New Zealand 3 week itinerary
I'm looking for input on our itinerary for late October 2017.
Fri Oct 27 Arrive Auckland 7:15 am Auckland: See Auckland War Memorial Museum Kelly Tarlton’s Sealife Aquarium Sky Tower Auckland Art Museum Sleep Auckland Sat Oct 28 Auckland Ride On-Off Sleep Auckland Sun Oct 29 Get rental car Drive to Rotorua or Taupo Site See Taupa Auckland-Taupo 171 miles 3.25 hours Sleep Taupo Mon Oct 30 Tongariro Alpine Crossing Hike Sleep Taupo Tues Oct 31 Drive to Rotorua Site See Rotorua Sleep Taupo Wed Nov 1 Drive to Wellington Taupo-Wellington 231 miles 4.45 hours Return car Site See Wellington Sleep Wellington Thurs Nov 2 Wellington See Te Papa Tongarewa (Museum of New Zealand Great War Exhibit Botanical Garden Sleep Wellington Fri Nov 3 Fly to Queenstown Pick up rental car Site See Queenstown Sleep Queenstown Sat Nov 4 Queenstown Site See Queenstown Sleep Queenstown Sun Nov 5 Drive to Te Anau Queenstown-Te Anau 107 miles 2.25 hours Glowworm caves Site See Te Anau Sleep Te Anau Mon Nov 6 Drive to Milford Sound Te Anau-Milford Sound 73 miles 2.5 hours Site See Milford Sound Overnight Cruise Tues Nov 7 Drive to Te Anau Milford Sound-Te Anau 73 miles 2.5 hours Site See Te Anau Sleep Te Anau Wed Nov 8 Drive to Invercargill Te Anau-Invercargill 99 miles 2 hours Site See Invercargill Sleep Invercargill Thurs Nov 9 Explore South coast Site See Sleep Invercargill Fri Nov 10 Drive to Wanaka Invercargill-Wanaka 151 miles 3.25 hours Sleep Wanaka Sat Nov 11 See Wanaka Sleep Wanaka Sun Nov 12 Hike around Wanaka Sleep Wanaka Mon Nov 13 Drive to Queenstown Wanaka-Queenstown 43 miles 1.25 hours Sleep Queenstown Tues Nov 14 Explore Queenstown Sleep Queenstown Wed Nov 15 Return rental car fly home My husband would like to limit our driving as he is not as comfortable driving on the left. Any suggestions are appreciated. |
You wrote you're thinking of spending two nights in Invercargill to explore the "South Coast". Could you elaborate on what you hope to see and do? Do you mean to see the Catlins or Stewart Island? What are your interests in general?
Invercargill has a few highlights that you could see in two to three hours (Southland Museum, Queens Garden, Bill Richardson's Transport World, the World's Fastest Indian at E. Hayes Hardware). These are not usually top draws for the first- or second-time NZ visitors (but everyone's tastes are different). It's not the most scenic or interesting of towns, most tourists pass through it enroute to Stewart Island, or while taking the Southern Scenic Route. The Catlins area is more scenic and interesting, so maybe you could stay there instead. Or you could spend more time in Wanaka, Queenstown, or Te Anau. If you're not comfortable with driving, you can always take day tours out of these places; you'd have a lot of options in these very tourist-friendly destinations. The weather can often be wet, gray and cold in the south of the South Island in November. You might not get around to everything you list on your first day in Auckland, but you'll have a second day. Auckland Public Art Gallery and Sky Tower are near to one another. |
Thank you for your input, Diamantina. The Caitlins are the area we are interested in. We did not see many places to stay. I will look harder. We are interested in hiking, scenery and museums.
We will look at adding another day in Te Anau and Wanaka instead. |
>>>We did not see many places to stay.<<<
You only need one! The Catlins doesn't have large motels, most places only offer a room or two. But that's the beauty of it. We had two nights at the Catlins and stayed one night at Curio Bay and the other at Nugget Point. This allowed for us to see the Yellow-eyed penguins as they came ashore in the evening at Curio Bay - and we also had a nest of Little Blue Penguins at our accommodation. It gave us a full day to explore the Catlins, as the attractions are mainly off the main road. Staying at Nugget Point allowed us to visit the lighthouse in the morning before anyone else showed up and was also a good place to start our journey to Wanaka. We drove along the Clutha River and it was really beautiful. We stayed here: http://www.curiobay.co.nz/Accommodat...ue-Studios.asp And here in the Lighthouse Unit: http://www.nuggetlodge.co.nz/accommodation If you can't find accommodation at Curio Bay, Waikawa is five minutes away. And if the Nugget Lodge isn't to your liking or not available, there's more accommodation at Kaka Point, about 5-10 minutes away. Check to see when low tide is and visit Cathedral Cave. (Here's their official page: https://www.cathedralcaves.co.nz) And a stop for the Lost Gypsy Gallery is worthwhile (http://roamaholic.com/lost-gypsy-gallery/). Maps and details of where to go and what to see here: http://www.southernscenicroute.co.nz...ns/the-catlins |
Don't base any distances on Google Maps! They underestimate all travel times. All mileage is in kilometres here.
29 Oct - Rotorua - stay the night 30 Oct - Taupo (it's not very big and you can look at Huka Falls and the lake) then drive onto Turangi for the night. 31 Oct TAC walk. The winter season finishes on 31 Oct and a guide is recommended for the Crossing in winter unless you are an experienced alpine tramper. Do check the weather first and make a decision nearer the time. Staying in Taupo to walk the TAC makes a long day even longer! 1 Nov - drive to Wellington. |
Thank you, deSchenke and tasmangirl. Good information.
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Travelallover, try NZ AA Drive Distance Calculator for drive distances: https://www.aa.co.nz/travel/time-and...ce-calculator/
In addition to the usual booking sites, such as Booking.com, Wotif.com, Hotels.com, AirBNB, you can also check holidayhouses.co.nz. and www.bookabach.co.nz/ The Catlins tourism site also lists accommodation: http://catlins.org.nz/index.php My husband and I have stayed at Curio Bay Salthouse on Porpoise Bay several times, it has beautiful ocean views and is less than a 10-minute walk to the Petrified Forest and Yellow Eyed Penguin colony at Curio Bay. Curio and Porpoise Bays are adjacent. Porpoise Bay is home to a small pod of Hector's Dolphins from about November through April. http://www.curiobaysalthouse.co.nz/ Reviews for it here: https://www.tripadvisor.co.nz/Hotel_...th_Island.html There aren't many restaurants or cafes in the Catlins. So you might want to self cater. Depending on the route you take from Te Anau to Curio Bay (that is, if you go here), you'll want to buy groceries in Te Anau, Invercargill, or Gore. New World Market sells insulated cooler bags for NZ$5, if you'd like to keep your food fresh and cool (meat, fish, cheese, etc.). You don't need to buy milk for your morning tea or coffee; real milk is supplied by accommodations, as are tea and coffee. FYI: The Whistling Frog near McLean Falls, which is about a half-hour from Curio Bay, runs a popular café: http://whistlingfrogcafe.com/ They also have accommodation and an informative website: http://www.catlinsitineraries.com/in...ns/the-catlins This brochure from the Dept. of Conservation does a good job of describing the Catlins natural attractions (of which there are many): http://curiobay.co.nz/files/Southern...-Route-DOC.pdf Here's a link to a brochure for Curio Bay's natural attractions: http://www.doc.govt.nz/Documents/par...rpoise-bay.pdf |
Diamantina-Wow lots of great info! I will check out your suggestions.
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Travelover, here is a link to our blog which has some detail of our time driving the southern scenic route through the Catlins https://accidentalnomads.com/category/new-zealand/
We were in a campervan and stayed at a great Campsite at Lake Pounawea, superb sunrises and sunsets and a terrific fish and chip restaurant at the nearby Owaka. Not sure whether the Pounawea Campsite had cabins or not. If they do, it really is a terrific location |
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