Hi all!
I have a first draft of an itinerary for our December/January OZ/NZ/Fiji vacation. Below are the details. The quote is from STA Travel (I am a graduate student) and is being held for 24 hours. Please comment--thank you!

Monday 12/26:
Fly Minneapolis to LAX (Northwest Airlines)
Fly LAX to SYD (QANTAS)

Arrive Wednesday 12/28 morning:
Spend our days in Sydney and Manly touring and visiting friends.

Friday 1/6 evening:
Fly SYD to AKL (QANTAS)

Saturday 1/7 evening:
Fly AKL to CHC (Air NZ)

Drive a loop of the South Island, concentrating on Fiordland and Queenstown areas.

Saturday 1/14:
Fly CHC to AKL (Air NZ)
AKL to Nadi, Fiji (QANTAS)

Considering the Maravu Plantation and Beach Resort

Thursday 1/19 late evening:
Fly Nadi, Fiji to LAX (QANTAS)
Fly LAX to Minneapolis (Northwest Airlines)

Total: $2380 pp

Notes:
(1) I am flying from MSP to LAX with Northwest (linked with QANTAS) for slightly more than I could book separately, because I am worried about blizzards in Minnesota in December and January! Also, this way we only have to book the bags once.

(2) The only date it is possible to fly to Fiji is the 14th. I am thinking we may want a few extra days in the South Island of NZ, meaning I would have to cut a few days from the Sydney leg.

(3) We are spending so much time in Sydney because our close friends live there. We are most interested in spending time with them, along with seeing the touristy things!

Thank you so much in advance for looking this over. I appreciate any advice or comments you may have!
Liz

Could you fly from Sydney to Christchurch directly? That would give you one extra day on the South Island.

pb_and_j:
No, unfortunately we cannot fly from SYD to CHC. Two free stopovers were included in the price: AKL and Fiji. CHC and ZQN cannot be used as stopovers with the student fare.
However I am thinking maybe we could fly from AKL to ZQN or DUD instead of into CHC, giving us more time to explore the southern part of the island? I'll ask the agent.
Thanks!

I would take two days off sydney. I mean 6-7 days is adequate to see sydney and catch up with friends. You will need that extra time to do a decent job of the south island...do the doubtful sound overnight.

HI Tim and Liz. My very first reaction was...too much time in Fiji and not enough in the south island of NZ. But you've explained this.
If you can, I think it's a good idea to fly back to Auckland from Queenstown or Dunedin. It would save you a day's drive back up to Christchurch. ...and you could spend this day in the south.
Good luck.

I booked my plane tickets through SwainAustralia.com

I'm not a student, I'm also doing OZ/NZ/Fiji (though in reverse order) but I've got a few more flights than you and no backtracking. I'm paying less, though it's for June/July not Dec/Jan. Anyway, it might be a good idea to give them a call and see what they could do? I'm sure they could get you a quote pretty quickly.

Thanks again to everyone who replied.

(Hi pb_and_j... I just realized I have also discussed this trip with you on the knot, although a long time ago! I did speak with Swain and they quoted a few hundred more than STA. But thank you for the suggestion.))

The first agent who helped me was wrong in stating that I couldn't have a free stopover in CHC. Luckily the second agent I spoke to (the first was out) was able to give us more time on the south island while reducing our fare by $240pp. (We may later decide to add on flights from CHC to ZQN.)

Here is our amended (booked!) itinerary:

Monday 12/26
MSP to LAX
LAX to SYD

Friday 1/6
SYD to CHC

Saturday 1/14
CHC to AKL
AKL to NDN (Nadi, Fiji)

Sunday 1/22
NDN to LAX
LAX to MSP


Thanks again-- I am so excited!
Liz

Liz, it looks good! And it's wonderful that you got a different agent who saved you money.

I was out for lunch today with my travel buddy and we still can't stop talking about our wonderful trip!

NOw that you are booked, I'm sure you'll spend hours reading about NZ and your other destinations.
Good luck!