Off to New Zealand in about 5 weeks time? Any suggestions as to where I should make a point of visiting?

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â€¢ Koala â€¢ uÊop É¹Çpun

It will be cold yes, but still plenty of sunshine.
I lived in the south island for many years My must do lists are:

Wellington â€“ Te-Papa NZ Museum http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/Tepapa

Top of the south island start Nelson is a must with the great beaches, vineyards, outdoor adventure and art centres. http://www.nelsonnz.com.

See Abel Tasman National park http://www.abeltasman.co.nz - http://www.aquataxi.co.nz

Marlborough / Picton â€“ The Sounds - http://www.destinationmarlborough.com

Whale watching is in Kaikoura. http://www.kaikoura.co.nz
http://www.whalewatch.co.nz
http://www.whales.co.nz
http://www.worldofwhales.co.nz

Christchurch Best attractions are http://www.chchattractions.co.nz
The Gondola is great - http://www.gondola.co.nz
Christchurch's International Antarctic Centre - http://www.iceberg.co.nz

Franz Joseph Glacier - http://www.franzjosefglacier.com

Queenstown â€“ Milford Sounds, http://www.fiordland.org.nz â€“ Bungy jumping, AJ Hackett - http://www.ajhackett.co.nz

Wanaka â€“ Lake Wanaka - http://www.lakewanaka.co.nz/index.cfm/Home

Queenstown - adventure capital of NZ. Costly little place with all the attractions on offer. You can't pass up a bungy jump though. http://www.ajhackett.co.nz and the Milford Sounds, http://www.fiordland.org.nz

Enjoy your trip.

laplandfan

definately see bay Of islands

jammys

went there about 5 years ago to date the best holiday ever , people are so friendly Welly, Palmerston North, Taupo, Rotorua, Hamilton, Auckland, Whangerei and then the Coromandelly
go to bay of plenty as well
i don't know about freezing cold but their summer is in January you going to have a great time

H-man

The City of Dunedin is a great place to visit with wonder sightseeing around the city and surroundings. Larnach's Castle with its panoramic views of the Otago Harbour and Peninsula.
It is the southern most place where you can visit a Royal Albatross Colony without hiking for miles.

If you are into winter sports it is only a few hours drive to some of the best ski fields in the country.
Queenstown is in the area and is the home of the bungee jump, and is the adventure capital of NZ.

angmcmullen

While I was staying in Auckland I took a trip to Te Awamutu. It was worth the 3 hour coach journey to be in the hometown of the legendary Neil and Tim Finn. They even had a visitors centre and a museum dedicated to the brothers Finn. Marvellous.

Doug

New zealand is full of things to do!

Go to the bay of Islands, it sounds nice. Also i would suggest going to hawkes bay on the north island. Wine capital of nz!

Also go to the luge, zorb and volcanic parks in rotorua, or maybe go fishing in lake taupo.

Wellington has lots of shops, and has a great museum (te papa)

On the south island, go to christcurch and queenstown

Have a great trip, best country in the world

jude

Hi there. I just came back from NZ and thought I'd mention a couple of the less well-known things. Most of what I did was in the South Island, which will be a bit cold this time of year, so dress warmly!

If you get to Queenstown, don't do the regular bungy jump, do the canyon swing, it's similar but instead of going up and down, you swing out over a little valley, it was amazing and much safer (there is a high risk of retinal detactment in bungy jumping, according to my sister who is a doctor in NZ, so you shouldn't do it if you are short-sighted, which puts you at higher risk). http://www.canyonswing.co.nz/index.php

Just outside Queenstown is a farm where an eccentric stuntman has collected a range of monster trucks, quad bikes etc that you can ride. http://www.monstertrucksnz.com/

At Barrytown, just north of Greymouth, there is a cool couple who will teach you to make a knife in one day - and it's a seriously good, heavy knife. A unique experience. http://www.barrytownknifemaking.com/

Kaikoura, North of Christchurch, is a meeting place for whales, dolphins and seals. There are lots of boat trips out to see them. We went on a swim with seals, it was awesome. (but they're not there all year round, so check first) www.sealswimkaikoura.co.nz

Also in the south island are the Fox and Franz Joseph glaciers which are well worth a look unless the weather is awful (the problem with visiting this time of year).

If you want to avoid the cold, you'll have to stick to the North Island. My favourite memory from my last trip there was black water rafting (on an underwater river in a cave) at Waitomo. http://www.waitomo.com/

Good luck, have a great trip, and if you like sweets, try the Jaffas, the Perky Nanas and the Pineapple Lumps.

Hayley

Travelled South Island last June in motorhome. Was cool but pleasant during the day, nights were very chilly. Christchurch seldom rose above 10deg during the day when it was sunny Christchurch, Timaru, Te Anau, Milford Sound, Queenstown, Hanmer Springs, all well worth a visit. A trip I thoroughly enjoyed.

Max H

New Zealand...

South island is best and for long staying Christchurch, beach, clubs, near snow fields.

Go to white island in the north island to land on an active volcano, Taupo for cheap skydiving (half the prace elsewhere and the Tangaloma crossing walk... think after the orc caves in Lord of the rings.

And Rotura for Mauri stuff, volunteer to be the king and you may get to learn the haka here. And Waitomo caves inc the lost world one where you do a 100metet absail to get in, or scuba dive the destroyer in the Wellington Harbour.

Near grey mouth there is a mining town you can make knives. if you have the time and budget a samuri sword and you must do the glaciers ie fox glacier on the west coast of the south island...

Queenstown is aventure sports and skiing

hire a car or buy one in new zealand.

BUDGET AT LEAST Â£800 for this... transport there sucks.

stpredator

To avoid the well-worn tourist paths and experience the true wonder of NZ and really get away from it all, I'd suggest Karamea on the West Coast of the South Island. It has stunning beaches with forests and waterfalls coming right down onto them and it has a real feel of the land that time forgot. Other places in the South Island that are not so well-visited but amazingly beautiful are Haast Pass, The Catlins, and MacKenzie country. In the North island it's harder to experience the same as it's more populated but I would head to the East Cape area, which will also take in Napier and Gisborne, Hawkes Bay.

It will be very cold indeed in the South island so bring hats, scarves and coats. but in the North island it will be fairly clement still.

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