New Zealand is land of adventures and beautiful landscapes. Even weeks or a month might not be enough to explore everything, this tiny country has to offer. During new year break of 2017, we jam packed 10 days itinerary to explore this amazing country. Following itinerary will give you idea of what you can see and enjoy.
Day 1- Arrival
Most of the international flights arrive in Auckland and then you need to take domestic connection to Christchurch. Since we were traveling from Sydney, we were able to get direct flight to Christchurch. Flights arrive generally late in night so after checking in our accommodation we didn't do much, just went around city downtown.
Day 2- Akaroa, Christchurch
We had swim with dolphins activity planned for first day. Unfortunately, due to bad weather, this got cancelled. This usually happens with some places in NZ so we were expecting changes at last minute. Local friend suggested it might be worth to visit Akaroa tip even if you are not doing any activity, but the drive is somewhat long would have taken up our whole day so we decided to skip it altogether.
City of Christchurch -Â
We planned to roam around the city that day. We started with visit to Container mall - viz : Re:Start Mall, funky mall made from colorful shipping containers. After that we went to visit 185 Empty White Chairs Memorial, built in the remembrance of recent deadly earthquakes. After that we ended the day watching sunset and hangout around New Brighton Beach.
[If you prefer to drive for couple of days, there are more spots on the way from Christchurch to Queenstown which can be covered instead of spending whole day in Christchurch.]
Day 3- Road trip to QueenstownÂ
We highly recommend doing this road trip. Not only do roads meander through gorgeous landscapes of South Island, there were multiple sapphire colored lakes on the way where you can just take a break, take it all in and find your peace. We stopped at following lakes and they were simply gorgeous.
- Lake Pukaki
- Lake Tekapo (View of Mount Cook)
Drive is scenic all the way and speed limit is less so it took us literally whole day to travel along with sightseeing. The day ended and we had reached Queenstown at the end.
Day 4,5,6- In & around Queenstown
Beautiful city of Queenstown can be your basecamp to explore most attractions in South Island. Following are the few spots we recommend.
- Skyline Gondola (Famous Queenstown view)
- Kiwi birdlife park
- Bungee Jump AJ hackett original (only this place has tandem), Queenstown Hill has highest one but does not have tandem optionÂ
- JetBoat - Shotover
- LOTR filming locations tour.
- Glenorchy - Horse riding, very beautiful place - weather can get unpredictable here too but the horse riding was different style so enjoyed it
- Arrowtown
Nearby places - Te Anau and Milford Sound- Day trip from Queenstown, do either sea kayaking or cruise. We had to cancel visit to Milford sound due to inclement weather.
Note - Weather is very unpredictable on south island during Dec/Jan and it may cancel activities. Keep couple of days buffer, if you have must do activity. There are still plenty of things to explore on south so extra days can be used as well if weather stays good.Â
Get Airbnb or hotel near Lake Wakatipu, it has very beautiful views of The Remarkables mountains aka 'Misty Mountains'. We stayed at this beautiful airbnb by lake run by local couple. Not only the rooms had amazing view of mountains, but the host were also very friendly and we had lot of good conversations and we gained two friends for lifetime from this far away country.
At end of day 6 we ended our quick but very memorable visit to South Island. After this we took flight to Auckland to explore what the North had to offer. We rented car again from Auckland airport and drove to small town called Matamata for the nights stay.
Day 7- Hobbiton and Waitomo caves
Hobbiton: If you are fan of Lord of the Rings and Hobbit, this is must do thing for you. Hobbiton is just different world of Shire folks nestled on the hills of Waikato.
Waitomo caves - After doing Hobbiton in morning we proceeded to explore Waitomo glowworm caves. Note that there might be some restrictions on photography inside the caves. We took the following picture from their website.
Day 8- Rotorua and around
After spending night in Rotorua, next day we went Zorbing. Its an adventure sports where individuals are inside a big transparent ball that goes rolling down the hill, turning them topsy-turvy all along. Definitely one of a kind activity and fun experience, we really enjoyed it.
Later that afternoon, we visited Whakarewarewa village of native Maori people to understand their culture and history. Also there are hot springs and geyser near village to visit. There is optional hot spring spa and mud bath if you want to relax and pamper yourself.
Day 9- Auckland
We used this day to explore city of Auckland and relax a bit
Stayed night at Devonport - Hotel Esplanade, nice hotel by water front. Went on couple of trails for city view.
Day 10
After spending 4 weeks on road (2 weeks in India, 2 weeks in Aus/NZ) we were already home sick and ready for comforts of our home. Boarded flight in afternoon with boatload of memories from these countries down under.
As mentioned early, New Zealand has lot to offer and a month might not be enough to do everything. So we are mentioning some of the places that we couldn't go due to bad weather or if we have seen something similar somewhere else.
Honorable mentions
- Mount cook hike
- Milford sound
- Franz Joseph Glacier
- Firodland National Park
- Wellington
Logistics-
Visa- An Indian passport holder definitely needs visa. Good news is you don't need to go for in person interview. Everything can be do online and quite easy. Once your visa is approved you need to send in your passport to get it stamped.
Season- Being in Southern Hemisphere, its summer time in New Zealand during Christmas and New Years break so it makes it perfect travel destination for working professional during holidays. On good days you will have temperature around 20-25C with 16 hour daylight so perfect to explore and enjoy more.
Having said that weather can be bit unpredictable on South Island with heavy rains once in a while, which might cancel your activities so plan to have couple of reserve days in case you have must do things.
Hotels/AirBnB- As always we highly recommend airbnb especially in Queenstown, there are amazing options available with stunning views. Not only you get bargain deal, you might meet interesting local people and gain friends for lifetime.
Cars- New Zealand is place for road tripping. Definitely rent a car and drive around as much as possible. Just remember that NZ drives on other side of the road. Also police are very strict with speed limits, even 5km/hr extra will get you in trouble. Generally we stick to cruise control to avoid any situations with traffic police in new countries.