mscullion

My husband and I are traveling to NZ this November. We'll have a total of 20 full days for exploring. We're from the USA. We plan to rent a car. I'm driving myself nuts trying to decide on these itineraries but need to get it done as I am exactly 4 months out today. There's way too much to do and see! Here is my current plan:
Arrive Sunday night 10/29/17 Auckland
Monday 10/30 Auckland
Tuesday 10/31 Leave Auckland and head to Paihai, stay the night there
Wed 11/01 Explore Northlands, go to Cape Reinga ( we have to go tip to tip) and back to Paihai.
Thurs 11/02 Head from Paihai to the Coromandel area staying in either Thames or Whitianga
Friday 11/03 Still exploring Coromandel and staying a second night in either Thames or Whitianga, (wherever we ended up the day before)
Sat 11/04 Continue down East coast through Tauranga to Whakatane and then to Rotorua for the night
Sunday 11/05 Rotoura
Mon 11/06 Rotoura to Waitomo and then on to to Taupo for the night OR back to Rotoura OR stay in Waitomo
Tues 11/07 Taupo
Wed 11/08 Taupo to Wellington (4 hrs 41 minutes) - get afternoon ferry to Picton. Stay in Picton for the night.
Thurs 11/09 Picton to Abel Tasman. Stay there.
Friday 11/10 Abel Tasman. Stay there
Saturday 11/11 Big push travel day. Either from Abel Tasman down the West Coast to Frank Josef OR go down the East coast and try to get to the Mt Cook area. I don't think we'll be able to do the helicopter in Frank Josef but the little towns and west coast sound interesting. But based on other feedback we could still hike to see a glacier if we went to Mt Cook.
Sun 11/12 Mt Cook ( because that's the way I'm leaning)
Mon 11/13 Mt Cook area to Q-town
Tues 11/14 Q-town
Wed 11/15 Q-town
Thurs 11/16 Te Anau
Friday 11/17 Leave Te Anau and drive to Bluff (that's the other tip ��) and either stay around there or go back to Te Anau
Saturday 11/18 Either huge push to Christchurch or go back to Q town ( I like the latter option)
Sunday 11/19 Fly from Qtown back to Auckland. Our flight leaves Auckland at 8 p.m.

We don't mind the driving because you see a lot of things along the way. We're big "walkers" but not "trampers" in the sense that we are not campers so there will not be any overnight hikes. Just day hikes. We're early risers so we can get up and be driving somewhere early.
Thanks for any recommendations and feedback!

ZfromWinnipeg

Too much travel. I would suggest you do either North Island or South Island but not both. After five trips to NZ I learned to take a more leisurely pace. If it’s your first trip to NZ I would do South Island. Although the temperatures on the North Island are slightly warmer. My favorite stops include Abel Tasman NP great beaches and walks, Farewell Spit tour was interesting, Mount Cook, Dunedin and Otago Peninsula, Invercargill, Queenstown, Te Anau with Doubtfull Sound and Milford Sound boat tours, Short walk on the Routeburn Track, Franz Josef glacier hike up to glacier overview, Air Plane overflight of Mount Cook from Franz Josef.

Z

ZfromWinnipeg

If you choose North Island. Our favourite was; Auckland Museum, Whangarei some interesting walks near by, Matacohe Kauri Museum amazing Kauri furniture, Waipoa Forest Kauri trees are amazing giants to see, Waihi Beach good location for day tours to Hahei Cathedral Cove and Hot water beach, Whakatane White Island tour, Rotorua some interesting forest walks, Tongariro NP, Egmont NP two great walks up the mountain, Wellington Te Papa museum.

Z

ZfromWinnipeg

If you must do both Islands, select only a few places and stay for 2 to 4 days at each location depending what is available in the area. Doing one day stops and driving does not give you adequate time for walks, small towns, beaches and forests etc.

Z

tasmangirl

Wow - I was exhausted just to read this! I appreciate your desire to travel 'tip to tip' but you have planned too much in the trip.
"If you want to visit Mt Cook village, you'll need to take the inland route. If you want to see the glaciers, you'll need to take the West Coast route. To do both, you'll need lots of time as the drive distance is vast."
I've posted this from Mel's comment to someone else but I think it's so true. You might not 'mind' driving but here is takes much longer than you think and requires concentration.
Google maps do not give accurate drive times here. They do not allow for narrow roads, one way bridges, slow traffic, winding roads over mountains etc etc.
The 'big push' days are not doable. Abel Tasman to Mt Cook is about 9 hours solid driving.
For driving the length of NZ about 2,222 km go straight down the middle of both islands. This means missing the West Coast. Or fly some of the way.
Cut out Coromandel and definitely Whakatane. Tidy up the Rotorua/Taupo day. And it's Paihia! (not Paihai).
For the other big push - forget Christchurch and go back to Queenstown. I'm not so familiar with the deep South travel times so someone else may know the best way.
Don't book any Jetstar internal flights as they cancel a lot and you don't want to miss your international flight.

mscullion

Thank you both very much for your feedback. It sounded like a lot even to me but it was so hard to decide what not to see or do. I used the aa.nz for driving times. Thanks for the info on the airlines too. I'll think it over and re-work it.

tasmangirl

Great that you looked at AA maps. I should not assume everyone blindly takes Google's word for it!
The problem with an NZ 'tip to tip' trip is our long skinny country and the tips are more or less a one way in and one way out so some backtracking is necessary. However I have been thinking about how to make it work.
North Island :
Oct 30 Auckland
Oct 31 drive to Paihia
Nov 1 trip to Cape Reinga (really beautiful place)
Nov 2 Paihia to Pokeno OR Hamilton. All the way to Waitomo is too far. Pokeno is at the southern end of the motorway with a new motel there which looked fine and the biggest icecreams in NZ. If you push on through Auckland you don't get stuck in the traffic 2 days running and can get to Waitomo earlier.
Nov 3 Waitomo Caves trip am then drive to Rotorua
Nov 5 Rotorua
Nov 6 Taupo (only 1 hours drive)
Nov 7 Taupo to Wellington (about 4 hours and not that exciting a drive.
Nov 8 Wellington - a great little city with plenty of vibe and life and quite different to Auckland
Nov 9 early morning ferry to Picton.

tasmangirl

Continuing on..I've split this up because long posts are a pain to read and if I dash off to do something else like stir the dinner the post can disappear!
South Island :
Nov 9 Picton to Richmond OR Motueka. Which may seem strange choices but they are both close enough for a day in Abel Tasman NP and then the next day you are a bit closer to the next destination.
Nov 10 explore ATNP and the beautiful beach of Kaiteriteri. Hope you make it there - we went there every summer when I was a kid and it's a favourite.
Nov 11 Richmond to Rangiora (just out of Christchurch)about 5 hours and quite a big driving day. But it can't be helped as the other lovely coast road down to Kaikoura is still out of action from the earthquake last year. This could be a slow trip as ALL the SI traffic has to travel this route.
Nov 12 Rangiora to Mt Cook
Nov 13 explore Mt Cook
Nov 14 Queenstown
Nov 15 Queenstown
Nov 16 drive to Bluff for the day which is a big drive or if you want to stay overnight better go on the 15th.
Nov 17 Queenstown
Nov 18 fly back to Auckland and then home
I have left out Te Anau as I'm not sure why you are going there at all? It's sort of a round trip to Bluff but not really so unless you desperately want to go there I'd forget it. Are you not interested in Milford Sound? But then something else would have to give to fit it in.

tasmangirl

Out of the box suggestions....
1. Fly from Rotorua to Christchurch. This gets you past the more boring bottom half of the NI and the upper SI 'only one road' problem.
On Nov 4 swing past Taupo for the night then to Rotorua. The lake is lovely and Huka Falls worth a visit. On the way to Rotorua you could visit Orakei Korako a thermal park hidden away in the bush. It has that remote untouched feeling which I really like about some places here.
Rotorua has a much bigger airport than Taupo to get you to Christchurch. From Chch drive to Mt Cook with more days for the SI.
2. Fly Wellington to Christchurch. You miss the ferry trip through the Marlborough Sounds and ATNP but then on the flip side you don't have that long busy drive to Christchurch.
3. Forget going to ATNP and add in Milford Sound.
4. Petrol is expensive here and a one way rental to Queenstown might be expensive as well. Flying if you book in advance is not a bad way to cover ground.

mscullion

Wow! Thank you for your time and thought tasmangirl! I have had the same thought on flying. So that suggestion helps. But I don't want to spend a lot of time in an airport either. �� Ugh.
Yes I to do want to do some Milford Sound and Fiordland. All the written travel books say Te Anau is the "gateway" and you should stay there and then get a boat or tour to get to Milford. That's the only reason TeAnau is on there.
I've been thinking a lot since the other day and I really want to do both islands because this is a once in a lifetime trip for us. So I was thinking of doing without Waitomo, the Coromandel, Abel Tasman Park, Invercargill and Bluff. I really do want to see Cape Reinga and Paihai. And everyone puts Waitomo in so I'm glad to see you had that in there.
Also I read in someone else's itinerary feedback that if you don't get a helicopter ride in Frank Josef, you can't see the glacier whereas in Mt Cook you can still hike to the Tasman Glacier(?) Not sure of the name.
I will look at your suggestions above more closely. I've got to stop dreaming ��and start making decisions now and booking. I'm only 4 months out. I don't have to work this weekend so I'm hoping to cinch it up.
Thanks again.

tasmangirl

Kiwi airports are small and easy - turn up half an hour before and that's about it. nothing like the security or busyness of USA airports.
Cape Reinga is beautiful and has a lot of Maori significance as this is the departing place for a person's soul after death. The Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet there as well.
If you have senn glow worms other places then you could skip Waitomo and likewise Rotorua if you have been to Yellowstone (or so I hear I have not been to Yellowstone but Rotorua is a bit underwhelming if you have!).
The glacier at Franz Josef is retreating quite fast and you can do a walk to see it but more people prefer the helihike when you can actually walk on it. This is expensive and they have to cancel if the weather is bad so on a tight holiday timeline you might miss out. Anyway unless you really cut out places you just don't have time for the West Coast.
Mt Cook would be great and you can walk to the Tasman Glacier. One is much the same as the next!
The fjords are worth seeing unless you have been to Norway and seen them there. What I like about the far south is the remoteness and the total absence of anything man made in the landscape.
November is a good time to come as it shouldn't be too busy and will be warming up for the summer. Have fun planning!

Melnq8

<<(or so I hear I have not been to Yellowstone but Rotorua is a bit underwhelming if you have!).>>

Absolutely. Same goes for the geothermal bits of Iceland. If you've been to Yellowstone both will be seriously underwhelming.

<All the written travel books say Te Anau is the "gateway" and you should stay there and then get a boat or tour to get to Milford. That's the only reason Te Anau is on there.>

Te Anau makes the ideal base from which to visit Milford. Milford is about a two hour drive from Te Anau via car or bus tour.

Many people short on time visit Milford as a day trip from Queenstown, but its a 13 hour day - not something I recommend (we did this on our first visit to NZ but now we stay in Te Anau and self drive).

<<Also I read in someone else's itinerary feedback that if you don't get a helicopter ride in Frank Josef, you can't see the glacier whereas in Mt Cook you can still hike to the Tasman Glacier(?) Not sure of the name.>>

Not true. You can walk to the terminal face of both Franz Josef and Fox glaciers. If you want to walk on a glacier, you'll need to take an organized tour or helihike, but you can certainly see them without either. However, you'll see the ugly bits, not the glacial blue that you see from up top.

Why on earth do you want to go to Bluff? It's the launching point for the Stewart Island ferry, but that's about it.

Invercargill is just a flat agricultural town. Not much on offer for tourists there.

Snipping those two is a great start. Trust me on this.

Four months is a lot of time to plan. Sounds like you've got your flights, so you're good as gold. Relax. Breathe.

mscullion

Hahaha. Well, Bluff and Invercargill were part of my going " tip to tip" plan which was given up with the first responses.
I appreciate everyone's feedback and have made a lot of adjustments.
Thanks again!

annhig

just chiming in rather late, mscullion, we have only done one trip to NZ and were rescued, just about, from our folly by Mel and others here. We are used to driving along single carriage roads at low speeds but the time it takes to get around NZ surprised even us, so we ended up changing our itinerary half way round to cut down on the driving. Even so, it was hard work and we still bit off more than we could really chew!

Though they are quite difficult to avoid, a succession of 2 night stays are really very tiring. I'm not sure what your current itinerary is, but I would suggest cutting out a few more of your stopping places, and considering where you could do 3 nights, even if it means the odd one night stand.

Perhaps you could post your new itinerary for us to chew over?

As for accommodation, we most enjoyed staying in B&Bs in NZ. They are not necessarily cheaper than motels, but they were a lot of fun; we met some most interesting hosts and fellow travellers.