Thank you for all the good advice received on my original draft itinerary 1st draft New Zealand

I tried to use it and came up with the itinerary I will list below. But I have a new problem, and it's a good one. Due to what flights I can get, I need to add 3 more days to this itinerary, so where do you suggest we add them? Because this turns into a long trip (our longest ever), I'd rather add days to existing destinations and have some down time to just take it easy, but I'm not completely opposed to a new stop/destination. What do you think? Here is what I have so far:
2n Christchurch
2n Kaikōura
3n Abel Tasman NP
1n Punakaiki
3n Franz Josef glaciers area
3n Wanaka
1n Glenorchy
3n Te Anau
2n Stewart Island
2n Catlins
3n Dunedin
3n Aoraki Mt Cook
2n Christianchurch

I think there are several possibilities, and they are all good, depending, of course, on what your interests are.

You could spend 2 nights in Picton and visit the Marlborough wine region: take some winery tours, have delicious lunches at the wineries. We enjoyed Picton. It's a pretty little town with a harbor and there are quite a few restaurants to choose from. And visit the Omaka Aviation Heritage Center. And then add one night to Punakaiki if you like to hike. I think Adelaidan spent 3 nights here. There are lots of nice hikes in addition to seeing Pancake Rocks.

Or you could spend those 3 nights in Queenstown. It's an hour from Glenorchy so it's close by but that's ok. Both are very different. We loved Queenstown. There are adventure activities if you are interested in that. Take the TSS Earnslaw cruise across Lake Wakatipu and have the delicious barbeque dinner at the sheep station. Take the Skyline Gondola, visit the Kiwi Birdlife Park, the Skyline Luge, and there are numerous hiking opportunities. And lots of delicious restaurants to choose from.

If you don't want to add a new destination, then you could add an extra night to Aoraki/Mt. Cook to give you time for more hikes or to give you a buffer in case of inclement weather. Add an extra night to Punakaiki for more hiking. I don't know anything about Stewart Island, the Catlins or Dunedin, but perhaps one of those could use an extra night?

If it were me, I'd add one night to Abel Tasman and two nights to the Catlins. I'd also reduce those nights in Christchurch, unless you have specific plans for both ends of your trip.

The Catlins consists of two distinct areas, north and south, and it takes some time to see each area. Two nights is only one full day and you'll only see a wee bit of this beautiful area with only one full day. The same goes for Stewart Island, and even more so for Glenorchy, especially if you plan to do some hiking.

https://www.catlins.org.nz/plan/visi...hure-and-maps/

Thank you both. So many options, and only 3 extra days!!
I reduced the last stay in Christchurch to 1 night only, so this gives me 4 extra nights to play with, yippee! My first impulse is to add 1 night or maybe 2 to Glenochy (or should I move that to Queenstown?), 1 to the Caitlins and 1 to Stewart Island. I like 3 nights minimum in a place, and this would take care of it.
After reading Adelaidan;s TR, all the hikes around Punakaiki sound interesting, too. And of course, Abel Tasman.
We've never had a trip where we moved that much....this one has 13 stops, 13 different hotels. Ouch!

xyz99, it's a hard call. It really depends on your interests. I sincerely believe that whatever you choose will be wonderful.

Adding an extra night to Abel Tasman is certainly a good idea and worthwhile. You can visit wineries nearby in the Upper Moutere region. And you can do more hiking at Abel Tasman. Because we visited Abel Tasman during our last week of a 6-week trip, we were getting tired and decided to just do the 4-hour cruise along the coast. But you would near more time if you want to get off the boat and do some of the hikes.

We haven't been to the Catlins or Stewart Island, so I don't have firsthand experience, but Mel makes a good point that 2 nights gives you only 1 full day so it might make sense to add the nights there.

Regarding Glenorchy or Queenstown, that depends on what you like. Glenorchy is more quiet and Queenstown is bustling with more people and more restaurants to choose from.

Mel certainly has more experience in New Zealand than I do so she can give you better advice. She helped me a lot when I was planning our trip.

This might help to confuse rather than clear your thoughts but here goes: -

You could add some nights in Golden Bay, but you would need at least two to make it worthwhile. it's to the north west of Abel Tasman and accessed over the steep and twisty Takaka Hill. Lots os wonderful places to see and (at least when we were last there in 2018), not many tourists. You should look for a trip to Farewell spit and visit Whararaki Beach, preferably at low tide.

You could add some time at Okarito. It's a tiny community right on the west coast about 20 minutes from Franz Josef. Only self catering places to stay and no restaurants or shops but a beautiful location. It has an excellent boat trip on the lagoon with lots of bird spotting opportunities - https://www.okaritoboattours.co.nz, and is an excellent place to see kiwi in the wild -https://okaritokiwitours.co.nz. A stay here could replace the stay at Franz Josef.

An extra night on Stewart Island would be good, especially if it can include a Sunday night so that you can go to the quiz at the South Seas Hotel. We partnered with a young couple from California and won! Another excellent place to see kiwi in the wild. We have had success both here and at Okarito.

Any excuse to have more time in Wanaka would also get my vote.

We have only a little experience of the Catlins but as above an extra night there would be good. I would drop one of the 2 night stops in Christchurch as well.

On wineries I would go for the Upper Moutere rather than Marlborough. The latter has a lot of well known wineries and is much better known but is rather a flat boring landscape. The Upper Moutere is by contrast beautiful and I really like their wines as well.

And herein lies the problem, so much to see, so little time. We generally like longer stays, but NZ is the type of place that requires a bit of movement, as the sights are well spaced. I think a three night minimum is a good choice for those with limited time.

I too like Golden Bay and Upper Moutere, and, and, and...the problem is time and the time it takes to get from one place to another.

I think you're on the right track by adding extra nights to your existing destinations instead of adding more. Think of this as your first trip to NZ, not your only

If your goal is to just see Glenorchy, you can easily make it a day trip from Queenstown. If your goal is to plant yourself there and spend a few days exploring the many tracks, then you'll need more time. Yes, it's tiny, but it packs a punch for those of us who like to hike and explore indepth, so your choice will depend on what you hope to see and do.

I have many detailed reports posted here on Fodor's for our many trips to NZ. They cover just about every inch of the SI and may or may not help. Just keep in mind that it often takes more time to get from Point A to Point B than you might expect, so leave plenty of time for the journey.

Sometimes less is more.

I agree with JohnEW2912 that the Upper Moutere landscape, with its rolling hills, is more beautiful and interesting than the Marlborough region. We loved the winery we visited in the Upper Moutere; our wine tasting is probably the best we've had anywhere, and our lunch was delicious. We purchased 15 bottles of wine and had them shipped home! We did enjoy the wine tasting and lunch we had in the Marlborough area, too, but the landscape is flat and not as interesting.

Mel makes an important point that it often takes more time to get from Point A to Point B. One reason is because of the roads (oftentimes narrow and twisty and over mountains). But also because you will be stopping constantly to take photos of the stunning scenery!

Another good point that Mel makes regarding Queenstown and Glenorchy: Seeing Glenorchy as a daytrip from Queenstown worked for us because our goal was to drive along beautiful lake Wakatipu, walk along the Glenorchy Lagoon Trail, have lunch in Glenorchy and then head back to Queenstown. Our goal was not in-depth hiking. And we like cities, too, such as Queenstown, as well as smaller, quieter places.

Thank you all, yes....lots of choices and not enough time.
Melnq8, I hope too that this is not the only trip to NZ, but just the first one, but the reality is that it takes a long time to get there and lots on $$$ for the flight. And we don't play the lottery, so chances to win one are zero.
I've looked at the Golden Bay a lot, and it looks amazing, beautiful scenery, few crowds, lots of birds, exactly what I love, but it takes time to get there...so probably at least 2 days with 1 night only there. I'd rather add the 2 days at existing destinations.
I'll look for older TR and see what appeals most. As of now, I have a list of things to do and places to see that would require at least another month in NZ, so I need to be selective. Both Glenorchy and Queenstown are appealing for different reasons, I don't know....we'll see.

Separate topic: I don't remember exactly, I think it was both our Portugal trips that were canceled at least 2 if not 3 times at about the same times (fun times, right?). We eventually got to go in Sept 2022, and it was one of the best trips ever. Bouncing ideas with you as our itineraries were almost identical worked out great. Thanks!

JohnEW2912, Okarito lagoon was on my radar already. I was thinking to take their boat ride while staying in FJ, but I haven't looked into logistics yet. For our interests (hiking and a heli ride), I think staying in FJ or Fox Glacier is best, but maybe we need to add an extra day there for Okarito. And thanks for the wineries tip.

KarenWoo,
You make a good point. I think I'll make a list of all the Glenorchy hikes we might be interested in, and all the things in Queenstown we're interested in, and figure out which one wins. Depending on that, we'll decide on the base that works best for us.
Also, I think I'll add a day to Abel Tasman and use it for the some Upper Moutere winery visit and lunch. Thank you!

I am back in planning mode, and here is what I have for now. What do you think?
2n Christchurch - to get over jet lag and hopefully do a Hector’s dolphins cruise
2n Kaikōura - for either dolphins or whales cruise, hard decision.
3n Abel Tasman NP - hiking, boat ride, maybe some wineries
1n Punakaiki -
3n Franz Josef - heli hike (weather permitted), Lake Matheson, and lots of other hikes to keep us busy
3n Wanaka - so much to do here...
2n Queenstown - again, too many things to choose from
4n Te Anau - for both Milford and Doubtful sounds, glow worms, etc.
3n Stewart Island
And now I am not sure anymore....I have
3n Catlins
3n Dunedin
2n Aoraki Mt Cook
1n Lake Tekapo
1n Christianchurch before the flight back home

Should I cut 1 night from either Catlins and Dunedin and add to Mt.Cook? We are interested in wildlife, but I think we need 2 full days at Mt.Cook for the Hooker Valley track and possibly a glacier heli-hike, weather permitting. We had originally 3 nights there, but I decided we need to move 1 night to Tekapo for the star gazing.
Unfortunately, moving things around now is kind of late, there is little availability with accommodations, but let me know what you think. Thank you.