txflyer77

Muddy Boots in First Class: Three Weeks in New Zealand, plus stops in Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo

DEN-SFO-HKG-AKL-NSN/WLG-ZQN-AKL-SYD-SIN-NRT-SFO-DEN


Routeburn Track, South Island

I started booking this trip nearly a year ago—finding premium award availability to New Zealand from the US is one of the trickier bookings I've put together, but I managed a pretty nice itinerary in the end. Cathay Pacific from SFO to HKG in F, a day in HKG, then J on to AKL. Bought all the flights within NZ, then used SQ miles to book AKL-SYD-SIN-NRT-SFO on NZ J, SQ Suites, SQ F and NH F, with an evening+overnight in Singapore and a full 24 hours in Tokyo. Bought DEN-SFO-DEN to round it out and even got to spend a day cruising down the SF peninsula on my way to HKG. 80k AS miles for the outbound CX flights and 127k SQ miles for the return.

I originally planned to follow the standard tourist itinerary—Rotorua, Mt. Cook, Kaikoura, etc. Threw all of that out the window after meeting a Kiwi at a coffee shop here in Boulder. He saw me reading Lonely Planet New Zealand and, fresh off the plane himself, spent 20 minutes flipping through it marking all the off-the-beaten-path places I needed to go. Tossed my entire plan and went with his! Full itinerary looked like this in the end:

• 2 nights in Auckland, with my full day spent on Waiheke Island
• 3 nights in Nelson, including a trip into Abel Tasman National Park
• 3 nights in Kenepuru Sound (part of Marlborough Sound), at a place called Hopewell Lodge
• 2 nights in Wellington
• 2 nights hiking the epic Routeburn Track
• 4 nights in Queenstown
• 1 night in Auckland due to an early morning AKL-SYD flight to start my return journey

29,593 miles, 11 flights, 10 boat rides, 1 helicopter flight, >40 miles hiking, 10 miles biking and many, many glasses of New Zealand cider and wine.

Upcoming posts:

1. VX Y DEN-SFO and cruising down to Pescadero, or when things start to go wrong
2. CX F J SFO-HKG
3. A full day in Hong Kong
4. CX J HKG-AKL
5. Auckland and Waiheke Island
6. NZ Y AKL-NSN
7. Nelson and Abel Tasman National Park
8. Kenepuru Sound
9. Interislander Ferry and Wellington
10. NZ Y WLG-ZQN
11. Hiking the Routeburn Track with Ultimate Hikes
12. Queenstown
13. NZ Y ZQN-AKL, NZ J AKL-SYD
14. SQ Suites SYD-SIN
15. SQ F SIN-NRT
16. Tokyo
17. NH F NRT-SFO

Previously from txflyer77
Working Remote, a month in Penang and Koh Lanta, Thailand + HK, Beijing (CX/JL/KA F)
Tokyo, Taipei and Hong Kong! (JL/CX F, BR Hello Kitty C, lots of city pix)
A conference and some hiking: to Berlin and the Alps in LH F!