Originally Posted by
THE soni
~ AKL only if we rent a car. How difficult is it to rent a car and drive around? Is there enough to do within a 3-4 hour range of AKL?
I think its very easy to rent a car in New Zealand and drive around.
There are plenty of places around within the driving distance to
keep you occupied.
A few things that I can think of: Piha beach (nearby) you can even drive
out to Rotorua, Lake Taupo and everything in between. You can also
venture out to the north towards Cape Reinga.
Not the greatest site.. but some overall info about north island:
http://www.tourism.net.nz/region/--north-island/
Some of the distances are far, so it may make sense to stay over at some of these distant places for a night.. instead of driving back to Auckland.
~ Move around and do something as faerieloch did. Otherwise, is 4-5 days enough for something like KateCanuck proposed? How long would we need to maybe fly and see things in Wellington and/or Queenstown?
~ Go straight to MEL and spend 4 days there.
Thanks again to everyone!
With only a few days, I'd say just stay around AKL and drive. Queenstown
if my favorite place, but I think if you are visiting the south island,
you better go with a lot of time.