South Island NZ: First 2 weeks of November
 

Hi,
This forum is amazing! Thank you Melnq8 and other experienced travelers for your comments.
Here is our plan. We will fly from Washington DC - we already have tickets DC to Aukland and Christchurch to DC. We did not book any hotels, flights or rental cars yet. Please give us advice.

Nov 2: at 12:50 pm arrive to Aukland then fly to Nelson. Night in Nelson
Nov 3: All day in Abel Tasman Park. We are planning to take a bus from Nelson to park and relax. Night in Nelson
Nov 4: Rent a car. All day (about 6 hours) drive to Franz Josef. Night in Franz Josef
Nov 5: Spend half a day in Franz Josef. In the evening Drive to Wanaka (about 3.5 hours). Night in Wanaka
Nov 6: All day relax in Wanaka. Night in Wanaka
Nov 7: Drive to Mt. Cook and back. Night in Wanaka
Nov 8: Drive to Queenstown in the morning (about 1.5 hours). Spend most of the day in Queenstown. Night in Queenstown
Nov 9: Spend most of the day in Queenstown. Drive to Te Anau in the evening (about 2.5 hours). Night in Te Anau
Nov 10: All day in Milford Sound. Night in Te Anau
Nov 11: Spend half a day in Te Anau. In the afternoon drive to Dunedin (about 4 hours). Night in Dunedin.
Nov 12: All day on Otago peninsula. Night in Dunedin
Nov 13: All day in Dunedin. Night in Dunedin
Nov 14: All day drive to Christchurch (about 5 hours). Night in Christchurch
Nov 15: Spend half a day in Christchurch. Fly home at 6:35 pm.

I feel like we want to do too many things in too short time, but it was not easy for me and my husband to get 2 week vacations...

Thank you!

Hi Lizzy, welcome to the forum and I apologize in advance for what I'm about to do

As with most first time visitors, your itinerary is overly ambitious.

Nov 3 - What exactly are your plans for Abel Tasman? Keep in mind that the drive from Nelson to Abel Tasman takes about an hour (the bus will probably take longer). If you plan to take a water taxi/kayak into the park, you'll need to book at least a day in advance. You'll be wrecked after your long flight from DC, and as your time is limited, I highly recommend you make the booking before you leave home.

I always recommend that people bypass Nelson if their focus is Abel Tasman, but in your case Nelson is a logical stop for your first night. However, backtracking to Nelson on Nov 3, particularly as you want to then continue down the West Coast the next day doesn't make sense - this has you driving the same section of road three times!

I suggest you stay closer to Abel Tasman on Nov 3 - Motueka, Kaiteriteri, Marahau...lots of better options IMO.

Nov 4 - No way. The drive from Nelson to Franz Josef can only be done in six hours if you drive flat out, make no stops and drive like a Kiwi in a hurry, none of which I recommend. I recently drove from Motueka to Punakaiki, and it took eight hours. Note that Motueka is 50 minutes from Nelson and Punakaiki is three hours from Franz Josef and that I have some experience driving on the squiggly roads of NZ!

You've left virtually no time to explore en route. Nada.

Nov 5 - No way. This is 5-6 hour drive, and even if you could, you absolutely don't want to do it at night. The road (yes, there's only one) is currently closed every night due to damage from a major slip a few months ago that killed two visitors.

Scroll down to Area Warning for details on the closure:

http://www.nzta.govt.nz/traffic/curr...th-island.html

Nov 7 - WHY? This is a three hour drive, each way. This leaves no time to explore once you get there.

<<I feel like we want to do too many things in too short time>>

You do. You drastically need to trim back or you'll be spending your entire holiday in the car and you'll need a vacation when you get home.

It's next to impossible to fit the far north and far south of the SI into such a short trip.

You need to cut out a few things, and I'd start snipping from the top or the bottom - Nelson or Dunedin.

Melnq8 has given you great advice. Yes, you can "get" to all of these places -- but you'll have no time to enjoy them.

I'd cut out everything after Te Anau -- and add those nights to every other place. No--you won't see "everything." But you'll see incredible sights--and not only through a windshield. ;-)

Thank you very much Melnq8 and Songdoc! We decided to skip Nelson and Franz Josef - next time... We really want to see penguins so we will start with Dunedin. This is our plan:

Nov 2: at 12:50 pm arrive to Aukland. Night in Aukland
Nov 3: Fly to Dunedin in the morning. Relax in Dunedin. Night in Dunedin
Nov 4: Rent a car. All day on Otago peninsula. Night in Dunedin
Nov 5: Drive to Te Anau (about 4 hours). Night in Te Anau
Nov 6: All day in Milford Sound. Night in Te Anau
Nov 7: Drive to Queenstown (about 2.5 hours). Night in Queenstown
Nov 8: All day in Queenstown. Night in Queenstown
Nov 9: Drive to Wanaka Night in Wanaka
Nov 10: All day in Wanaka. Night in Wanaka
Nov 11: Drive to Mt. Cook. Night in Mt. Cook
Nov 12: All day around Mt. Cook. Night in Mt. Cook
Nov 13: ???
Nov 14: Drive to Christchurch. Night in Christchurch
Nov 15: Spend half a day in Christchurch. Fly home at 6:35 pm.

We have an extra night (Nov 13: ???) - what you would recommend: Dunedin, Te Anau, Mt. Cook areas or Queenstown?

Thank you!!!

Looking good Lizzy. I'd put that extra night in Queenstown - loads to do in the area.

Some good reference sites for a New Zealand Holiday, quite a few of these offer itinerary ideas. Also use Google Maps - Directions from/two to check drive times, they are pretty accurate. Always include some 3 night stays as well as 2 night stays, just lets you get to relax and see a place a bit more rather than feeling you have to pack everything into one day. See more, travel less, would be my motto often.

www.airnewzealand.co.nz - fly London-LA-Auckland
www.newzealand.com - official tourism website
www.doc.govt.nz - excellent information about national parks and hiking tracks.
www.metvuw.com - best weather site
www.greenjourneys.co.nz - guided activities and small luxury bed & breakfasts.
www.aatravel.co.nz - travel routes, motels and backpackers
www.hikingnewzealand.com - guided hiking options
www.stuff.co.nz - New Zealand news
www.teara.govt.nz - the encyclopaedia of NZ online.