spending one or two nights on Stewart Island instead." I should add, one night might be sufficient if you were assured of good weather, but two nights would increase your chances of this. Flights from Invercargill Airport take 20 minutes. Ferries from Bluff take an hour. Stewart Island has just upgraded its tourist services.

Hi again xyz99, just got back from our second trip to New Zealand and had a wonderful time. I always seem to have contrary opions to many on this board. From your initial itinerary, personally I would not spend 3 or 4 nights in some of the places you have noted. For example, we had two nights in Franz Josef and that was plenty (now we did not take a helicopter but many of them were cancelled anyway). Note, we drove there from Hokitka in the morning, which is not on your list and we liked, and had time on day one to go to Lake Matheson for a walk, the Fox viewpoint, the Franz Josef glacier view trail (you can only walk to a spot 3000 meters from the glaicer) and still had time for one more short bushwalk. We were worried about rain the next day so we crammed as much as we could in that day. It started to rain on our second afternoon, so we watched the movie and went to the Kiwi center (we had a morning lake activity that day).

Also, you don't seem to be spending time in Queenstown. I know lots of people here say that it is too touristy and yes, it is, but so is Wanaka. The latter is just smaller. And we found much more to do in Queenstown than Wanaka, unless you are going to drive long distances everyday. I found the Glenorchy area a highlight of both trips and getting there from Wanaka is a stretch. The Dart River jet boat was really worthwhile, IMO. That being said, we had a couple very good meals in Wanaka, but we struggled to find things to do our second afternoon.

Now, I understand the desire not to be packing up every day, but many of these places are quite small so for us two nights was usually right. Maybe you'll take longer hikes than we did (I had a recent knee injury so we tended to average only 4-6 miles on this trip per day) and that will take you more time in places.

As to driving, on the South Island we made a little slower time than our iPhone estimated, I'd say 10% on average before counting stops. One time we hit roadworks that delayed us 45 minutes. On the North Island we were pretty close to the predicted travel times.

Weather: We were in New Zealand Feb 7th-27th and had only about 24 hours of rain that was hard enough to bother us (Franz Josef and Haast Pass), and really not much any other time, just a couple very short showers. It was warmer than expected on the west coast, everyone was in shorts. Oh, and our normal iphone weather was never right. The locals said to use Windy. Accuweather seemed more accurate that the Apple weather, no pun intended, too. Our first trip was a bit later, like mid February to first week of March (final week on north Island) and I only remember one or two days of rain then too, so Feb/early March seem to typically hold good weather.

Have a great trip.

Damantina,
We are not teachers and flexible with the dates. Between school summer break, various holidays and Chinese New Year, it seems the NZ summers are pretty busy :-) I haven't thought about March, I guess that would be like Sept in the Northern hemisphere? Which is one of my favorite travel months....hmmm, definitely an interesting idea, thank you.

I keep going back and forth, trying to add Stewart Island into the itinerary. Part of me wants to cut off the entire N Island, and spend all the time on the S.Island...We'd miss Rotorua (but we've seen Yellowstone), Tongariro NP and Wellington. But that will give us 5 days for the Catlins and Stewart island. Very tempting, what do you think?

Yes, everything will be more crowded in summer.

You can consider reversing your trip, beginning in Christchurch at the start of March, when it’ll be warmer than at the end of March. By the end of March, it should still be warm on the North Island.

If you were to arrive early morning into Auckland at the start of your trip, you might not even be able to check in early for an Auckland hotel. You might have to just store your luggage and come back at 2 p.m. So you might as well continue south.

Some international airlines—among them, United, fly directly into Christchurch (though not necessarily year round.

Yes, dropping the North Island entirely would give you that extra time you need for the South Island with time to spare. Do you think you would be returning to NZ after this upcoming trip? You could save the North Island for your return trip. If not, it seems your priorities would be interisland ferry, Zealandia in Wellington and Tongariro Crossing. You said you were already considering dropping Rotorua as you’ve already seen Yellowstone. Well, then, you could continue on to Auckland after a couple of nts. In Tongariro. You can do a glow worm cave tour in Te Anau, if you miss out on Waitomo. You can also see glow worms in FJ (Terrace Walk).

Could you list the attractions you hope to see and activities you hope to do in each place?

[QUOTE=Diamantina;17637202]Yes, everything will be more crowded in summer.

You can consider reversing your trip, beginning in Christchurch at the start of March, when it’ll be warmer than at the end of March. By the end of March, it should still be warm on the North Island.

If you were to arrive early morning into Auckland at the start of your trip, you might not even be able to check in early for an Auckland hotel. You might have to just store your luggage and come back at 2 p.m. So you might as well continue south.

Some international airlines—among them, United, fly directly into Christchurch (though not necessarily year round).

Yes, dropping the North Island entirely would give you that extra time you need for the South Island with time to spare. Do you think you would be returning to NZ after this upcoming trip? You could save the North Island for your return trip. If not, it seems your priorities would be interisland ferry, Zealandia in Wellington and Tongariro Crossing. You said you were already considering dropping Rotorua as you’ve already seen Yellowstone. Well, then, you could continue on to Auckland after a couple of nts. In Tongariro. You can do a glow worm cave tour in Te Anau, if you miss out on Waitomo. You can also see glow worms in FJ (Terrace Walk).

Could you list the attractions you hope to see and activities you hope to do in each place?

Yes, everything will be more crowded in summer.

You can consider reversing your trip, beginning in Christchurch at the start of March, when it’ll be warmer than at the end of March. By the end of March, it should still be warm on the North Island.

If you were to arrive early morning into Auckland at the start of your trip, you might not even be able to check in early for an Auckland hotel. You might have to just store your luggage and come back at 2 p.m. So you might as well continue south.

Some international airlines—among them, United, fly directly into Christchurch (though not necessarily year round).

Yes, dropping the North Island entirely would give you that extra time you need for the South Island with time to spare. Do you think you would be returning to NZ after this upcoming trip? You could save the North Island for your return trip. If not, it seems your priorities would be interisland ferry, Zealandia in Wellington and Tongariro Crossing. You said you were already considering dropping Rotorua as you’ve already seen Yellowstone. Well, then, you could continue on to Auckland after a couple of nights in Tongariro. You can do a glow worm cave tour in Te Anau, if you miss out on Waitomo. You can also see glow worms in FJ (Terrace Walk).

Could you list the attractions you hope to see and activities you hope to do in each place?

Sorry for the duplicates. The site was glitchy. There should be a way to remove one’s own duplicate posts!