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Travel
September 3, 2020

Your ultimate New Zealand planning guide

(written and done in 2017)

Drown and lost browsing about your NZ-in-two-weeks plan? Here's your lifebuoy - the ultimate planning guide for #NewZealand

Content

Useful NZ facts, south vs. north island, list of regions, activities, sources of info.

Additional posts: our (1) map & itinerary and (2) motorhome experience.

Overview

So, NZ is 2 islands, thanks cap (North and South, connected with a flight or 3hr ferry [interislander.co.nz], ferry takes cars on). And there are 29 regions. If you're going to try to see 'as much as possible in NZ' this info will help you plan, trust me.

North Island

  • warmer in general (closer to the equator)
  • 2 NZ biggest cities (Auckland ~1.5 mln ppl + Wellington [capital] ~400k ppl)
  • more ppl (70% of the population of NZ are on the North Island, there’re 4.7 mln in NZ)
  • quite a few beautiful beaches
  • no end of hills and fields with cows, sheep, deers
  • geothermal areas, hot springs

South Island

  • higher mountains, south Alps (Mount Cook - the tallest NZ mountain)
  • serpentine roads
  • fjords, southern lakes, glaciers
  • adventure capital - Queenstown

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Generally, a good way to plan would be:

(A) to start with a list of activities you choose from and decide which of them & where you want to do them. For instance:

  • hiking, walking, jogging, biking,
  • white/black water rafting,
  • kayaking, sailing,
  • surfing, paddling,
  • jet boat,
  • zorbing,
  • bungy jump, swing,
  • flights (e.g. helicopter), 4x4, karting,
  • specific animals watching,
  • etc. (since there’re a whole lot of places around NZ offering the same activities).

And (B) to plan exquisite things you can do only in a specific region (or they are the best in this particular region).E.g.:

[ACTIVITIES]

  • hiking @ Tongaririo Alpine Crossing (6 hrs); @ Rainbow mountain (45 min)
  • biking, paddling @ Wanaka (also relax, swim, sunbath at this stunning lake with plenty of foodie options around)
  • black water rafting @ Waitomo Caves with glowing worms
  • kayaking @ Abel Tasman
  • jet boat, bungy jump, swing @ Queenstown
  • zorbing @ Rotorua
  • flights (e.g. helicopter) @ Glaciers; @ to Milford Sound

[EXQUISITES]

  • wineries @ Marlborough,
  • hot springs @ Rotorua,
  • bungy jump @ Queenstown,
  • whale watching @ Kaikora,
  • see fjord @ MilfordSound,
  • star gazing @ Taupo Lake,
  • glow worms @ Waitomo Caves
  • and so on.

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Where to look for info?

Source A:

Each region has a website with everything you can do in it. Usually, websites are pretty convenient. Moreover, in every tourist info centre you’ll find tons of info & brochures. Brochures type A - are per activity/company; and type B (the ones you need, cause they usually contain all the “per activity brochures” as well) the official region guides with the info mirroring the info from the region website.

Source B:

DOC (Department of Conservation, http://www.doc.govt.nz). Are you going to hike in NZ? DOC is the most trusted source on walking & hiking. Check the conditions before going on any hike on http://www.doc.govt.nz website. Cause there could have been a storm and there’s no trail at all. (As for example the famous pinnacles walk was destroyed in 2017). As a sneak peak check out their map: http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/things-to-do/walking-and-tramping/They also have campsites (free-$15) http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-stay/ and info centers around the country.

Source C:

Travel agencies, e.g. peterpans.com:

  1. some of the admissions are cheaper via them
  2. you can give them a call/skype before coming to NZ and they’ll help you plan your trip/book.

We popped in they offline branch for a local advice (and got a few tickets cheaper for the activities we were planning to do anyway)(or there’s also “i-SITE” which is New Zealand's official visitor information, though we haven’t tried this one)

Source D:

Bookme.co.nz - good for deals. Also, I’ve put plenty of other extra links at the end of the post.

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As an overview about NZ:

Weather changes a lot “4 seasons in a day”. Be flexible with the plans - cause most of activities depend on the weather.

Dairy products in NZ are deff one of the best we’ve ever tried. Don’t miss craft ice cream!

ALWAYS USE SUN PROTECTION - ozone lvl is low, you get sunburned too easy.

Grocery: we loved “Commonsense” (though there’s just a few of them around the country); “Countdown” is really nice as well (almost everywhere); “New World” would be a cheaper version; in small places “Four Square”.

All kind of stuff: Warehouse - has everything cheap.

Don’t tip - tip & tax included (though you won’t offend anyone if you leave a tip, like in Japan). Most places: pay at the counter on the entrance.

Try wines of Marlborough region (available in restaurants or in store), especially Saint Claire, Lake Chalice, Jules Taylor, Pegasus Bay wineries.

Getting around:

  • explore NZ in a motorhome (It gives you the freedom of not planning your stays too much ahead. Cause you never know where you want to stay a bit longer)
  • rent a car (but if more that 2 months - you can consider buying a car/van and sell it at the end)
  • take busses (cheapest companies are intercity & naked bus)
  • tour busses (kiwi experience / stray)

Local terms:

  • EFTPOS (Electronic funds transfer at point of sale) = paying by card
  • payWay = paypass
  • Be a tidy Kiwi.
  • (a) Kiwi is a NZ native flightless bird, related to the ostrich. It is the national symbol of New Zealand. Since they can’t fly it is not completely clear how they arrived in NZ.
  • (b) “Kiwi” is the nickname for people from NZ.
  • (c) “Be a tidy kiwi” is a campaign started in late 60’s when tossing takeaways out of the car window was the normal thing to do. It’s basically about disposing and recycling rubbish properly to protect the nature of NZ.

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REGIONS https://www.newzealand.com/int/destinations/North Island Regions

  1. Northland & Bay of Islands
  2. Auckland
  3. Coromandel (thecoromandel.com)
  4. Hamilton - Waikato (HamiltonWaikato.com)
  5. Rotorua (RotoruaNZ.com)
  6. Bay of Plenty
  7. Eastland (EastlandTourism.co.nz)
  8. Lake Taupo (GreatLakeTaupo.com + Waitomo waitomo.com)
  9. Ruapehu
  10. Taranaki
  11. Whanganui
  12. Manawatu
  13. Hawke's Bay
  14. Wairarapa (WairarapanNZ.com)
  15. Wellington (WellingtonNZ.com)

South Island Regions (counterclockwise)

  1. Marlborough (Marlborough.co.nz)
  2. Nelson (+ abeltasman.co.nz)
  3. West Coast (westcoast.co.nz)
  4. Wanaka (wanaka.co.nz)
  5. Queenstown
  6. Fiordland (+ MilfordSound southerndiscoveries.co.nz)
  7. Southland
  8. Stewart Island - Rakiura
  9. Clutha
  10. Dunedin
  11. Central Otago (centralotagonz.com)
  12. Waitaki
  13. Canterbury
  14. Christchurch - (christchurchnz.com + Kaikoura Kaikoura.co.nz + Hurunui visithurunui.co.nz)

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Some extra links:

I found these useful/interesting:

  • NZ by Mari Johnson: https://youtu.be/PJ962MVQJnU (She has traveled around most of the country and have been living in Christchurch for 5 months. In this video she’s talking about: places (north island vs. south island), transportation, money, accommodation, food & drink, weather, clothing, activities, people, and language.)
  • onboard magazine by tranzalpine ournewzealand.co.nz
  • beautiful photography and several places review https://jellyjourneys.com/blog/category/destinations/australasia/new-zealand/
  • two locations around Lake Tekapo dedicated to star gazing and stellar observations earthandsky.co.nz;
  • hiking tours map https://hikingnewzealand.com/map/
  • day hikes map http://www.doc.govt.nz/dayhikes?gclid=CjwKCAiAxuTQBRBmEiwAAkFF1gdQFZx819_i0FFujK5GXXcTTk0q69jmxAXoA1tezqyeSv5yxEBvUhoCks0QAvD_BwE

Maybe you’ll find these useful:

  • https://www.newzealand.com
  • interactive travel map http://www.stokedforsaturday.com/interactive-travel-map/
  • one week itinerary http://www.planitnz.com/planning-for-new-zealand/new-zealand-itineraries/new-zealand-in-one-week-itinerary
  • momondo about NZ https://www.momondo.com/inspiration/discover-new-zealand-7-spectacular-destinations-away-crowds/
  • agencies: aatraveler.co.nz; straytravel.com; discovernewzealand.com; realjourneys.co.nz;
  • eastlandtourism.co.nz;
  • glaciercountry.co.nz
  • Glider flights @ Canterbury glideomarama.com;
  • Lord of Rings @ Lake Taupo hobbitontours.com;
  • google guide https://www.google.ru/destination?q=new%20zealand&newwindow=1&site=search&output=search&dest_mid=%2Fm%2F0ctw_b&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjgkM2K85jWAhVsKpoKHcTmCYkQ6tEBCFAoBDAE
  • forbes on spots not to miss https://www.forbes.com/sites/geoffreymorrison/2015/12/30/10-beautiful-spots-not-to-miss-on-new-zealands-south-island/#30e3e43528de
  • https://theplanetd.com/15-things-to-do-in-new-zealand/

Hiking

  • what to wear https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F98nvJ9GAlY
  • http://media.newzealand.com/en/story-ideas/new-zealands-nine-great-walks/
  • https://www.newzealand.com/int/walking-and-hiking/

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Phew! Boo-ya. Done.

That was a lot of research and travel notes.

Alrighty, hope this is helpful. If anything, let me know.

Pacific Temper
September 3, 2020, 08:18
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