Help with a travel itinerary to NZ
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Kerosene Creek 20 min south of Rotorua.
Hot water creek -
@nonpartizan Make sure you see Queenstown and the Milford Sound. Dunedin's a fun place to have few beers as well.
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I didn't read the July part. Beaches aren't as nice if you can't swim and lounge, so less time would be fine. If you shorten your stay in AKL it would bring Bay of Islands into play. 2 days up there to see Waitangi would be great IMHO. Then head to AKL for a few days, see some sights, perhaps a day on a on/off bus, the ABs interactive experience, and one of either Rangitoto/Waiheke/Piha, then off to Hamilton. From Hamilton you can see Waitomo glow worm caves or Hobbiton, or both. Head to Rotorua for 3 days of hot pools and more Maori culture. If you shorten your Wellington stay as Smudge suggests you could even squeeze a few days in Napier and head down to Wellington thru the Wairarapa
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@Smudge said in Help with a travel itinerary to NZ:
Good start. And don't spend too much time in Wellington (I say that as a resident of the greater Wellington region).
Can I ask why? All the foreigners I've taken to Wellington have loved the city.
Although, if it is to visit HB as @canefan suggests then I'm fully onboard with it.
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@nonpartizan where ar eyou coming from?
Key is to be really clear about what it is you are wanting to see. All Blacks obviously - but you wlil be trading off scenery (south island in particular) with culture (Rotorua/Waitangi) and generally going to hospo and getting munted (pretty much anywhere).
Three weeks is a lot. You'll be able to do a lot, but honestly I would sugget spending more time lapping the South Island looking at winter scenery and less time in the cities.
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If the 1988 All Blacks is your starting point I'm guessing you're either Strayan (if you watched them live), or Welsh if you watched on tele (that 2nd Test at EP was a great game by the ABs, great atmosphere at the ground (was there). But you're coming to watch the French ...
Anyway, my 2c.
If you're hanging around the north of the NI for Hamilton Test look into the Rotorua (1.5hrs to Hammy) tourist traps (culture, thermal springs etc), and you could do Hobbiton on the way. Waitomo Caves also close to Hamilton. You could do some sort of loop to incorporate those spots.
Plenty of walking tracks wherever you go just do research into difficulty (or otherwise). (Am not going too much into specifics but I always enjoyed Wairere Falls, which is on the way to Rotorua via Matamata (which would take you past Hobbiton). Couple of nights in Roto Vegas, then back to Test Town via the Caves? Not an excessive amount of travel.
Going north of Auckland for the history at the Bay of Islands would be good, but realistically a days travel each way.
In and around Auckland, maybe a cruise on the gulf, but winter ...
Go up one or more of the various maunga in Akl (extinct volcanic cones). History dating back to pre European times. Mt Eden and One Tree Hill, maybe North Head, and Mt Victoria.
Heading south I reckon the southern NI is most useful for getting you to Wellington ...
Taupo and surrounds is quite good. Again, geothermal pools and stuff, walks etc (around the Volcanos on the southern side of the Lakes in particular. )
If you're in to wine you could travel south via Hawkes Bay (Napier, Hastings) and do a tasting tour.
Wellington I'll leave to others.
But having just returned from a trip around the SI (am Kiwi living in Oz) I can recommend a couple of highlights:
- Picton/Marlborough Sounds. Loved it. Did Eco Tour boat cruise. Lots wildlife. Beautiful place. You would see a lot of this if you take the ferry, assuming it doesn't run aground, but without commentary or proximity to critters. Marlborough also big wine district.
- Kaikoura. Spectacular. Huge mountains immediately adjacent to deep ocean. The highway hugs the coast for long way. Multitudinous seals and we even saw dolphins from the car (pulled over and watch with an excited Scandinavian family watching from the shore). Whale watching from Kaikoura a thing (we didn't).
- Chch. Amongst other things the tram tour was excellent. Hop on and off as desired to stop and look at the various attractions and the rebuild from the EQ. (Am keen to get to a Test at Te Kaha when that gets finished).
- Milford. I'd suggest this is a must do if you can afford the time. I'll challenge @WestieFella 's geography here as if you head down the west coast you reach Queenstown before Milford. Tour companies run bus trips to join the cruise in Milford, but if driving I'd suggest a couple of nights in Te Anau to facilitate an in and out to Milford. Depending on direction of travel.
- Queenstown. We couldn't book accommodation 12 months out, so had to stay in Wanaka and pop over the Crown Range (which is an event in itself). Things to do in Central Otago would be snow sports, wine tasting (continuing the earlier theme), jet boating, and various other ways of attempted suicide in the name of adrenalin .
There's much more, but above would be my recommendations (and not going to bore you any further with my "what I did on my holidays" story).
And just remember the weather, especially in winter, could seriously mess with your best laid plans.
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Take really good, breathable raincoats.
Merino in NZ rocks and is great to travel with.The top of NZ is kind of special but you'd need a full day min from Auckland.
Oh and if your son likes big trees and you go to Northland in the North Island, this is worth a short walk from the road: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tāne_MahutaIf you want half day travel around the Auckland area I think Piha is rather special. if you have 1 or 2 days I think Russell Bay of Islands is pretty and has history in a Whaling/early colonial capital kind of way. I'll assume you won't be scuba diving but there are some great diving sites in the wider area.
Mid North:
If you have a day around Hamilton I'd go to Raglan on the west coast, too cold to swim but you get to see surfies getting frozen.
There are some beautiful lakes and activities around Rotorua and Taupo.Napier is great but you don't have much time.
Wellington is great for food, coffee, beer and Weta. And has some great parks, bush and eccentric early modern architecture.
But in the South Island if you can handle the drive, you get some of the best wine and vinyards, far more nature and some of the small Otago towns are very cute. If I had time I'd take a sailing /canoe trip around the top of the South Island, but in summer.
Local hotsprings, glowworm caves etc you can find all over, not just the famous tourist spots.
A great but expensive way to see parts of NZ are short smaller plane flights. Esp over South Island, Hauraki Gulf etc.
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@nonpartizan said in Help with a travel itinerary to NZ:
@nzzp said in Help with a travel itinerary to NZ:
@nonpartizan where ar eyou coming from?
Key is to be really clear about what it is you are wanting to see. All Blacks obviously - but you wlil be trading off scenery (south island in particular) with culture (Rotorua/Waitangi) and generally going to hospo and getting munted (pretty much anywhere).
Three weeks is a lot. You'll be able to do a lot, but honestly I would sugget spending more time lapping the South Island looking at winter scenery and less time in the cities.
Thankyou.
I am coming from California. For the record I expect this to be the one and only time I am in NZ so I have to make every day count.
I will be coming with my 18 year old son as it's a celebration of him graduating high school.
As far as goals, I do want to take in scenery but I also am a huge enthusiastic of museums so I really want to learn a lot about the Maori and also the British settlers.
The only hard and fast thing on my itinerary thus far is I HAVE to be in Hamilton on the day of the 3rd test v France. Even if I can't get in, I will never have another chance to be in NZ on the day of a test again.
I’m sure it’s on your radar as a museum enthusiast, but I’ve been to Te Papa in Wellington probably 5x, and enjoyed it every time - I reckon you could spend 2 hours in the Anzac exhibition alone, the sculptures are incredible, and the stories so well told. If you’re looking for Maori history, definitely don’t shirk this one.
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@nonpartizan sorry, missed your explanatory notes while typing up my reply.
A suggestion at Queenstown is the Gondola (cable car). We did the package deal for the ride up, the luge (18yo will love it racing against Dad), and the buffet lunch. The buffet was top quality.
I second @nostrildamus suggestion of Tane Mahuta / Waipoua Forest if you do travel north.
Also (back down south again) boat trip out on Lake Te Anau to glow-worm caves was a worthwhile time filler (we were there primarily for Milford).
As people have said, just check your travel times as it can chew up a day when you'd rather be doing stuff...
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@voodoo said in Help with a travel itinerary to NZ:
@nonpartizan said in Help with a travel itinerary to NZ:
@nzzp said in Help with a travel itinerary to NZ:
@nonpartizan where ar eyou coming from?
Key is to be really clear about what it is you are wanting to see. All Blacks obviously - but you wlil be trading off scenery (south island in particular) with culture (Rotorua/Waitangi) and generally going to hospo and getting munted (pretty much anywhere).
Three weeks is a lot. You'll be able to do a lot, but honestly I would sugget spending more time lapping the South Island looking at winter scenery and less time in the cities.
Thankyou.
I am coming from California. For the record I expect this to be the one and only time I am in NZ so I have to make every day count.
I will be coming with my 18 year old son as it's a celebration of him graduating high school.
As far as goals, I do want to take in scenery but I also am a huge enthusiastic of museums so I really want to learn a lot about the Maori and also the British settlers.
The only hard and fast thing on my itinerary thus far is I HAVE to be in Hamilton on the day of the 3rd test v France. Even if I can't get in, I will never have another chance to be in NZ on the day of a test again.
I’m sure it’s on your radar as a museum enthusiast, but I’ve been to Te Papa in Wellington probably 5x, and enjoyed it every time - I reckon you could spend 2 hours in the Anzac exhibition alone, the sculptures are incredible, and the stories so well told. If you’re looking for Maori history, definitely don’t shirk this one.
Thinking about @nonpartizan's note that he likes Museum puts me in a quandary - do I suggest he goes to the Rugby Museum and also send him to Palmy, a fate I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy?
@nonpartizan A quick stop in Palmy to visit the Rugby Museum works if you go down the island, or from Hawkes Bay (Napier). You can stop in, see the museum, eat some decent Asian food, and then quickly get out of Dodge and head on to Wellington.
New Zealand Rugby Museum
Revel in Rugby and all its heritage Visit the iconic New Zealand Rugby Museum in Palmerston North, home to the world's first museum dedicated to the oval ball. You'll be rewarded with a trip back in time exploring the rich history and folklore of New Zealand's national game, discovering the
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@Nepia Great suggestion, and well worth the visit for a rugby fan.
The other thing I would mention is that give yourself plenty of time between destinations if you are driving. It may not appear to be a large distance (in km) but many state highways have plenty of turns and bends, particularly in the South Island (e.g. driving to Milford Sound, down the West Coast).
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@nonpartizan
re Outdoors. You probably wont have the time to go on overnight hikes in NZ. You have to be careful with the weather.
There's hundreds of roadside camps.- Vinegar Hill camp ground next to the mighty Rangitikei River, central North Island.
- Holdsworth Lodge Masterton.
Try a camp fire using dry manuka / kanuka firewood. Hot as.
If your son likes the outdoors don't discount the Wairarapa. Carterton Greytown are awesome.
Dairy's (shops) have steak-cheese pies, custard squares. Get a paua fritter from a fish n chip shop. -
@Nepia said in Help with a travel itinerary to NZ:
@Smudge said in Help with a travel itinerary to NZ:
Good start. And don't spend too much time in Wellington (I say that as a resident of the greater Wellington region).
Can I ask why? All the foreigners I've taken to Wellington have loved the city.
Although, if it is to visit HB as @canefan suggests then I'm fully onboard with it.
Yeah if you're going to do a "major" city it's easily the best, great hospitality scene, compact with plenty of cultural shit, nature shit, etc all within an hour or less. Chch and Hamilton are boring as fuck and the only decent parts of Auckland is the viaduct and the islands.
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@booboo yeah, my geography was wrong re: Queenstown and Milford Sound. It was the 90's when we did that trip, also in winter. We had a ford laser and the heater decided not to work. My legs were numb whenever l got out of the car, also remember being in Queenstown and was told it was colder there that day than it was at the South Pole. In other words, it gets cold in winter...
Probably best to do a bustrip from Queenstown to Milford Sound, get the commentary etc. Also, the roads that time of year could be a bit dicey.
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I am a kiwi etc, but while living in Aus came we came over and followed Welsh rugby tour through NZ with mate and his wife (he Welsh), One thing I would suggest Akld? It's another city (and not a particularly nice one), I would suggest heading up Bay of Islands for a couple of days, at that time of year it quiet, and still got all boat tours etc happening. Once you seen test in Hamilton, head out of there, if you interested Hobbiton, and head down to Waotomo glow worm caves? Then I would head for Taupo for a night or so, and head across to Hawkes Bay, and down through Waiarapa to Wellington .
There is a lot of bloody great scenery down South , so don't rob yourself of time down there. I personally think basing yourself in cities can be a mistake, they are just that cities, and not what NZ is about in my opinion. Anyway whatever you do enjoy your time here . -
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