erica1570

My husband and I and our 14 year old daughter are planning to spend 2 weeks in New Zealand at Christmas this year. We love outdoor activities, golf, sailing, tennis and food! Does anyone have a good itinerary they can share?

Melnq8

Do you have any interest in seeing the usual tourist sights, such as glaciers, mountains, rainforests, fijords? Any interest in fishing, whale watching, swimming with the dolphins, biking, hiking, wineries? Or are you more the sit in one place and play golf and tennis at a resort type of traveler?

Have you done sufficient research to determine which island you might prefer?

I ask, because knowing this will make all the difference in what myself and others might suggest.

Greenhorn

Don't want to be a downer - but pretty unlikely you will be able to visit New Zealand next Christmas (even though it's 11 months away)- unless a citizen or permanent resident. The country is extremely cautious about foreign arrivals and will likely remain so well past next Christmas given infection levels around the world. Hoping my pessimism is misplaced.

Melnq8

There is one famous glacier on the South Island, Fox Glacier, but we found that about 40 minutes up the road is an even better, lesser known glacier

Actually, Franz Josef is just as 'famous' as Fox Glacier, if not more so.

You'll get no argument from me as to how beautiful the South Island is though

panthersmom

(I cannot find the optoin to create a new thread... sorry). Can anyone who lives in the South Island or is very familiar make a recommendation? I am having a very had time deciding whether to plan my trip for Nov vs mid-Feb into mid-March. I'm trying to pick which of these 2 timeframes would give me the best chance of good weather for priority #1) heli-hikes and scenic flights at Fox/Franz priority #2) scenic flight over Fiordland. If we travel in Nov, we will be in Fox/Franz area for about 3 days - to increase our odds of hitting clear-enough weather- in mid-Nov (like around 11/18 to 11/21) and if we travel in Feb we'd be in that area around 2/24-2/26. I of course realize that nobody can predict the weather, and there can be unusual weather no matter what month but I feel in talking with heli-hike operators, helicopter operators and other flight operators, I am getting inconsistency. Some said normally the months from mid January to March or April are the most settled, while the worst weather patterns (rain and wind) are normally from September to December. Some have indicated that end of Feb isn't really any better for the sorts of activities I want than mid-November - it's really not until March that I'd have a better chance than in mid-November. I suppose if there weren't other factors (that I won't go into here) I would opt for Feb but, but due to those other factors I don't know if it's worth switching my plans from Nov. to February. I do realize that the West Coast and Fiordland are rainy areas regardless. But I also just read somewhere that some of the beautiful roads (I think it was Haast Pass) can get closed during the very rainy season and that included November) and that I might even need snow chains / snow tires in some areas in November? (My trip includes about 3 weeks on the South Island, including driving from Picton through Marlborough Sounds, Abel Tasman, Westport to Arthur's Pass and back to the West Coast where I'm planning about 3 days in Fox/Franz area to try to do a heli-hike and scenic hike, before driving back down to Haast, Wanaka, Queenstown, Mt. Cook, and of course Milford Sound Area and Doubtful Sound - we will be doing cruises on both. Would be great if we could catch some sun on at least one of these, and was also thinking of trying the Key Summit walk but it might be not be worth the effort - I'm not super athletic - if it's going to be cloudy or rainy as the point of the effort for me is to see lovely views at the top.

Melnq8

As many times as I've visited NZ, I don't think I ever went in November, so can't help with weather, but perhaps a local will chime in soon to help. I did visit in February once, and vowed never to again - too warm for my tastes and the Chinese New Year crowds were a bit much. Having said that, it took us several visits before we were able to pull off a helihike or Doubtful Sound cruise - weather in NZ can be crazy, despite the time of year.

Key Summit is a beautiful hike and definitely worth the time and effort on a nice day.

As for how to post a new thread...go into the forum you want to post in, and a blue/green box that says New Thread will pop up on the upper left side of the screen. Click that and you're good to go.

And just an FYI - it's a lot easier to read posts with paragraph breaks

Good luck with your planning. And welcome to Fodor's!

magritten

FWIW, in mid-November we took a helicopter up the glacier and we also took a small plane from Wanaka to visit Milford Sound--the weather was perfect for both. But I think all that tells you is that it can be very nice in November--not that it will be nice in November when you will be there. I do find the weatherspark site to be helpful to drill into weather history of specific places, from temps to chances of precipitation to amount of cloud cover. Good luck to you!

Diamantina

I live on the South Island and the weather is far more likely to be clearer, less windy, warmer, drier, and less variable (more settled) in late-Feb.-March than in November. November is hit-and-miss, you'll get rain, sun, wind. This being said, meteorologists are predicting that we will be having a La Niña weather pattern this spring and summer for the third year in a row, which means drier weather down south and probably drought conditions. But we had a La Niña last year as well, and, even so, last mid-November, the weather service warned of snow on Milford Road, heavy rains in Westland, and strong wind warnings for Canterbury and Marlborough.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/weathe...F5CXA4Q3HX7LM/
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/l...effects-remain

March is my favorite month for traveling around the South Island, which I haven't done since Dec. 2019 (before the pandemic). You might even see some early autumn leaves (which normally peak in April).

One November, I took a five-day trip to Stewart Island. It rained half the time, and the winds were so strong ferries to and from the mainland were cancelled for a day and a half. Even the little boat that ferries passengers from Stewart Island to Ulva Island could not operate for a day and a half. I still had a wonderful, if wet, time, because the island wasn't very crowded, but I think I would have enjoyed it even more in March. November travel would be less crowded. The days will also be a little longer, but they're long in late Feb.-early March as well.

I agree with Melnq8 that you should start your own new post. More people will see it and you'll get more responses.

panthersmom

Thanks a million- I finally found the New Thread button and will take all your advice!