Tell me about going to New Zealand

New zealand

This is my trip report from 2019, New Zealand was incredible. The South Island, especially the west coast, is so beautiful and has much less people than the north island. Hobbiton was super fun, as was white water rafting

I went for 2-1/2 weeks in 2016 and spent all of my time on the North Island. When I go back, I'm flying direct from Auckland to Queenstown and spending some time in the National Parks down there then making my way up the west coast to Nelson and catching the ferry to Wellington before flying back to Auckland or elsewhere. That trip can be made in 8-10 days. The Marlborough region is easily accessible as you make your way north and it's only a short drive to Nelson or Picton where you can catch the ferry or fly back to Auckland.

Went in 2023 with my 20-something daughter as a favor so she'd have someone with her to go see the women's World Cup that year. While down that way, we also went over to Sydney to see Australia and catch another game there.

The travel:

Flying from New Orleans was BRUTAL. We flew from MSY to Houston, Houston to San Francisco, then San Francisco to Auckland. That last leg alone is over 13 hours, we left at about 11 PM and flew in the dark until just before we got to Auckland, where it was daybreak.

I would STRONGLY recommend flying to the west coast one day, stay overnight, THEN taking that long flight across.

Similar recommendation for flying back. We flew back from Sydney to LA, had a 6 or so hour layover, then back to MSY. The flight back was a similar length of time, but it was really weird because we left around noon Sydney time, flew east, it got dark, we passed through night, then arrived at LA in their next morning. I was able to take a decent hour or so nap in LA during the layover, but a full day would have been better.

New Zealand itself:

We only did the north island. Arrived in Auckland in the morning and spent the day in the city proper-- museums, parks, harbor, the big Auckland Tower.

Second day we went and picked up a rental car, and went to see things in the surrounding countryside--Waitakere Ranges Regional Park, (Karamatura Falls, Mercer Bay Loop Walk), and Piha Beach (Taitomo Island, the Blue Pool). It was interesting driving on the "wrong" side of a car and on the "wrong" side of the road, but I was able to get the hang of it:


View from our hotel room in Auckland:


Waitakere Ranges Regional Park:


Mercer Bay Loop Walk, view to the south:


Piha Beach:


NEXT POST - TRIP DOWN THE ISLAND TO WELLINGTON

PART 2:

The following day, we left and drove down almost the full length of the North Island, from Auckland to Wellington. The first part we drove along their version of interstate highways, but then left for local highways to see more natural sights. The drive is about equivalent distance of driving from New Orleans to Memphis, but it took us longer as we made various side trips. It was really great to drive along through the rolling hills of the New Zealand countryside:


Bridal Veil Falls:


Lake Taupo:


Huka Falls:


As we continued southward near Mount Ruapehu, it got colder and soon everything around us was covered in snow. Then it was snowing while we drove! Thankfully we made it down off the central plateau and and into warmer areas, because they closed the highway down later that night.


Got to Wellington about 9:00 at night.
Next Post: Wellington

Was just there last Nov and loved it. We liked south better, but likely due to loving Queenstown and Te Anau/Milford Sound. Lake Wanaka was cool too. If you're only going 7-10 days you should pick one island. We did 2 weeks and packed a ton of shite in with both islands. We want to go back and spend a month in each.

North was cool too though. Hobbiton was awesome. Book early and do the late dinner. So worth it. Stay in a B&B nearby. We're not huge wine drinkers but you should have no issues finding good places/wines on either isalnd. Hikes are great everywhere. Gloworm caves are cool. We didn't love Wellington as we stayed in town but the Weta Cave was very cool and goes well with Hobbiton.

The people of NZ are so damn nice you're waiting for the sales pitch that never comes.

Awesome pics from NZL. thanks!

This is far in the future, but the flights we would be eyeing are DFW to Auckland (I think)

Looks like that is down near Wellington

The Hobbiton dinner banquet looks really cool

I took my daughter and niece the first week of March in 2019 (Mardi Gras break from school for us, but late summer for them). Since we only had a week, we just flew into Queenstown and spent our time in the SW part of the South Island.

We hiked up in the Mt. Cook (Aoraki) area to the Mueller Hut, up above the treeline. New Zealand has a number of these mountain huts that you can arrange to stay in. You get shelter and a rudimentary kitchen and an outhouse, and it's fun to talk with other travelers.

Here's one of the views on the way up:




The Kea is the world's only alpine parrot. Keas are often curious about humans and sometimes hang around like this one.




The sunrise the next morning was the most spectacular sunrise I've ever experienced. There's no filter on this pic; it's just the golden light hitting the snow and rocks.




Here's the hut in the same morning light.




We also did the Te Anau glowworm cave, and that was an amazing experience. My understanding is that the glowworms are the same in the several caves in New Zealand where you can see them, but the caves are obviously different, and this tour happens completely by boat.

People can get very different experiences at Milford Sound. We didn't get the postcard view because of the rain, but it was still amazing to see the rain being blown up the cliffs by the wind.




From there, we did the Routeburn Track, one of New Zealand's eleven "Great Walks." These are walks along well-maintained trails with huts for the night. The Routeburn Track is normally done as a 2-night or even 3-night trip, but we were only able to reserve the one night at Lake McKenzie, so we did it in a somewhat arduous two days.

The trek begins near Milford Sound, in the temperate rainforest, and that part of the trek is amazing.




Here's Lake McKenzie, where we spent the night.




The lake at Harris Pass, where you cross over the Southern Alps:




The scenery on the way down is great, but more conventional than the rainforest experience on the coastal side of the mountains.



Doing the Routeburn Track in only two days meant that our legs were tired, so we spent our last day doing more leisurely "tourist" things, like visiting the gold rush town of Arrowtown, panning for gold nearby at a now-disused mine, and taking the gondola up in Queenstown to race the gravity-propelled go-carts down the mountain.



For me, driving on the left in New Zealand wasn't nearly as hard as it was in England (wider roads and fewer crazy roundabouts), and it's really the only way to do a trip like ours. Since the Routeburn Track is a one-way hike, we did pay for a service to drive our car from the beginning of the trail to the end of it, which worked well.

Should avoid Delta if trying to use points unless you already have Delta points to use