Almost forgot about shotover canyon jet boats.
Probably for the best.
Well worth forty minutes of your time, NZ riding at its best
I live here. So proabably well-placed to add yet more confusing information to the cascade of recommendations above. Having said that, what's written so far seems pretty reasonable. It depends on what you are looking for really. If you've only got a few weeks, then it will probably be best to hit the obvious well-known 'big ticket' items.
If you are starting in Auckland - travel distances are quite large overall - think northern tip of Denmark to the top of Morocco, so unless you will be flying around the country, a significant chunk of your 3 weeks could be spent driving.
If you want to do some day hikes / short tramps, South Island will be generally best. Queenstown area is good, as is Wanaka, Mount Aspiring area. Mt Cook area is pretty good for some spectacular day hikes, with glaciers. We are heading into Autumn now, so it will be getting a bit chilly down south. Whether that suits you for hiking / tramping is up to you.
Milford Sound / Doubtful Sound area is magnificient, the weather can be crap - but that just adds to the atmosphere.
Being a Rotorua resident, I have to speak to my biases here. The Bay of Plenty area is amazing, lovely sub-tropical climate, great beaches, chilled out vibe. It will also be a great deal warmer and sunnier here than the South over the next month or so. There are few big ticket items in BoP, but it's worth exploring if you have the time and inclination to just experience aspects of Kiwi life and the environment / lifestyle. Rotorua itself, however, is great for amazing mountain biking - 160 km of bespoke MTB trails, plus decent bike hire shops aplenty. I would really recommend hiring an e-MTB, just to be able to easily climb up to some of the Epic long flowy descents - Split Endz and Eagle vs Shark are absolute classics, but they take me over an hour to climb up to on my pedal bike.
Then, of course there is all the amazing geothermal stuff around here, geysers, mud pools, Waimangu geothermal area, Rainbow Mountain, Kereosene Creek - a 'bath temperature' flowing waterfall you can swim in, Wai-o-Tapu geothermal area. Plus cool Māori cultural stuff. Whakarewarea (Māori) Village is probably the best one to visit - if you want to combine both geothermal stuff and a Māori cultural experience, plus a geothermally cooked hāngī.
A few more ideas to confuse you futher.
Booked our flights at the weekend, will be first long haul flights for 20yrs, flying in & out of Christchurch so not straying into the north island, just hope nothing scuppers the plans we have, like 2020 did ☹️
Few things we loved 15 or so years ago, hut to hut on the routeburn track, relaxed biking on the Queen Charlotte track. Rotatua and Wellington trails. Kayaking the doubtful sound. Coromandel peninsular (quick gap fil decision to go). Forests, scenery, activity park type place with a joyfully relaxed approach to h&s and parking the van on a huge beach, totally alone, wine, bbq, sleeping to the sound of the surf. Bliss.
Wherever you go, whatever you do, you can’t go far wrong. It’s such an amazing place. You’ll have an absolute ball! Enjoy!
Just reading the last point of @alchiltern post there and remember doing something similar. Sat on a deserted beach, stretching away for miles, in the middle of nowhere, thinking that you’re absolutely on your own. Nobody but you around for god knows how many miles. Not something you forget.
north island or south island? It isn't a huge country but it's big enough that you'll never see it all.
Been twice, highlight watching a KIwi hatch, but that's something you can't really arrange.
wandering amongst the Kauri trees in the Coromandel, whale watching is IMO overrated, dolphins are more interesting.
traveling on the ferries in Auckland was a nice way to relax on arrival for a couple of days.
Taupo, the ski resorts, etc.
Just don't try and drive from Canterbury to Coromandel in a day.
Just sat in Christchurch airport after 3 magical weeks in the south island. Seems like March this year was ideal weather wise & tapering off of number of other tourists. Other than travelling by motorcycle instead of hire car I don't think there would be anything I'd change. Highlights were:- Tranzalpine train, Hokitika treetop walk, gorge & glow worms, bush walks nr Mount Cook and Milford Sound, Coronet Loop MTB Arrowtown, gondola & luge Queenstown, Otago Peninsula nr Dunedin, and omg seal colony at Kaikoura. My wife loved the Mt cook glacial, Milford sound & Kaikoura whale watching boat trips but I found them a bit underwhelming & would have preferred to have spent the money on more adventurous activities but if you'd ever seen how crazy she gets after a simple waterslide you'd know why we kept it more low key 🤣
The flight back.... lovely place... for a few weeks.
Whilst this thread is running, I have questions as we want to go for 3-4 weeks next Feb/March.
whats the best route to get there? Our budget is not unlimited but not student. Most of the cheapest routes seem to be Singapore air from LHR to Christchurch. LHR or Birmingham are both good for us. I’m 6’2 so prefer a seat upgrade usually but I may have to slum it a bit as I’d rather spend the money on activities there rather than a seat for a few (lots of) hours.
We did Heathrow, Singapore to Christchurch with Singapore air - no complaints whatsoever. We booked a car with Apex which is just off the airport so cheaper & ran a good shuttle bus but could have got cheaper if we'd booked the car a few months ahead - ie for you early Dec.
Thanks Dickboy, sound like you had a great time!
