Jamie54

My family are traveling to New zealand this coming december for 18 days. It's our first time travelling to the country and will love to explore and experience the most of both islands.

We are flying in from auckland on day 1 and leaving from christchurch on day 18 and a quick draft of the destinations to be covered are as below. Do let me know if its feasible, considering that we will be doing our own driving to cover the distance for the 18 days.. Not sure if it's overly ambitious!

day 1 - auckland
day 2 - auckland
day 3 - auckland --> waitamo caves --> rotorua
day 4 - rotorua (possibly matamata)
day 5 - rotorua --> wellington (via lake taupo)
day 6 - wellington
day 7 - wellington --> christchurch (domestic flight)
day 8 - christchurch
day 9 - christchurch --> fox glacier
day 10 - fox glacier --> queenstown
day 11 - queenstown
day 12 - queenstown --> te anau
day 13 - te anau (milford sound day tour )
day 14 - te anau --> dunedin
day 15 - dunedin
day 16 - dunedin --> mt cook
day 17 - mt cook --> christchurch
day 18 - departure frm christchurch

My initial plan is to cover two additional days in bay of islands instad of the extra days in te anau and dunedin but am worried it might be a little too rush for bay of island. comments?

annhig

my main comment, from our experience of planning our trip which starts on Sunday, is that you probably need to get booking your accommodation sharpish.

December is high season in NZ, with school holidays starting before Christmas.

michelhuebeli

If you get up real early on Day 3 you can see much of what there is to see (and smell...!!!) in Rotorua that afternoon and maybe a bit more the next morning.

Rather than staying another night, you should stay a night in lovely Taupo - the sunsets from the north shore promenade alone are worth it! Pick your motel room to have a view over the lake, you won’t soon forget it!

Then reserve a bit of time to spend in Napier on your way to Wellington - walk the central streets and take pictures of the Art Deco style (rebuilt after a fire in that style) and drive up onto the Bluff overlook for panorama shots.

In Wellington make sure you spend time at Te Papa!

Melnq8

It's an awful lot of moving around for 18 days.

I think you might have underestimated the drive distances and the time it takes to get from place to place. How old are the kids? Do they handle car travel well? You'll be spending a lot of time in the car.

I'd start by scrapping those two days in Auckland, unless there's something you really want to see there. The best of NZ is well outside of the cities.

Day 9 - Christchurch to Fox Glacier is a 411 km drive - almost six hours. That leaves you very little time to explore Fox before you leave the next day on another long drive.

I'd suggest at least one full day at the glaciers, which is two nights.

Day 10 - Fox Glacier to Queenstown is a 332 km drive - we've never made it in less than six hours. There are so many places to stop enroute - waterfalls, lakes, walk trails, etc.

Keep in mind that Haast Pass has suffered considerable damage over the past few months due to rock slides and is currently closed every night and closed during the daytime after rain for safety reasons. A potential closure could really mess up a trip that's so tightly planned.

Day 16 - Dunedin to Mt Cook - 327 km, another five hour drive, and very little time to see the place once you get there before your 363 km, 5:15 hour drive to Christchurch the following day.

I'd suggest at least one full day at Mt Cook, which is two nights.

I see four days of exploring on the SI, six days of driving. I count 11 hotels/motels in 17 full days. That's a lot of moving around.

Way too ambitious IMO.

Jamie54

i took in some of the suggestions and made some changes to my itinerary for the NI.

day 1 - auckland (arrival at 1pm)
day 2 - auckland --> waitamo caves --> rotorua
day 3 - rotorua --> matamata (detour) --> lake taupo
day 4 - lake taupo --> Wellington
day 5 - wellington
day 6 - wellington --> christchurch (flight out in the morning)

will that be doable? are there any accommodation you will recommend at lake taupo that gives the lake view and that in rotorua?

as for the SI, i'm still trying to factor in your comments and the driving distances. my parents are in their 50s and fit for their ages, and we are all young adults so travelling in a car over distances wont be a problem.

i've read about transalpine and am considering taking it from christchurch to greymouth before picking up our car in greymouth. However, we will be carrying luggages and i wonder if it will pose a problem, given that some reviews commented that travellers need to change to a bus at arthurs pass before hopping onto the train again?

Melnq8

From the Tranzalpine website (KiwiRail):

Baggage and Stowage

Checked baggage

Your allowance: 2 items per person, maximum weight 20 kg (44 pounds) per item. Size must be no more than 200 linear cm (height plus length plus width – approx. 6.5 linear feet).

Baggage between 20-30kg: we require your assistance in loading and unloading your bag from the baggage van or you have the option of repacking into bags provided to meet the 20kg per item limit.

Baggage over 30kg (66 lbs): will not be accepted but can be repacked into bags provided to meet the 20kg per item limit.

KiwiRail staff at your departure station will help you load your baggage on to the train and ensure it is correctly labeled with the right stop.


----------------------------

I suggest you contact them directly about the bus issue, I've never heard of that.

http://www.kiwirailscenic.co.nz/contact-us/

I won't be of much help with the NI as I'm much more familiar with the SI, perhaps Michel can help.

I've found this site pretty accurate regarding travel distances - times don't include stops of course.

http://www.newzealand.com/travel/get...ances-home.cfm

Melnq8

Found it:

"As of 01 Nov 13 - The TranzAlpine train Christchurch/Arthurs Pass/Greymouth & Greymouth/Arthurs Pass/Christchurch services is operating except buses will be used between Arthurs Pass and Otira"


It appears there are some concerns regarding fire safety in the Otira Tunnel.

My guess is that the luggage stays on the train while it's driven through the tunnel w/o the passengers.

Jamie54

Thanks Mel for your spontaneous response! Ive read some of your previous trip reports to SI and they were fantastically written and they gave me great ideas and advices on what i can expect.

I'm still stuck on my SI itinerary, trying to map everything together without being overly greedy, and yet leaving sufficient time to savour a little of everything of the nz culture (i understand it's virtually impossible for us to enjoy the whole experience in such a limited timeframe).

Should we drive to milford sound from te anau and sign up for a cruise when we get there or should we take a day tour instead and leave the driving to the coach bus? we come from a metropolitan city and are there any challenging drives that we should look out for given the amount of distance we've to cover?

say i attempt to cover some distance on the day of milford sound (after the cruise and everything given that i can set off early from te anau to milford sound that morning), will it be overly ambitious to hit dunedin on the same day so that i can spare the extra night on day 16 at mt cook?

any place you will recommend for the two nights at the glaciers? or a good place to stop in between the glacier and the queenstown on the second night so that we will have time to explore much of the glaciers in the morning before setting of and not having to drive much to queenstown the following day?

Melnq8

Many thanks Jamie54, I sincerely hope my NZ ramblings help future travelers.

My general rule of thumb is to allow three nights in a given area - this leaves two full days to explore. I fully appreciate that this is seldom possible, particularly with on-the-move-time-poor-international-travelers, but really, two nights should be a bare minimum, which allows one full day in a particular area.

As far as Milford - I've only once, in my eleven visits to the SI, booked a Milford cruise in advance - and that was only because I knew I had ONE day to work with and it was do or die. Even so, the weather almost ruined those plans, so last minute changes were needed. For me, the weather is a major factor, and I wouldn't book until I knew what was in store weather-wise. Having said that, if you only have one day to work with, and it's a 'must see' for you, booking makes complete sense.

I'm not a fan of organized tours, however, the commentary on the Milford trip is helpful for first time visitors. But it comes at a cost - the QT-Milford trip is about 13 hours, 9 of it on a bus (seven from Te Anau - pack plenty of snacks!)

For confident drivers, I recommend a self-drive from Te Anau to Milford at one's own convenience (early start recommended). The road has a few challenges, but more so in winter - no drama in summer, assuming the driver is comfortable driving on the left.

Driving oneself allows you go get ahead of the bus traffic, stop as you like and sometimes...have the sound almost to yourselves. If you're not comfortable with driving yourself, I'd still suggest leaving from Te Anau, buses stop there. So, yes, I suggest a couple of nights in Te Anau instead f making the arduous trip from QT.

Milford Sound is a full day commitment..."will it be overly ambitious to hit dunedin on the same day so that i can spare the extra night on day 16 at mt cook?" YES, don't even consider it.

Recommendations for two nights at the glaciers...

Fox - Lake Matheson Motel

Franz - Punga Grove, 58 on Cron, Glenfern Villas

Jamie54

after reading much trip reports, my itinerary for SI looks something like this:

day 6 - (arrival in christchurch 9am) --> fox glacier
day 7 - fox glacier/wanaka (?)
day 8 - queenstown
day 9 - queenstown
day 10 - te anau
day 11 - te anau
day 12 - dunedin
day 13 - dunedin
day 14 - mt cook
day 15 - mt cook
day 16 - christchurch
day 17 - christchurch
day 18 - departure

i understand i've a long drive from christchurch to fox glacier on day 6. so to make the journey from fox glacier to queenstown better, i'm thinking of a night at wanaka instead. should i cut one night from fox glacier or that from queenstown? or is the current one alright?

Melnq8

Days 6 and 7 are basically driving, no time to do anything. So why even bother?

You haven't trimmed anything, you've just re-worded.

Curious why you're set on Dunedin?

Jamie54

to be honest, i added in dunedin as it was highly raved by my friends who have been to SI, apart from mt cook and glaciers and milford sound.

but now that you've asked, i wonder if the dist we've to covered to hit the town is worth what we will be seeing. one of the highlight i was told was the penguins and seals, and the historic castle. but if i'd been to the philips island of melb thrice, will the trip to dunedin be disappointing?

Melnq8

I can't answer that Jamie, other than to say that I personally don't consider Dunedin a 'must see', particularly on such a short trip.

You've fallen into the trap of trying to fit too much into too little time. This is a recurring theme with first time visitors to NZ. Most underestimate the time it takes to get from Point A to Point B and totally overlook the time needed to explore the very places they've spent so many hours driving to.

Only you can decide what's important to you and how much time you want to spend in a car to get there.

Thelittlestkiwi

Driving currently looks like this...

day 6 - (arrival in christchurch 9am) --> fox glacier - 5.5 hours
day 7 - fox glacier/wanaka (?) = 3.5 hours
day 8 - queenstown = 1 hour
day 9 - queenstown =
day 10 - te anau = 2.5 hours (milford on this day would be hard work)
day 11 - te anau
day 12 - dunedin = 4.5 hours
day 13 - dunedin
day 14 - mt cook = 5 hours
day 15 - mt cook
day 16 - christchurch = 5 hours
day 17 - christchurch
day 18 - departure

While this is do-able, I'd do this...

day 6 - (arrival in christchurch 9am) --> Hokitika - 3.5 hours - stops could be Springfield for a mince and cheese pie, Castle Hill Rocks for a walk, Cave stream for a walk, Arthurs Pass for a walk
day 7 - fox glacier/(?) = 2.5 hours - stops could be Hokitika gorge, Okarito, Gillespies Beach, glaciers walks, lake matheson
day 8 - Wanaka = 4 hours
day 9 - Wanaka
day 10 - te anau = 3.5 hours = Manapouri power station
day 11 - te anau - Milford or Doubtful sound (a guided kayak trip is a great option if the weather plays nice - dolphins!).
day 12 - Qtown - Arrowtown, Glenorchy etc..etc...
day 13 - Qtown
day 14 - Qtown = 5 hours
day 15 - mt cook
day 16 - christchurch = 5 hours
day 17 - christchurch
day 18 - departure

But...it depends what you're in to...I'd do either trip, but would lean towards missing Mt Cook and/or missing Dunedin to spend more time in the Fiordland/Qtown/Wanaka/Haast Pass

Melnq8

thelittlekiwi-

Is it possible to access the Manapouri Power Station w/o taking the Doubtful Sound Cruise?

Jamie54

Thanks Mel and littlekiwi for the inputs! yes, after much deliberation i will be dropping dunedin out of my plan and putting in the extra day on mt cook and queenstown.

any particular reason why you mention less of mt cook? also i read abt how ppl choose between milford or doubtful sound as an either-or. which is better recommended?

Melnq8

I've done both Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound. I can't honestly say that one is better than the other, but I haven't seen Doubtful in full sun as I have Milford, so that may be a factor. Having said that, the underground power station was very interesting and I'm not aware of how you can see it other than in conjunction with a Doubtful Cruise.

Milford is much easier to access and considerably less expensive. They're both full day commitments - getting to both is half the fun.

Doubtful is more remote and there's considerably less tourist traffic, which some might consider 'better'.

Whatever you do, don't miss Ata Whenua at the Te Anau theater - it is Fiordland as you will never see it (unless you've got a helicopter handy). Well worth the $10 admission.

Another option for those short on time is to take the bus to Milford and fly back - a good way to fit a lot into one day, but quite expensive.

Thelittlestkiwi

I have no good reason for missing Mt Cook...other than I've lived less than 5 hours away for a large chunk of my life, and have been only the once. See!!!...this is not a good reason....!!! If you have some flexibility, maybe let the weather decide where to spend more of your time?

I'm pretty sure your only option to Manapouri power station is by boat (and on a tour), but you can definitely do it as a short tour and don't have to carry on for Doubtful sound.

https://www.realjourneys.co.nz/en/ex...power-station/

By the way, there is a good pie shop in Te Anau.

Jamie54

doubtful sound seems tempting! if i kept mt cook as one night, i might be able to afford three nights in te anau which will allow some freedom for treks on the third day.

currently i've booked two nights in te anau. should i leave it to fate (actually mostly weather) to decide whether i can take a third night in te anau or to move on towards mt cook? my only concern is not being able to get an accommodation as we will be there in early dec.

Melnq8

Thanks for clearing that up littlekiwi, I didn't realize you could do the power station separately - good to know for future reference.

Ah yes, Miles Better Pies - I've heard a lot about them, but they're never open when we visit (off season).

Jamie - I doubt that early December is a problem accommodation wise in Te Anau - perhaps ask when you book if it'd be a problem if you decide to extend.