New Zealand in January
Discussion
Don said:
Milford Sound - do the overnight boat.
Doubtful Sound.
Mt Cook glacier. Heli-hike.
Pancake Rocks
Moeraki Boulders.
Queenstown and Ben Lomond.
Kaikoura for the whales/dolphins.
That lot will take a couple of weeks. Then off to the North Island...
I would add Lake Tekapo, Wanaka, and Fox or Fran Josef glaciers but you'll pass all these on the above route due to the infrastructure. I'd also get the Abel Tasman in before you get the ferry north, will be beautiful in the summer.Doubtful Sound.
Mt Cook glacier. Heli-hike.
Pancake Rocks
Moeraki Boulders.
Queenstown and Ben Lomond.
Kaikoura for the whales/dolphins.
That lot will take a couple of weeks. Then off to the North Island...
In the north the boat will take you to Wellington which is nice. Lake Taupo, Rotorua, Waitomo Caves, Coromandel. Mt Ruapehu is great in the winter, but mainly due to a ton of snow so don't know what it's like in the summer!
Dont be put off by some verdicts on Auckland. It doesn't have the breathtaking beauty of the rest of the country but is a nice enough city, particularly if you get out to the bays/suburbs or the islands, and worth a look round before you fly out. Piha on the opposite coast, of beach scenes from 'The Piano' fame, is worth a visit if you have time. Getting up to the Bay of Islands, Ninety Mile beach etc is good but may be a push in your time frame.
You'll want to spend most of your time in the South Island probably as it has more of the LOTR type landscapes which will blow you away.
Very jealous.
waheikedawn said:
In the north the boat will take you to Wellington which is nice. Lake Taupo, Rotorua, Waitomo Caves, Coromandel. Mt Ruapehu is great in the winter, but mainly due to a ton of snow so don't know what it's like in the summer!
Dont be put off by some verdicts on Auckland. It doesn't have the breathtaking beauty of the rest of the country but is a nice enough city, particularly if you get out to the bays/suburbs or the islands, and worth a look round before you fly out. Piha on the opposite coast, of beach scenes from 'The Piano' fame, is worth a visit if you have time. Getting up to the Bay of Islands, Ninety Mile beach etc is good but may be a push in your time frame.
Ruapehu Area, in particular Tongariro national park (Wold Heritage status) is very nice but is really more geared to mountain biking, walking etc in summer. The Tongariro crossing is supposed to be the best 1-day walk in NZ.Dont be put off by some verdicts on Auckland. It doesn't have the breathtaking beauty of the rest of the country but is a nice enough city, particularly if you get out to the bays/suburbs or the islands, and worth a look round before you fly out. Piha on the opposite coast, of beach scenes from 'The Piano' fame, is worth a visit if you have time. Getting up to the Bay of Islands, Ninety Mile beach etc is good but may be a push in your time frame.
http://www.tongarirocrossing.org.nz/
I think Auckland can be stunning, on a nice summers day we took some visiting family up to The Observatory in the Sky Tower for an evening meal and the views as the sun was setting were just incredible.
If you are into wine the Martinborough and Hawkes Bay (Napier) are definitely worth visiting.
If you're into Lord Of The Rings we did the hibbiton film set near Hamilton - fantastic place..
http://www.hobbitontours.com/
That's exactly what I done a few years ago, fly to Christchurch and out of Auckland, Its a hell of a drive (we caught the plane from Nelson to Rotarua).
Kaikora is good (providing the weather is ok for the boat trip to see the whales) the Tongararo crossing is allegedly one of the best 1 day walks in the world. Bay of Islands is worth a visit as is a day in the vineyards sampling / getting pissed !
We done a 3 day trip see kayaking around the national park near Nelson and that was probably a highlight.
In all honesty 3 weeks isn’t enough so don’t try and see everything, cos you won’t. Plan your trip to see / do what you want.
Kaikora is good (providing the weather is ok for the boat trip to see the whales) the Tongararo crossing is allegedly one of the best 1 day walks in the world. Bay of Islands is worth a visit as is a day in the vineyards sampling / getting pissed !
We done a 3 day trip see kayaking around the national park near Nelson and that was probably a highlight.
In all honesty 3 weeks isn’t enough so don’t try and see everything, cos you won’t. Plan your trip to see / do what you want.
From my own couple of trips and my kiwi gf's knowledge:
Christchurch straight down to Queenstown, it's a nice drive. Once you're there loads to do, I really liked the jet boat and kayak trip from Glenorchy - beautiful clear water and spectacular (as used in LOTR) scenery. If you want to bungee or canyon swing, it's the place to do it.
Then head down to do Milford or Doubtful Sound. We did the overnight trip on the latter - highly recommended. Then you'll have to virtually pass back through Queenstown. I'd head up the west coast on route 6, stop at one of the glaciers for the tour, get up early the next morning and get to Lake Matheson before dawn for the spectacular view as the sun comes up. Stop at Pancake Rocks on the way up too. When you get to Westport, head inland and aim for Abel Tasman National Park. We stayed in Marahau on the coast which is a great base for a day of sea kayaking - seeing seals and stopping on deserted beaches for breaks and lunch. There are organised trips that bring you back via water taxi at the end of the day.
Meander along to Picton and get the ferry over to Wellington. From there aim for Taupo, either via Napier/Hastings if you've got time or go more direct if you haven't. If you want to skydive, Taupo is the place to do it, perfect weather almost all the time and very cheap to do. If you like fishing, it's a fantastic place for trout (it's not allowed to be caught commercially so if you fancy some for dinner you have to catch it yourself!) or just relax on a boat for the day. We went on the Barbary ( http://www.barbary.co.nz/ ) which made for a very relaxing morning. The Rapids Jet ( http://www.rapidsjet.com/ ) jetboat isn't far either and meant to be a bit more "extreme" than most in NZ - the driver we had was a nutjob.
Head from there up to Rotorua for the thermal pools and stuff - if you fancy whitewater rafting I can recommend Kaitiaki Adventures ( http://www.kaitiaki.co.nz/ ) who take you down a grade 5 river including a 7m vertical waterfall - awesome stuff. Then you're not far from the coast and Whakatane where you can get a trip over to White Island ( http://www.whiteisland.co.nz/ ) - an active volcano with a lake so acidic it's measured in negative ph.
Then a bit of a sideways trip to Waitomo for the caves there. Ideally do the 100m abseil and caving day, although we split it into two half-days and stayed the night there. We went with these guys - http://www.waitomo.co.nz/ - and the abseil was absolutely incredible.
There's quite a few things worth seeing in Auckland, but if you've got the time I'd push on to Whagarei and Bay of Islands. If you dive, Poor Knights are a must-visit, and the wreck of the original Rainbow Warrior is a little further up the coast. If not, it's just a lovely area of vineyards and scenery.
Probably lots more you could do, especially if you're not so adrenalin-orientated, but that's all stuff I've seen and done. 3 weeks never feels like enough, I could spend months or years just touring around to see it all. Maybe one day I'll move out there and get to do that on my holidays every year!
Christchurch straight down to Queenstown, it's a nice drive. Once you're there loads to do, I really liked the jet boat and kayak trip from Glenorchy - beautiful clear water and spectacular (as used in LOTR) scenery. If you want to bungee or canyon swing, it's the place to do it.
Then head down to do Milford or Doubtful Sound. We did the overnight trip on the latter - highly recommended. Then you'll have to virtually pass back through Queenstown. I'd head up the west coast on route 6, stop at one of the glaciers for the tour, get up early the next morning and get to Lake Matheson before dawn for the spectacular view as the sun comes up. Stop at Pancake Rocks on the way up too. When you get to Westport, head inland and aim for Abel Tasman National Park. We stayed in Marahau on the coast which is a great base for a day of sea kayaking - seeing seals and stopping on deserted beaches for breaks and lunch. There are organised trips that bring you back via water taxi at the end of the day.
Meander along to Picton and get the ferry over to Wellington. From there aim for Taupo, either via Napier/Hastings if you've got time or go more direct if you haven't. If you want to skydive, Taupo is the place to do it, perfect weather almost all the time and very cheap to do. If you like fishing, it's a fantastic place for trout (it's not allowed to be caught commercially so if you fancy some for dinner you have to catch it yourself!) or just relax on a boat for the day. We went on the Barbary ( http://www.barbary.co.nz/ ) which made for a very relaxing morning. The Rapids Jet ( http://www.rapidsjet.com/ ) jetboat isn't far either and meant to be a bit more "extreme" than most in NZ - the driver we had was a nutjob.
Head from there up to Rotorua for the thermal pools and stuff - if you fancy whitewater rafting I can recommend Kaitiaki Adventures ( http://www.kaitiaki.co.nz/ ) who take you down a grade 5 river including a 7m vertical waterfall - awesome stuff. Then you're not far from the coast and Whakatane where you can get a trip over to White Island ( http://www.whiteisland.co.nz/ ) - an active volcano with a lake so acidic it's measured in negative ph.
Then a bit of a sideways trip to Waitomo for the caves there. Ideally do the 100m abseil and caving day, although we split it into two half-days and stayed the night there. We went with these guys - http://www.waitomo.co.nz/ - and the abseil was absolutely incredible.
There's quite a few things worth seeing in Auckland, but if you've got the time I'd push on to Whagarei and Bay of Islands. If you dive, Poor Knights are a must-visit, and the wreck of the original Rainbow Warrior is a little further up the coast. If not, it's just a lovely area of vineyards and scenery.
Probably lots more you could do, especially if you're not so adrenalin-orientated, but that's all stuff I've seen and done. 3 weeks never feels like enough, I could spend months or years just touring around to see it all. Maybe one day I'll move out there and get to do that on my holidays every year!
Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff