MacKenzie333

So I have tickets for my family of 4 to NZ this March.

We fly into CHC and out of AKL (Fiji Air LAX-NAN-CHC, AKL-NAN-LAX) for 2 full weeks.

#1 I know its not enough time. I wish we could take more.
#2 I know it might have been a good idea to do just one island, but that ship has sailed
#3 Kids are 6 & 8 boys
#4 Activities are not set just trying to remain flexible but with an idea of what we might do. Very open to ideas of stuff that has been a hit with your kids.


Current Itinerary Ideas in an effort to see some of both islands while not going crazy with my young kids.

Day 1 : Land in CHC (around noon) get rental car in and drive to Lake Tekapo (Stay @ TBD Hotel Lake Tekapo)
Day 2: Explore Lake Tekapo area maybe drive up to Mt Cook, go slow, get over jet lag (Stay @ TBD Hotel Lake Tekapo)
Day 3: Drive to Te Aneu (long drive I know) take the whole day enjoy all the stops (Stay @ TBD Hotel Te Aneu)
Day 4: Milford Sound (Stay @ TBD Hotel Te Aneu)
Day 5: Drive to Queenstown (​​​​​​Stay @hilton Queenstown)
Day 6: Queenstown rafting, jet boats, funyaks (​​​​​​Stay @hilton Queenstown)
​​​​​​​Day 7: Queenstown Gondola, Luge, explore town (​​​​​​Stay @hilton Queenstown)
Day 8: Queenstown to Aukland (Air NZ or Jetstar) drive from AKL to Rotorua (Stay @ TBD hotel Rotorua )
Day 9: Rotorua explore, zipline, thermal stuff (Stay @ TBD hotel Rotorua )
Day 10: Rotorua to Lake Taupo (Stay @ Hilton Lake Taupo)
Day 11: Lake Taupo (Stay @ Hilton Lake Taupo)
Day 12: Lake Taupo (Stay @ Hilton Lake Taupo)
​​​​​​​Day 13: Lake Taupo to Auckland (Stay @hilton Auckland)
Day 14: Auckland (Stay @hilton Auckland)
Day 15: Fly home from AKL

CPMaverick

I don't have kids so I can't help much with that.

My general advice is that driving in NZ is mentally taxing (even without kids!). It's nothing like cruising the highway in America or Europe. Lots of twists and switchbacks, you always need to be completely focused. If you aren't used to driving on the 'other' side of the road, it's even worse obviously. Google Maps times are very optimistic. It's easy to be stuck behind slow moving vans or campers. The locals zip by in passing areas that they are familiar with - you aren't likely to be as comfortable as they are with overtaking. There are lots of beautiful things that you'll be inclined to stop for, pull over, take photos, etc. A good rule of thumb IMO is to double Google Maps driving times to account for all this, at least on the south island. If you are definitely against stopping to sightsee, then still I think 1.5x is a good rule

My suggestions therefore focus around shortening your driving times.
- Planning for a 3+ hour drive on arrival isn't ideal. Especially if your flight is delayed. Perhaps you could stay in CHC the first day? You'll be up very early with your body clocks so you could easily get an early fresh start on the drive to Lake Tekapo (maybe even go all the way to Mt Cook and then back to your hotel that day).
- Driving from Tekapo to Te Aneu in one day is too long. There won't be time to see the sights, it will be exhausting. Not sure the best way to break this up, but maybe you can go to Queenstown and do a side trip to Milford, either by charter bus or flight?

The north island driving won't be as taxing, less twisty plus you'll be used to it more by then. But the south island is more interesting IMO, so I'd break up the drive and spend less time at Lake Taupo (not exactly sure why you've chosen 3 nights there? Maybe it's quite kid friendly?)

Hope this helps and I am sure you'll have a wonderful trip

MacKenzie333

Thanks for the response. Just 2 nights planned at Lake Tekapo. I agree its somewhat aggressive to drive on landing. I will think about that. The Lake Tekapo to Te Aneu my thought was google says it is a 5hr drive (415km) if we allocate say 12hrs then we should be good right? The idea is that day is just drive and stop as needed with no timetable with nothing but a hotel at the other end as our goal. It is my longest driving day but it helps make all the other driving days shorter. I'd originally planned to stop in Queenstown but going all the way allows me to be in Queenstown on the end of the south island leg and fly out of ZQN. I'd considered going (Lake Tekapo, Queenstown, Te Aneu, Dunein) and flying out of Dunein but that was another location in 7 days and it seemed like I was trying to fit too much in.

oops: I see you were asking why 3 nights in Taupo. I don't have a good answer other than its somewhat central. Most generic North Island Itineraries go top to bottom and I was aiming to just stay in the Top half of the north island. If you have a suggestion for better places I'm open to it.

mtimmer

The driving on the front end looks rough to me. I've done Christchurch to Lake Tekapo and that was doable, but I also wasn't doing it coming off of a flight. But Tekapo to Te Anau would be a lot more difficult. FWIW, we saw Milford Sound from Wanaka (which we prefer to Queenstown) on a tour that took a small plane over the mountains to the Sound. I'm sure you could do that from Queenstown as well and that would cut out some of your drive time and still let you see Milford Sound. Plus you won't have to backtrack to get back to Queenstown. (Of course, I'm not sure how affordable that might be for a family of four, but it was definitely a blast.)

Our North Island experience is limited to the major cities (although spending some time there in December--also via Fiji Airways), but your NI itinerary seems reasonable.

CPMaverick

Yes, in theory, but I guess what I'm saying is you aren't necessarily considering how mentally taxing that will be. You'll be hating life after the first half the the drive, IMO. Because it's not a relaxing drive. Beautiful, yes, fun even if you enjoy curvy roads (when you get them without a tour bus / camper in the way). But it takes a lot of concentration and you mentally wear out from it. It's not a highway. It's a 415 km scenic drive with obstacles One-lane bridges, blind corners, etc.

I think my best suggestion would be to stay one less day there and add in an extra day in the South Island, to make the driving load easier. And honestly, I love both islands but the South Island is more spectacular.

Mwenenzi

As others, *strongly* suggest you do *not* drive from Christchurch as soon as you arrive. You may be driving in the dark at the end of that trip. Your body time clock/sleep patterns will be out of wack. Just don't do it. Link
Too much driving with back tracking. As above your average speed will be low. You will have days with rain-wind-cold.
Have you driven right hand drive cars before? On narrow 2 lane roads. Few of your routes have 4 lane divided highways.
Looks to be

• Tekapo - Milford - Queenstown area (~ 6 days)
• Rotorua area
• Lake Taupo

You can fly to Rotorua or Tauranga. Just silly to fly to AKL and drive back to Rotorua. Is a very busy route with many trucks on narrow roads. [I lived in the Tauranga - Mt Maunganui area for a short time].
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tauranga_Airport
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotorua_Airport

Staying in Hilton Lake Taupo only because available on points? Would give Taupo a miss. Are better places in NZ. Just spend the $$ on a better location.

--->Great Circle map

MacKenzie333

Mwenenzi,

Thanks for the feedback. I this will be the 4th time I have driven right hand drive(NZ north Island, Ireland and UK). Not at all my normal mode and I have no illusions that it does not take a fair amount of effort to overcome the natural urge to get back on "my" side of the road but think we will manage. And out here in California I have lots of experience with narrow and winding roads which is why I am struggling to keep the trip lengths to a minimum while still getting places we want to go.

I am confused about your back tracking comment unless you just mean the north island. On the south island the whole point of flying out of ZQN was to avoid as much back tracking as possible. I know I could skip Te Aneu and opt for either a plane ride or a bus tour but I don't believe the plane is cost effective for the family and I do not like bus tours. I considered going south to fly out of Dunein or Invercargill but that is an even farther drive then going back to Queenstown correct?

But based on the above I'm looking at how to add a stop between Lake Tekapo and Te Aneu. Maybe Wanaka or Lake Hawea.

​​​​​​I wanted to fly into the Rotorua area but it doesn't appear that non-stop flights are a thing from ZQN and kids in airports with connections seems like a bad way to spend the day vs leisurely driving around NZ. But maybe I need to add a stop between AKL and Rotorua. It is true that Lake Taupo was partly due to the Hilton but it also was a way to limit how far south we went and in my past trip to NZ I found Kerosene Creek one of the high points and intend to take the kids this time. If I had to pick one other North island location where would you suggest (Other than Rotorua and Auckland) I would live to visit the Northland but I that also looks like it would add a lot of backtracking.

Thanks again

-MacKenzie

Mwenenzi

On the first day could fly to ZQN or Wanaka, then taxi/uber to hotel. The Canterbury plains is not an interesting drive.

ZQN is small airport with limited services. Look for a connecting flight via WLG or CHC (both small airports) to ROT or TRG. Driving back from AKL to Rotorua is best avoided.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queenstown_Airport

mtimmer

We're big fans of Wanaka, which is a smaller, more laidback version of Queenstown. On our last NZ trip we drove from Christchurch to Lake Tekapo and after a night there (it's beautiful, but not necessarily a ton to do) drove to Wanaka. Those two drives actually tired me out (and I'm used to LA traffic), but I'm also in my 60s and I find drives on the left hand side are more difficult now that I'm older. (Based on the ages of your kids, I'm guessing you're ~20 years younger...)

For our coming two-week trip, we're splitting time between Wanaka (it will be our third visit there) and the Bay of Islands, so like you we are splitting a limited amount of time between the two islands. That said, our driving is mainly pretty local this time around--flying to the Bay of Islands and then flying down to ZQN via AKL. But I can understand you're facing a different dynamic with kids.

Mwenenzi

A very broad simplistic guide

• International tourists & 20 something Aucklander's who want to party go to Queenstown. Big on adventure sports, bars & restaurants for those with a good credit card.
• Other NZer's go to Wanaka

liw5215

Have you checked the recent reviews about QT Hilton? All are horrible. we have 3 nights booked at the end of Jan. I started looking for alternative options.

MacKenzie333

the most recent post I see in the QZ hilton thread is from 2021 what reviews are you speaking of?

MacKenzie333

totally believe you. But I'd like to experience it once. But I appreciate the vote for Wanaka

liw5215

not here on FlyerTalk, google it.

lamphs

Traveled the South Island a few years ago. Not one person thought it was a good idea driving on my first day after arriving from the US, especially on the opposite side from what I was used to.

I was curious re: QT Hilton. TripAdvisor certainly has some recent bad reviews posted. That said, I've been paying a lot more than usual for hotels that used to be OK in the past, with a lot less service, so not surprised by some of these reviews!