mikehindsonevans wrote: ↑Tue Mar 22, 2022 22:50 We plan to "do" New Zealand in March to April of 2024. Any experience from your trip will be gratefully received in due course.
As I said in the American thread, our flight itinerary for New Zealand is as follows;mistral wrote: ↑Thu Mar 17, 2022 16:17So far, the only bit of the driving itinerary that we've sorted out is for the South Island of New Zealand. That is (for now);
12/1 : Auckland - Christchurch
13/1 : Christchurch (Pick up the car) - Tekapo : 219 kms
14/1 : Tekapo
15/1 : Tekapo - Wanaka : 201 kms
16/1 : Wanaka
17/1 : Wanaka - Invercargill : 246 kms
18/1 : Invercargill
19/1 : Invercargill - Manapouri : 167 kms
20/1 : Manapouri - Doubtful Sound
21/1 : Manapouri - Milford Sound : 139 kms
21/1 : Milford Sound - Manapouri : 139 kms
22/1 : Manapouri
23/1 : Manapouri
24/1 : Manapouri - Haast : 383 kms
25/1 : Haast - Punakaiki : 375 kms
26/1 : Punakaiki - Blenheim : 292 kms
27/1 : Blenheim
28/1 : Blenheim
29/1 : Blenheim - Kaikoura : 144 kms
30/1 : Kaikoura
31/1 : Kaikoura
1/2 : Kaikoura - Christchurch (Return the car) : 184 kms
2/2 : Christchurch - Auckland
Still haven't even really considered what to do on the North Island, beyond visiting Rotorua, Wellington & some vineyards! That may be a topic for another thread.
Jan 10th : San Francisco - Auckland (Jan 12th : 06.00)
Jan 12th : Auckland (11.00) - Christchurch (12.30)
Feb 2nd : Christchurch (Midday) - Auckland (13.30)
Feb 21st : Auckland (01.20) - Singapore
The cost of using the Wellington - Picton ferries is just so high, that it's much better value to just split the trip into two portions; the flights are a quarter of the ferry fare!
As I said earlier, I still haven't really got around to planning anything for the North Island. Does anyone have any personal knowledge of any roads worth driving, places worth visiting or any towns or areas that should be well & truly swerved?
As for the South Island, while we've provisionally booked all the overnight stops, they're all changeable until the middle of December. Roadswise, the only routes with no feasible alternatives seem to be the road to Milford Sound, and the SH 6 from Wanaka up towards Westport. As with the North Island, I'm still very open to any suggestions.