Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Visiting New Zealand - which part to visit if only in the country five days?

I will be in Sydney here in a few months, and want to make a short excursion over to NZ, and am trying to decide where in order to see the best sights in a short period of time. I would really like to get outside the city and see some of the beautiful scenery such as that shown in the Lord of the Rings movies.

What is the best city to visit given that criteria? It has to be a city near a major airport, so my choices are Auckland, Cristchurch, or Queenstown.

Thanks a lot everyone! :D

The good thing is NZ is fairly small and easy to get around. If you're coming over from Sydney then direct flights are to Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown (on Qantas and Air NZ plus heap of others for Auckland and Pacific Blue (aka Virgin Blue) for Wellington and Christchurch only); and some smaller centres on Freedom Air (Air NZ low cost subsidiary).

However, NZ is incredibly diverse and 5 days isnt near enough to see it all. It depends on what you're interested in as to where best to go. Time of year may have some impact too.

Scenery, culture, adventure stuff, LOTR locations, outdoorsy stuff, etc?

I was considering hiring a car in Queenstown and then driving north up to Cristchurch. Where along this route has the most beautiful scenery?

The west coast of south island is generally considered most scenic, and can go from Queestown to Christchurch that way in a few days. Has mountains, glaciers (fairly accessible - ie to low altitude), lakes (large and small), rainforest, etc. A couple of mountain passes (low by US standards) but no travel issues unless winter or unlucky and there is a big storm.

The more direct route to Christchurch (1 to 2 days tops) is also quite scenic passing through McKenzie basin which is very open, surrounded mountains and glacial lakes, tussocky country. Once past McKenzie basin and off the foothills, the last 150km are boring plains though.

Will my U.S. driver's license work in NZ? Also, how much does fuel cost in NZ on average, and do NZ cars drive on the left side of the road?

I was also wanting to camp as much as possible to save some money, are campgrounds pretty easy to locate throughout the country?

Yes in short term as international driver permit. We drive on the left (same as aussie). Gas is expensive here compared with US - around NZ$1.30 per litre (will be more in rural south island especially West Coast).

Plenty of campgrounds around - although not conveniently located in main centres. See AA (http://aatravel.co.nz/main/search.jsp?typeId=1&acctmpId=4) and official NZ tourism website (http://www.newzealand.com/travel/accommodation/accommodation-options/qualmark-category-holiday-parks.cfm) for example.

I have decided to spend 7 days in NZ, arrive in Christchurch, hire a car, and then cruise around the south island for seven days.

At this time, this itinerary (http://origin-www.newzealand.com/travel/destinations/driving-routes/christchurch-fiordland-christchurch.cfm) looks pretty interesting. Any of you local NZers recommend any modifications to this driving route? It also says that it will take nine days to drive - think I could squeeze that down to fit into my seven day schedule?

Definitely doable in 7 days. However this route misses the west coast - IMHO the best part scenery wise.

Christchurch through Dunedin isnt much scenery and not a lot to do (okay maybe penguins near Oamaru (but need to be dusk anyway to see), moeraki boulders. Dunedin to Invercargill is more interesting.

The drive in the southern lakes region (Queenstown, Te Anau, Milford Sound, Mount Cook) is very nice. Plenty of good places to break up the trip too. Driving into and out of Milford Sound - it is a mountain road including narrow tunnel, with many tour buses in peak season. Therefore recommend go early to avoid traffic hassles. Locals at Te Anau will be able to recommend good times to go. Note that at certain times of year the road to Milford Sound is prone to avalanches and so is closed. Fiordland gets a lot of rain (several metres) and so there is a small chance of being stuck in Milford Sound for a day or so in bad weather. Another option may be to leave the car in Te Anau (or Queenstown) and fly in (number of operators do this - small planes though but this means get very close up to the mountain scenery). Dont let me put you off Milford Sound though - it is truely incredible place.

BTW what time of year are you doing this? If near school holidays or peak season or long weekend (public holidays) this can impact on you accommodation options and also significantly on travel times (and driving enjoyment). See NZ dates thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=320780) for school and public holidays.

Thanks for your reply. I will be in NZ from March 20-27, 2005.

This route (http://origin-www.newzealand.com/travel/destinations/driving-routes/christchurch-fox-glacier-christchurch.cfm) also looked interesting, but I wanted to go further south and see the Fiordland.

This might be stretching it, but is this (http://origin-www.newzealand.com/travel/destinations/driving-routes/christchurch-milford-sound-christchurch.cfm) doable in seven days? Perhaps I could cut off the northern-most section and instead head back to Christchurch? Is there anything really cool I would be missing if I decided to skip out on driving through the northern part of the south island?

The route would look something like this:
http://scatcat.fhsu.edu/~becarlson/images/modified%20route.gif

Thanks again mate.

Here at Easter. Traffic may be bad near main centres afternoon of 24th, morning of 25th and afternoon of 28th. May pay to book accomm for nights from 24th onwards but otherwise should be okay.

Thanks for your reply. I will be in NZ from March 20-27, 2005.

This route (http://origin-www.newzealand.com/travel/destinations/driving-routes/christchurch-fox-glacier-christchurch.cfm) also looked interesting, but I wanted to go further south and see the Fiordland.


Well you could easily extend by going from Wanaka to Queenstown (not too far). And from there base in Queenstown a couple of days and side trip to Milford Sound. Has the advantage that if the weather is bad then could try the next day instead, plus plenty to do in Queenstown area if weather not the best (although could be fine in Queenstown even when wet in Milford Sound due to rainshadow effect).


This might be stretching it, but is this (http://origin-www.newzealand.com/travel/destinations/driving-routes/christchurch-milford-sound-christchurch.cfm) doable in seven days? Perhaps I could cut off the northern-most section and instead head back to Christchurch? Is there anything really cool I would be missing if I decided to skip out on driving through the northern part of the south island?


Yes it is doable. Christchurch to Dunedin is an easy day. Similarly Blenheim to Christchurch (or even Nelson to Christchurch). Franz Josef to Nelson can be done in one longish day (not missing a lot in Greymouth). What you miss out on though is less opportunity to do stuff - eg whale watching at Kaikoura, sample some vineyards at Blenheim.