1

I definitely don't think you have time for Napier/Hawkes Bay.
You need to think about why you are going to Rotorua, Taupo and Wellington. With only 13 days, you are never going to fit in everything you want in the south island if you want to do these three. I'm not saying you shouldn't - I think the geothermal stuff around rotorua is quite amazing and if you're from somewhere where this kind of thing doesn't exist, it's definitely worth a stop. BUT... I would consider going Auckland, Rotorua, south island. I don't see any other way you could fit in Milford Sound, if you wanted to.
More comments below.

Day 1:
Arrive Auckland (3pm)
Stay Auckland

Day 2:
Auckland - Rotorua
Stay Rotorua

Day 3:
Rotorua - Taupo
Stay Taupo
as above, why Taupo? What are you planning to do there? It's an hour down the road from Rotorua, for (IMO) very little extra. You don't have time, for example, to do the Tongariro crossing or any other walks in the national park - which is another 1 1/2 south of taupo.

Day 4:
Taupo
Stay Taupo
were you planning to try to do the Tongariro crossing or something on this day? This is one of the only times you are in one place for two nights - so have the opportunity to spend the day doing something like a good walk. IMO, you'd be better off doing this around rotorua than Taupo. If you're wanting to do the Crossing, then spend the night afterwards down there somewhere.

Day 5:
Taupo - Napier - Wellington
no way. massive long drive that doesn't allow any time for stopping and seeing anything on the way. Have a look at wises.co.nz for good travel times - they have this trip as about 6 hours driving all up, without anything other than brief stops

Day 6:
Wellington - Nelson

Day 7:
Nelson - Grey mouth
why greymouth? just for somewhere to stay? why not keep going to the glaciers? greymouth isn't that exciting a place

Day 8:
Grey Mouth - Fox Glacier

Day 9:
Fox Glacier - Wanaka

Day 10:
Wanaka - Queenstown

Day 11:
Queenstown - Mt Cook

Day 12:
Drive Mt Cook - Christchurch

Stay Christchurch

Day 13: Wed, 5 Dec

Fly out of Christchurch (4pm)

2

Hi LisaMNZ,

Thanks for your reply.

I wasn't really stuck on the idea of going to Taupo. I was just following a suggested itinerary where they had two nights in Taupo. I do like your suggestion of doing Auckland - Rotorua - South Island. I had just wanted to do the South Island but since we'll be flying in to Auckland (we're from Melbourne) I thought we might as well see Rotorua.

As for Greymouth - same as above. Just following suggested itinerary and to break up all the driving. Definitely want to keep the Glaciers, Queenstown and Mt Cook on our itinerary, though.

Now from Rotorua to South Island - would you suggest flying down to Christchurch/Queenstown or driving down to Wellington to catch the ferry? Is going on the ferry and then seeing/staying in Nelson worth it considering our timeframe?

3

You're coming from Melbourne? Then skip Auckland altogether, and drive to rotorua straight from the airport. That'll save you a day right there. I thought you must be coming from further away.

the airport is a good 40 minutes or so to the south of the city, so you have a head start on heading that way already.

If you are keen on seeing the geothermal stuff around Rotorua, then yes I'd suggest driving to Rotorua, maybe having two nights (so a full day) there, and then fly to Chch, drive Arthurs pass to the glaciers, Wanaka (it is nice), Queenstown, Te Anau/Milford/doubtful Sound, Queenstown, mt Cook, Chch.

Nelson is nice, yep, but I honestly don't think you have time when it means you could be seeing the Sounds.

4

Thanks again! Great suggestions and will definitely be taking them on board. :)

5

Skip Auckland and buy another day.
Taupo works as a stop over AFTER another day in Rotorua. Most of the the thermal parks are half to two thirds of the way from Rotorua to Taupo. So, finish your 2nd day in Rotorua win Taupo to get a head start for the long drive to Wellington.
Some time in Wellington would be good, it's a lovely city.
You don;t have enough time to do Hawkes Bay.
Greymouth is very unattractive but works as a stopover on the way down to the glaciers.
I'd do everything I could to squeeze in at least 1, and possibly 2 extra days so you can see Milford Sound. Both the Sound, and the last hour of the 5 hour drive there from Queenstown are superb.
Also, the drive from the glaciers to Quenstown is sensational, but stop off for the walk down to Haast Blue pools

6

Hi Harry_Ramsden,

Thanks for the reply. I'm still tossing up between driving down to Wellington then ferrying over to Picton or flying from Rotorua to Christchurch. But it seems ferry and flight prices are pretty much the same so I'm leaning slightly towards flying and buying more time in the South Island.

2-3 days in the north will leave us with 10-11 days in the south which should then hopefully allow us to see and appreciate more things without being rushed.

Thanks also for the Glaciers-Queenstown tip and will definitely put Haast Blue pools on the list. And from what I'm gathering Milford Sound is a must see. Do you recommend staying in the area for more than two nights or would one night suffice?

7

dunno about that, Harry.
Orakei Korako - halfway
Wai-o-Tapu - 20m outside of Rotorua, admittedly to the south.
Hells Gate - just outside of Rotorua to the east.
Waimangu/Rotomahana - just outside of Rotorua (to the southeast)
Whakarewarewa - Rotorua
Te Puia - Rotorua.

8

I'd take the ferry. it's not just a mode of transport, but a great sightseeing day in its own right. The last hour or of the trips through the Marlborough Sounds is lovery scnery, very close to the ferry. it's well worth doing.
The drive from the glaciers to Queenstown is about 4.5 hours. There's not much to see until just Haast (which is not much of a town) but then, as you head inland, and up the mountains, views are spectacular, Stop and look behind you! The walk to and from the blue pools takes about 45 minutes, so, allow 60-90 minutes, but it's worth it. There are no shops there, just toilets, so stock up before you go, or at the Haast town store if you need food.
There's not much accomodation at MIlford. You can either do it as a 5 hour drive each way from Queenstown with a 2 hour cruise (not recommended) or on a 2 our drive from Te Anau. I'd stop at Te Anau the night before. It's a small, quiet town, but the glow worm caves and cruise are brilliant, so do that when you arrive. Then get an early start to Milford, aim for a 10 am cruise, then work your way back to Queenstown.

9

Harry,

I see your point about the Wellington-Picton ferry and ideally I'd like to add it to the itinerary. But my issue with it is the time/days I would lose trying to get further down south from Picton. I think what Lisa is suggesting is a better fit for us.

But thanks for the tip about Te Anau. That sounds like a good idea.

10

I agree, Greymouth is pretty drab, only good for a stopover. I really enjoyed Wellington, and the ferry is a good experience. We saw pods of dolphins on our way over. But Rotorua to Wellington was our longest drive and it'll be even longer if you skip Napier (although there's not much there either, nice for a day to look at the art deco buildings but we got our camper van ransacked there so I don't have the fondest of memories!) Wanaka was actually one of my favourite places in New Zealand so if you end up flying from Rotorua to the South Island then see if you can fit it in, even if it's just for the day. Don't know if this will help but I've written up on my blog all of the places we pulled up at each night in our camper-van. All the holiday parks listed had chalets/bedrooms and we took pretty much the same route you're planning on. And they'll be a post in the next couple of days reviewing all the places we saw (inc Wanaka)! http://smallworldbigmouth.wordpress.com/2012/10/26/camping-in-outdoors-overnight-camper-van-spots-and-some-hostels/

Happy Travels!

11

I agree with #8
Ferry is good, as is the central N Island drive.

You can fly to Aussie from ChCh or Q'town, so from Picton, design a drive that ends in one of those two places about a week later....
(cut out Auckland, Napier and any overnight in Taupo)

12

LibbySmall and Nice_But__, thanks for your input.

Definitely have considered all advice given (and read a million websites while researching) so appreciate them all. I would love to take that ferry from Wellington but it might have to wait until next trip. Unfortunately, it was one of the things that had to give in order to achieve the type of trip we want.

We want to take a somewhat leisurely pace. And all I mean by that is being able to stay in a place for a couple of nights each rather than having to change accommodation every night and not being rushed going from Point A to Point B and completely missing all the stuff in between. By doing this we hope to have more of a 'quality' trip rather than 'quantity'. We hope to be able to appreciate each place rather than just catching a glimpse of a little bit of everything. When we first booked our plane tickets we were originally planning an 11 day trip. Then it became 13 days. After all my research I'm thinking it should have been for four weeks! Haha

Oh and for those who are in a similar situation as me, another reason we decided to skip the Wellington ferry was that it seems flying from Auckland/Rotorua to Christchurch is less than the ferry price of two adults and a car. So flying gives us more time for the South and allows us to slot the Sounds in to the itinerary.

But...also found out that one way car rentals from Auckland to Rotorua for a two day hire ends up being more than the price of the ferry! So instead of flying out of Rotorua we're flying out of Auckland instead...because the car hire is cheaper if returned to the same location and I was able to find flights to Christchurch for two adults for less than $100.

If you're still with me, and are interested to know our final itinerary is as below:

Day 1: Arrive Auckland (explore Auckland city at night)
Stay Auckland

Day 2: Auckland - Rotorua day trip
Stay Auckland

Day 3: Fly Auckland - Christchurch (entire day for Christchurch sights)
Stay Christchurch

Day 4: Christchurch - Glaciers via Arthur's Pass
Stay Glaciers

Day 5: Glaciers (hiking/walking)
Stay Glaciers

Day 6: Glaciers - Wanaka - Queenstown (Wanaka sights)
Stay Queenstown (arrive at early evening)

Day 7: Queenstown (hiking/walking/other)
Stay Queenstown

Day 8: Queenstown - Te Anau (activities undecided)
Stay Te Anau

Day 9: Te Anau - Sounds - Te Anau (Sounds cruise and other sights)
Stay Te Anau

Day 10: Te Anau - Queenstown (quick stop over sightseeing?) - Mt Cook
Stay Mt Cook

Day 11: Mt Cook (hiking/walking)
Stay Mt Cook

Day 12: Mt Cook - Christchurch (sightseeing stops along the way)
Stay Christchurch

Day 13: Christchurch (quick day sightseeing) - fly home

Day 14: Back at work (boooo!)

Edited by: sneakersss

13

That's better, but still a lot of driving...

However, if you plan to visit again, you can perhaps fly into Wellington from Oz, do a small trip from there, then take the ferry south and see whatever more you like of the South.

The Ferry is expensive for cars, that;s why there are several car/camper rental companies at each terminus.

14

Nice_But__,

This isn't meant to come out as a harsh comment...but in your last two comments all I've gotten from you is to catch a ferry...and nothing really much more. I've already explained why the ferry can't fit into the schedule.

So, now my question to you is - how exactly would you organise the itinerary so that the ferry can fit in? Fly into Wellington as opposed to Auckland? Do Wellington - Rotoua - Auckland?

And '...still a lot of driving...' - I'm not sure what to do with that comment. This is a self-drive holiday after all. Are you perhaps suggesting cutting out stuff in the South? If so, what? We do have to fly out of Christchurch as the airline we are on flies Christchurch - Melbourne direct. Flying out of Queenstown means having to change over at Sydney. Not something I want to do.

I don't understand the logic with the '...several car/camper rental companies at each terminal...' comment. You could end up having to pay for two days of car hire on the one day depending on the time of the pick up and drop off of the North rental.