My hubby and I will only have 4 days for New Zealand. Due to arrive in early a.m. from USA, flying into Auckland. I am thinking we should fly straight to South Island, assuming it should be Queenstown. We are in mid-30's and very active. I would love the glacier and Milford Sound cruise/Fiordland. Not sure about several things however: How long should I estimate to get through airport customs in Auckland, in determining when we can catch the next flight to the South Island? We should crash from jet lag in Queenstown to recuperate on the rest of the first day there. Then what should we do first- glacier or cruise/Fiordland? How much time should we spend at each of these places? Is there a long drive between these destinations? We would like to fly back on the 4th day back to Queensland for that night, as we need to fly out early on the 5th day. Any insight you have would be greatly appreciated!

Ok- we're going to do the heli hike to the glacier from Queenstown, eliminating driving time. What company should we use to heli there and get a good hike in?

The drive from Queenstown to the glaciers takes at least six hours - ONE WAY - so you're not eliminating any driving time!

Suggest you base yourselves in Queenstown and take a day trip to Milford (four hour drive EACH way - this journey takes an entire day, but it's done all the time). Then spend the rest of your time exploring Queenstown and the vicinity (Arrowtown, Glenorchy, etc.)

"We would like to fly back on the 4th day back to Queensland for that night, as we need to fly out early on the 5th day..."

Please clarify the above, not understanding this bit...

Check this out for drive times/distances:

http://www.accommodationz.co.nz/distances2.html

Typically if you are coming from the west coast of the US you wont feel much jetlag other than wanting to get up early. If you don't get on the plane sleep-deprived and get a bit of sleep on the flight, I think you won't feel too put out.

I usually promote continuing onward to the South Island on the arrival day. Customs is pretty quick, maybe an hour at most.