First timer to New Zealand...?

Question

I am thinking of travelling to New Zealand at the end of July / start of August with my husband. Can anyone suggest anywhere to visit or things to do while we are there? I think that we will be starting off in Aukland and staying for about a week or two. Any help will be much appreciated! :)

Answer 1

You are coming in our coldest and wettest months (May, June, July, August is winter). Great for ski-ing but not for much else.

Queenstown has lots of ski fields, they tend to have fairly shallower bases compared to the North Island Ski fields. Queenstown also has the Winter Festival in August.

The best of New Zealand's sights are out doors and because of the time of the year you are travelling it will probably be spent in a raincoat under an umberella.

Answer 2

First of all you should book your trip through a NZ local travel agent as they will be there for you throughout NZ if you have any problems, and can make changes for you if necessary....I know it would be cheaper to book this way also because of the exchange rate...The NZ travel agent can then point out all the highlights to visit (as there are just sooo many) and can organise any transportation you would need.  I would use houseoftravel.  I hope you have a wonderful time in NZ.

Answer 3

i really dont reccommend coming over then because as the majority said, it around winter. the best time to come would be december-febuary, if you want hot then the east coast is ideal, preferably hawkes bay, if you want fun, Rotorua(its smelly there though) and i you want shopping AUCKLAND!

Answer 4

You must know that time of year is their winter. I loved the town of Christ church and I loved the food, expecially there meat pies. They also have great pubs all over the place, very different then in the US.

Answer 5

Having been to NZ 2 years ago and going back in 7 weeks, I would echo some earlier comments:  first, not the best time of year to choose, weather-wise, unless you are coming to ski on the South Island, and second, why travel so far and so long for only "a week"?  It's a 14 hour flight from the west coast of North America, you need at least 24 hours to get over the jet lag once you get there, so make it a worthwhile trip and make the most of it.

When we started planning our first trip to NZ, I quickly realized that the time we had, just over 2 weeks, was only going to be sufficient to see the North Island.  We rented a car and did a selective circuit of the North Island, there's still parts we didn't see.  This trip will be 2.5 weeks and it will be a quick circuit of the South Island.  In both cases we would love to have more time.

Things to do: earlier responses have already set out a lot of good suggestions, but here's what we did in the North Island and I can recommend:

Coromandel Peninsula - Cathedral Cove well worth a visit.

Rotorua, both for Maori heritage and the thermal pools, etc.

Napier - art deco architecture and wine region, as well as down that coastline, through Masterton,etc.

Wellington, lovely cosmopolitan city, New Plymouth has a great boardwalk and is close to a volcanic mountain the name of which escapes me at the moment;  Paihia with the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, etc.  NZ is a beautiful country, mountains dotted with sheep everywhere! Auckland is also a nice city and I definitely recommend a visit to the revolving restaurant.  Great views and great food!

Answer 6

I Live In Auckland And I Would Recommend Going To The Skytower. You Can Eat At The Revolving Resturant Or If You're Daring You Could Bungy Jump Off It. You Could Also Jump Of The Harbour Bridge. From Auckland You Could Go To Rotorua And Ride The Luges etc Or Travel To The Southern Alps In The South Island.

Hope You Have Fun.

Answer 7

hawks bay,Napier its the wine country and is the art deco styled era

Answer 8

Mate it's the depths of winter there but in Auckland it doesn't snow ..... just rains .... so it's not so bad if you come from a really cold place. I think hooroo covered it all but I would add the Coromandel area ( hot water beach ) and also a trip to the various hot springs in and near Tauranga  ( always nice places to visit on cold days or evenings in winter ) while on your way to Rotorua ......where you'll find more hot springs to lazy your time away in. :)

Answer 9

That's not long to spend in NZ.  It's also early winter, although the climate is nothing compared to, say, Chicago.

Restricting travel to the North Island, there is the Bay of Islands, a beautiful area a few hours north of Auckland.  My preference would be to stay in Paihia  and to visit Russell as a day trip (by boat).  Swim with the dolphins etc.

South of Auckland is Rotorua, a thermal spring area - geysers, boiling mud etc.  Rotorua is also a good place to find out something about Maori culture - there is a cultural village there.

The East Coast is bays and beaches and vineyards.  Pretty, but a  bit boring.  In central NI is Lake Taupo, a supervolcano, with a remnant active cone.  Beautiful area, good trout fishing.  South of there is a trio of volcanoes, Ruapehu, Tongariro and Ngaurahoe.  Great hiking opportunities.  There is a great plane trip around the volcanoes from a little airstrip south of Tauranga.

On the west coast is the town of New Plymouth, which has a superbly formed cone, capped with snow. Something like Mt Fuji, but not as large.

South is Wellington, the capital and seat of parliament.  A spectacular setting - a bay ringed by hills, spectacular

. Renowned for its windy weather.  Great restaurants.

South Island is the best IMHO.  There;s an inter-island ferry (like the Inside Passage).  The trip into Picton is beautiful on a good day, but can be very rough otherwise.  Central chain of mountains, including Mt Cook >12,000 ft.  Mountaineering, skiing.  There's a beautiful road from Greymouth in the west to Christchurch in the east which traverses the NZ alps.

Christchurch is a beautiful university and parks city with good eating. I'm not so enamoured of Dunedin, and Invercargill is only for masochists.  Cold . Bleak.  On the west coast Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound are fantastic (fjords).  There are overnight boat trips that are well worth taking.  If the wind gets up and its raining there are marvelous waterfalls. Also on the west coast are a couple of glaciers, Franz Josef and Fox.  FJ has a good guided hike on the glacier.  

It's a fabulous destination, worth investing time into if you have the option.