New Zealand 3 week itinerary

Old Jun 1st, 2017, 03:15 PM
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New Zealand 3 week itinerary

I'm looking for input on our itinerary for late October 2017.

Fri Oct 27
Arrive Auckland 7:15 am

Auckland: See Auckland War Memorial Museum
Kelly Tarlton’s Sealife Aquarium
Sky Tower
Auckland Art Museum
Sleep Auckland

Sat Oct 28
Auckland
Ride On-Off
Sleep Auckland

Sun Oct 29
Get rental car Drive to Rotorua or Taupo
Site See Taupa
Auckland-Taupo 171 miles 3.25 hours
Sleep Taupo

Mon Oct 30
Tongariro Alpine Crossing Hike
Sleep Taupo

Tues Oct 31
Drive to Rotorua
Site See Rotorua
Sleep Taupo

Wed Nov 1
Drive to Wellington
Taupo-Wellington 231 miles 4.45 hours
Return car
Site See Wellington
Sleep Wellington

Thurs Nov 2
Wellington
See Te Papa Tongarewa (Museum of New Zealand
Great War Exhibit
Botanical Garden
Sleep Wellington

Fri Nov 3
Fly to Queenstown
Pick up rental car
Site See Queenstown
Sleep Queenstown

Sat Nov 4
Queenstown
Site See Queenstown
Sleep Queenstown

Sun Nov 5
Drive to Te Anau
Queenstown-Te Anau 107 miles 2.25 hours
Glowworm caves
Site See Te Anau
Sleep Te Anau

Mon Nov 6
Drive to Milford Sound
Te Anau-Milford Sound 73 miles 2.5 hours
Site See Milford Sound
Overnight Cruise

Tues Nov 7
Drive to Te Anau
Milford Sound-Te Anau 73 miles 2.5 hours
Site See Te Anau
Sleep Te Anau

Wed Nov 8
Drive to Invercargill
Te Anau-Invercargill 99 miles 2 hours
Site See Invercargill
Sleep Invercargill

Thurs Nov 9
Explore South coast
Site See
Sleep Invercargill

Fri Nov 10
Drive to Wanaka
Invercargill-Wanaka 151 miles 3.25 hours
Sleep Wanaka

Sat Nov 11
See Wanaka
Sleep Wanaka

Sun Nov 12
Hike around Wanaka
Sleep Wanaka

Mon Nov 13
Drive to Queenstown
Wanaka-Queenstown 43 miles 1.25 hours
Sleep Queenstown

Tues Nov 14
Explore Queenstown
Sleep Queenstown

Wed Nov 15
Return rental car fly home

My husband would like to limit our driving as he is not as comfortable driving on the left. Any suggestions are appreciated.
travelallover is offline  
Old Jun 1st, 2017, 05:06 PM
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You wrote you're thinking of spending two nights in Invercargill to explore the "South Coast". Could you elaborate on what you hope to see and do? Do you mean to see the Catlins or Stewart Island? What are your interests in general?

Invercargill has a few highlights that you could see in two to three hours (Southland Museum, Queens Garden, Bill Richardson's Transport World, the World's Fastest Indian at E. Hayes Hardware). These are not usually top draws for the first- or second-time NZ visitors (but everyone's tastes are different). It's not the most scenic or interesting of towns, most tourists pass through it enroute to Stewart Island, or while taking the Southern Scenic Route.

The Catlins area is more scenic and interesting, so maybe you could stay there instead. Or you could spend more time in Wanaka, Queenstown, or Te Anau. If you're not comfortable with driving, you can always take day tours out of these places; you'd have a lot of options in these very tourist-friendly destinations.

The weather can often be wet, gray and cold in the south of the South Island in November.

You might not get around to everything you list on your first day in Auckland, but you'll have a second day. Auckland Public Art Gallery and Sky Tower are near to one another.
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Old Jun 2nd, 2017, 09:00 AM
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Thank you for your input, Diamantina. The Caitlins are the area we are interested in. We did not see many places to stay. I will look harder. We are interested in hiking, scenery and museums.
We will look at adding another day in Te Anau and Wanaka instead.
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Old Jun 2nd, 2017, 11:12 AM
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>>>We did not see many places to stay.
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Old Jun 2nd, 2017, 01:02 PM
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Don't base any distances on Google Maps! They underestimate all travel times. All mileage is in kilometres here.
29 Oct - Rotorua - stay the night
30 Oct - Taupo (it's not very big and you can look at Huka Falls and the lake) then drive onto Turangi for the night.
31 Oct TAC walk.
The winter season finishes on 31 Oct and a guide is recommended for the Crossing in winter unless you are an experienced alpine tramper. Do check the weather first and make a decision nearer the time.
Staying in Taupo to walk the TAC makes a long day even longer!
1 Nov - drive to Wellington.
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Old Jun 2nd, 2017, 08:27 PM
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Thank you, deSchenke and tasmangirl. Good information.
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Old Jun 2nd, 2017, 11:46 PM
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Travelallover, try NZ AA Drive Distance Calculator for drive distances: https://www.aa.co.nz/travel/time-and...ce-calculator/

In addition to the usual booking sites, such as Booking.com, Wotif.com, Hotels.com, AirBNB, you can also check holidayhouses.co.nz. and www.bookabach.co.nz/
The Catlins tourism site also lists accommodation:
http://catlins.org.nz/index.php

My husband and I have stayed at Curio Bay Salthouse on Porpoise Bay several times, it has beautiful ocean views and is less than a 10-minute walk to the Petrified Forest and Yellow Eyed Penguin colony at Curio Bay. Curio and Porpoise Bays are adjacent. Porpoise Bay is home to a small pod of Hector's Dolphins from about November through April.
http://www.curiobaysalthouse.co.nz/
Reviews for it here:
https://www.tripadvisor.co.nz/Hotel_...th_Island.html

There aren't many restaurants or cafes in the Catlins. So you might want to self cater. Depending on the route you take from Te Anau to Curio Bay (that is, if you go here), you'll want to buy groceries in Te Anau, Invercargill, or Gore. New World Market sells insulated cooler bags for NZ$5, if you'd like to keep your food fresh and cool (meat, fish, cheese, etc.). You don't need to buy milk for your morning tea or coffee; real milk is supplied by accommodations, as are tea and coffee.

FYI: The Whistling Frog near McLean Falls, which is about a half-hour from Curio Bay, runs a popular café:
http://whistlingfrogcafe.com/
They also have accommodation and an informative website:
http://www.catlinsitineraries.com/in...ns/the-catlins

This brochure from the Dept. of Conservation does a good job of describing the Catlins natural attractions (of which there are many):
http://curiobay.co.nz/files/Southern...-Route-DOC.pdf

Here's a link to a brochure for Curio Bay's natural attractions:
http://www.doc.govt.nz/Documents/par...rpoise-bay.pdf
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Old Jun 6th, 2017, 02:35 PM
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Diamantina-Wow lots of great info! I will check out your suggestions.
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Old Jun 10th, 2017, 02:48 PM
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Travelover, here is a link to our blog which has some detail of our time driving the southern scenic route through the Catlins https://accidentalnomads.com/category/new-zealand/

We were in a campervan and stayed at a great Campsite at Lake Pounawea, superb sunrises and sunsets and a terrific fish and chip restaurant at the nearby Owaka. Not sure whether the Pounawea Campsite had cabins or not. If they do, it really is a terrific location
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