In Dec of 2014, my husband and I went on a 11 day trip to New Zealand. We spent a couple days in North Island, going from Auckland to Rotorua, and the rest of the time on the South Island, going from Queenstown to Christchurch. Follow the links below to read our day-by-day itinerary.
itinerary:
- Day 1: Auckland
- Day 2: Auckland to Rotorua, via Waitamo and Hobbiton
- Day 3: Lake Taupo and Huka falls
- Day 4: Rotorua to Queenstown
- Day 5: Milford sound
- Day 6: Glenorchy
- Day 7: Mount Cook National Park
- Day 8: Queenstown/Wanaka to Franz Josef Glacier
- Day 9: Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers
- Day 10: Glaciers to Christchurch, via Hokitika
- Day 11: Christchurch
general tips
- Being a Vegetarian was no problem in New Zealand. Every restaurant had atleast one option for vegetarians, and the food was quite good. Anchorage, Queenstown, and Christchurch had Indian restaurants as well.
- Driving was extremely easy, as roads are good. They drive on the left side of the road, the opposite of the United States. That said, a US license is sufficient to rent a car there, and after you start driving, it takes about 15 minutes and you’re used to it.
- Directions are straight forward, but a GPS is useful. I had taken a Garmin GPS, with a free New Zealand map pre-loaded, and all the location GPS coordinates bookmarked. This helped a lot.
- December is peak season, so hotels get sold out. If you intend on going, make bookings early on.
