21-day itinerary

I know we said 14 days was too short, but 21 days is really not going to do the country justice either. Still, with 3 full weeks you can fit in sights on both islands, which is important.

Starting from the 14-day itinerary, we recommend adding a few days on the North Island, but more on the South. If you're keen on doing more city looking, add a day in Auckland for shopping or add Wellington for sights, but only one additional day.

North Island

North Island quick and dirty:

see 14-day itinerary for area descriptions

Day 1: Land in Auckland, spend one day and stay 2 nights.
Day 2: See either or both Devonport and Waiheke Island in Auckland
Day 3: Drive north to the Bay of Islands, stay two days and two nights; see area one day.
Day 4: Drive to Cape Reinga and also see 90-mile Beach, back to Bay of Islands, stay Paihia.
Day 5: Drive to Auckland, half day's drive, try to split up what would be a full day's drive, stay Auckland
Days 6 and 7: Drive to Coromandel Peninsula, stay overnight and split the sight seeing into these two days, one on each coast.
Day 8: Drive south to Rotorua, half day's drive
Day 9: See Rotorua and Lake Taupo, stay in Taupo, then go to South Island itinerary

Option for Days 6 and 7: Drive directly south to Rotorua, half day's drive. See Rotorua and Lake Taupo, stay in Taupo. Then,

Day 8: Drive from Taupo to Napier, 2.5 hours drive, do wineries
Day 9: Fly from Napier to Christchurch, then go to South Island itinerary

Hawke Bay (including Napier and Hastings)

The second-best (I think this is debatable to the residents there :) ) wine-making region in the country is Hawke Bay, there will be a definite wine-tasting trip on your agenda. Napier is a lovely city with what it seems to think is an art-deco feel, but it's pretty mild. Hastings, it's sister city 10 kms down the road is a growing residential community. Our one-day visit there didn't allow us to see too much, but we'll be back.

~top~

South Island

Spend most of your additional days relaxing as you drive around the South Island, because--we can't say this enough--the driving takes time and the South Island is much longer.

South Island quick and dirty:

see 14-day itinerary for area descriptions

Day 9: Fly from Napier to Christchurch, stay overnight, visit CBD
Day 10: Drive south to Lake Tekapo and Mount Cook and stay.
Day 11: Morning hike around Mount Cook then drive early afternoon to Wanaka; stay Wanaka
Day 12: Drive 2 hours to Queenstown, stay 2 nights doing all the adventure stuff
Day 13: Queenstown, including Glenorchy
Day 14: Queenstown river raft trip half day
Day 15: Drive to Te Anau and stay overnight, see Lake Manapouri.
Day 16: Early morning drive to Milford Sound, boat around, spend time, back to Te Anau.
Day 17: Kayak trip on Doubtful Sound, full day
Day 18: Drive to Dunedin, 4.5 hours, afternoon in Dunedin, see Otago Peninsula, stay night
Day 19: Take the day to drive up to Christchurch
Day 20: Day trip out to Banks Peninsula and Akaroa
Day 21: Travel day, flying day

Lake Manapouri - included in additional Milford Sound/Te Anau days

The town of Manapouri is about 10kms south of Te Anau and it's worth a visit to the town to see the lake itself. We boated across this massive lake to do a full day kayak trip on little-used Doubtful Sound and we would recommend this to anyone willing to do it. They day is long but well worth it. At the least, take a boat ride out on Manapouri.

Doubtful Sound

We mentioned this briefly in the 30-day itinerary as a wonderful suggestion if you want to see more of Milford Sound, but don't like all those tourists! Just down the way from Milford Sound is Doubtful Sound and if you launch out of Manapouri you can take a full-day (13-14 hours) kayak trip across the lake, over the hills, and onto Doubtful Sound where you won't find a boat in site, only a few kayaks and people from all over the world to talk with as you leisurely make your way about the Sound. HIGHLY recommended.

Dunedin

We've not been to Dunedin, but we hear the same thing about this cute university town: it has gorgeous scenery and it's bloody cold. We'll fill you in more as we make our way down there. For a reason still unknown to us, it is a sought after destination of many of the U.S. immigrants we ran into, perhaps because of it's pretty scenery and low cost of living. Perhaps avoid it in winter as we are told time and again it is bloody cold there!

Banks Peninsula / Akaroa

Outside of Christchurch the lovely Banks Peninsula boasts several small bays and towns, including Akaroa, and is worth your time for a day trip. The picture-taking possibilities here are endless!