Here is my fairly complete itinerary for November 8-24, and I would love to have "must sees", comments, suggestions or recommended changes.

I am 72, wife 66, both active and fit. Love hikes, outdoors, great museums/history/activities, but don't want to break the bank.

Will rent a car for the NZ part, and for three days of the Australia portion (scuba diving the other two days).

I haven't booked hotels yet and am open to suggestions. Do I have to book hotels now for most of the trip, or can we do this after arriving, since this is a lower season?

The code after each day is this, in order: "Where", "Activities", "Driving Hours", "Tentative hotel Location".

Day 1 Ar Christchurch 08:30 from SFO Rent car, botanic garden, Antartic Ctr, Canterbury Museum 1:00 Christchurch

Day 2 Christchurch/Akaroa RT (Church 9:30) Cathedral, cruise, Lake Ellesmere 2:00 Christchurch

Day 3 Christchurch/Arthur Pass/Hokitika Greenstone shopping, Lake Kaniere, glowworms 3:30 Hokitika

Day 4 to Glaciers Hikes, touring 2:00 Fox

Day 5 to Wanaka Hikes, touring 3:30 Wanaka

Day 6 to Te Anau Hikes, touring 3:30 Te Anau

Day 7 to Milford Sound RT Cruise, hikes 3:00 Te Anau

Day 8 to Queenstown Jet boat, rafting, Cinema Paradiso 2:15 Queenstown

Day 9 Queenstown (Church 10:00) Touring, hikes 1:00 Queenstown

Day 10 to Mt Cook Hikes, touring 3:15 Mt Cook?

Day 11 to Christchurch Hikes, touring 4:45 Christchurch

Day 12 Fly to Cairns (lv 8:00) Skyrail/Kuranda 3:00 Cairns

Day 13 Cairns (dive day) 0:00 Cairns

Day 14 to Port Douglas (rent car and tour) Daintree/Cape Tribulation, Tjapukai Abo Ctr 1:00 Port Douglas

Day 15 Port Douglas (dive day) 0:00 Port Douglas

Day 16 to Cairns (Church 1:00) Touring or what we missed on Day 14, hikes 1:00 Cairns

Day 17 Fly Cairns to SFO, leaving 10:25

Thanks very much!

Orionw

My feeling, and I believe that of others also, is to make hotel reservations as soon as you know definitely where you will be. Most of the accommodations have a good cancellation policy, and if you wait, you will get a place, but it may not be the best you can get now.

It pays to research now, check the cancellation policy, and make reservations.

Check out prices on wotif.com

I agree with above. With all that hiking if it was me I would like to know where I am going to get a bed for the night. November is not really an off season as the weather now is fantastic and many people in your age group holiday before the school holidays. www.wotif.com is the place to go. There should be many realatively cheap b & b's on your itinerary.

A comment on Day 2. Don't expect to spend a lot of time at Lake Ellesmere - there is not much to see or do there. In that area (about mid-way between ChCh and Akaroa), you will see a signpost pointing to Birdlings Flat. That is worth a detour (only 5 minutes or so to drive in there). It is a pebbly beach (good for stone fossicking if you are into that sort of thing) and the surf can be quite spectacular on the right day.

It is a pity that you can't spend a night at Punakaiki (try to, if you can -- about half an hour's drive north of Greymouth on the West Coast). The Pancake Rocks and Blowholes are a major attraction and there are some fantastic short walks (anything from 15 minutes upwards) in that area.

I hope that you enjoy NZ.

I'll agree to disgree some with Jed and his others for though NZ could be different but I doubt it, you have it partially right in that for both NZ and FNQ you're looking at shoulder seasons rather than low or high and what with a lot of people tightening their belts a notch or two at the moment and some trips cancelled, and others deciding on not to go, I would reckon you'll not only have no problems getting accomodation but every possibility of getting some great last minute/standby deals - the tourism industry is hurting and will be more and they'll do everything they can to get a customer.

NZ in particular has the south island getting extra busy during Xmas school holidays when a lot of north islanders flood to the south, and another reason for there to be excess capacity away from that time.

And if not wanting to break the bank even less, check out www.bbh.co.nz as there are some great smaller hostels with twin/double rooms, www.yha.co.nz for more and then http://www.holidayparks.co.nz/ have cabins and www.top10.co.nz and www.kiwiholidayparks.com for more options.

Similarly, use a site like www.bugaustralia.com to look at Cairns area hostels though there is also a huge range of alternative holiday accomodation there, capacity for peak times in Australian winter and much excess available at other times, www.ragingthunder.com.au a site that will allow you to chat with a local operator there.

We were in South Island last November and found difficulty in getting accommodation in a few of the more popular places. In the end, we started booking a night or two in advance to make sure of a bed for the night. We used Bella Vista motels a lot - reasonably priced, fairly new so nice and clean and modern. They booked ahead for us in several places - even going to other motels if their chain was full.
While you are driving around Cairns, divert off the highway to visit Palm Cove - really delightful little village on the beach. Great place to stop for lunch or coffee.
Another good place to visit is the Botanical Gardens in Cairns.