When you’re traveling as far as New Zealand from somewhere like Kansas City, you really want to make it worthwhile. Those flights are not cheap, nor are they short. I knew it was unlikely I’d make this trip again, so I wanted to fit in as much as possible and get some variety, without spending every minute of my vacation on the road.
I also knew, from experience, that for longer trips, I need to incorporate plenty of activities. Spending two weeks doing nothing but driving tends to result in getting burnt out. In the end, I think we got a good taste of New Zealand for our timeframe with a good variety of destinations.
Highlights
Mt Cook – We had a short amount of time in Mt Cook, and the first day was pretty well ruined by a long-lasting downpour and high winds. That did not, at all, keep me from being totally infatuated with the area. The mountain scenery here is stunning, and exactly what I pictured when I thought of New Zealand.
The Hooker Valley track was almost too easy for the amount of reward it brought us, and the beautiful turquoise lakes a short drive away from Mt Cook were just the cherry on top.
Wanaka – A perfect combination of chill and lively. The lake is incredibly beautiful, and hanging out by it just soothes your soul, but right across the street is a mess of smiling faces bouncing around between restaurants and bars and coffee shops.
The hiking around Wanaka is fantastic, and I assume the paragliding would have been as well… :(.
Heli-hike – The heli-hike was by far the most expensive thing we did in New Zealand, but it was worth it. Flying up to and landing on a glacier was just so cool. And then the surprise of there being a big beautiful waterfall that we were hiking to on this glacier… While I wish the hiking portion had been a little shorter, and the flying portion a little longer, it was such a unique experience that we won’t forget.
Moke Lake campground – We stayed at some awesome campsites. And as far as amenities go, Moke Lake was lacking if you wanted anything other than a toilet and a sink. But it sure was pretty and relaxing, and it was the only body of water we were around that I found warm enough to hop in and swim in. Just outside of Queenstown, it’d be a great place to stay to get away from the business but still be close enough to go enjoy the activities and restaurants during the day.
Kerosene Creek – It actually feels kind of silly including this. We did so many big, cool things, and saw so many big, cool sights, and Kerosene Creek was such a small piece of our New Zealand itinerary. But it was just such a pleasant surprise. A geothermal river that was the perfect temperature and the perfect depth and it had a cute little waterfall tucked away in a forest? Oh, and we had it to ourselves.
What I Would Do Differently
Morning tour of Hobbiton – Everything about our Hobbiton tour would have been better if it had been a morning tour. It would have been less hot. The lighting would have been a little better for photography. If we had gotten the first tour slot, then we wouldn’t have had other tour groups in our pictures. We would have been getting stuck behind other tour groups. In general, it would have just been calmer. I definitely feel like Hobbiton was a worthy stop, and I would have regretted not going, but I 100% recommend heading there in the morning if you can.
Lake activities – We saw SO MANY beautiful lakes, but aside from staring at them and a quick dip here and there, we spent no time with them. We love lakes. We grew up on lakes. And these lakes were far superior than the ones we grew up vacationing to. If I were to plan this over again, I would have found a way to rent a jet ski or a kayak or something to really get out on the water. Especially since we didn’t include any beaches on our vacation.
Better grocery plan – We ended up making far too many grocery store stops because we kept running out of water, or gas for cooking, or snacks for the road, or breakfast granola bars/fruit, etc. We would have saved a decent amount of time that would have been better spent if we had come up with a full meal plan for the South Island and planned accordingly.
Other than those minor things, I’m really not sure I would have changed anything for this first trip. If we were to go back… I’d probably go back to Wanaka, spend more time in Mt Cook, try to fit in Abel Tasman, and possibly a cruise of Doubtful Sound. But I have to say, I think I get a pat on the back for this NZ itinerary.
Hi. We are Australian – I have just found your blog site and love it. Great pics and the right amount of text and context. We have visited NZ of course quite a bit. Since you have recently toured New Zealand (I haven’t read all your posts yet just some) and have been to Iceland a couple of times, I was wondering if you had any recommendations on areas we should focus on in Iceland for a potential 2020 early Sept trip as there seem to actually be a lot of similarities with NZ ie. geothermal areas, lakes, mountains, glaciers, waterfalls, volcanic lava flows. Iceland’s waterfalls appear much more powerful and stunning but NZ geothermals more colourful and spectacular. I have taken notes from your trip to add to research I have already done – the weather definitely seems to play a major role in what you do or don’t manage to do in Iceland. We also toured Norway in summer last year – stunning and we were blessed with amazing weather. Didn’t manage any of the longer hikes that trip. So I am thinking I want to focus in Iceland on what especially is different and unique. At this stage I think we will have around 10 days. Cheers Wendy
Hi Wendy! Glad you’ve found my blog helpful!
For us, NZ won in the geothermal, lakes, and glaciers categories, but Iceland’s waterfalls, volcanoes, and just ease of driving from one spectacular landscape to another in no time at all were superior. Weather is certainly tricky in Iceland, so if you’re able, I’d plan in some flexibility around the things you’re most interested in. We found the fjords and the interior to be the most magical areas of Iceland, but that could also be because that’s where fewer people could be found! The South coast is spectacular, but you’ll be sharing the sites there with SO MANY other tourists these days.
You could do the full ring road in 10 days with a few detours, especially if you just drive through the parts you’d be less interested in, like the north.