Vanessa

Hi all, I am a Brit living in Melbourne and have some girlfriends coming to visit in November. They really wanted to come to NZ as well as visiting me and so I have booked us to fly in to Auckland on the 11 November and fly out from Christchurch on the 18th (I think!). Anyway we have 6 nights and wondered if anyone could recommend a route to take and whether it would be better to hire a car and get hotel accommodation or rent a camper van? Any suggestions gratefully received.

Many thanks
Vanessa

newkiwi

Youve left yourself quite a bit of driving to do if youre flying into AKL and flying out of Christchurch, and only have six nights.........
There are sites that will quote you prices for campervans etc, so you can see if it makes sense to hire a van vs a car. Motel accommodation would be reasonable priced id say.

As for the routes, you can stop over at rotoroa and taupo on your way to Wellington. Because you dont have much time, maybe 1 or 2 nights in Auckland, one night in Rotorua/ Taupo, one night in Wellington, leaving you two or three nights on the south island, split between picton and christchurch.
Roads are kinda narrow and winding in places, so if you feel uncomfortable driving a large campervan then go for a car and stay in motels etc on your way.

England Girl

Between Picton and Christchurch stop at Kaikoura for the fresh crayfish, whalewatching, dolphins and seals.
You have to book ahead for the whale and dolphin trips. There are extremely early morning trips (5.45am) so you can stay the night, catch a whale trip first thing (weather and whale permitting) and then drive to the seal colony.
Avoid staying in Picton if you can, I thought it a waste of a night.

Definitely visit Rotorua and Taupo so drive Auckland to Rotorua, maybe stay there (and do the cultural tourist thing - hangi and culture evening), drive through to Taupo (stopping at Huka Falls on the outskirts), maybe do a bungee jump, dip your toes in the lake, have coffee at the lakefront (although it may be a bit chilly still at that time of year). Drive around the east side of the lake (SH1) to Wellington. Long drive but stop en route for photos of the mountains and hilarious signs in Bulls (police station = consta-bulls etc).
Stay over in Wellington, get ferry across to Picton next day, drive to Kaikoura, stop over then drive to Christchurch.
You might not have a lot of time to do sightseeing in Wellington or Christchurch but I'd recommend Cuba Street, Lambton Quay, the cable car and botanic gardens in Wellington and punting on the River Avon and a trip out to Lyttleton or Akaroa when in Christchurch.

In Auckland the highlights have to include the Skytower, ferry across the Devonport for coffee or going to the winter gardens in the domain.
Have a night out down the viaduct.

It all depends what you are into. I personally love going to the top of Mount Eden or One Tree Hill (Cornwall Park) to have a look at the view.
But the skytower is a great experience as it's the highest tower in the southern hemisphere.

As for accommodation and travel I would hire a car and stay over in backpackers hostels, there are plenty around and most have car parking.
You get to meet other people that way and get ideas on where to stay and what to see and do.

Alison

shazzafromnz

A car and cheap motels/backpackers would be the least expensive..a camper van will also mean a slower trip and you dont have much time..also with a rental car you could leave it at Wellington and go across to the South Island on the ferry, then hire another car to get to Christchurch,which would be alot less expensive
Cheers
Shazza ( a New Zealander with dual citizen ship UK/NZ)