New Zealand 3 week Itinerary

In planning for our trip, I found several recommended itineraries online that were really helpful. I figured it would be good to put our itinerary up here, in addition to the more detailed posts about each day. We were in New Zealand for 22 days, 5 days on the North Island and 17 days on the South. We drove a total of 3,160 km (1,964 miles), walked approximately 140 km (87 miles), kayaked 30 km (18.6 miles), biked 18km (11.2 miles), whitewater rafted two class V rapids, and paraglided off one mountain.

Many people choose to travel New Zealand in a campervan. It allows you flexibility and an opportunity to see a good amount of this beautiful country. We opted to see as much as we could, but this meant giving up opportunities to spend a few days in any one place (although we did spend a couple days in Milford Sound). Places that I wish we'd spent more time are: Abel Tasman National Park, Wanaka, and Queenstown. There are many places we didn't get to go, including the majority of the North Island (including Bay of Islands), Kaikoura, and the Catlins on the South Island. I guess we'll just have to make another trip soon!

For the most part, I think our itinerary was manageable and allowed us to see so many incredible things. We tried to keep our driving to around 3 hours a day and made sure we had a few days in there that were much less than that. As I've said in a previous post, I think our drive out to Totaraunui campground in Abel Tasman was the one day I would skip but I would still spend that day (total of 2 days) in Abel Tasman. Also, I'd make Lake Tekapo (haven't written this post yet) a short stop, rather than a place to stay. Other than that, all of these stops should be on your itinerary!

North Island (Days 1-5) http://goo.gl/maps/67QIa

Click on the Day headings (e.g., Day 1) to see my post with details about that day.

Day 1
Auckland
Highlights: Coast to Coast Walkway; Sky Tower

Day 2
Hobbiton
Rotorua
Highlights: Hobbiton, geothermal attractions

Day 3
Rotorua to Tongariro National Park
Highlights: Polynesian Spa in Rotorua, lunch at Capers, Huka Falls, Lake Tekapo
Recommended lodging/camping: Discovery Lodge

Day 4
Tongariro National Park
Drive towards Wellington
Highlights: Tongariro Crossing
Recommended Lodging/Camping: Waikawa conservation campsite - free

Day 5
Wellington
Highlights: Harbor walk, Te Papa National Museum, Mt. Victoria Lookout

Day 6
Ferry to South Island
Blenheim Wine Tasting
Highlights: Wine Tour by Bikes, camping in vineyard
Recommended Lodging/Camping: camping in Nigel's backyard

Day 7
Nelson to Totaranui Campground
Highlights: Lambretta Cafe in Nelson, location of first rugby match in NZ in Nelson
(I recommend cutting out the drive to Totaranui OR adding a few days on that side of Takaka Hill)

Day 8
Abel Tasman National Park
Drive to Nelson Lakes National Park
Highlights: Freedom Kayak and Hike (kayak out and walk back on famous Abel Tasman Coastal Track, fish and chips at Sprig & Fern in Motueka, beautiful drive to Nelson Lakes (lots of hops grown in this area!)
Recommended Lodging/Camping: Kerr Bay campground (no better place to wake up)

Day 9
Nelson Lakes National Park
Drive to Westport
Highlights: Mt. Robert walk, beautiful drive to Westport
Recommended Lodging/Camping: We stayed at Seal Colony Top 10 Holiday Park. These aren't my favorite but it was clean and had all the amenities you may want.

Day 10
Drive down West Coast
Highlights: Punakaiki Pancake Rocks, Monteith Brewing Company in Greymouth, Lake Mahinapua
Recommended Lodging/Camping: Lake Mahinapua

Day 11
Glaciers
Highlights: Private pool at Glacier Hot Pools (We enjoyed this but probably wouldn't have done it if the weather wasn't horrible. Highly recommended if the weather interferes with your plans), Fox Glacier Valley Walk
Recommended Lodging/Camping: Fox Glacier Campervan Park

Day 12
Lake Matheson
Drive from Fox Glacier to Wanaka through Haast Past
Highlights: Lake Matheson walk, Roaring Billy Falls, Thunder Creek Falls, Blue Pools, Lake Wanaka, Lake Hawea
Recommended Lodging/Camping: Lake Outlet Holiday Park (go swimming if you dare!)

Day 13
Isthmus Peak
Dinner in Wanaka
Crown Range Rd to Arrowtown
Highlights: Isthmus Peak hike (360 views of lakes and alps), relaxing dinner outside in Wanaka, lupines along scenic drive to Arrowtown


Day 14
Arrowtown to Milford Sound
Highlights: Arrowtown Bakery (didn't try them, but heard the meat pies are outstanding!), Miles Better Pies in Te Anau (yum), Mirror Lakes, The Chasm, Milford Sound
Recommended Lodging/Camping: Luxury Chalet at Milford Sound Lodge

Day 15
Milford Sound
Highlights: Morning Glory Kayak Tour, worst dinner ever at Blue Duck Cafe, glorious weather!
Recommended Lodging/Camping: Luxury Chalet at Milford Sound Lodge

Day 16
Fiordland National Park
Milford Sound to Te Anau
Highlights: Key Summit Hike on Routeburn Track, Glowworm Caves in Te Anau

Day 17
Milford Sound to Queenstown
Highlights: Paragliding from Coronet Peak, swimming in Lake Wakatipu, sunset
Recommended Lodging/Camping: 12 mile Delta Campground

Day 18

Queenstown
Drive to Lake Tekapo
Highlights: Skyline Gondola, Fergburger, shopping, Mt. John Observatory loop hike

Day 19
Rangitata River Rafting
Highlights: Class III through V rapids, great guides, cliff jumping, swimming through rapids

Day 20
Akaroa on Banks Peninsula
Highlights: Barry's Bay Cheese Factory, dinner and drinks at Ma Maison, evening walk in L'Aube Hill Reserve
Recommended Lodging/Camping: Akaroa Top 10 Holiday Park

Day 21
Christchurch
Highlights: Walk on New Brighton Beach, Sparkling wine and brownies at the George, Re:Start Shipping Container Shopping Mall, Hagley Park, Smash Palace (drinks)

Day 22
Christchurch to San Francisco
Highlights: Run around Hagley Park




The highlights I mention here are highlights of our itinerary. There are obviously things to do in each place that we didn't have a chance to do because of our limited time in each place. If you have any questions or want any more suggestions, feel free to email me at asutkowi@gmail.com.

New Zealand Days 2 and 3

Day 2

On the morning of Day 2, our campervan was dropped off at our hotel. Until this point, we thought we had reserved an automatic transmission vehicle. Much to my disappointment (since I never learned to drive stick), the vehicle was a manual. What were we going to do!? I called the owner and attempted to get things straightened out. We ended up waiting around in Auckland, with the hopes that we could switch the van with another that was automatic, but that didn't work out. So our day got off to a rough start and we didn't leave Auckland until early afternoon. But let me just say, Allyson is incredible. Of course, she is incredible for a million reasons. However, the #1 reason on this trip was that she drove all 3,160 kilometers (1,963 miles) of our trip in a 3.2 meter (10.5 feet) tall campervan around the windy windy islands on the opposite side of the road and shifting with her left hand. How's that for incredible?!

The inside of our campervan "Toadie"

 Allyson getting used to the van

First stop was Hobbiton. We almost didn't make it in time for the last tour of the day, but I think we're both glad we made it. Mostly, it was important to me that the campervan situation didn't mess up our day. The tour starts at The Shire's Rest. You take a short bus ride and then get out and walk around The Shire. Before finishing up the tour, we enjoyed a beer (and a cider) in the Green Dragon (the bar in the Shire) and then took the bus back to where we started. 

Bilbo's House. The oak tree on top is fake. Peter Jackson needed it to be just like the book describes and there were no oak trees in the area. So they built the tree and attached thousands of fake leaves. At some point, the leaves changed color because of the strong sunlight and it was someone's job to paint the underside of all of the leaves (only the underside because that's all we (the viewers) could see.

The big tree is the "Party Tree." The field was where the big party was for Bilbo's birthday in The Fellowship of the Ring and Gandalf's dragon firework flies right over the field and beyond the tree. I know, I know...I promise this is the dorkiest moment of my blog post!

.

Entryway to the Green Dragon

We ended our day's adventures in Rotorua. The whole town smells awful. It is like the Yellowstone of New Zealand with geothermal attractions everywhere. Because we have been to Yellowstone, we instead used our time on Day 3 to enjoy the natural hot springs and the most incredible massage either one of us has ever experienced. 

Day 3

Another kind of crappy day of weather, but we tried to just enjoy it. We put our raincoats on and spent a couple hours in the morning walking around the Government Gardens and some trails that wound through some thermal areas along Lake Rotorua. We were basically just killing time before our appointments at Polynesian Spa (a World Top 10 Spa as voted by Conde Nast Traveler). The spa was amazing. We spent a little over an hour in the Lake Spa, which had four different pools at 36, 38, 40, and 42 degrees Celsius. It was a rainy morning, which made the pools feel even more incredible. And the Lake Spa overlooks Lake Rotorua, which I'm sure would've been more awesome if it was a sunny day. On the other hand, I had a much easier time getting completely relaxed with the mist and fog and cool air. 

We were nice and relaxed when we went in for our body polish and aix massage combos. These signature massages included a body scrub with Rotorua thermal mud polish, washed away with a warm water shower controlled by a massage therapist and rinsed over the body, finished off with a massage using organic coconut oil. Holy crap! This is not why we came to New Zealand, but it was definitely one of the most memorable experiences. And man, were we relaxed the rest of the day!

 Casual geyser next to a hotel

The original bath house

 The landscape was so weird and super creepy

 Starting at 36 and working our way up to 42

Outdoor shower of my dreams. Our house will have one of these one day!

After our massages, we grabbed a bite to eat at a great restaurant (kind of like a market too) called Capers. Allyson had a vegetarian lasagna and I had an interesting and delicious mix of gluten free salads.  Then we continued on our way to Tongariro National Park because Day 4 we planned to tackle Tongariro Crossing. 

 Cool barista mirror

Salad Variety Plate

We made shorts stops at Huka Falls and Lake Taupo. The clouds continued to loom over us, but it didn't rain too much for the remainder of the day. We arrived at Discovery Lodge, the closest lodge and campervan site to Tongariro Crossing, around 6:30pm. This was one of my favorite places that we stayed. Really quiet, great view of Mt Ngauruhoe (used as Mount Doom in LotR), and a beautiful sunset! Unfortunately, we were unaware that Mt Tongariro had erupted twice in the last six month, the second time being 3 weeks before we got there. We were not allowed to hike the whole crossing. I actually can't believe we were allowed to hike where we did! We were basically on Mt. Tongariro and I just read that scientists predicted another eruption within the few weeks following the last one. What if we had been up there! Anyway, you'll have to wait for the next post to read about our crazy Tongariro adventure!

Huka Falls

 Lake Taupo - Largest Lake on North Island

Sunset at Discovery Lodge