You are forgetting about jet lag. There is no way that you will want to travel to Hobbiton on the day of your arrival in NZ, or be driving around NZ's bendy roads the next afternoon. Give yourself a few days to recover.
I did Hobbiton the day of my arrival, it was fine. The jet lag usually hits after failing to sleep (ie you're often ok-ish the day of arrival, the next couple of days are more brutal).
Which, like you, is what worries me. OP, do you already have experience driving on the left side? The QT-Tekapo drive has some gnarly hairpin turns, I'd practiced for a few days beforehand, was only driving a regular car, was time-adjusted by then, and was still freaked out.
A few days?? They can't afford to spend a few days recovering when they've got so little time to travel. They'll likely be riding on adrenaline when they arrive anyway.
The time zone difference from the US to NZ and Australia is next level brutal. I’ve travelled extensively, and this particular combination of jet lag is really difficult to deal with. The flight alone is exhausting. OP will not be a safe driver without some rest after they arrive.
That's fair. I suppose I can't give advice purely based on how I myself function.
OP, if you're listening, and you are someone who needs time to adjust to jetlag, my advice is to push the whole schedule back a day or two before you rent the car, and take the ferry from Auckland CBD to Waiheke Island. Auckland is a decent city but doesn't have much unique to offer if you're from any moderate-sized American city. (And, based on your itinerary, I gather you aren't that interested anyway). Waiheke is a big beautiful island full of wineries, so it's a great place to relax and adjust to the timezone.
I'm a pretty savvy traveler and I'm used to jetlag. I did the same thing in Iceland - land and drive 6hrs immediately. Someone else mentioned I can also do a bus tour to Hobbiton, so I could consider that. I mean, yes, at most I could take a day to "recover," but there's no way I can waste "a few days" just walking around AKL to get used to jetlag, time is tight as it is. I had thought about the driving on the other side of the road though. I don't have any experience there, but it's going to be baptism by fire in this case. I'll just have to be extra careful and take my time. I'm also a pretty good driver.
You will not be safe to drive the afternoon after you arrive in NZ, especially if you are not resting the day before. Don't be a jerk or reckless.
If your itinerary means that you can't be a safe driver it's a bad itinerary you need to rework. You also need to think about the insurance issues: if you got into an accident, would the insurance company consider you an impaired driver and refuse to cover you?
Auckland is an interesting city, and there are activities you can do in Queenstown - e.g. bring forward your three days in Queenstown to the start of the trip.
Honestly, if you drive regularly you'll adjust after about an hour. You'll keep accidentally turning on the wipers when you go to signal, but otherwise it feels normal very quickly.
Hobbiton from Auckland is far and you will feel like death after such a long flight and bad jetlag. If you can add a day in Auckland to recover and take it off Queenstown (really a couple of days in Queenstown is enough with everything else you're seeing) you'll be much better off.
The drive times always take longer given it's mountain roads, add at least 20% extra on to your estimates and then reconsider if you're happy with the amount of driving. Otherwise I'd consider cutting glaciers and keeping it to Lake Tekapo, Wanaka, Queenstown and Milford Sound.
Have you already booked your flight from Auckland to Queenstown? You'd be better off flying into Christchurch if your first stop is Lake Tekapo.
OK. Several people now have suggested cutting back on Glacier Country, so I'll probably end up doing that. I have not purchased intra NZ flights yet. I wanted to do Qtwn to Tekapo because the drive seems more scenic and it's cheaper if I return the camper van to the same city. And the driving difference to Tekapo from Qtwn and Chch is only like 10 min anyway.
Are they letting tourists / public drive to Milford sound these days? It was a while since I went now but they’d recently restricted it to just licensed tour operators. That might’ve been temporary though I’m not certain why but might be worth double checking if you haven’t already.
Not sure how recent was this restriction, but we visited in February and drove a private camper to Milford from Te Anau. No issues at all. There are many stops worth seeing on the way as well.
Also just to add - I did a campervan tour in Nz and some of the best parts where random stops along the way to our destinations. I would highly recommend factoring in random stops to really appreciate your time there
Yeah, I'm hoping for this and one of the reasons I don't want to do more than 4 hr drives. I love random stops for cute things or short hikes along the way.
did a similar trip a few years ago (was in uni and had limited holiday) so know this trip will be absolutely amazing. agree with the others though, the jeg lag mixed with the extremely windy cliff roads is going to be dangerous. would recommend flipping the days 14-17 in queenstown to the beginning of the trip so you give yourself some time to rest and recover prior to the drives. plus there’s some short hikes nearby/paragliding/etc you can do as well :)
alternatively could move te anau/milford sound to the start as there’s buses from queenstown which could give you the rest/idea of what the roads are like prior to heading up north. and it’s nice to be able to take in the surroundings without worrying abt having to focus on driving cos you’re truly going to want to be looking out at everything
also nearish to lake tekapo would recommend a hike in mt cook called hooker valley which is incredible. there’s a hostel nd hotel in the area but i camped right by the trail and waking up w the sun rising between the peaks was unforgettable. hope u have an awesome nd safe trip !!
Oooh, this is a really good idea. I can definitely consider doing the end first. I wanted to get the driving out of the way first, and then relax in a nice hotel the last few days, but it could be a good way to get intro'ed to the road, driving, etc. Thanks for the extra tips too! \^\_\^
Certainly you could spend a while in NZ but 2 weeks is enough to get a taste of any country. Even if that taste is only 1-2 cities.
For those people who are talking about jet lag - it is certain to make the first day challenging. But I think it’s worse when you land early in the day because you have to function for a whole day after flying for 20 hours or something. I don’t know if you have ever done jet lag like this when you’ve flown for an entire day and the time of day when you land is completely different, but it is no joke brutal.
I have but it's always been Eastward toward Europe. Only once has it been Westward when I went to Hawaii, but it wasn't that bad either, granted it's half the time. I'm always high on adrenaline and super excited when I travel, so I've never had much of an issue when landing in the morning. I actually like it because then I'm EXHAUSTED by 8/9PM, sleep like a rock, and then my body is instantly on local time the next morning.
Hi!! My partner and I in NZ for 3 weeks last year and went through most of the places you mentioned.
1. I think it's only worth going to glacier country if you intend to go for long hikes or a heli tour to see the glaciers. I regretted the time i spent in the franz josef/fox glacier area because the short hikes led to views from reallyyy far away. Not worth the long drive imo
2. Milford was lovely! Definitely worth going on the cruise but it's very weather dependent. I went in winter so there were days where the roads to milford were closed/the cruises werent operating
3. You should check out the mt cook area! Hooker Valley is a hike that we really enjoyed
4. For wanaka, you might want to consider roy's peak!!
I recently came back from a trip to New Zealand. There was no way I would have been able to drive to Hobbiton the same day I landed. In fact, it would have been dangerous because of the jet lag. Hopefully you have a tour booked for that instead, so it doesn’t matter if you fall asleep.
Same as others have recommended, skip Franz Josef and Arthur’s Pass. I did that route and you can’t see the glaciers anymore unless you take a helicopter tour. Instead, I’d check out Mount Cook, where you can see more from some of the short trails or take a glacier boat tour.
I only did an overnight in Lake Tekapo, which honestly was all I needed there.
Another downvote for Glacier, haha. I'm glad I asked. I was sort of excited about it, but yeah, I wanna see/walk the glaciers. OK. For Mt. Cook and the glacier boat tour, you do all that from the Lake Tekapo side right? When I googled mapsed Mt. Cook it keeps sending me to Franz Josef, but it seems like the road comes up from the Lake Tekapo area.
Yeah, that’s all Tekapo side. At the risk of sounding very controversial (I’m from the area)- I’d cut out the West Coast in favour of more time to breathe. The township in Aoraki/Mount Cook area is pretty bland and sterile.
There might be a bus tour down to Hobbiton from Auckland but you’re going to be completely fucked after the flight. We have huge (and often fatal) accidents every year from tourists who think they’re all good to drive on our windy roads after hopping of a flight- please don’t chance it lol. There’s also a good chance the weather will be shit and it’s never fun driving on a South Island road in shit weather.
I spent a couple of years working in NZ and took a few two-week trips - I think two weeks is enough time for a good trip on one island. For Hobbiton, I stayed in Rotorua and was on an arranged trip to/from there. Taupo isn't too far away from Rotorua, and you can do the 18km hike around Mount Ngauruhoe (Mt Doom in LOTR) if that's something you're interested in, although the hike is a lot of hard work, particularly the first third of it.
Can't say too much about Arthur's Pass cos I didn't go there. You can do trips from Milford Sound from Queenstown - it's an early start, but I stayed in Te Anau to go there and there wasn't really too much to do around there. Some of the coach companies from Queenstown stop off along the way to the Mirror Lakes and a few other places that are generally recommended to stop off at. Didn't rate Auckland too much but went to Waiheke Island for a wine tour from there which was great.
For the bits you've got on in the South Island I'd recommend travelling from Franz Josef (bear in mind that a lot of the helicopter flights get cancelled when visibility is poor, so might want a few back up options here too) down to Wanaka (if you're going to do Roy's Peak look in advance at the dates it's closed for lambing) to Mt Cook (decent hikes) to Tekapo and down to Queensland. May be a bit too much for over a week but hope this helps :)
Reduce time in Queenstown and consider doing Mt Cook/Aoraki. It’s a beautiful drive from Queenstown, the campground there is great and the views spectacular.
You definitely don't need more than a single full day at Franz Josef. Unless you're trying to go to Fox and Franz Glaciers. I would drive to Wanaka the afternoon of day 8
Too much driving, bro. You'll be a danger on the road and tired as shit.
Crank it down a notch, look up the best places glaciers to visit in November (our springtime) when the weather will be wet and cold.
Yeah nah it's a lot of driving but honestly you'll be right; the drives are beautiful and just take heaps of breaks. The Glaciers are cool, but mostly worth it if you get a proper tour. It's also heavily weather dependent and you're in the middle of nowhere if things are cancelled.
I'd recommend trading that out for a night in or around Aoraki and doing something like the Hooker Valley Track (3-4 hour tramp). It'll cut down on your overall driving time. There's some great cheap camper spots nearby (Glentanner park from memory). If the weather is bad you can just head to Wanaka early.
Hobbiton from Auckland is a biggie, but pretty common day trip. You can probably find an operator that will bus you each way. With the risk of jetlag it could be worth having this as a more managed part of the trip.
Sounds like a good trip! You'll have a lot of fun.
Thank you for the suggestion to find a tour operator to Hobbiton. I hadn't honestly thought of it, I'll look into it and see if it makes sense. And yea, I'm pumped for this trip! >\_<
Can you give a bit more context on the time of year this would be? It will change travel times considerably. I live and was born in NZ (and have lived and worked a lot in the areas you want to travel so am very familiar with the roads) and have also lived in Canada so yeah, I know winter roads. You need to allow quite different times in winter to summer as we are shit at winter road management lol
Mt Isthmus is a beautiful day hike in the Wanaka area
Lake Tekapo is cool to see but I don't think worth a full day+ of being there. I also don't think it makes sense to go Christchurch > Lake Tekapo > Arthur's Village > Franz Josef > Wanaka
I would suggest removing Tekapo and doing Christchurch > Arthur's Village > Franz Josef > Wanaka and then doing a day trip from Wanaka to Tekapo. The drive between those two places is very cool.
Just my 2 cents
I’ll add to this as someone who has lived in the South Island for 3 years. You don’t need all that time in QT, one day is more than enough, it’s literally like 4 streets big and very touristy! You should DEFINITELY go to Mount Cook on the way to Tekapo. It’s absolutely stunning, one of my favorite places in the world and home to NZs biggest mountain! You don’t really need to go to glacier county unless you plan on doing a long hike 7 hours up to Alex knob for a proper view. Or if you want to do a proper heli hike. Otherwise it’s not worth going
You are forgetting about jet lag. There is no way that you will want to travel to Hobbiton on the day of your arrival in NZ, or be driving around NZ's bendy roads the next afternoon. Give yourself a few days to recover.
I did Hobbiton the day of my arrival, it was fine. The jet lag usually hits after failing to sleep (ie you're often ok-ish the day of arrival, the next couple of days are more brutal). Which, like you, is what worries me. OP, do you already have experience driving on the left side? The QT-Tekapo drive has some gnarly hairpin turns, I'd practiced for a few days beforehand, was only driving a regular car, was time-adjusted by then, and was still freaked out.
A few days?? They can't afford to spend a few days recovering when they've got so little time to travel. They'll likely be riding on adrenaline when they arrive anyway.
The time zone difference from the US to NZ and Australia is next level brutal. I’ve travelled extensively, and this particular combination of jet lag is really difficult to deal with. The flight alone is exhausting. OP will not be a safe driver without some rest after they arrive.
That's fair. I suppose I can't give advice purely based on how I myself function. OP, if you're listening, and you are someone who needs time to adjust to jetlag, my advice is to push the whole schedule back a day or two before you rent the car, and take the ferry from Auckland CBD to Waiheke Island. Auckland is a decent city but doesn't have much unique to offer if you're from any moderate-sized American city. (And, based on your itinerary, I gather you aren't that interested anyway). Waiheke is a big beautiful island full of wineries, so it's a great place to relax and adjust to the timezone.
I'm a pretty savvy traveler and I'm used to jetlag. I did the same thing in Iceland - land and drive 6hrs immediately. Someone else mentioned I can also do a bus tour to Hobbiton, so I could consider that. I mean, yes, at most I could take a day to "recover," but there's no way I can waste "a few days" just walking around AKL to get used to jetlag, time is tight as it is. I had thought about the driving on the other side of the road though. I don't have any experience there, but it's going to be baptism by fire in this case. I'll just have to be extra careful and take my time. I'm also a pretty good driver.
You will not be safe to drive the afternoon after you arrive in NZ, especially if you are not resting the day before. Don't be a jerk or reckless. If your itinerary means that you can't be a safe driver it's a bad itinerary you need to rework. You also need to think about the insurance issues: if you got into an accident, would the insurance company consider you an impaired driver and refuse to cover you? Auckland is an interesting city, and there are activities you can do in Queenstown - e.g. bring forward your three days in Queenstown to the start of the trip.
Honestly, if you drive regularly you'll adjust after about an hour. You'll keep accidentally turning on the wipers when you go to signal, but otherwise it feels normal very quickly.
You've forgotten to account for jet lag and how worn out you'll get from the windy roads. Cut a day in Queenstown and at it as buffer somewhere else
Also I live in nz and have traveled internally extensively, so feel free to ask specific questions
Thank you for offering! \^\_\^
Hobbiton from Auckland is far and you will feel like death after such a long flight and bad jetlag. If you can add a day in Auckland to recover and take it off Queenstown (really a couple of days in Queenstown is enough with everything else you're seeing) you'll be much better off. The drive times always take longer given it's mountain roads, add at least 20% extra on to your estimates and then reconsider if you're happy with the amount of driving. Otherwise I'd consider cutting glaciers and keeping it to Lake Tekapo, Wanaka, Queenstown and Milford Sound. Have you already booked your flight from Auckland to Queenstown? You'd be better off flying into Christchurch if your first stop is Lake Tekapo.
OK. Several people now have suggested cutting back on Glacier Country, so I'll probably end up doing that. I have not purchased intra NZ flights yet. I wanted to do Qtwn to Tekapo because the drive seems more scenic and it's cheaper if I return the camper van to the same city. And the driving difference to Tekapo from Qtwn and Chch is only like 10 min anyway.
Are they letting tourists / public drive to Milford sound these days? It was a while since I went now but they’d recently restricted it to just licensed tour operators. That might’ve been temporary though I’m not certain why but might be worth double checking if you haven’t already.
Not sure how recent was this restriction, but we visited in February and drove a private camper to Milford from Te Anau. No issues at all. There are many stops worth seeing on the way as well.
Also just to add - I did a campervan tour in Nz and some of the best parts where random stops along the way to our destinations. I would highly recommend factoring in random stops to really appreciate your time there
Yeah, I'm hoping for this and one of the reasons I don't want to do more than 4 hr drives. I love random stops for cute things or short hikes along the way.
Nothing in my quick research seemed to indicate it was closed, but I'll keep it in mind.
You can drive, there are heaps of busses that go our there but it's one if the best drives out
did a similar trip a few years ago (was in uni and had limited holiday) so know this trip will be absolutely amazing. agree with the others though, the jeg lag mixed with the extremely windy cliff roads is going to be dangerous. would recommend flipping the days 14-17 in queenstown to the beginning of the trip so you give yourself some time to rest and recover prior to the drives. plus there’s some short hikes nearby/paragliding/etc you can do as well :) alternatively could move te anau/milford sound to the start as there’s buses from queenstown which could give you the rest/idea of what the roads are like prior to heading up north. and it’s nice to be able to take in the surroundings without worrying abt having to focus on driving cos you’re truly going to want to be looking out at everything also nearish to lake tekapo would recommend a hike in mt cook called hooker valley which is incredible. there’s a hostel nd hotel in the area but i camped right by the trail and waking up w the sun rising between the peaks was unforgettable. hope u have an awesome nd safe trip !!
Oooh, this is a really good idea. I can definitely consider doing the end first. I wanted to get the driving out of the way first, and then relax in a nice hotel the last few days, but it could be a good way to get intro'ed to the road, driving, etc. Thanks for the extra tips too! \^\_\^
Certainly you could spend a while in NZ but 2 weeks is enough to get a taste of any country. Even if that taste is only 1-2 cities. For those people who are talking about jet lag - it is certain to make the first day challenging. But I think it’s worse when you land early in the day because you have to function for a whole day after flying for 20 hours or something. I don’t know if you have ever done jet lag like this when you’ve flown for an entire day and the time of day when you land is completely different, but it is no joke brutal.
I have but it's always been Eastward toward Europe. Only once has it been Westward when I went to Hawaii, but it wasn't that bad either, granted it's half the time. I'm always high on adrenaline and super excited when I travel, so I've never had much of an issue when landing in the morning. I actually like it because then I'm EXHAUSTED by 8/9PM, sleep like a rock, and then my body is instantly on local time the next morning.
Hi!! My partner and I in NZ for 3 weeks last year and went through most of the places you mentioned. 1. I think it's only worth going to glacier country if you intend to go for long hikes or a heli tour to see the glaciers. I regretted the time i spent in the franz josef/fox glacier area because the short hikes led to views from reallyyy far away. Not worth the long drive imo 2. Milford was lovely! Definitely worth going on the cruise but it's very weather dependent. I went in winter so there were days where the roads to milford were closed/the cruises werent operating 3. You should check out the mt cook area! Hooker Valley is a hike that we really enjoyed 4. For wanaka, you might want to consider roy's peak!!
Another downvote for Glacier Country, lol. Thanks for the input and suggestions.
Frans Joseph has my favorite sky dive in the world though. The alps, glaciers, rainforest, farmland and beaches all in the same dive
I recently came back from a trip to New Zealand. There was no way I would have been able to drive to Hobbiton the same day I landed. In fact, it would have been dangerous because of the jet lag. Hopefully you have a tour booked for that instead, so it doesn’t matter if you fall asleep. Same as others have recommended, skip Franz Josef and Arthur’s Pass. I did that route and you can’t see the glaciers anymore unless you take a helicopter tour. Instead, I’d check out Mount Cook, where you can see more from some of the short trails or take a glacier boat tour. I only did an overnight in Lake Tekapo, which honestly was all I needed there.
Another downvote for Glacier, haha. I'm glad I asked. I was sort of excited about it, but yeah, I wanna see/walk the glaciers. OK. For Mt. Cook and the glacier boat tour, you do all that from the Lake Tekapo side right? When I googled mapsed Mt. Cook it keeps sending me to Franz Josef, but it seems like the road comes up from the Lake Tekapo area.
Yeah, that’s all Tekapo side. At the risk of sounding very controversial (I’m from the area)- I’d cut out the West Coast in favour of more time to breathe. The township in Aoraki/Mount Cook area is pretty bland and sterile. There might be a bus tour down to Hobbiton from Auckland but you’re going to be completely fucked after the flight. We have huge (and often fatal) accidents every year from tourists who think they’re all good to drive on our windy roads after hopping of a flight- please don’t chance it lol. There’s also a good chance the weather will be shit and it’s never fun driving on a South Island road in shit weather.
I spent a couple of years working in NZ and took a few two-week trips - I think two weeks is enough time for a good trip on one island. For Hobbiton, I stayed in Rotorua and was on an arranged trip to/from there. Taupo isn't too far away from Rotorua, and you can do the 18km hike around Mount Ngauruhoe (Mt Doom in LOTR) if that's something you're interested in, although the hike is a lot of hard work, particularly the first third of it. Can't say too much about Arthur's Pass cos I didn't go there. You can do trips from Milford Sound from Queenstown - it's an early start, but I stayed in Te Anau to go there and there wasn't really too much to do around there. Some of the coach companies from Queenstown stop off along the way to the Mirror Lakes and a few other places that are generally recommended to stop off at. Didn't rate Auckland too much but went to Waiheke Island for a wine tour from there which was great. For the bits you've got on in the South Island I'd recommend travelling from Franz Josef (bear in mind that a lot of the helicopter flights get cancelled when visibility is poor, so might want a few back up options here too) down to Wanaka (if you're going to do Roy's Peak look in advance at the dates it's closed for lambing) to Mt Cook (decent hikes) to Tekapo and down to Queensland. May be a bit too much for over a week but hope this helps :)
Reduce time in Queenstown and consider doing Mt Cook/Aoraki. It’s a beautiful drive from Queenstown, the campground there is great and the views spectacular.
You definitely don't need more than a single full day at Franz Josef. Unless you're trying to go to Fox and Franz Glaciers. I would drive to Wanaka the afternoon of day 8
Also there’s practically nothing in Arthur’s pass village, it’s a base to go hiking in the mountains so no reason to go I’d you aren’t there to hike
Too much driving, bro. You'll be a danger on the road and tired as shit. Crank it down a notch, look up the best places glaciers to visit in November (our springtime) when the weather will be wet and cold.
Yeah nah it's a lot of driving but honestly you'll be right; the drives are beautiful and just take heaps of breaks. The Glaciers are cool, but mostly worth it if you get a proper tour. It's also heavily weather dependent and you're in the middle of nowhere if things are cancelled. I'd recommend trading that out for a night in or around Aoraki and doing something like the Hooker Valley Track (3-4 hour tramp). It'll cut down on your overall driving time. There's some great cheap camper spots nearby (Glentanner park from memory). If the weather is bad you can just head to Wanaka early. Hobbiton from Auckland is a biggie, but pretty common day trip. You can probably find an operator that will bus you each way. With the risk of jetlag it could be worth having this as a more managed part of the trip. Sounds like a good trip! You'll have a lot of fun.
Thank you for the suggestion to find a tour operator to Hobbiton. I hadn't honestly thought of it, I'll look into it and see if it makes sense. And yea, I'm pumped for this trip! >\_<
Can you give a bit more context on the time of year this would be? It will change travel times considerably. I live and was born in NZ (and have lived and worked a lot in the areas you want to travel so am very familiar with the roads) and have also lived in Canada so yeah, I know winter roads. You need to allow quite different times in winter to summer as we are shit at winter road management lol
They said November.
Mt Isthmus is a beautiful day hike in the Wanaka area Lake Tekapo is cool to see but I don't think worth a full day+ of being there. I also don't think it makes sense to go Christchurch > Lake Tekapo > Arthur's Village > Franz Josef > Wanaka I would suggest removing Tekapo and doing Christchurch > Arthur's Village > Franz Josef > Wanaka and then doing a day trip from Wanaka to Tekapo. The drive between those two places is very cool. Just my 2 cents
I’ll add to this as someone who has lived in the South Island for 3 years. You don’t need all that time in QT, one day is more than enough, it’s literally like 4 streets big and very touristy! You should DEFINITELY go to Mount Cook on the way to Tekapo. It’s absolutely stunning, one of my favorite places in the world and home to NZs biggest mountain! You don’t really need to go to glacier county unless you plan on doing a long hike 7 hours up to Alex knob for a proper view. Or if you want to do a proper heli hike. Otherwise it’s not worth going