Just a quick summary of maps and statistics in case you would like to do the same tour 😌😋
DAY 1: Arrival Auckland Airport
visit of the West Coast: Piha Beach - Kikekite Waterfalls
Auckland City
DAY 2: City trip in Auckland by foot (don't forget the Auckland Museum)
DAY3: Few hours in the Wynyard Quarter (America's Cup centre) and drive to Te Ahora
(Southern Coromandel Forest Park)
DAY 4: Karangaheke Gorge and visit of Waihi village
DAY 5: Walk on the Wairere Falls - Blue Springs - Rotorua lake
DAY 6: Whirinaki Forest Park (Waiatiu Falls track and Te Whaiti-Nui-a-Toi Canyon track)
DAY 7: Visit of the geothermal region North of Lake Taupo: Aratitata rapids - Craters of the Moon - Lake Taupo boat ride towards the Maori Rock carvings
DAY 8: Walk the Taranaki falls upper and lower track starting from the Whakapapa village
DAY 9: Waitomo: Otorahanga and Waitomo Caves !!! We wouldn't do this again, but it's very popular to see the glowworms and go the the kiwi centre. An expensive day and long drive...
DAY 10: Drive to Wellington and visit of the city
DAY 11: Visit of the Botanical gardens (or in a rainy day, the museum looks nice) and crossing towards the South Island (Picton) - drive towards Richmond/Nelson (crossing the Marlborough vineyards)
DAY 12: Walk in the Golden Bay (Wainui Falls track in Abel Tasman Park) don't miss the many lookouts on the way up there! - Stop at the Te Waikorokupû springs
DAY 13: Drive to Punakaiki: first detour to Cape Foulwind then Pancake Rocks - you can rent something in Barrytown
DAY 14: Lunch in Greymouth brewery - drive to Hotikita (lazy day to catch up 😊)
DAY 15: Tunnel Terrace Walk - Hokitika Gorge
DAY 16: drive to Okarito: Pakihi Walk in search for Kiwi's
evening walk along Okarito Coastal Walk - you can see Kiwi's in the wild by night
DAY 17: Franz Jozef Glacier Roberts Point track
DAY 18: Fox Glacier: It's not worth it. We wouldn't do this again, but instead go for a hike along Lake Wanaka and Hawea.
DAY 19: Drive to Arrowtown (good for diner before heading to Queenstown)
DAY 20: Short visit of Queenstown before heading towards Te Anau - (nice restaurant Redcliff ) - cinema: Shadow Movie
DAY 21: Drive along the Milford Highway - stop at the Te Anau Downs station, Knobs Flats, Mirror Lakes, Cascade Creek for a longer walk through the Red Beech Forest. !!! Start early (mirror lakes more beautiful) and do not stop when there are many buses, you might see nobody on the way back.
DAY 22: Rainbow Walk
DAY 23: drive towards Dunedin: stop at Orepuki/Pahia Point, Curio Bay, Nugget Point Lighthouse
DAY 24: Walk along Long Beach - afternoon visit of Dunedin (and train station and museum - it's free 😋) - Otago Peninsula: stop at Allans Beach Reserve to see the sea lions, drive to the Royal Albatross Centre to see the amazing Albatross and penguins after dawn
DAY 25: Drive to lake Pukaki by the coastal route: stop at Mouraki Boulders, the Aviemore hydro station, info centre at lake Pukaki. If we were to come again, we would add a day here to walk along the lake... Instead we stopped at lake Tekapo (visit the church of the Good Shepard) and we stayed in Fairly (only place left below 300NZ$ per night...)
DAY 26: Richmond trail, starting at the Campstream hut trail - followed by the Takapo hot springs
DAY 27: Christchurch lazy day
DAY 28: Christchurch visit of the city - you could do more and go see the whales, but I can assure you it's quite intense however we would definitely do the trip in the same way "next" time.
DAY 29 departure for Tasmania 😏😛
Some statistics:
Drive of 5037 km in 28 days
Temperature ranges from 3°C to 25°C this time of the year (February) 😌
Budget for 2 adults and 2 children (!children pay full price everywhere...):
- Flight: depends where you come from off coarse - from Brisbane: 1250€
- Rental car: small Mazda 3 (Jucy cars) 770€
- Petrol for 5037 km: 425€
- Visa: (NZETA online) 105€
- Simcard: (telstra good to have wifi everywhere) 55€
- Inter-island crossing: 160€
- Hotel/AirBnB: 2800€
- Food/occasional restaurant and visits: 2500€
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