Ok all knowing BBS, I may have a free ticket to New Zealand in December, Flying into Auckland. What are the must do given 6 or 7 days to explore?
Renting a car and exploring is a good idea. Take a ferry to Waiheke island and spend a day checking out the beaches and wine vineyards. Check out the downtown scene of Auckland itself, it’s a major city with plenty to see. There is a space needle thing that has an awesome restaurant at the top that spins around, if you can get reservations. There is the lord of the rings shire place within a days drive, if you are into that. It’s an awesome place, have fun!
Your're going to get blue balled in only 6-7 days. Driving is easy and fun North Island- would only spend a day or two here Waiheke Island is pretty cool- good place to get your bearings and rest up, drink wine and eat good food before going elsewhere Rotorua if you are into mountain biking and the outdoors.- natural hot springs you can get into for like 2 dollars. Don't go to the touristy one downtown. There is one just out of town that looks like a puddle off the road but it's great. You can helicopter to an active volcano and walk on it Any interest in the Lord of the rings, then hobbiton is really cool. We did this on our way from Auckland to Rotorua South Island- Blenheim is in wine country (Marlborough) - a private guided wine tour makes it really nice. They drive you to the good spots and you don't have to worry about driving. Guy picked us up in a 2004 bmw 740 that had no miles on it. Also Omaka airport is there too . Peter Jackson's ww1 and ww2 museums as well as burleigh pies. The blue cheese and beef is awesome Queenstown- bungy jumping, lord of the rings mountain ranges, helicopter to the Milford sound, mountain bike, crystal clear water, fun night life. You can walk the entire city in probably an hour. Lots to do here and was a great place to end the trip. Ended up being one of my favorites we spent 16 days there and I know I'm forgetting a lot of places but it was a trip of a lifetime and hope to go back someday.
We flew into Christchurch and drove around the south island. Route was Christchurch>Lake Pukaki (name still makes me laugh)>Queenstown>Milford Sound>Queenstown>Bruce Bay, Glaciers>Lake Pearson>Christchurch. It was basically a big loop around the middle of the south island for 5 or 6 days. There were dozens of stops in between places, too many to count. It s probably too far to go if you are only there for 6-7 days but even if you go to the south island for a day or two there are great things to see on the northern portion. I've heard the Abel Tasman national park there is awesome as well as the wine country up there and Nelson lakes national park. My cousin went last year and he only did the north island and still had a blast. You wont get bored no matter what. I can't stress enough how great the RV idea is. No schedule to stick to and they have a freedom camping pass that means you can stay damn near anywhere and don't pay a dime. We rented one from Maui RV, I think they are one of the bigger outfits and right at the airport.
Not sure if everyone can see it but my wife has a bunch of pics in this FB album..... https://www.facebook.com/LisaStellerPettit/media_set?set=a.10153983077946432&type=3 All the pics from the plane wing pic down to the dumpling headed mascot are NZ.
Some neat motorcycle attractions to see. Burt Monro's home town for one. The street races in Wanganui are in Dec https://cemeterycircuit.co.nz/. Our very own Shaun Harris IomTT lives in New Zealand.
6 or 7 days around Auckland would be hard to fit in. Somewhat depends upon wha you want you see and what interests you. I spent a lot of time out in the woods hiking/tramping and doing other outdoor activities, so my leanings were towards outdoor activities. Lots of hiking, rock climbing, caving, kayaking (whitewater and sea), etc. Riding motorcycles is great, a good friend was there last year for 10 days and rented an FZ9 or something like that. Said it was some of the best riding he had done. I can find out who he went thru if you want info. Remember December is middle of the summer there, and lots and lots of people on break. First off if you can head to the south island, and like scenery, then go there. Amazing scenery and if you do a few day trips or just wander about, you'll get to see a lot. I'll try to group some things into general areas: North Island: 2 day trip- head north to the Bay of Islands. Check out the local Maori culture. Take a tour north to Cape Reinga (sp?). The tour is nice because it is a seriously long day, so having someone else drive is a plus, and they will tell you all about the areas you are passing thru. They will take the tour bus down 90 mile beach (or at least they did, I could see where they might not these days), and stop at cool places along the way. then head south- Rotorua has all of the geothermal areas so it's pretty cool, also a redwood forest nearby that's a nice MTB ride. Lake Taupo if you like to fish (huge trout) and then two volcanoes just south of there (Ruapehu and Ngaurahoe) make for some cool hiking. Hot springs on the sides of the volcanos are cool to hang out in after a nice hike. Waitomo- caves if you are into that kind of thing. Black Water Rafting- inner tubing thru a cave. Napier on the east coast is cool if you like architecture. Art Deco buildings and white wine vineyards in the area (Hawkes Bay). Mt Egmont/Taranaki on the west coast is cool. In the summer you can hike to the top for some amazing views. big hike. Wellington- capitol so there's a few things to see here like the Rose Garden and the Bee Hive. Mainly jump on the ferry to the south island. South Island- all the cool stuff IMHO: depending upon time: Abel Tasman park- nice beaches that you can hike to, or if you have time Sea Kayak. Christchurch- very cool town but not sure how it's going now after a big earthquake. I"m sure it's still worth a visit. Queenstown- adrenaline junkie paradise- bungy jumping, white water rafting, JET BOATS (do it!), etc. Kind of a much cooler version of Boulder without the snobs/trust fund idiots. Or at least it was when I was there (long time ago). Mt. Cook- worth going to see the peak that Edmund Hillary practiced on. There are some cool hikes that will take you up towards the glaciers that might by nice if you are into that kind of thing. Or just take a helicopter tour. If you can fly over to the Fox/Franz Joseph glacier that's pretty cool. Hot springs over on that side as well. Te Anau/Milford Sound- one of the top 10 hikes in the world, amazing scenery. Should be enough to keep you busy!
OP, if you're not picking up on the general theme, let me help you - if you've only got 6-7 days, you'd be a fool to not do the south island.
I drove both the north and south island for two weeks, and I have to agree that South Island is the best if you only have a week. I enjoyed both islands , but New Zealand is a little tame for my tastes. Knowing what I know now, I would just do a helicopter tour for two or three hours and be done I also had the good fortune to meet up with Shaun for coffee.
Thanks, everyone for the advice looks like will be doing an RV and spend all but two days on the South Island.
I always hear people say they would love to see Australia, NZ or Africa but won't fly that long. Then they get in a car and drive 15 hours or so to south Florida to eat at the same chain restaurants they have in their hometown.
