You could go straight to Queenstown and stay in the area for 3 days before heading back to Auckland, but yea, it's a quick turnaround. However, I think it would be worth it.
I've only been to Auckland in the north and used it to get acclimated to the time difference (flying in from SF Bay Area), but from what I saw, yes, it's just like any other western city. But if you have a day, I recommend the Coast to Coast Walk; it's a quick 10 miles one way, and then make up your own path back to explore other areas of Auckland (I did this starting at Waitemata Harbour; 20 miles took a good chunk out of the day, so start early).
Last edited by calbear2005; May 28, 2019 at 6:52 pm
Reason: typo