Hi,

our family is visiting new zealand this winter for 10 nights and 11 days.

I've thought of the following iterinary but need some good suggestions for 3 days and also feedback ont he thoughts below:

day 1 - christchruch - botonical gardens, cathedral square, recover from 12 hour flight (night in christchurch clarion?)

day 2 - day trip to akaroa? (night in christchurch)

day 3 - leave for 9 ish towards franz josef through arthur pass. take frequent stops enjoy teh arthur pass drive (i hope this is parallel to the train and very scenic) (Night in Franz Josef)

day 4 - visit franz josef & perhaps fox glacier and do the helicopter thingie (night in Franz Josef)

day 5 - start driving towards queenstown. take a break in wanaka. do the jet boat thingie some tie around lake wanaka etc. reach queenstown and crash (night in queenstown)

day 6 - day for bungee jumping, gandola etc. (night in queenstown)

day 7 - day trip to milford sound (night in queenstown)

now a question - should i on day 6 check out and stay up in Te Anau to reduce my travel time ?

after the 3rd night in queenstown per the original plan my options are the following:
a) Return car and fly to Auckland
b) Go to Mt. Cook - 1 night there and then head to christchurch and fly to auckland from tehre.

need feedback on the point above i.e. if Mt. Cook is worth the tiem.

depending ont hat, we will have 2 or 3 days in North Island.

we do NOT want to go to Rotorua since we have been to Yellowstone a few months back.( so not interested in geysers and mud pools again so soon).

so where should we spend 2 or 3 days in north island?

for background we like places like alaska, swiss alps, yellowstone etc. i.e. into nature and not into city stuff.

so bottom line:
a) Should i do day trip to milford from Queenstown (advantage - no need to change hotels - we have a decent 2 bed appartment rented) OR get to Te Anau and save 2 hours drive

b) Is Mt. Cook worth going or should i just fly out of queenstown

c) What are the good place to go around Auckland (have 2/3 days there) depending on the answer to b.

What are your approximate travel dates? Some of these places can get very busy over the NZ summer holiday period (say from around Dec 20 through to the end of Jan).

Hi we will be going towards end of november and back before december 5

Stay in QT. it would be a long drive on day 7, but you would have to do the 2 hr drive next day anyway.

BUT, if you want to see the glowworms, you could see them in TA after you get back from Milford, then it <i>might</i> be best to stay in TA. I don't know how that would work out time-wise with the tours of the caves.

You could also see them in Waitomo On the NI.

If you like the Alaska-type scenery and outdoors, I would spend as much time as possible on the South Island, skip the North Island, and stretch out your trip a bit. Driving time is longer than you expect. Many of the roads are only one lane each way, and you will get behind slow moving trucks and campers, and pull over for photographs.

I enjoy the inland drive from Queenstown to Christchurch via Lakes Tekapo/Pukaki, Geraldine, Methven, etc. If it is clear, and you can see Mt. Cook, it is worth driving into the park.

Which direction are you coming from? If coming from the west (US) you will find that you want to get up very early and also go to sleep early. It isn't much of a problem.

If you do decide to do the South Island loop starting and ending in Christchurch, you have a bit more flexibility. I would move Akaroa to the end of the trip. Then if you have a delay elsewhere, you can skip it.

Visit a supermarket before you leave Christchurch for provisions and snacks. If you leave on day2 to the west coast, you might stop in Hokitika for the night if you are coming from the US/UK rather than trying to reach the glaciers. The other thing you might do is check the weather before leaving Christchurch. If it looks bad on the west coast, you can do your trip in the reverse order, ie down via Mt. Cook, time in Queenstown, then to the west coast at the end. I am surprised at how many people don't bother to do this.

Day five I would just stay in Wanaka. It is only a short distance from Queenstown, but that drive from the glaciers is a long one if you decide to stop along the way (and there are some nice short walks such as the Blue Pools).

Around Queenstown, don't miss the drive to Glenorchy etc. You might Dart River jetboat with Glenorchy.

Enjoy!

I forgot to mention that if you spend the night in Hokitika, there's a glow worm dell just north of town. So you won't have to take the time to see them in Te Anau.

You will like Akaroa. I spent 2 days there. The 1 1/2-hour bus trip is nice, and when it gets to the start of the Banks Peninsula there is a lookout point that has some great photo ops.

I enjoyed going out on a boat into the harbor to see the rare Hector's Dolphins. I went with Akaroa Dolphins 2-hour boat ride. That boat holds only a dozen people so it can get very close to the cliffs and we saw lots of wildlife.

Also, it's the only place in NZ where the street signs are in French...

I would suggest that you spend your first night on the West Coast at Punakaiki, abour half an hour's drive north of Greymouth. This is where the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes are. This is a comfortable drive from Christchurch, allowing for plenty of stops along the way. This might mean that you would have to drive back to Chch from Q'town in one day, but that is not a biggie. Most locals do that as a matter of course. You would probably have to skip the detour in to Mt Cook, but you will see plenty of that sort of scenery on the way.

Oh, and make sure that you take insect repellant with you.

Thanks all. this is all very helpful info.

I didn't factor the glowworms cave but probably will. NOt sure I will get a chance to see them in the US so sounds like something unique.

the problem with changing iterinaries at the last moment is that we are travelling with parents and a 18 month old. we have reserved places with kitchens and not sure if november end time frame we will be able to find places without reservations.

thoughts?

what really are the places to see in Christchurch area and how much time should i really give.
I am probably not visiting NZ again anytime soon so I do wanna see the most important places.

In North Island what would u suggest for 2 nights around auckland if i don't want to go to rotorua.

November is not the busiest season. If you see bad west coast weather forecast, don't hesitate to call the hotels and ask if you can shift the dates. November is a season where you can still get some intense storm fronts coming up from Antartica and the Tasman sea into the west coast. My most recent trip, very bad weather (including snow) was forecast in late November in Arthur's Pass and they didn't have a problem moving the reservation. The glaciers are definitely one of the tightest areas for booking, but Queenstown should be easier.

Christchurch itself has some nice gardens (Botanic Garden) and museums (Art Museum, Canterbury Museum), and the Arts Centre which you can easily get through in a day, or day and part of the next morning. If you are there on a weekend, the market in the Art Centre is worth a few hours.

I like your choice of hotel in Christchurch.

It's my own opinion and depends what you are interested in, but I wouldn't trade extra time around Queenstown, Mt. Cook and the Southern Alps for Akaroa. Partly this is because like you, I like the Alaska type scenery. Akaroa reminds me of Northern California type scenery, and the town itself is cute, but tiny..maybe an hour or two at most. If you aren't doing dolphin swims I would not take the time out of a short trip.

Around Auckland, if you don't want to go far, you can take the ferry to
Devonport, or book one of the longer ferry trips.

If you want to take a rainforest walk, the Arataki Visitor Centre is 1/2 hour from Auckland, has a nice flat nature trail and some good exhibits. It's even okay to do this walk in rainy weather. If the weather is good, continue to one of the west Coast black sand beaches such as Muriwai (which has a gannet colony that is easy to view), Bethells, Piha or Karekare. They're a bit over an hour from Auckland.