new zealand in july
 

Any suggestions re: a 10 day itinerary for New Zealand in July. We don't want to ski or do winter sports. I'm thinking we should just skip the South Island altogether?

Hi jag - it depends where you're from as to whether you can handle cold weather but July is too cold for me in NZ even in the north island. It's winter in the southern hemisphere and most of Australia is cold, too. If I were you I'd head for the tropics of Northern Australia where winter daytimetemperatures still reach around 27 C max.

California. I had heard that the winter temps were comparable to San Francisco in Dec.?

We are from California and we were in New Zealand last July. Found the North island to be quite mild with little rain. Sweater/light jacket weather. Pleasant. The South island is colder with snow seen in Queenstown and in the mountains. The South island is however beautiful and as we had little rain it was stunning. We did not find the temperatures to be that cold. If this is your only possible trip to New Zealand I would not skip the South island but if you plan to return to New Zealand in the future I might just stick to the North Island and return for the South island on another trip.

I think we've decided to stick to the North Island. What itinerary would you suggest? I am thinking of Auckland, the Bay of Islands, the Coromandel Peninsula, Rotorua, Waitomo Cave, and Napier. Do this seem like a good plan in the winter? Any good
B&B or farmstay suggestions in these areas? Do most smaller places have heat in the bedrooms?