Budget Travel - Advice on Flights to New Zealand?

I will be travelling to New Zealand in mid January '07 and returning later that month. Understanding that this is high season down there, I know the flights will be expensive. I will be travelling from IAD on the east coast, and I currently have an itinerary on hold for about $2250 (that's in and out of AKL, but includes two domestic legs...see below).

What is a "really good" price for just the IAD-AKL roundtrip? Additionally, what can I expect to pay for these two domestic one ways (AKL-ZQN, CHC-AKL)? I just feel that $2250 per person seems really high, and I can probably wait to find something better. Any ideas as to when some deals may be published and do you recommend waiting?

Thanks very much.

Regarding the domestic flights check out the online offers at www.airnz.co.nz and www.qantas.co.nz. I don't know whether your itinerary allows this but did you consider buying an open jaw ticket, e.g. IAD-AKL CHC-IAD? This might be cheaper.