Need suggestions on 16N/17D NZ itinerary

Hey Guys

I am traveling to NZ in December for 16 nights and have made a draft itinerary. Would be really great if you can suggest if this would be do-able.

Day 1: Arrive in Auckland early morning; spend the day in the city; mostly rest
Day 2: Do a one day cruise of Bay of Islands; stay over at Auckland
Day 3: Drive early morning to Rotorua; spend the day in Rotorua sight seeing, polynesian spa, maori show etc.; stay over in Rotorua
Day 4: Spend the first half river rafting in Rotorua; sight seeing in the second half; stay over in Rotorua
Day 5: Drive to Taupo in the morning; spend the second half sight seeing in Taupo; stay over in Taupo
Day 6: Spend the day in Tongaririo alpine crossing; stay over in Taupo
Day 7: Drive to Waimoto caves in the first half; visit glow worm caves; reach Auckland by night; stay over in Auckland
Day 8: Take early morning flight to Christchurch; Spend the day in CC sight seeing; ; stay over in CC
Day 9: Start for Franz Joseph in the morning via hotatiki; walk around FJ in evening; stay over in FJ
Day 10: Hike FJ in the first half; Drive to Lake Matheson and back; stay over in FJ
Day 11: Drive to Wanaka in the morning via Haast; Walk around Wanaka in evening; stay over in Wanaka
Day 12: Sight seeing at Wanaka and around; stay over in Wanaka
Day 13: Drive to Te Anau in the first half; walk around Te Anau in the evening; stay over in Te Anau
Day 14: Drive to Milford Sound; Do the cruise and drive back to Queenstown; stay over in QT
Day 15: Sight seeing in QT and around (arrow etc.); stay over in QT
Day 16: Sight seeing in QT and around (arrow etc.); stay over in QT
Day 17: Fly out of Queenstown in the morning

Please suggest if I've missed out on anything major or if I'm spending too many nights at one place.

Thanks.

Day 1: Arrive in Auckland early morning; spend the day in the city; mostly rest
Day 2: Do a one day cruise of Bay of Islands; stay over at Auckland

The Bay of Islands is at the north end of the North Island. It's about a 4 hour drive each way. Maybe you could do this if you fly to Paihia and rent a car or take a taxi to the boat.

You can get day tours with several companies to BoI. But I seriously hope you don't do a long day trip then rent a car and drive to Rotorua. Why not get the bus to Rotorua and get a rental car from there and drop back in Auckland. I think its zPricerite Rentals in Rotorua where you can drop off at Auckland Airport.

You can get day tours with several companies to BoI.

Westwood,
I guess I shouldn't be surprised in light of those 12 hour bus tours from Queenstown to Milford Sound.

I think that the South Island itinerary looks pretty solid!

But as the other two have mentioned, how do you plan on getting to the Bay of Islands? Its pretty far from Auckland so that may be a bit rushed. Unless you plan on flying, which would save you a lot of time.

Other than that it looks like you are making the best of your time! It will be a busy trip for sure!

Thanks guys, have dropped the plan of visiting bay of islands and will instead go to Wahike Islands - anything better that I can do?
Also, needed your suggestion on Day 14. Do I drive back to Queenstown or stay in Te Anau and drive to Queenstown on Day 15 morning. I want to make sure that I spend enough time in Queenstown. Please suggest.

With the switch from BoI to Waiheke, I think this is a really good itinerary. Do stay 2 nights in Te Anau. It is a roughly 8 hour day driving in to Milford Sound, with lots of short walks along the way. You don't want to be rushed. You will still have nearly 2 full days in QTN.

Do stay 2 nights in Te Anau.

The advantage of staying 2 nights in Te Anau is that you can leave town early enough to catch one of the earlier cruises--before the bus-loads of tourists arrive from Queenstown. Leave early (0700-ish), drive straight through (about 2 hr), and then drive back after the cruise in a leisurely fashion. There are many places to stop and enjoy the view.

Couple of more questions -

1. Have I budgeted enough time for Auckland, given that Day 1 will be mostly resting and Day 2 will be at Wahike?
2. Do i visit Punakiki as well on the way to FJ?

There is no right or wrong on how long to stay in a place. You need to do some research then see if it warrants more. You would then have to decide how to distribute the remaining days.

If you can't add any more days, the only way to fit in Punakaiki is at the expense of half a day in FJG, but also males sense to reorganise Lake Matheson as well:
Day 9: Chch to Punakaiki
Day 10: AM Punakaiki to FJG; PM Heli-Hike FJ; stay over in FJ
Day 11: Early AM Lake Matheson; Drive to Wanaka

Not possible to do CHC to Punakaiki and back to FJ on Day 9?

Not without spending all day in the car and sacrificing a lot of enroute sightseeing.
Chch to Arthurs Pass can be done in 2 hr, but you might want to stop for 30 min or longer to scramble around the limestone boulders at Kura Tawhiti. Then there's 1 hr to walk to the Devils Punchbowl waterfall & a bit of lunch (4hr).
Add 2 hr to Punakaiki and an hour to walk around the rocks (no chance to wait for high tide) = 7 hr; then a 4 hr drive to FJG.

So you could do it in around 11 hours if you don't muck about - but this is not a recommended way to travel in NZ. None of the roads are freeways or divided highways. There are multiple one lane bridges, 2 alpine passes and tonnes of amazing photo opportunities.

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