3 weeks in NZ whats to see and do.

tech

Ok Im hoping to travel to Oz / New Zealand for about 4-5 weeks next year, Ive been in OZ in 2007 for 4 weeks already and have done the Full east coast. I only need to be in Oz for about 1 week for wedding. Im wondering whats the best plan to see the most of NZ in 3 ish weeks

Is it possible to see most of NZ in 21 days? I'll be travelling alone so I reckon the magix bus or the Kiwi Experience is my best bet, What do I need to see and what do I need to avoid??

Thanks

tomaschonnie

21 days is not a lot of time to see all of NZ. seing as you're travelling on your own, the bus tour idea is probably a good one though I would highly recommend renting a car. you will have far more freedom to roam and will still meet people in hostels and campsites. though it may be a more expensive option, it's value for money no doubt. oh and the roads are amazing and great fun to drive, NZ has some of the best stretches of road in the world (Queen Charlotte Drive between Havelock and Picton ferry port is fantastic fun).

to use your time efficiently you could fly in and out of different cities, say fly into Aukland and fly out of Queenstown. that way you would get to see most of the country. if i had to pick one island over another i would choose the south island. Mount Cook is great, the glaciers of the west coast, abel tasman national park, queenstown, christchurch, dunedin (student town - great nightlife), arthurs pass drive, kaikoura whale watching and swimming with dolphins (highly recommend the latter), the caitlins, paradise (yes, it's actually called that), kayaking milford sound, skiing in Queenstown during the winter, cinema paradiso in Wanaka near Queenstown is cool, LOADS of opportunities for walking and hiking and swimming... the list goes on

as for the north island, lots of cool stuff there too which i wont go into as im tiring.

Great country, enjoy!

reverenddave

also abel tasman national park and farewell spit

but whatever you do do not forget to go to mount cook its awesome

tech

thanks for the replys so far guys, all excited now!

Flimbos

Three weeks might be a bit rushed, I was there a few years ago for 5 weeks and that was just about right. Although I didn't get a chance to go to Mount Cook.

I took the Magic Bus and would highly recommend this, especially as you're travelling alone. Great way to get around and meet people.

The highlights of NZ for me were mainly in the south island. Sea kayaking in Abel Tasman National Park, Queenstown is great in general, the glaciers, Milford Sound is pretty amazing. Also went mountain biking in Wanaka which was great, and the cinema there is cool.

Have a good one!

tech

would people recommend just doing the south Island, it seems to offer more in general?

tomaschonnie

tech wrote: »

would people recommend just doing the south Island, it seems to offer more in general?

if you have just 3 weeks, then yes. otherwise too much rushing around not enough fun.

stoneill

For New Zealand
North Island:
Aukland is nice but you can skip,
Whangarei
Rotarua
Matamata (if you are into LOTR)
Wellington (again if you are into LOTR)

I deffo recommend the ferry from Wellington to Picton, the ferry ride is like sailing along Norwegian fjords!

South Island:
Every Where!

Australia?
Only ever been to Perth.

Shzm

stoneill wrote: »

For New Zealand
North Island:
Aukland is nice but you can skip,
Whangarei
Rotarua
Matamata (if you are into LOTR)
Wellington (again if you are into LOTR)

I deffo recommend the ferry from Wellington to Picton, the ferry ride is like sailing along Norwegian fjords!

South Island:
Every Where!

Australia?
Only ever been to Perth.

What? You say you can skip Auckland, then recommend Whangarei ?!? Whangarei is a complete hole.

Anyway - if you're in the north, head up to the bay of islands and cape reinga, there's also the coromandel which is south of auckland, rotorua, taupo, napier/hastings is meant to be quite nice too.

tomaschonnie

Shzm wrote: »

Anyway - if you're in the north, head up to the bay of islands and cape reinga, there's also the coromandel which is south of Auckland, rotorua, taupo, napier/Hastings is meant to be quite nice too.

agree totally with the above suggestions and though rotorua and the surrounding hinterland has interesting geothermal sites to visit, it stinks quite strongly of sulphur and I couldn't stick for more than a few days to be honest. not much reason to spend any time in either whangarei or Auckland. there's also some cool Kauri trees in that general direction, Waipoua forest has the largest and tallest i think. huge trees in height and in girth. very impressive, if you are impressed by stuff like that. because i had my own car there (i bought one in queenstown that was painted to look like the General Lee but was actually a 1989 1.3ltr Daihatsu charade) i was able to just pull over at will to see interesting sites like that whereas as on a tour bus you wouldn't have that option.





loved that car, it lasted me 7 months and cost me on 350 euros. travelled the whole country in it. i believe its still in queenstown. if you come across it post back here.

AJatKiwiEx

Hey tech.

I would suggest stick to the South Island if you've only got 3 weeks, the scenery and adventure action is spectacular.

If you want to know more about Kiwi Experience, check out the fan page - http://www.facebook.com/officialkiwiexperiencefanpage or the Kiwi community pages to get an idea of what our other passengers get up to! - http://www.kiwiexperience.com/new-zealand-backpacking-community.aspx

Sweet As
The Kiwi Experience Crew

shinikins

Hey OP,

I'd recommend you do most of your travelling in the south island, its amazing!! I spent a month travelling each island, and i wish i had spent more of the second month in the south, there are just too many places to see there. Check out LonelyPlanets website, they have some good travel suggestions for those that are on limited time frames, the Classic South Island itinerary is pretty good IMO although thay estimate 10-14 days for it.

They have loads of travel options recommended on their site too, we ended up buying a car as we were driving everyday, and sold it to an auction house when we got to Auckland. Far cheaper than buy back cars that you see offered over there from many garages but more hassle when you have to sell in the end.

There are loads of places to visit in the North island too, i just preferred the south. Try and doo a group trip if you can, they can be really fun, we did one on 90 Mile Beach and it was great fun to slide down the sand dunes with everyone else-don't think it would have been quite as fun with just the two of us!

If you need any more info, pm me, i kept a log of all the places i visited as there were so many and i don't want to forget them(great for jogging my memory lol)

robinph

Three weeks is not a huge amount of time, but that was all I had a few years ago and got from Auckland to Stewart Island and back to Christcurch in that time stopping in a few places for a couple of days as I went past and doing a bit of skiing and anything else that took my fancy on the way.