North and South Island in 2 weeks - help required

Marmaduke123

Yes, Wai-O-Tapu is amazing. You need to see the colours!

DUKE

You can get a bus around Waiheke Island for $10 & it's well worth the price, there's 4 different routes & they're colour coded so you know where you're going. Visit the Sandshack for the wonderful views overlooking Onetangi Beach, & food & drink. There's always the HOHO bus too if you changed plans & wanted something different to do.

We didn't have dinner at the Sky Tower but we had ice cream Have a look around the shop too as the prices were quite good I thought, unlike shops by the harbour which are quite expensive in comparison.

If you like a steak there do a decent one at Le Garde-Manger on Queen Street. We stayed at the Kiwi International, so it was just across the road & down a bit. Or if you just want to watch the world go by after a busy day, Starke's Cafe! & Bar's (next to the theatre) the place to be. Happy hour 4-6 ;-)

Oh I feel I should book a trip now.

familyguy321

You guys are amazing! I can't thank you enough for the answers to my questions and the tips. I have read through all the replies (some more than once) and I believe I now have an itinerary that will give us a good taste of both islands. I have added in some flex as I anticipate things will change and we may not do some !!!8216;nice to do!!!8217; things such as Akaroa as we may be too tired or decide to spend a bit longer somewhere else.

I should point out that we are from the UK and will have been in Australia for a 1 week (Commonwealth Games) prior to arriving in Aukland, so hopefully the jet lag should not be an issue.

Next steps are to book accommodation, activities/tours and domestic flight!!

dondo

Hi bit late to the discussions but we went to NZ in 2015 and loved it.

We did a pretty whistlestop tour of the South Island in just over a week so we could spend more time on the North Island as that's where our relatives live.

Few things to add if any use:
- As someone else said maybe hire a car as opposed to a camper van. We booked through Apex who were excellent. Especially as motels/hotels we found of a really good standard and good value for money.
-Re Milford Sound, there is a small airport there where you can fly in from Queenstown which may buy you some time.
-What to do in Queenstown- we did one of the jet boat trips which was excellent.
-Whilst expensive a helicopter ride to one of the glaciers is fantastic- best to get one that doesn't just do Fox as our guide was saying that it isn't as good as the others these days.
-In Christchurch the Antarctic centre is great.

dawyldthing

familyguy321 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Thanks to the excellent feedback and suggestions, we have amended the itinerary to focus on priorities and to allow some time to relax! The biggest change has been choosing to fly from Auckland to Queenstown, instead of from Wellington, which gives us more days in South Island. This means we have a base, Auckland / Queenstown when in the North / South islands respectively. However, it also means we don't get to experience the Aukland - Wellington Northern Explorer train.

Please review the itinerary below and feel free to offer suggestions or answers to our questions.

Day 1 (Sunday): Flight lands in Auckland early afternoon. Check into hotel and then go out for Auckland Harbour Boat cruise and, if not too tired, followed by dinner at the Sky Tower.

Day 2 (Monday): Day trip to Waiheke Island via Ferry (will self-explore instead of using a tour company). Free evening back in Auckland to relax and get early sleep.

Day 3 (Tuesday): Check out of hotel and leave early morning for Hobbiton [2.5hrs]. Afternoon movie set tour [4hrs] and then drive to Rotorua [1hr] for overnight stay in Maori village.

Questions:
Is 4hrs enough at Hobbiton?
Is Rotorua the best place to get the proper Maori experience?

Day 4 (Wednesday): Leave morning for Orakei Korako Geothermal Park [1hr] or Lake Taupo [1.5hrs]. Return to Auckland by evening [3hrs]

Question: Which is better to visit; Orakei Korako or Lake Taupo?

Day 5 (Thursday): Afternoon flight from Auckland to Queenstown. Check into hotel. Explore in the evening.

Day 6 (Friday): Nevis swing. Relaxing evening.

Day 7 (Saturday): Free day in Queenstown

Question: Is there something we could do on this day?

Day 8 (Sunday): Full day tour - Milford Sound Cruise & Kayak

Question: Should we stay near Milford Sound overnight instead of returning to QT?

Day 9 (Monday): Free day in Queenstown

Day 10 (Tuesday): Leave Queenstown in the morning, drive to Mt Cook through Lindis Pass [5hrs]. Evening stargazing tour.

Question: Is it better to go via Wanaka-Haast Pass-West Coast (glaciers)-Arthurs Pass route?

Day 11 (Wednesday): Drive to Christchurch via Lake Tekapo. Overnight in CC.

Day 12 (Thursday): Day trip to Akaroa/explore Christchurch.

Day 13 (Friday): Morning flight out.

I went paragliding in queenstown - was out of this world. Also luging is really good. Fergbuger is nice. Depends what you like

For Milford sounds there are day trips. I went through kiwi ex as part of my pass but you can book it as a day trip anyway

dawyldthing

There's big bike tracks too on the monorail type thing in queenstown. I wouldn't have the nerve to do it to be fair.

familyguy321

We're currently in the middle of booking accommodation / activities around the Queenstown portion of our trip and could do with some of your awesome help!

This is our plan with our questions after:

Day 5 (Thursday): Afternoon flight from Auckland arrives Queenstown 3pm (already booked, non-refundable). Check into accommodation. Explore in the evening.

Day 6 (Friday): Pick up hire car and drive to Te Anau [2hrs] and stay for night.

Day 7 (Saturday): Leave for Milford Sound late morning and do overnight cruise including Kayaking.

Day 8 (Sunday): Head back towards Queenstown with stop for Key Summit Walk.

Day 9 (Monday): Nevis swing. Relaxing evening.

Day 10 (Tuesday): Leave Queenstown in the morning, drive to Mt Cook Village through Lindis Pass with stop at Wanaka on the way [5hrs].

Q1: The Queenstown - Te Anau - Milford - Queenstown roundtrip will take the best part of 3 days from our trip. Would it be better to do it in 2 days i.e. drive straight to Milford from Queenstown?

Q2: Instead of driving and tiring ourselves out, we have considered using the coach but it seems pretty expensive. e.g. the price on Real Journeys is $858.00 for 2 people. Is it worth it?

Q3: Is the Key Summit Walk a 'must do' or will be get similar walking experience in Wanaka?

dawyldthing

https://www.kiwiexperience.com/book-your-nz-trip/nz-bus-pass/milford-explorer

I don't know what's at te anau but it seems a heck of a lot that does. That's the day trip I did. Not sure about the summit walk to be fair either. Lots do the taronga crossing I think it is, but it's not a guaranteed walk and if I remember right wasn't that far from hobbiton

dondo

We did our Milford Sound Trip on an organised tour from Te Anau but we were just doing the cruise so no overnight kayaking

We booked through Jucy https://www.jucycruize.co.nz and they picked us up from our hotel in Te Anau (we stayed at the Aden Motel which was great) and it was good to not have to drive and appreciate the views etc. and get some excellent commentary from the bus driver.

I also note that this company https://www.fiordlanddiscovery.co.nz do overnight cruises with kayaking and offer connections from Te Anau or Queenstown- no idea what the compsny are like just came up from a google search.

Also look at https://www.bookme.co.nz - it was recommended to us by one of the motel owners when we were there.

frankie

dawyldthing wrote: »

https://www.kiwiexperience.com/book-your-nz-trip/nz-bus-pass/milford-explorer

I don't know what's at te anau but it seems a heck of a lot that does. That's the day trip I did. Not sure about the summit walk to be fair either. Lots do the taronga crossing I think it is, but it's not a guaranteed walk and if I remember right wasn't that far from hobbiton

I think you mean Tongariro crossing? Fantastic walk, we did it whilst staying at Discovery Lodge, south of Lake Tapua.

Not a lot at Te Anau but very pretty. I think we did the Doubtful Sound trip from there.