I am planning a Christmas vacation to NZ (and maybe Australia (SYD and MEL)). We'll have about two weeks (the latter half of December).

I've been to the South Island and most of the North Island south of AKL (but not AKL itself) and across most of Australia but my wife and kids (3.5 and 6) have not been to either place.

I can fly into either AKL or ZQN. My initial idea was to rent a campervan for 2 weeks and drive around but a few of the rental sites I checked required a minimum 3 week rental around that time of the year, so now I am thinking about just visiting one island for 1 week and then flying over to SYD and MEL (for the beaches, Blue Mountains, and Great Ocean Road).

Given the time of the year (the week before Christmas or the two weeks before New Years), are there any sites in the North or South Islands that are must sees for young kids? My visit to NZ was ten years ago and I spent most of the time jumping off bridges, kayaking or hiking.

I would love to go back to Queenstown, but I am not sure if the kids would really enjoy it for more than 2 days without the adrenalin pumping activities.

Many thanks!