Howie721

Hi,

I have done quite a bit of research in this thread. Thanks for all the information!

I have a honeymoon booked end of Nov/beg of December. We are flying through ICN to AKL, have ~14 nights then have a flight out of SYD. I understand people think I am crazy for trying to do both but here me out. I have been to AKL, Christchurch and Sydney before. My fiance has not been to either. It is pretty difficult and expensive to get to this part of the world and not sure when we would go next. With 15 days I figured we can split it up 2/3 NZ and 1/3 Aus.

We like wineries, hiking, outdoor activities but nothing crazy (likely whitewater rafting, ziplining, boat cruise, possibly mountain biking if I can convince her )

Here is what I do know - I do not want to spend any time in AKL and I want to have my last 2 nights in Sydney. Everything else is up for grabs.

Sidenote - I have a rough itinerary but after doing some research on hotels it appears that anything half decent in NZ is like $1,000 per night. Why is it so expensive that time of year? We are just getting into summer with some lingering effects of Spring. I live in NYC and these prices are insane!

Anyways, back to the trip - we are landing in AKL and thinking of heading straight to Waiheke for 2 nights. Figured we could do wineries, cathedral cove, hot water beach, etc. Then potentially grab a rental car and drive down to Rotorua and use as a base for 2-3 days and hit Taupo, Tauranga, Waitomo Glowworms, other recs?

Is there anything else worthwhile to hit in the North Island prior to making my way down to the South Island? Not exactly sure the best roue quite yet. Was thinking of spending a night or 2 around Franz Josef Glacier (anything of interest around this area / worth spending my valuable time here), 2-3 nights in or around Queenstown (hit Fjordland, Te Anu, anything else??) then fly out to Australia.

I will tackle Australia elsewhere. Initially thinking either Melbourne or Whitsundays for 2-3 days then onto Sydney to close out the trip!

I welcome all feedback - both positive and negative. Ultimately we would like some relaxation as well as some adventure coupled with lots of wine.

Thanks in advance!

Big4Flyer

I can only help with the New Zealand portion, since we just got back from spending a month in New Zealand which we split between 3 1/2 weeks on the South Island and 1 week in Rotorua. I would recommend using bookabach.com to find suitable lodging. We booked an incredible 3 bedroom lakefront house south of Queenstown for $1500 for our entire time on the South Island and used it as a base to visit the Milford Sound, Invercargill, Queenstown, etc. There's so much to do there that we stayed busy for an entire time and I would still love to go back. Between that and Airbnb you should be able to find something that suits your tastes and budget.

Rotorua is a good base as well for the glowworm caves, Taupo and Tongariro National Park, the Maori villages (which I was unexpectedly impressed by), and the geothermal sites.

If you're into wineries, hiking, boat cruises, etc. You may want to look into visiting Nelson and/or Kaiteriteri. There's plenty of wineries in the area, beautiful hikes in Abel Tasman national park, and cruises through the Marlborough Sounds. You can fly directly there from AKL as well.

number_6

You must be looking at lodges, because otherwise you would be hard pressed to find NZ hotel rooms priced at $1000 per night . The lodges are expensive year-round, not particularly seasonal, and you are primarily paying for privacy and exclusivity. Important for celebrities, but not so special if you are looking for quality of experience. You can rent fantastic "normal" properties for $300 per night in most of NZ.

As for what is at the glaciers, nothing other than the glacier (and lakes, hiking, etc). Fantastic and well worth a visit, but you must be fit and adventurous (years ago I went on a guided hike on the glacier, they equip you with crampons and ice axe and have cut steps into the glacier face with some ropes pinned ... still half the people in my group took one look and quit the tour, despite having paid handsomely. Great experience but not for the faint hearted, and the kind of tour that is simply not offered in the US (due to liability).

Travel K

Your schedule is pretty intense with a lot of time on the road. If you can't find accommodation in Waiheke within your budget, then stay in Auckland CBD and ferry over. Since you are on a limited time crunch, I would try adding in more places, just spend more /better time at the spots you know you want to go.

For Australia, I love Melbourne. Only you know if you want reef or another area though. It is hard to go wrong with either.

JClasstraveller

Re Whitsundays, some resorts will be closed for awhile (mid 2018) to repair cyclone damage but some are still operating.

The ones still operating would love your business and the Whitsundays are the best reef bet at that time of year as Cairns and surrounds will be very hot and sticky and swimming at beaches is risky with stinger season.

Be aware it's 2.5 hours flight from SYD to Whitsundays vv.

Melbourne has great wineries about 1-2 hours out of the CBD.

PsiFighter37

One of the regrets of my honeymoon is that I tried to jam in both Kyoto and Tokyo with only 6 nights in Japan...I would have definitely just stayed in one of those cities (likely Tokyo) if I had to do it again. Feeling like you are in go-go mode is never fun. If you really want to spend 5-6 nights between MEL and SYD, I would pick one region on one of the islands in NZ that you want to enjoy and really focus just on that. My personal preference would be to fly to ZQN and explore Central Otago, Fjordland, and Te Anau. If you want a perfect honeymoon experience, stay at Fjordland Lodge. It's expensive but worth every single penny (and that also includes a delicious 3/4-course dinner every night in the price).

Part of it also depends on how much you want to do the outdoors stuff (like hiking) vs. relaxing and taking it easy. Something like Waiheke to Rotorua would probably be better...part of the fun of going to the Fjordland way down south is to go hiking and kayaking. That said, you can also hit up wineries in Central Otago, take relaxing boat and/or plane tours over Milford Sound, etc.

Given your limited time, I would not bother with Franz Josef. Unless you want to be driving a ton, your time is better utilized elsewhere. It's 5 hours from Queenstown and similarly far from Christchurch, and there is very little to do unless you want to do a bunch of hiking (or skydiving, which I wish I had done).

Howie721

Thanks for all the quick replies. This information is very useful as I continue to plan this whole thing out.

Big4Flyer - thanks for the bookabach tip - checked it out and saw some interesting places. Just not sure if I want to go the apartment / villa rental for the honeymoon. Otherwise, in all of our travels we typically go with a cool little apartment in best part of town. That said, did find a really cool treehouse rental that we may consider. Thinking Rototua will be a good base for us. I checked out Nelson/Kaiteriteri and like what I saw there. Considering that as a next stop after Rotorua (will likely have to drive back north to AKL to fly out).

number_6 - after your response and further research I think we will skip the glacier - it is extremely out of the way and while beautiful, would rather lump those days elsewhere for this visit. Your comment about hotels - anything you recommend for reasonable rates (less than $500 / nt) in Waiheke, Rotorua or Nelson/Kaiteriteri?

Travel K - agreed its a lot but we typically only spend 2-3 nights in one location when we travel so we are trained that way

JClasstraveller - yeah, i have read about the cyclone damage. Thats too bad. Only considering it since it will be nice to be on a beach for my honeymoon - but I am ok skipping it. I was in Cairns/Port Douglas when I was in Australia about 10 years ago. Will look into the feasibility of that.

PsiFighter37 - Good advice, I am thinking ~3 locations in NZ for 10-11 nights and AUS for 4-5 nights.

I really liked your recommendation for Fjordland Lodge. It looks like exactly what I wanted and seems reasonably priced given you get breakfast and dinner every night. Also seems to be a great spot to use as a jump off point for attractions in the area. Any other recommendations similar to Fjordland Lodge in the other areas I mentioned (Rotorua / Waiheke / possible Nelson/Kaiteriteri). Maybe even offer up another cool area for 2 or so nights? I am open to anything.

Thank you all for the suggestions thus far!

PsiFighter37

I'll be honest - I wasn't a huge fan of Rotorua when I was there. The stink of sulfur doesn't make one want to stay outside very much (IME). Waiheke - I actually had planned a seaplane tour out of Auckland (land at the islands and take a winery tour), but it got rained out. The other 'lodge-like' place I stayed at in NZ was Te Waonui Forest Retreat at Franz Josef, but as mentioned - it's probably a bit geographically inconvenient. It's a nice spot, even though I think it's a bit overpriced for what you actually get.

Here's my itinerary for when I did 7 nights in South Island at the end of 2015. We ended up covering quite a bit of ground, and if I had your time, I would probably add a day on in Queenstown (since there was more we could have seen) or more time in Te Anau - it's so tranquil and relaxing out there. I would also consider a visit to Mt. Cook if you want to loop back to CHC. That said, the time you are going - not sure if it'll be easy to visit yet...

-1 night in Christchurch (Hotel George)
-2 nights in Franz Josef (Te Waonui Forest Retreat)
-1 night in Queenstown (stayed at a Novotel I think - right on the lake...nothing too special)
-3 nights in Fjordland Lodge

brenrox

I wouldn't stay 1 night in Franz, let alone 2...but that's just me. Tekapo/Mt Cook Village I would do instead - more spectacular and a lot less driving.

worldiswide

I would second the Nelson area..it has good food, wine, arts, and Abel Tasman where you can kayak,hike, spend the day at the beach and it's beautiful and easy to get to.

The town center is small and easy to get around so you don't feel like you are racing around.

We have been to NZ quite a few times.. every time someone puts out an itinerary for review by others it has too much buillt into it. The joy of NZ is small towns the doc signs that point you to a short or long walk and being in wide open clean spaces. Don't race to see more slow down and you will actually see more and enjoy more.

Howie721

Thanks for the replies.

Revised itinerary:

Fly into Auckland and head straight to Waiheke for 2 nights. Hoping to relax, check out some vineyards, Hot Water Beach and Cathedral cove. Is there a car ferry from Waiheke? What would be the best way to get to the east?

After Waiheke, we are planning on driving to Rotorua for 2 nights to see Taupo, Tauranga, Waitomo Glowworms, etc.

Then maybe fly to Nelson/Kaiteriteri and hit some wineries/beachy stuff.

Then fly to Queenstown and stay at Fjordland Lodge for 4 nights - figured we can explore Central Otago, Fjordland, and Te Anau. Think we have enough to do for 4 nights? I want to spend some downtime at one location and not travel around so much. Figured this would be a good spot to get away. Unfortunately it is a 2 hr drive from Queenstown so may only have lunch there one day - not expecting to spend a whole lot of time there.

Then head over to Melbourne / Sydney for ~5 nights.

Thoughts / additional suggestions on what to do in these areas is much appreciated. Planning this thing is overwhelming - so much great stuff to see here.

number_6

Hot Water beach isn't at Waiheke but 3 hours drive away by car ferry. You can stay in Coromandel which is equally charming and laid back but not so close to AKL so not as hyped as Waiheke. Lots of choices and as you say planning can be overwhelming if you dont focus on your priorities as NZ is soooooo diverse. Also there is considerable storm damage in some areas from the hurricane last month (called typhoons here, it was 150mph at peak and torrential rain, some roads will be out for a year or two, so needs research if going anywhere remote).

PsiFighter37

Being based out of Fjordland Lodge, you can do a number of things:

-Kepler Track. We actually booked the helicopter ride that landed on the front lawn and parked us up at the first lodge (approximately ~8-9 miles from the start of the trail, IIRC). We did about 4-5 hours worth of hiking alone. If you are really ambitious, we met one person who was aiming to do the entire 60km+ in one day

-Milford Sound. The books will tell you it takes 2.5 hours to get there, but I floored it driving there at sunrise Christmas Day and made it under 2 hours. It was kind of magical driving there that early and seeing the morning fog / dew barely hover off the ground. Kayaking on the sound itself is magnificent, although you might deal with a lot of annoying flies by the coastline (when you're in the middle of the sound, there is nothing out there - just serenity).

-Te Anau - to be honest, the town itself is quite small, and outside of having the manager of Fjordland Lodge grab us after we boated back across Lake Te Anau once we were done hiking on the Kepler Track, we didn't step foot in town. The lodge has all you could need from a food perspective (since it is included! Although lunch is not...keep that in mind). I would probably go and hit the lake and do some sort of boating, though - it's quite relaxing.

-The one thing I didn't do that I would have done with more time is visit Doubtful Sound. It's inaccessible by road, and I think there are some cruises that are organized to get out there. I know there are overnight trips; I am unsure about purely day trips.

My last note would be to a point you made - Queenstown is ~2 hours from Te Anau (and various parts of Central Otago are further). While the drive out of Queenstown to Te Anau is gorgeous (you're right along the lake), much of the scenery is rolling hillsides and pastures, with virtually nothing to see (outside of grass and sheep). Very peaceful and scenic, but I would say that if you want to do Central Otago meaningfully, I would plan to stay in Queenstown so you are more centrally based. FWIW, Fjordland Lodge, from my recollection, has a pretty excellent selection of NZ wines on hand that you can order by the bottle at a cost that is nowhere near as obscene as typical restaurant pricing of bottled wine.

There's a bunch of things to see in NZ, but I promise you that if you want to be on your honeymoon, you want to come away with memories like this (taken around 9:30 PM on our last night at Fjordland Lodge, on Boxing Day). I will say we got (very) lucky and literally had this kind of weather in the evening and sunset each night.

Howie721

Thanks PsiFighter37. This is very helpful and that picture looks awesome! I havent had time to pick this back up but need to get going on planning the itinerary.

I am just concerned about staying in one location (in the middle of nowhere) for four nights (3 full days). Thinking a day trip to Milford Sound and likely a day trip to Kepler Track. That leaves me with a day to relax and maybe do something local.

Any other pointers for the area? I dont think my fiance wants to do much kayaking.

Additionally, for the beginning part of my trip up in the North Island, what would be the best way to get to Waiheke and either Rotorua/Taupo from Auckalnd? I still want to hit hot water beach either before ofr after Waiheke. Struggling a little bit with the logistics for that.

Thanks all for your help!

Exec_Plat

Im waiting for your "Ive got 5 days to see Australia" post....