NZ 10 day honeymoon, driving NI and SI
 

Good afternoon,
My future wife and I will be embarking on the trip of our dreams in December. I’ve book the hotels and flights, but I need help filling in the middle. Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
We will be arriving on 12/09 in Auckland. Out of madness or insanity we will be then driving every day, stopping at a new hotel in a new city. Out Itinerary is as follows;

12/9 into 12/10 –Auckland
12/10 into 12/11- Rotorua We plan on seeing the hobbit town and glow worms
12/11 into 12/12 – Wellington
12/12 9AM ferry to Picton
12/12 into 12/13 Picton
12/13 into 12/14 Nelson
12/14 into 12/15 Panakaiki Resort
12/15 into 12/16 Fox Glacier….We want to do a helicopter ride to the top, which I plan on looking up and booking in the next few days
12/16 into 12/18 (2 nights) Queenstown
12/16 into 12/18 (2 nights) Queenstown
12/18 into 12/19 Twizel From here we drive to Chistchurch, to catch out 2:30PM flight to Fiji, which only flies once a week (hopefully we miss and get stuck!)

After typing this out I can see how busy we will be! Especially reading reviews for people staying for months at a time.

Thank you again!
Stephen and Andrea

This is really rushed. I'd pick either Hobbiton or Waitomo Caves and head to Rotorua to have a little time there. Because Rotorua to Wellington will be all day in the car.

You have half a day in Picton, when you would be better off to drive on to Nelson and spend 2 nights there. That will give you some time to explore Abel Tasman by getting a water taxi into the most scenic portion of the park. You could even do a kayak/walk/water taxi excursion.

Twizel? Not much there. I'd stay the night at Mount Cook. Lake Tekapo would be my second choice.

Ideally, I'd do a round trip Auckland to Rotorua (Hobbiton) and then Rotorua to Auckland (Waitomo Caves). Then fly to Nelson.

We had 10 nights in New Zealand in 2004 and spent it all on the North Island, since we had to fly in and out of Auckland. There just wasn't time to get to the South Island.

Since it looks like most of what you want to do is on the South Island, I would fly there from Auckland on your first day. Slow down a bit and enjoy your trip.

Lee Ann

Wow, I'm tired just reading this.

Not sure what advice you're looking for as you've already booked everything.

I hope you're young and extremely energetic:)

We are young and energetic! I guess I'm looking for places along the way that we should stop. I'm excited for the driving and country side but I don't want to simply drive by everything

<but I don't want to simply drive by everything>

Just to give you an idea of drive distances - all without stops:

Nelson to Punakaiki - 3:45

Punakaiki to Fox Glacier - 3:30

Fox Glacier to Queenstown - 5:30 - loads to see on this drive, so expect it to be much longer

Queenstown to Twizel - 2:45 (the only reason I can think you'd stay in Twizel is that Mt Cook accommodation is fully booked? Twizel is not exactly a tourist mecca and you'll be so very close to Mt Cook, why not go to Mt Cook?)

Twizel to Christchurch - 4:00

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I count NINE one night stays. This means you haven't even allowed yourself a full day in any place you're visiting. You'll drive in, spend a few hours, spend the night, then drive out the next day.

I think you'll find it very difficult to fit many activities into such a tight schedule, youth and energy notwithstanding.

It's very difficult to even hit the highlights of one island in less than two weeks, and you're trying to do both islands.

As for what to do along the way - I have several SI NZ trip reports posted here - they include driving routes and things to see and do along the way. They might give you some ideas.

Because there is so much driving, I hesitate to suggest to you anything other than stops that are almost right on the road and will take little time.

Auckland to Rotorua, you have enough on your plate (Hobbiton, Caves), you don't need anything else.

From Rotorua to Wellington, you'd have time to walk to Huka Falls. Very little time for much else.

From Picton to Nelson, there's Peloris Bridge with short walks. If you had 2 nights at Nelson, you could explore Abel Tasman.

Truman's Track and Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki. No time for Hokitika Gorge if you are planning a heli-hike that day.

Lake Matheson before you depart Fox Glacier. Then Thunder Creek/Fantail/Roaring Billy Falls and the Blue Pools along Haast Pass.

Bungee Bridge (observing) and Arrowtown when arriving or departing Queenstown.

Clay Cliffs of Omarama as you pass through. You can take photos from the far side of the river with a good lens. Or head out and get into the heart of them.

Lake Tekapo is a good photo stop for the lake, church, and dog statue between Mount Cook (Twizel?) and Christchurch.

>>I'm excited for the driving and country side but I don't want to simply drive by everything<<

That's pretty much what you'll be doing.

Lee Ann

stephen, we started off with an itinerary which was far more conservative than yours and still changed it half way round to cut down further on the driving.

trust me, driving every day for 3-5 hours is exhausting; you don't say where you are from but it is not like driving on a motorway or freeway, which would be bad enough; there may well be a series of one lane roads [speed limit 60 mph] with road works, towns and other obstacles, which slow you down to 30mph. we are from the UK and thought that the driving would be easy, but it wasn't.

IMO the ideal balance between moving around enough to get to see a good part of the country but not so much that you never stay still long enough to get a good look is to spend 2-3 nights in each place. you appear to have 10 nights, flying into Auckland and out of C/church. Therefore I would suggest doing Auckland and Rotorua then flying to QT and driving from there to C/C. or flying to Nelson from Auckland and proceeding from there.

but you really can't do it all in 10 days.

Thanks everyone