We're thinking of spending 3 weeks in NZ next Feb/Mar beginning and ending in Auckland.

What suggestions would you have for an itinerary? We will be hiring a car.

Thanks, Elly

Do you have any particular interests or places you want to see in NZ? Also have you been there before? Do you want to stay only on the North Island?

We've done two trips to NZ both about 3 weeks in length. Our first trip, we flew from Auckland to Queenstown and then drove up the West Coast of the south island to see the glaciers. We spent several days around Nelson. I'd love to go back and spend more time around Nelson. We turned in our car and then took the ferry to Wellington where we picked up a second car. We then drove back to Auckland taking our time visiting the volcanic sites along the way. We did this the same time as you are planning. Weather was variable as it is normally in NZ. We did have some rainy days on the west ('wet') coast.

We focused on the North Island during our second trip. It was in the spring so we were visiting gardens. We went west first from Auckland to New Plymouth, then drove to the middle around Palmerston. We went to this area because of the gardens. Otherwise, this isn't necessary a very touristic area. You could go farther south to Wellington instead. Then we went east to Hawk's Bay area. I really like this area. It tends to have better weather and it is very scenic. Good wineries and good also. Then we went north to Coromandel peninsula for several days and then a long drive up to Bay of Islands. We ended up back in Auckland.

Both of the two trips were not really very slow travel. We did stay in rentals for a couple of days in several of the stops on our second trip. If you are going to take it slower, I would recommend Hawk's Bay and Bay of Islands.

Also take a look at LizS's blog. She did a long trip in 2007 which included time in NZ.

It is very easy to do both islands in 3 weeks though a fair bit of driving is involved and you aren't going to see much if you just do 2-3 hours a day. Buy yourself a good road map and head south.

Hamilton isn't a bad town though little for the tourist. Rotorua has the volcanic area to see which takes a fair few hours but don't stay in the area overnight as smelly hydrogen sulphide gas wafts about. Drop off your car at the company depot in Wellington, take the ferry across and pick up another car from the company booth at Picton.

I've twice driven south down the west coast, staying at Greymouth overnight. It's a long drive through mostly countryside from there down to the Franz Joseph glacier area. What you like depends on where you visit from here. I've twice been down to Invercargill and to the furthest point south but to be honest there is little there.

I quite like towns and liked Queenstown, Dunedin and Christchurch. Auckland is certainly worth a few days, a very sprawling city. I stayed at B&B's Lots about and no trouble finding room. Have a good look around, see what you like and you can spend more time there on a later trip.

We were able to spend almost 7 weeks in New Zealand in 2005. We blogged about it at
http://www.mytripjournal.com/weaver_new_zealand_2005

Perhaps you can pick up some ideas from our travels.
Regards,
Marilyn

The first time we were in New Zealand (3 weeks) we drove south from Auckland and ended in Queenstown. We have had 3 more trips since then - once just Auckland and 2 lots of 2 weeks on the South Island. Loved the wine areas of both islands.
Would return to Napier but not fussed about Auckland or Rotarua. Enjoyed Wellington and could have spent a few days there.
We still have to visit north of Auckland and hopefully will get there in the next few years. We are lucky that it isn't too long a flight from Melbourne.
Jill

We are still deciding about flying from Perth to Sydney, taking a cruise to Auckland and then exploring some of NZ either by car or campervan.

Thanks for your tips.

Elly

I'm resurrecting this discussion with the following decisions having been made.

We have changed our plans to November 2008 and cruising 14 days from Auckland to Sydney.

Our cruise itinerary takes in Tauranga, Napier, Wellington Christchurch, Dunedin, Picton (somewhere?) Fiordland National Park for our NZ portion of the trip.

We still have three weeks prior to starting the cruise for exploring NZ. Thanks Marilyn for the ideas from your website.

With the above places already being visited on the cruise, in what order would you suggest we best utilise our first three weeks on land?

We can pretty much fly into any of the major cities although there will be a changeover in Auckland first.

If you could base yourself for one week and travel for two, where would you spend the one whole week?

Any input is welcome.

Thanks, Elly

My husband and I had a discussion about a weeks stay somewhere in NZ after reading your post. We think a week in the Marlborough area would be where we would stay. It would give you some time to visit the wineries, eat at some good cafes and restaurants and then roam further afield to Picton, Nelson and the Sounds.
Friends went on the Post boat from Picton http://www.mailboat.co.nz/mailrun.asp and it sounds like fun as well as a beautiful part of the world.
It is not far to Kiakoura where there is whale watching http://www.kaikourawhalewatching.com/ and lovely scenery along the coast.
If you are into walking there are walks along Marlborough Sound where you can stay at lodges or just have short walks.
The cruise will take you to a lot of NZ but will be just a brief snapshot.
We also like the Queenstown area and a week there would also be great. A day trips from there would be to Wanaka for the scenery and wine - Rippon Winery has one of the best views you would see at a winery, and the wine is lovely.
A trip on the Dart river is fun and the scenery once again is spectacular. I presume the cruise will take you to Milford Sound but a night on Doubtful Sound would be different on a smaller boat.
There is so much to see in 3 weeks that it will be hard to decide. We are going to NZ for a quick visit in November and will only get a chance to visit Auckland, Waiheke Island and New Plymouth. It will be spring and I am looking forward to the spring gardens which should be spectacular.

Jill

Elly, NZ is a lovely country and I am sure you are going to enjoy your time there. It would be usefull for a NZ member to help answer your questions.

I am not an expert but have done three lengthy trips around both islands. I am normally very much into the slow travel way of life but in your case you are finishing with a cruise where you can relax and recover.

Perhaps consider flying down to Dunedin pick up a car go to Queenstown and surrounding areas, up the West coast to Franz Josef and continue up to the Marlborough sound area. Drop the car off, get the ferry to Wellington, pick up a car and drive north to Taupo, Rotorua and Auckland. If there is any petrol left in your tank up to Bay of Islands, back to Auckland and flake out on the ship.

Too much, keep your trip to the South Island but still cross to Wellington and fly up to Auckland from there. Maybe see about joining the ship in Wellington not Auckland.

The South Island is so different to anything you will see in Australia and because of the geography travel times are slow.

Hopefully you will now get a local suggest a really good trip.

Thanks Jill, the mail run sounds really good.
Yes Monty, 3 three weeks may not be long enough to do it all.

I also know that the cruise is only a 'visit' the port situation, so we will probably want to see the highlights first anyway.

I have just downloaded 43 pages of Billy Connolly's drive through NZ. The itinerary he took over 18 days from Auckland to Christchurch seems pretty good.

I am considering flying into Christchurch and doing the reverse to Auckland.

If it becomes too much, then we would probably drop the itinerary en route and fly into Auckland instead.

NZ is really not that far, so we can always return if we want.

It's incredible that of all the overseas trips we have taken, that NZ has never been one of them.

We have travelled our own country quite extensively over many years, so NZ shouldn't really be a problem.

Elly

Elly, that sounds like a good idea. I think Billy went right down to Invercagill and if so you could probably drop that. I remember seeing the shows on TV, they were very good.