Hi there. I am a Canadian traveller who will be heading to
Australia/NZ in june and july of this year. However I only
have 1 week to spend in NZ and my flight lands in Auckland
so my question is for others who have been or live there,
what have been your favourite sites to see? What are the
essentials or must sees? I'm not sure if I'll have time to
see the South Island so i guess we'll have to stick to the
north island. Thanks for your help!
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A week in NZ? Thats like saying I can see the entire US in
a fortnight - but get out of the North Island asap and see
the South - grab a flight to Queenstown and be prepared to
trade in your return tickets!
My husband and I only had 10 days to spend in NZ last year
so we decided to hire a car, stick to the Nth Island (we'll
go back later for the Sth) and limit ourselves to what we
would try and squeeze into such a short timeframe (plus we
were travelling with a 5 month old). We drove from Auckland
straight to Raglan (my husband loves to surf) and spent a
few days there. It's a lovely little town. We then went to
Rotorua which was really interesting and worth seeing (very
touristy though). Then we went up to the Bay of Islands, a
beautiful spot. Make sure you get out on the water though.
We had a really fun day sail while we were up there. I guess
where you go will depend on your interests.
I am an Australian Travel agent deemd to be an NZ
specialist, while I love the South Island of NZ - the North
has is splendor. The South Is along Canadian Rockies lines.
The North is very Maori cultural oriented and it has a few
adventourous things LIKE
Rap jumping off the Novotel Hotel in AUckland (face forward
abseiling), Zorbing (they even have a site) which is a giant
ball you dive into which rolls down a hill. There is white
water rafting down from Rotorua and a short 40metre jumping
point at Taupo as well as a the Huka Jet boat.
There is Mt Ruapehu and White Island both active Volcanoes.
You can visit Hot water beach where thermal water bubble up
in the sand in the ocean.
You can visit the lost village near Rotorua and smell the
smell you would get into trouble for during science class
(stink bombs). There is abseiling into the lost World near
Waitomo Caves (100metre free abseil). There is black water
caving. AT Napier you can see a city that has embraced art
deco as a way of life and around Hawkes bay there are
wineries aplenty. Kiwi's LOVE tourists and look after them
so much so that many North Americans call it home.
- and so it goes on and on and you still haven't gone past
the top half of the North Island.
Hope it helps
It will be the dead of winter in NZ--not Canadian winter--
more like a warm Vancouver winter. Expect lots of rain. I'm
a Canadian and have only toured NZ in the summer (three
times). The South Island is great but very much like BC.
The North Island has things you won't find in Canada. With
only a week--the first day you'll be recovering from your
flight, spend a day or two in Auckland and the rest of your
time in the Rotorua area. I also really like Great Barrier
Island (I spent five days)and the Coromandel Peninsula. If
you have two months to travel in NZ and OZ change your
plans and spend at the very least two weeks (three would be
better)in NZ.
I don't agree with the post from Sheena. The North Island
has just as many redeeming qualities as the South Island
and I've done them both. They are just very different, but
there's no reason to spend an extra day traveling when the
North Island has so much to offer. The Bay of Islands is
wonderful as well as the Coramandel Peninsula. If you like
cities you shouldn't miss Wellington, although it may be
rainy. We were told to skip the North Island when we
traveled to New Zealand and I can't imagine why. It's
wonderful.
I'm from Vancouver, and I agree with Sheena, North island Sucks, apart from - Rotorua which is ok for a day trip, But Auckland ...what a crap-hole, just another big boring commercial city....and whoopdedoo...its got rap jumping so the f...k what!!...and a big bouncy ball....must be bored out of your mind if thats all you can think of to do Wally!...
Much better In South island...yeah its got mountains like here, but mountains backed by a temperate rainforest...we aint got, with glaciers flowing right through the middle of the rainforest....now that is something special....and lets face it the best jetboating and rafting is only in the S.Island...you cant compare speeding down the narrow gorges at a 'Warp' speed, and missing the cliff walls by inches...FANTASTIC.....and apart from that the people are so much nicer down south....
so from one Canadian to another avoid the rain and big city crap of the north....if you want to get away from it all and meet genuin NZ's go to the South island