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My friend and I are planning a trip New Zealand in August (2 women in our late twenties).We have no idea where to begin! We'll only be there for about 7-10 days. We know that that is not a lot of time to scratch the surface of most places, but we want to make the most of our trip. Are there any recommendations for where to fly into and where we absolutely must make it a point to visit? We were thinking of flying into Auckland and maybe just sticking to the north island, but now we're eyeing the south island with a lot of interest! We are into many different activities both outdoors, indoors, "touristy"or not. Being as we only have so much time, you can see how it's getting overwhelming. Any tips or advice or even sample itineraries are welcome!
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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7-10 days isn't a lot of time to see NZ. Give yourself at least three days to fully adjust to the jet lag. I think you're right in only wanting to see one island. Tell me more about what you want to see, do, then I can recommend which island would suit you better.
7 days isn't much time in NZ. As above poster said jet lag will take it's toll initially (one day for us). We spent a week there. We flew into Aukland and arranged tours to the popular spots through a travel agency. That saved a lot of time and let us get a brief overview of just the North Island. It would take a month or more to see everything, especially both islands. Rotorura is at least one full day. Traveling itself will take up quite a bit of your time.
It's a beautiful country. I would recommend you get some brochures (or google) the various sights to see and pick out the most interesting ones to you and arrange to see them through a travel agency. Or you can rent a car with a GPS and try the touring yourself. To get from one island to the other you'll have to fly in and make separate arrangements at each one.
7-10 days is nowhere near long enough to see the South Island, so I suggest you concentrate on the North Island. Fly into Auckland with a view to staying there two or three days, then rent a car and drive south to Rotorua (where you can experience the geysers, hot springs and mud pools, and learn about the maori culture) for two or three days. Then you could drive down to Taupo for a couple of days (it's only an hour or so from Rotorua) where you can do adventurous things like bungy jumping, sky-diving or jet boating... or just drive around and take in the gorgeous scenery - forests, lakes, rivers. etc. Then back to Auckland for whatever time you have left.
It will be a whistlestop visit, but will give you a taste of NZ's urban life, maori culture and spectacular scenery. You'll be left wanting more!
7-10 days isn't a lot of time for the long flight required to get down there. It's also wintertime so the days are shorter and beach type activities probably will not be on the cards.
Also unless they have reinstated the direct flight into Christchurch from LA, your only option to fly in is Auckland, which from there you can connect to the rest of the country.
I've been to almost every single town in New Zealand and every corner of the country and in my opinion the North Island in terms of it's tourist appeal has some highlights, but the South Island is way more scenic and structured around tourism than the North Island.
To me the best part of the country for tourism is the Queenstown-Wanaka-Te Anau-Milford Sound region on the South Island. However due to August being winter, that part of the country will be colder, with some skiing on offer nearby. Also on the south island you have the Mt. Cook-Mckenzie Region which is very scenic, but quieter and you have the west coast with the glaciers. The northern tip of the South Island is also nice and reminds me of coastal California without the people.
On the North Island there are a couple of choices. Probably my favorite region is the Lake Taupo region. There is stuff to do around there and some scenery. The next favorite is the east side of the Coromandel Peninsula. And my third favorite is the Hawkes Bay region.
Auckland as a city is OK, but there is just about nothing to do there as a tourist or anything with a major interest to a tourist there. A lot of people bring up Rotorua. I don't find Rotorua overly interesting or scenic, once you roll around in the mud and hot pools there are a few other touristy things, but it just doesn't really do much for me.
I've done lots of fast-track trips due to time pressures, scanty vacation time, and I never regretted any of them. At least I got a strong taste of that country, more than most people can say! You need more time to spend there! Yeah, sure! Wait until I'm 65 when I have more time! No way! How do you know you'll live that long! Grab it while you can!
Even if you only had two days to be there, you saw a lot more than most people will see of New Zealand, be thankful!
I spent a week in New Zealand (that's all the time I had!) and I spent 3 1/2 days on each island, using a rental car. It's amazing just how much you can see of any foreign country, if you have a rental car, just in one day!
And New Zealand is such a small country to begin with!
I really like the North Island. Northland itself (the peninsula north of Auckland) is quite lovely and there's lots to see there. The Bay of Islands gives you plenty of options with boat cruises, fishing trips, a bus tour that goes all the way to the Cape Reinga Lighthouse at the very northernmost tip of NZ and a drive along 90-Mile Beach. Auckland also has lots going on. Great museums, shopping, a daytrip to Waiheke Island to lie on the beach and visit Onetangi's restaurants overlooking the bay. Taupo is great as is Rotorua (one of my fav places to see is the buried village Te Wairoa). Coromandel is supposed to be spectacular and you can take a ferry from Auckland over there if you don't fancy the drive. It depends on what you like to do and how much driving you are up for.
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