New Zealand Itinerary
 

Day 1 Arrive in Christchurch
Sightseeing in Christchurch
Day 2 Take Tranzcoastal to Blenheim
Wine Tastings
Day 3 Drive around Marlborough Sound or pay for a day trip to Marlborough Sound
Day 4 More Wine Tastings
Dau 5 Drive back to Christchurch via Kaikoura
Day 6 Take Tranzalpine to Greymouth, drive down to Franz Josef or Fox
Day 7 Helihike or Glacier walking in Glaciers
Day 8 Drive to Queenstown via Wanaka
Day 9 Fly/Cruise trip to Milford Sound
Day 10 Visit Arrowtown or do some activities
Day 11 Arrive in Sydney (4:50PM)
Day 12 Sightseeing in Sydney
Day 13 Drive to Hunter Valley
Day 14 Sydney - Auckland - NYC

or should we go to the GBR instead of Sydney? What do you think about our plan?

Sydney is a wonderful, vibrant, diverse city, but after all is said and done, it is just another metropolitan area. There is no place else on Earth like the GBR though. If you are only going to go to one place in Oz, that's where I would go. You can fly to Cairns or Hamilton, then take a boat out to the Reef.

ALF,

I see your messages everywhere ... you seem to know a lot about Australia and NZ. What do you think about my itinerary? Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

Neko-I did a trip similar to this last summer but more extensively. You are going to some of the places I really enjoyed on the SI. I'm glad you are going to Marlborough as I loved it (and NZ is the best) but I think you may be there for a day too many. Some of the wineries I enjoyed were Nautilus, Huia, Mud House, Cloudy Bay, Villa Maria, and Brancott Montana. You could really do all of that in one day. Look up Barry's Wine Tours on Google and try to do a day trip with him. He is this wonderful older guy who drives you around in his van and hangs out while you do wine tastings. I was fortunate in that I was there in winter and the only one on the tour, so we got to bond a bit. I also did a helihike in Franz Josef, which was one of the highlights of my trip.

I agree with ALF that the GBR is not to be missed, but it doesn't look like you really have enough time to do that and must choose between the GBR and Sydney. I can tell you like wine or you wouldn't also want to go to the Hunter Valley. Personally, Sydney has become my absolute favorite place in the world. I'm trying to figure out how to move there legally from NYC! But if you only have 2-3 days I would just stay there and check it out. Yes, it is a metropolitan area but it's really fun and the people are fantastic. Take a ferry from Circular Quay over to Manly, run down to Bondi Beach, if you like to shop walk along Oxford Street, and perhaps walk around Double Bay (suburb right outside the city-10 min. by train) if you like a more small town, quaint kind of place. There are shops there and some nice cafes/restaurants. Queenstown is great for adventure activities, like rafting, bungee jumping, and hanggliding (that was fun!). It's just too bad that you do not have more time, but I know everyone has time constraints. You are going to some fabulous areas and I'm totally jealous! Have a great trip.

neko,

Your itinerary looks good to me. If I had such a limited amount of time, I would simply rent a car and skip the train trips - you will have much more flexibility, and I doubt that you will pay much more than train fares and hiring one-way vehicles. To be sure, the journey from Christchurch to Arthur's Pass is far more impressive by train, compared to the road. On the other hand, much of the track from the Pass to Greymouth is in tunnel, compared to the steep rugged terrain traversed by the road.

Its not clear to me where you are flying to Sydney from - Queenstown or Christchurch?

Al F.

Abby43, thank you so much for your great suggestions. I will try to cut down Blenheim to two days. Maybe I will add another day in Abel Tasman (or am I repeating too much with Marlborough Sound??) or in Queenstown. I am so happy to hear that you did a similar itinerary. Did you stay in Franz Josef for 2 days to do the heli hike?

Alf, we will be flying to Sydney from Queenstown. We leave around 12PM (the reasonable price by Qantas)and arrive SYD at 5PM. So we waste all day on Day 11 and 14 between NZ and Sydney. Am I wasting too many days traveling? Where else do you suggest to go in NZ if we decide not to go to Sydney at all?