Honeymoon in New Zealand!

[Veronik 19]

Hello everyone,

My husband and I haven't been on our honeymoon yet, and we'd like to plan ahead and go to New Zealand. I was wondering if anyone would like to share any tips or ideas with me. I have some questions too, any help would be greatly appreciated!

- I'd like to go in March; is that a nice time of year or would October be better?

- Is 10 days enough to cover both the South Island and North Island?

- If limited by time and money, which island should we focus on?

- Any stops we should be sure not to miss?

- Any specific suggestions? We like hiking, I'd love to go kayaking somewhere, and hang out by a beach or a lake for a couple days.

Thank you again for the help! We'd like to go in 2014, so knock on wood for us!

[chaine1 116]

- I'd like to go in March; is that a nice time of year or would October be better? I don't feel like I can comment too much here, as I haven't been in October. Depending on where you are, March will be hit or miss with weather. Sometimes coldish and rainy, sometimes warmish and sunny. In my opinion, New Zealand weather is very alpine - it can be sunny and warm one minute, and then gray and cold the next. Also - very wet!

- Is 10 days enough to cover both the South Island and North Island? In my opinion, no. For my first trip, my husband and I rented a RV and spent 3 weeks driving around just the south island - and I still feel like I missed things!! The answer to this question really depends on how in depth you want to see NZ. If you are only allowing 10 days (is this total time on the ground, or are you including flying time?), and want to see both islands, you will be severely limited.

- If limited by time and money, which island should we focus on? With just 10 days, I'd say the North Island. You would spend less time traveling (assuming you'd fly into Auckland), and more time on the ground. North Island has plenty to see.

- Any stops we should be sure not to miss? This depends on what interests you two While I might say a night hunt to spot Kiwi in a remote, wet forest is a must do, I don't think most people would agree with me.

- Any specific suggestions? We like hiking, I'd love to go kayaking somewhere, and hang out by a beach or a lake for a couple days. I haven't traveled the North Island extensively so I'll let someone else comment, but on the South Island, there are plenty of places to do this. Lake Tekapo is stunning, Abel Tasman for beaches and kayaking (and really, nearly the whole of the South Island has beautiful beaches), Mount Cook region for hiking. There definitely plenty of other places to do each of these, I'm just mentioning a few.

When my husband and I are planning a trip to a new country, we start by researching exactly what experiences we want to have, and then organizing the logistics to get to these experiences. Maybe start there? Start by figure what you think would be the most amazing things to do and then narrow down your options.

New Zealand is absolutely stunning, so if you go with an open mind and a sense of adventure, you won't be disappointed.

Good luck and have fun!

Edited January 25, 2013 by chaine1

[ecg19 7]

With all due respect, it really depends on what you want to see and do! Unlike the above poster, I would go for the South Island if you were to pick one or the other, but as a native kiwi I would say you could do both islands in one trip if you chose what you wanted to see and use your time wisely! (NZ is beautiful to do by road, but you could see everything you would want to see in one trip if you do some air travel)

Mountains and natural beauty landscapes? South Island.

Cities? hot springs? North Island.

Cities, hot springs, mountains, beaches? Both! (And you can fly from Auckland to Christchurch in 1 hour 20 minutes - NZ is not a difficult place to get around and a flight on the best carrier is usually around $69 from AU > CHC).

March would be a better choice than October in my opinion, October can still be very winterish whereas March is the tail end of summer and generally more reliable weather.

Some ideas:

Day 1 - Fly into Auckland, get on the road and head to the Coromandel, stay for a day around there for the beautiful beaches and scenery. You could kayak here!

Day 3 - Back to Auckland, fly to Wellington (~$49 each) Spend a day exploring the eclectic city, have a yummy soy chai at a cafe, check out Te Papa for the national museum!

Day 5- Take the ferry from Wellington to Picton. Hire a car. Drive to Nelson. Spend a day exploring the beaches and town around the top of the South Island.

Day 7- Drive down to Christchurch stopping through the alps towns or the vineyards.

Day 8 - Explore Christchurch, either hop in car or on a plane and head south to Queenstown. Spend a few days exploring Southland (Queenstown, Franz Josef, Wanaka). This area is where you would want to be for hiking, kayaking etc. - all that you mentioned. So if you only want to go to one area then head straight to Southland.

Day 10 - fly back to Auckland for your flight home (~$79)

This is just an idea and are the highlights that I would say NZ has and what I love about NZ and what I would want my husband to see when we visit again next year!

[Veronik 19]

Wow! Thank you both for the ideas and tips! This is great info! I have been researching online, but it's hard to differentiate between a sales pitch and actual traveler's /native's experience of the country.

I definitely have a lot to think about now, and again, thank you both for the feedback!

[aprice138 16]

One of me and my husband's (who is the Kiwi) favorite trips we flew from Auckland to Christchurch and relocated an RV from Christchurch to Auckland in 5 days.

I concur with the South Island tip. Its amazing. Queenstown is a MUST. Fly down to Christchurch, drive to Queenstown with a stop at the magnificent Lake Tekapo. Over to Dunedin and back up seeing the Blue Penguins and stone buildings in Oamaru.

If you could push it past 10 days, it would be ideal. My mother came over for two weeks and it just felt like we were rushed in everything!

If you want some budgeting ideas, we used transfercar.co.nz a LOT. Also grabaseat.co.nz for flight deals.

[aprice138 16]

One of me and my husband's (who is the Kiwi) favorite trips we flew from Auckland to Christchurch and relocated an RV from Christchurch to Auckland in 5 days.

I concur with the South Island tip. Its amazing. Queenstown is a MUST. Fly down to Christchurch, drive to Queenstown with a stop at the magnificent Lake Tekapo. Over to Dunedin and back up seeing the Blue Penguins and stone buildings in Oamaru.

If you could push it past 10 days, it would be ideal. My mother came over for two weeks and it just felt like we were rushed in everything!

If you want some budgeting ideas, we used transfercar.co.nz a LOT. Also grabaseat.co.nz for flight deals.

[Veronik 19]

One of me and my husband's (who is the Kiwi) favorite trips we flew from Auckland to Christchurch and relocated an RV from Christchurch to Auckland in 5 days.

I concur with the South Island tip. Its amazing. Queenstown is a MUST. Fly down to Christchurch, drive to Queenstown with a stop at the magnificent Lake Tekapo. Over to Dunedin and back up seeing the Blue Penguins and stone buildings in Oamaru.

If you could push it past 10 days, it would be ideal. My mother came over for two weeks and it just felt like we were rushed in everything!

If you want some budgeting ideas, we used transfercar.co.nz a LOT. Also grabaseat.co.nz for flight deals.

Thank you for the helpful links!

Is two days for traveling (flying from the States) a good estimate?

[aprice138 16]

Thank you for the helpful links!

Is two days for traveling (flying from the States) a good estimate?

Yeah definitely. Youll be exhausted from the long flight so youll want low impact fun the first day youre there. I recommend just walking around Auckland's CBD, waterfront quay, Queen St, Princes Wharf, Silo Park, Karangahape Rd (also called K Rd) the first day.

If using Air NZ, youll get in most likely at 7am, so youll probably be in bed pretty early the first night

[sophielas 2]

- I'd like to go in March; is that a nice time of year or would October be better?

Agree with above poster, March is a better time, the weather is more likely to be nicer and more settled. October is still cold. If you want to swim in a lake in October in the south island, you better bring a wetsuit.

- Is 10 days enough to cover both the South Island and North Island?

Not remotely. It's enough for a pretty nice (but by no means thorough) tour of one or the other, or a 'highlights' trip of both with lots of internal flights, as suggested above (which would be essential if you wanted to see a lot of good stuff on both islands I think)

- If limited by time and money, which island should we focus on?

Agree with above, like cities, decent coffee and good solid tourist infrastructure? Go North Island. Like cute towns amongst large open unpeopled landscapes with untouched natural SPLENDOUR? Go South Island.

- Any stops we should be sure not to miss?

Kayaking/hiking, Abel Tasman National Park

- Any specific suggestions? We like hiking, I'd love to go kayaking somewhere, and hang out by a beach or a lake for a couple days.

See above points re: weather, if you want to spend time IN the water, and it's October or March, Coromandel or further north is probably your best bet. Everywhere else will be chilly. Otherwise South Island roadtrip all the way (don't bother going as far down as Invercargill).

My 2 cents, for what it's worth (and I am totally biased having been born and raised in the sth island), but yeah, we're based in Nelson at the moment, and it's spectacular. Lots of amazing bike trails, hiking, kayaking etc all around this region. If you want to go feral for a few days, might I suggest Golden Bay. Footwear optional.