Ideas for a month and half of travel?

Assuming 6 weeks - that would work out to about 4 weeks for a loop of the SI and 2 weeks for a one way trip from WLG to AKL.

First question is how do you plan to travel as this affects your itinerary? Rental car offers flexibility & you can easily drive for 3-4 hours & spend the afternoon sightseeing & move on next morning. In many parts of the SI there is only one bus per day so you are committed to staying for 24 hr until the next bus, or if the bus arrives late afternoon, you need to plan on 2 N and 1 full day for sightseeing...
If you are travelling alone, have you though about using a Ho-Ho bus pass such as Stray Travel or Haka Tours? Even if these don't appeal I recommend looking at their itineraries as that will give you a good idea about what are the highlights.
Thirdly - what are your interests and what activities do you want to do? I could give you an itinerary focussed on wineries, only to find you don't drink; or one based on nature/wildlife which you are not interested in...

A guide book could be a good starting point. Have a look at some LP put out both as ebooks and as hard copies. There is also a Destinations tab here on this site.

I spent a gap year a while ago and had a fantastic time and as have suggested, using a Ho-Ho bus pass is a great idea and is pretty economical. However, I made friends with someone who had hired a car over there; if you have the budget, then this can be a great way to see the country.

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