NZ campervan trip- both islands
 

HI
I am planning a trip in late dec/jan for 21 days. hoping for some feedback about length of stay in the south island. here is what I have planned so far:

day 1: Christchurch
day 2: drive to mount cook 1 nite
day 3 & 4: QT
day 5 & 6 :Te Anau/milford Sound
day 7: drive and stay over at Wanaka
Day 8 & 9: Franz Joseph/fox
day 10 &11: travel and stay some where on way to Picton
day 12: Picton overnight
day 13- ferry to Wellington

not sure wether to stay an extra night at QT or Te Anau or Glaciers?
this leaves us a week on the north island
north island: Waitomo Caves, Rotorua, Matamata and Bay Islands finishing in Auckland to fly home.
any suggestions would be very much appreciated
Cheers Kate

I think you're cutting things a bit fine. The South Island is long, and driving distances are significant. You'll be spending a lot of time in your car. I think you'll find it difficult to see the south and the north of the SI in just two weeks.

For example - one night in Mt Cook doesn't give you much time to see the place, experience the walks, etc, as you'll have long drives on either side. If you're at all interested in hiking, I'd allow at least two nights.

Likewise, one night in Wanaka is giving the place short shrift.

I see a lot of movement and changing accommodation, but not a lot of time to explore the places you're driving to.

Scratch the changing accommodation, that would be changing camp sites.

Kate, we had 13 nights on the SI and 4 on the NI and found things a bit tight, so much so that we revised our itinerary which was quite similar to yours, but in the other direction.

We did 3 nights in Nelson, 2 in Franz J, 3 in Wanaka, 3 in QT [with a day trip to Te Anau / Doubtful Sound which worked well for us, as we were in a car and staying in B&Bs and motels; it might not be so easy in a camper] one in Oameru and a last in Christchurch before a very early flight out to Sydney.

We actually changed our itinerary half way round as we realised that the driving we had set for ourselves was going to be too much. I would strongly suggest adding at least a night to Wanaka - it is a lovely place to spend at least a day, and the drive to FJ from there is ++ long, with a lot to see and do on the way by way of walks that you can do from various stopping places. OTOH I think that you could do FJ to, say, Nelson, [or somewhere closer to Abel Tasman if you are interested in boat trips and walks there] stay 3 nights there, and easily make your ferry at Picton.

I would suggest this:

day 1: Christchurch
day 2: drive to mount cook 1 nite
day 3 & 4: QT 2 nights
day 5 & 6 :Te Anau/milford Sound, 2 nights
day 7-8: drive and stay over at Wanaka, 2 nights
Day 8 & 9: Franz Joseph/fox, 2 nights
day 10 &11& 12, travel and stay some where on way to Picton, 3 nights
day 13- ferry to Wellington

I suspect that Mel would suggest an extra night at Mount Cook especially if you like walking. if you aren't too bothered about walking, and bearing in mind that you will be able to see Mount Cook from the other direction when you get to FJ, you could go south from C/Church down to Oamaru - very few people go there but it was one of the best places that we stayed; there is a fascinating Victorian town, the botanical gardens, at least one excellent restaurant, and the little blue penguins to watch coming ashore at dusk. The drive to QT is quite a long one for the next day, but the countryside is very interesting [downright weird, some of it] and quite different from most of the rest of NZ that we saw.

Just a thought!



On the NI, we liked Wellington where we spent a night, and Napier where we spent 2, [don't miss the gannet colony if you get there] but the place we wish we'd spent more time was the Coromandel peninsular, which was lovely.

Mel and annhig have covered the South Island we'll so I'll give you my two cents on the North Island as an aucklander.

Re North Island. I'm assuming you are looking towards waitomo for the glow worm caves and matamata for Hobbiton? If so, waitomo caves are great but there are also glow worm caves in te anua across the lake that are fantastic. Other than Hobbiton in matamata it's not really a destination like rotorua. You might do Hobbiton on the way from / to somewhere - the tour is two hours (if that's the reason you are going there?) rotorua is great for the Maori experience, geothermal activity, and crazy activities (zorbing, luge etc) and definitely worth a couple of days.

Regarding the bay of Islands. It's 3.5hrs drive north of Auckland. Very nice but given your short time frame you may be able to get a similar experience without the extra driving? What are you looking to experience here? Just a thought but you could otherwise look at the coromandel peninsula (cooks beach, cathedral cove, hot water beach, hahei, pauanui, whangamata, matarangi, coromandel) which is closer to rotorua and South of Auckland on your way towards Auckland. IMO the beaches are nicer through the coromandel (surprisingly the bay of islands doesn't have a great collection of beaches). New chums beach which is a short walk at low / medium tide from whangapoua is considered one of new Zealand's best beaches. And the drive from Thames north to coromandel would hands down be one of the nicest in the North Island.

(Don't get me wrong the bay of Islands is beautiful (hole in the rock, paihia, Russell).

So you could look at going from rotorua via matamata to somewhere on the coromandel peninsula / bay of plenty and then slowly make your way around the peninsula and then on to Auckland.

I've name dropped a lot of places so you can have a look at photos / google and see what takes your fancy. Either way you'll be sure to have a great time.

Also, Just remember that anywhere within 3-4hrs of Auckland will be packed through the late December January period as it's summer school holidays (bay of Islands, coromandel peninsulA, bay of plenty) as most of Auckland leaves to go to their holiday homes / camping (Auckland is like a ghost town then) - book your accomodation. If you are travelling try not to drive into Auckland on a Sunday from either north or South as the traffic is usually a crawl (or do it late in the day).

Have fun planning

and if you are trying to return your camper to auckland airport, make sure you have a good map. We had reckoned on our car hire co giving us a map that would at least get us out of the Auckland conurbation [where we had arrived at the afternoon rush hour, worst luck] but no map, apparently because they want you to rent their GPS. [and no glass of water for me, though I was parched; i was not impressed].

so we had to follow the road signs and our noses til we found a petrol station with water and maps. I'm sure you will have maps because this will be the end of your trip, not the beginning but make sure you know where you're going - the traffic around Auckland was pretty bad and coming from the SI you won't be used to it!

thanks Melnq8, osteorach & annhig, everything you have offered has been a great help. here is my updated plan what do u think:

SI
day 1: Christchurch (1 nite- stock up on food & drink)
day 2: drive to mount cook (1 nite-
day 3 & 4: QT 2 nights (adrenalin activities for 11 yr old)
day 5 & 6 & 7 :Te Anau/milford Sound, 3 nights(boat, kayak & walking)
day 8: drive and stay over at Wanaka, 1 night(only really see this as a stopover, am I doing it justice?
Day 9 & 10: Franz Joseph/fox, 2 nights
day 11: travel and stay some where on way to Picton,1 night
day 14- ferry to Wellington( late arvo ferry) 1 night in Wellington

2 nights unaccounted for- do u think spend it in QT, Wanaka or on the road to Picton?

NI
day 15: waitomo
day 16 & 17: Rotorua (travel to Hobbiton on way to next destination)
day 18-20: coromandel peninsula
day 21: Auckland(1 night) fly home next day

love your feedback
Kate

Hi Kate,

I would definitely add a night to Wanaka and a night to your stop-over on the way to Picton. if that does not appeal, add a night to Wellington so that you can see the Te Papa museum, which your 11 year old is sure to enjoy.

I agree with annhig.

Punakaiki, Westport, Reefton and Murchison are all good options for the overnight on the way to Picton.

thanks guys for your advice, one last thing- should I book camping sites now or can I wing it for some?

Your itinerary is coming along well.

I would book as Christmas / new year is peak season. You may find some have minimum night stays through that time (we did in franz josef one year).

Have fun