Good Morning,

HELP! We leave in less than 2 weeks for our HONEYMOON! We weren't able to take a honeymoon when we first got married. This is a very last minute trip and I want to do it right. I am so grateful we have the time now but i feel that we don't have enough time to plan it so I would appreciate any advice from you on the itinerary and accommodations. Also, if there are any must do activities that we have missed out. We only have 16 days to explore NZ. Thank you in advance for all of your help. This is our honeymoon and I want it to be special. I have all of our flights and rental cars booked but lack many of our accommodations and activities. We like cool critters, hiking, art, wine, adventure sports and just relaxing on the beach. What are your most memorable things that you did in NZ?

We will be flying into the north island but we will spend most of our time on the south island.

HAHEI: Day 1,2 Arrive early in Auckland and drive to the HAHEI (2.5 hours)We will probably recover from jet lag by just relaxing on the beach. Activities: Kayaking or sailing the second day. We plan to visit Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach.

Abel Tasman Day 3, 4
Drive back to airport and fly to Nelson.(4.5 hours) Pick up rental car and drive to Abel Tasman( 2 hours) Activities: Kayaking and Hiking. We are staying at Everton Bed and Breakfast. They did not have availability for Day 5.I AM TRYING TO DECIDE IF WE SHOULD STAY AN EXTRA DAY AT ANOTHER ACCOMMODATION IN ABEL TASMAN OR IF WE SHOULD MOVE ON AND STAY AN EXTRA DAY SOMEWHERE ELSE.

Day 5?

IF WE GO STRAIGHT TO PICTON ON DAY 5 THEN TO BLENHEIM AND KAIKOURA, WE COULD GO TO THE PUNAKAIKI ROCKS HOTEL on day 8 SINCE THEY ONLY HAVE AVAILABILITY ON DAY 8 AND NOT ON DAY 9. I HOPE THAT MADE SENSE. BASICALLY WE WOULD HAVE TO ADD AN EXTRA DAY TO THE SECOND HALF OF OUR ITINERARY and cut one from the first half. IS THIS HOTEL WORTH A CHANGE IN THE ITINERARY?

Day 6 Drive to Picton: Any Ideas on where to stay or what to do?(2.5 hours)Activities: Art, HIking Queen Charlotte Day Hike? Thinking about staying at Te Mahia Resort? Where should we stay?

Day 7 Drive to Blenheim (30 minutes )- Activities: Wineries. Looking for a place to stay near the wineries.

Day 8 Drive to Kaikoura(1hr 51 minutes) - Activities: Wildlife cruise. Any advice on companies? Drive to Christchurch and spend the night.(2 hr. 46 minutes) Any decent places to stay near the airport?

Day 9- Drop off rental car at airport. Activities: Take tranzalpine to Greymouth and pick up another rental car there.(4 hour 30 minutes) I would probably take a short detour to visit Punanki before driving to Hokitika to spend the night(1hr 14 minutes) Looking for a place to stay. I think we might stay at the Punakaiki rocks hotel instead of staying in Hokitika since everyone seems to love it BUT AGAIN THEY ONLY HAVE AVAILABILITY ON DAY 8. I ALSO HEARD THE SHINING STAR CHALETS IN HOKITIKA ARE NICE SO THAT IS AN OPTION IF WE DON'T CHANGE THE ITINERARY.

Day 10 Drive to Franz Josef (2 hr.) Activities: Heli Hike Franz Josef Glacier Looking for a place to stay

Day 11 Drive to Wanaka vis Haast. (4 hours) Activites: What are the best things to do here? Possibly staying at Edgewater Resort

Day 12Drive to Queenstown( 1 hour)-Activites: Shotover Jet Sky Gondola

Day 13 Queenstown -Activities: Riverboarding, possible paragliding.
I'm not sure if I want to stay an extra night in Queenstown or head to
Te Anau for two days. I have heard mixed reviews on Te Anau

Day 14 Drive to Te Anau( 2.5 hours) Activities: Te Anau- Glo Worms, caves and day hike. Looking for a nice place to stay.

Day 15 Te Anau- Activities: Either take a coach to Milford or drive to Milford and take a cruise.

Day 16 Drive to Queenstown (2.5 hours) and take a 4:00 flight to Christchurch. Fly out of Christchurch at 8:00

Thank you for your help!!!!!

Hi Laura -

If you want to do it "right" I strongly suggest you slow down. There are lots of one night stays and a lot of driving in this itinerary, leaving little time to actually enjoy the places you want to visit. Suggest you narrow your options and not try to do it all in one fell swoop. I don't understand the logic of spending two days on the North Island - why not just head south?

For starters, I'd add at least an extra day to Abel Tasman. The way I read your itinerary, Day 3 will be spent getting from the North Island to Abel Tasman, so no time to do anything once you get there, leaving you only one full day in the area - not near enough IMO. Can you cancel the B&B if you find another place that can accommodate you for your entire stay?
BTW - There are lots of nice wineries in the area between Motueka and Nelson - perhaps you could spend a day visiting wineries there and give Blenheim a pass. Ive stayed in Blenheim twice and yes, there are wineries, but it's not nearly as nice as the Nelson area - the town itself isn't anything to get excited about - the Nelson area offers much more IMO.

Might want to take a look at The Blue Moon B&B & The Old Schoolhouse - both nice places within a short drive to Abel Tasman.

Might be too short notice, but Bay of Many Coves in Marlborough Sounds is a gem and an ideal place for a honeymoon. To get there you'll need to take a water taxi from Picton, and then you can take a a water taxi from the resort to different points on the Queen Charlotte Track, allowing you to walk different portions of the track. Ship Cove to Furneaux Lodge is pretty incredible. I'd allow at least two nights here.

Suggest allowing at least two nights in Franz Josef as well, just in case weather is uncooperative - helihikes are often cancelled, and at this late date, you might also run into booking problems.

Here's a good source for last minute accommodation:

http://www.wotif.com/hotels/new-zealand-hotels.html

Laura –

How about something like this:

Arrive Nelson from Auckland on Day 3 – drive from Nelson to Abel Tasman area
Spend three nights in Abel Tasman area (nights 3, 4 & 5)

This gives you one full day to explore Abel Tasman & one full day to visit Nelson/Mouteka wineries, arts and crafts studios, etc. Highly recommend the Grape Escape:

www.grapeescape.co.nz/

Day 6 – Drive Abel Tasman area to Picton – spend 2 nights in Picton- suggest resort in Marlborough Sounds if available (nights 6 & 7). This gives you one full day to walk a portion of Queen Charlotte Track and still have time to explore Picton or perhaps take a mail boat into the Sounds on your day of arrival.

Day 8 – Drive from Picton to Kaikoura (two hours) – spend day in Kaikoura, maybe take a whale trip, drive Kaikoura to CH (2:15) – spend night 8 in CH.

Day 9 – Take Tranzalpine to Greymouth, side trip to Pancake Rocks – spend night 9 Hoki.

Day 10 – Drive from Hoki to Franz Josef (1:45) – spend 1-2 nights – (nights 10,11) - check out Bella Vista Motel, & Punga Grove Motel. This gives you one full day for a helihike/glacier hike, plus the afternoon of your arrival. Lots of hikes in the area if you're so inclined.

Day 12 - Drive Franz Josef to Wanaka (3:35) – spend night 12 (or continue on and add night elsewhere)

Day 13 – Drive from Wanaka to Te Anau (3:25) spend night 13 in Te Anau. Take afternoon Milford cruise the day of arrival, or take first cruise early the next morning. OR skip Wanaka entirely and add second night here.

Day 14 – Drive Te Anau to Queenstown (two hours) spend nights 14 & 15 - gondola, other activities. This gives you half day on arrival, plus full day, plus half day on your day of departure.

Day 16 - Depart

So much to do, so little time!

Really aggressive schedule. What about: don't stop at Wanaka. Continue on 45 min to QT which offers (IMO) many more activities. We left Fox about noon, arrived in QT about 6 with many stops along the way. There's a salmon farm about an hour south of Fox for lunch.
Te Anau, necessary stop for adequately seeing Milford, which I think is best done by car, especially if you want to stop and absorb scenery along the way.
In Te Anau, Campbell Auto Lodge is a good bet. Rooms are large, clean and views of the lake.
RE: Franz Joseph (or Fox) glaciers. Your weather becomes more unpredictible as the day progresses. Best time for helicoptering is AM. Allow yourself time if your afternoon (or late morning) arrival at FJ is accompanied by inclimate afternoon weather. (Course, no guarantees in the am either.)

Hi Laura,

I am sure you will love NZ- we went there for 3 weeks for our honeymoon in 2005, and it was fantastic- I posted a trip report- here is the link http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34751314

We did a slightly different route to what you have planned, but if you are looking for opinions on the MUST see places and activities, then hopefully the report is of some help.

R

Hey everyone,

Thank you so much for your advice. It has really helped me make changes to our itinerary.

I have added an extra day at the glacier. I have read several posts and now I am thinking I might try Fox glacier instead of Franz Josef. We are going to drop our night in Wanaka.

I am still trying to figure out where to stay in the Marlborough region. We are staying near Abel Tasman in Kaiteriteri on day 3 and 4. We will get to the b & b around 2pm on day 3. After reading several posts, we would like to stay an extra day. We can't change our reservations at the bed and breakfast and they only have availability for those 2 days. We have also set aside day 5, 6 and 7 for the northern region of the south island and then plan to go to Kaikoura on day 8.

I am having a hard time deciding where to stay for those 3 extra days. We would like to be able to hike,enjoy nature, visit wineries and visit art shops. A nice view would be nice also but I don't want to push it.

Any advice on where to stay? Motueka and Nelson do sound nice. Any other ideas? Should we stay there for 3 days or add another day to Kaiteriteri at another b&b and 2 days somewhere else or just add three days somewhere else. What is your favorite accommodation in these areas?

I can't thank you enough for your help!

How about Mapua? It's on Ruby Bay between Motueka and Nelson - LOTS of wineries and arts and crafts studios here as well as many cottages, etc. It's only a short hop to Nelson if you want to check out the World of Wearable Arts or any of Nelson's other attractions.

Take a look at this place - a very nice two bedroom villa right in Mapua -we spent three nights here and really liked it.

www.almyra.co.nz/

Picton and Havelock are good choices too and close to the Queen Charlotte Track. There are also options within the sounds like the resort I mentioned previously. Golden Bay is a good choice too, but a bit of a drive from the wineries and arts/crafts studios, so not really a good base for those activities - a good base for exploring Collingwood and the Heaphy Track though.

Laura: RE: two nights at the glaciers and considering Fox instead of FJ
If you do that, you will have two early morning opportunities to walk to Lake Matheson for the famous photo op. We were fogged out both mornings, but got some beautiful sunrise pictures anyway.
Also, after your helicoptering activity, you will have time to walk up to the terminous of the glacier, which is a short but rewarding little walk.