mpkp

Here are two potential itineraries. In the second one we come back to the North Island at the end and do the Coromandel Peninsula. In the first one we spend those days on the South Island at Te Anau; Stewart Island and driving to Christchurch.

ITINERARY 1
Thursday 8-Dec leave US
Friday 9-Dec travel
Saturday 10-Dec Arrive Auckland
Sunday 11-Dec Drive to Thames
Monday 12-Dec Thames
Tuesday 13-Dec Thames to Rotorua
Wednesday 14-Dec Rororua
Thursday 15-Dec fly to Christchurch drive to Kaikoura
Friday 16-Dec Kaikoura Track
Saturday 17-Dec Kaikoura Track
Sunday 18-Dec Kaikoura Track finish this day -- depending stay in Kaikuora or drive to Picton
Monday 19-Dec Kaikoura to Picton or Queen Charlottes
Tuesday 20-Dec Queen Charlotte
Wednesday 21-Dec Queen Charlotte
Thursday 22-Dec Punanaiki
Friday 23-Dec Fox Glacier
Saturday 24-Dec Fox Glacier
Sunday 25-Dec Wanaka
Monday 26-Dec Wanaka
Tuesday 27-Dec Te Anau
Wednesday 28-Dec Te Anau
Thursday 29-Dec Te Anau
Friday 30-Dec Te Anau - Bluff- Stewart Island
Saturday 31-Dec Stewart Island
Sunday 1-Jan Stewart Island
Monday 2-Jan Stewart Island
Tuesday 3-Jan Stewart Island to Bluff to Southern Scenic Route Dunedin
Wednesday 4-Jan Dunedin
Thursday 5-Jan Drive to Christchurch - inland route
Friday 6-Jan Dive to Christchurch -- inland route
Saturday 7-Jan Christchurch
Sunday 8-Jan fly home


The Kaikoura track starts on Fridays so that is the one thing that affects these itinerary.

ITINERARY 2
Thursday 8-Dec leave US
Friday 9-Dec travel
Saturday 10-Dec Arrive Auckland
Sunday 11-Dec Auckland
Monday 12-Dec Auckland to Rotorua
Tuesday 13-Dec Rorotua
Wednesday 14-Dec Rororua
Thursday 15-Dec fly to Christchurch drive to Kaikoura
Friday 16-Dec Kaikoura Track
Saturday 17-Dec Kaikoura Track
Sunday 18-Dec Kaikoura Track finish and either stay Kaikoura if late or drive to Picton
Monday 19-Dec Kaikoura to Picton or Queen Charlottes
Tuesday 20-Dec Queen Charlotte
Wednesday 21-Dec Queen Charlotte
Thursday 22-Dec Drive to Punanaiki
Friday 23-Dec Drive to Fox Glacier
Saturday 24-Dec Fox Glacier
Sunday 25-Dec Drive to Wanaka
Monday 26-Dec Wanaka
Tuesday 27-Dec Drive to Te Anau
Wednesday 28-Dec Te Anau
Thursday 29-Dec Te Anau - Bluff- Stewart Island
Friday 30-Dec Stewart Island
Saturday 31-Dec Stewart Island
Sunday 1-Jan Stewart Island to Bluff to Southern Scenic Route Dunedin
Monday 2-Jan Dunedin
Tuesday 3-Jan Drive to Christchurch - inland route stay Mt Cook?
Wednesday 4-Jan Finish Drive to Christchurch -- fly to Auckland late afternoon early evening either overnight on Auckland or drive to Thames depending on time
Thursday 5-Jan Coromandel
Friday 6-Jan Coromandel
Saturday 7-Jan Coromandel -- to Auckland
Sunday 8-Jan Auckland - home
Monday 9-Jan home

Is one better than the other? Are we spending too much or too little time anywhere?

Thanks

mlgb

I would drop a day in Auckland and add another day in Dunedin in order to see both the downtown sights and to visit the Otago Peninsula.

You don't need all those nights in Thames. If you were to be spending time in the Coromandel I would head over to the east side, I liked Kuaotunu.

Bear in mind although technically summer I have had some horrific weather well into mid December so stay flexible.

mpkp

mlgb

sorry but I am confused.

On the first itinerary the only time in Auckland is the day we arrive -- first night .So I don;t think I can drop that. I could spend another night in Dunedin and take it from Te Anau or Stewart Island or the drive up to Christchurch -- one overnight instead of 2 there. And I chose Thames as it was closer -- it seemed a lot of moving around at first and it would be easier to get there from Auckland and continue on to Rotorua.

If referring to the second itinerary, I did leave one jet lag day in Auckland. Since the Kaikoura track is set for Friday departures, leaving that out cannot be put into Dunedin. I could probably trade a day on the Coromandel or Queen Charlottes for the extra day in Dunedin.

I am not sure yet if, when we finish Kaikoura, there is enough time and energy to drive up there or if we should stay the night in Kaikoura. If we head straight up there then that would still give up 2 full days there.

As for the second overnight in Auckland -- we would finish driving to Christchurch that day and then need to fly up to Auckland -- I was not sure we should push it to try to get to the Coromandel that day or just overnight in Auckland and go the next day. Other than that we would need to overnight in Auckland to fly out the next day.

I will look at Kuaotuna. Had not really looked at where to stay there -- just that the Coromandel seemed like a place we would want to visit and there really was not enough time on the front end to do it if we wanted to do the Kaikoura Track -- which is the one I think we are inclined to do.

Thanks

mlgb

Far too many Auckland days in itinerary #2,if you are driving back to Auckland there is no reason to worry about returning on the 8th from the Coromandel. It's only a few hours.

Do you have that flight to Christchurch locked in? If not it may make more sense to fly south immediately (you can even fly to Dunedin although I think it's one of the expensive domestic legs) then work your way north prior to the hike.

It doesn't really make sense to stay in Thames as it isn't really the part of the Coromandel that people go to see.

mpkp

Here is a revised itinerary starting at Christchurch and putting all of the North Island together at the end. Does this give us a reasonable amount of time in each place?

Is the drive to Dunedin too much to do when we first get there? -- Should we eliminate it and fly straight to Dunedin to start and not do that leg -- use the time elsewhere on the South Island

We want to do the Kaikura Track and it leaves on Fridays so that impacts the itinerary. Will have to check if they do go out over New Year's as that is when it fits in this itinerary.

And how much time should we spend in Rotorua? If we take a morning flight out of Christchurch and have the afternoon and evening and the next day is that enough? Should we continue on to Coromandel then or do we need another day in Rotorua?


Thursday 8-Dec leave us
Friday 9-Dec travel
Saturday 10-Dec arrive auckland -- fly to Christchurch
Sunday 11-Dec twizel 4 hrs drive
Monday 12-Dec dunedin 4 hrs drive
Tuesday 13-Dec dunedin
Wednesday 14-Dec dunedin
Thursday 15-Dec dunedin - bluff-stewart island 3.5 hrs drive plus ferry
Friday 16-Dec stewart island
Saturday 17-Dec stewart island
Sunday 18-Dec stewart island -bluff-te anau 2.5 hrs drive plus ferry
Monday 19-Dec te anau
Tuesday 20-Dec te anau
Wednesday 21-Dec wanaka 4 hrs drive
Thursday 22-Dec wanaka
Friday 23-Dec fox glacier 4 hrs drive
Saturday 24-Dec fox glacier
Sunday 25-Dec punakaiki 3.5 hrs drive
Monday 26-Dec queen charlotte 4.5 hrs drive
Tuesday 27-Dec queen charlotte
Wednesday 28-Dec queen charlotte
Thursday 29-Dec queen charlotte to kaikoura 2.5 hrs drive
Friday 30-Dec kaikoura track starts 9:00 am
Saturday 31-Dec kaikoura track
Sunday 1-Jan kaikoura track - christchurch arrive in Kaikoura 5:30 2.5 hr drive to Christchurch
Monday 2-Jan christchurch - rotorua fly in the morning afternnon/evening in Rotorua
Tuesday 3-Jan rotorua
Wednesday 4-Jan rotorua or Coromandel Where should this day go? Does Rotorua need 2 full days?
Thursday 5-Jan Coromandel 3 hrs drive
Friday 6-Jan Coromandel
Saturday 7-Jan Coromandel
Sunday 8-Jan auckland - home 2.5 hrs

KensingtonGirl

I would cut a day out of Rotorua and maybe out of Coromandel and swing by Tongariro at the start of the North Island. For example,
Jan 2, Fly to Auckland and drive part way to Tongariro.
Jan 3, Drive to Tongariro and do short day hikes
Jan 4, Drive to Rotorua via Lake Taupo and see Waimangu Volcanic Valley or Wai-O-Tapu on the way. (Both are south of Rotorua). Tour Rotorua Bath House in evening
Jan 5, Rotorua
Jan 6, Finish Rotorua touring and drive to Coromandel
Jan 7, Cormandel
Jan 8, Auckland, Home. (Note most of the flights to the US leave late in the evening. We drove from Thames in the morning, toured Auckland and still had plenty of time at the airport.)

If you are a strong day hiker (i.e. 10-12 miles/day), then I would strongly suggest taking a day out of Rotora and adding it to Tongariro to do the Tongariro Crossing. It is considered one of the top day hikes in NZ and the world for a reason.

mpkp

I originally had included the Tongariro Alpine Crossing but then found it difficult because of location -- this was when we were starting out on the North Island.

Looks like we could fly Christchurch - Taupo -- is this the closest airport to the park? -- on Jan 2 -- there is a 9:15 departure arriving at noon in Taupo

Then we could do the Alpine Crossing on the 3rd and continue on to Taupo that night.

We could then go to Rotorua early on the 4th --see Waimangu Volcanic Valley or Wai-O-Tapu on the way and spend most of the 5th there. We would like to get out to White Island and could probably do that in the morning of the 5th.

We could leave for the Coromandel late on the 5th -- 5 or so and get there about 8 so that there is two full days there -- home on the 8th or 9th -- flights are not yet booked so I am not certain which day we will come home.

mlgb

I think you will find your drive times are underestimates as they really don't include stopping time other than "tea and wee", it seems that I always take much longer to get from Twizel to Dunedin. Also I hope you allow time to actually drive into Mt. Cook park and do a hike..eg Hooker Valley. So that night I think I'd try to book lodging inside the park.

For Dunedin a full day to visit the Otago Peninsula and a day for the city sights, eg brewery or choc tour and a museum (I really like the Otago Museum, great natural history exhibits).
And then the Catlins as you have it should be fine.

Maybe for the north end of the South Island I'd do Abel Tasman instead? I think it's more scenic than the Queen Charlotte and you can actually do it in less time, even a day trip with drop off and pickup. Gives you another day to play with.

As far as north island what about taking the ferry right after you are done with Kaikoura, then drive to Tongariro (allow a day) the following day the crossing, then drive to Rotorua.

mpkp

I allowed 2 days to get from Christchurch to Dunedin -- is that enough to do the Hooker Valley hike? Should we overnight in the park instead of Twizel?

Chocolate tour --- YUM!

We finish the Kaikoura track about 4:30 and get back to Kaikoura about 5:30. I guess we could drive up to Blenheim and take the ferry but it would end up being a very long day. And then a long drive the next day -- I was under the impression that the drive from Wellington is not that spectacular -- so flying up seemed to make sense to me.

If we went back to Christchurch we would not have a drop off fee for the car.

If, however, it is possible to drop the car in Christchurch and get to Kaikoura and then back to Christchurch or Blenheim -- so we did not have to pay for a rental all those days when we weren't using it -- that would be good to know.

I am confused here because it seems that it would take much longer to get to Tongariro using the ferry and driving than flying into Taupo??

Thanks

Melnq8

You'll want to be sure to book the Cadbury tour in Dunedin to avoid disappointment:

http://www.cadburyworld.co.nz/visit.html

mlgb

Yes re overnighting in the park if you can, it saves you up to an hour drive and in my experience the best chance at seeing the top of Mt Cook may be an evening or morning, although you never can be guaranteed. Last minute space in the park is usually limited to expensive rooms at the Hermitage or bunks at the YHA, so I would try to book ahead (either a private room at the YHA or the Alpine Lodge). If you get up early you can do the Hooker Valley hike and get pretty far toward Dunedin (although like I said I never seem to make it in one day).

The Cadbury tour is fun and if you have a beer drinker the Speights is too.

There are shuttles from Christchurch to Kaikoura as well as the train, also some rental agencies may not charge you a drop off fee and you may even get a deal to take the car from Chch to Picton and then across.

I guess it might be faster to fly to Taupo, but the drive isn't bad from Wellington to National Park (which is closer to the trek than Taupo).

mpkp

It appears to me that the Hermitage is the only place in the park to stay. That said, I would guess the Alpine Lodge is next closest. Are you saying that Twizel is too far away for the night? Lake Tekapo?

Thanks much!

mlgb

I think you'll find both the YHA and the Alpine Lodge well located in Mt. Cook. Alpine Lodge rooms actually have views of Mt. Cook.

Twizel would be closer than Tekapo. It isn't too far away, I've stayed there when Mt. Cook was full. It just isn't as nice.

mpkp

This itinerary has me spending 2 days in Wanaka and 2 days i Te Anau. Would I be better off spending 3 nights in Arrowtown or Queenstown and putting a night somewhere else?

mlgb

What do you plan on doing in those places? I assume you're going out to Milford Sound from Te Anau on one day?

I think you could just as easily drive Te Anau Queenstown and then Queenstown glaciers. Queenstown has an overdeveloped tourist industry but also a great view (better than Wanaka). Arrowtown more of a historic town some interesting short trails, also some interesting jeep/4wd tours arround both Arrowtown and Queenstown (Macetown, Skippers, Dart River Valley).