NZ for 12 days with 2 tots - Nth or Sth island?

Seriously thinking of heading to NZ in January with DS1 (then, almost 3) and DS2 (will be 13 months). We'll be there approx 12 days (inc travel). It will be a fly/drive holiday.

Given we're only there 12 days, we only want to do one of the islands. But which one?

For those familiar with the country, what do you reckon - North or South. And can you tell me what attractions will give us the best "bang for our buck", so to speak. Particularly as anything we do will need to be relatively kid-friendly and pram accessible.

Anything else we need to know?

TIA, Andie

We did the south island with one 18 month old in a campervan. It was an AWESOME holiday. Most caravan parks are pretty kid friendly with little playgrounds. Towns like Queenstown, Arrowtown, Wanaka are nice to walk around and would easily be pram friendly. We used a carrier so we also did a bit of walking (such as Fox Glacier and part of the Routeburn track) that you couldn't do with a pram. Having the campervan we camped at some of the DOC campsites which are very basic but lovely places for our son to run around. Most campsites we stayed at were next to water so he just wanted to splash in the (freezing) water and had a ball.

There has been a hell of a lot of earthquakes around Christchurch and surrounding areas, so personally I'd be avoiding that. There is still a massive clean up happening over there.

Like Kat has said, be wary of the earthquakes. We travelled the South Island for our honeymoon and it was beautiful! We're definitely going back there when the kids are a little older to do it all over again. So I'd say go the South Island :)

On my phone so will be brief but south island for sure!
It is beautiful down there and you won't be affected by the earthquake stuff for the most part it islife as usual really ... Plus there is a he'll of a lotmore to the sth island and Canterbury than just Christchurch . Head down to Hanmer Springs, bout 90 mins south of Chch it is fabulous.

ETA up north of the south island around Blenheim and Nelson will be stunning sun and warm weather that time of year also great beaches ans scenery, markets and what not

I've travelled extensively throughout, and I can say the South Island is far prettier!!!! It's gorgeous!!!!!! All of NZ is, but I love South Island!! :D

Stay a few nights in Queenstown!!!!! :dance:

I am from NZ and was raised in Christchurch. South island is far prettier (in my opinion). Christchurch has had the large earthquake recently and are still suffering from some aftershocks, but it is business as usual there. The only problem is that there is obviously some damage that will take time to repair.

I agree with the suggestions of Hanmer Springs, Blenheim, Nelson (great wine country, more for you than the kids obviously!) Picton is also up that way and very pretty. Kaikoura has the whale watching which is amazing. Going to the glaciers is awesome also, Franz Josef is just beautiful. Queenstown is beautiful, but pretty expensive. Akaroa is a French settlement on the peninsula not far from Christchurch. Very nice. If you can hire a car/camper van then that is definitely the best way to see the South Island.

Hope you have a great time, I am very jealous, I have not been home for a whole year.

Janie xxx

Depends what you are in to Andi. If you love the nature, walking, beaches, etc then there is no doubt you should go to the South Island. Fly directly there and hire a camper if possible.
If you prefer the bigger cities and shorter drives then go to the North Island and go to Taupo, Rotorua, Bay of Plenty, Coromandel, Auckland. Still pretty, but not as dramatic as the south. You can hire campers for one way drives.
January is a good time of year.
Can I come too?

I agree with Lenny. South Island is great for fantastic scenery. There are the tourist spots like Queenstown and Hamner, but they are very expensive - in Queenstown even McDonald's charges more! Around Dunedin there are a few family things to do - albatross colony, aquarium, butterfly house. At Wanaka there is Puzzleworld which is quite cool and has a maze that your oldest would probably enjoy. Over in Cromwell you can hire a boat and go out on the lake. There are helicopter rides up to the glaciers at Fox and Franz Josef glaciers. Nelson and surrounds are just lovely and there are heaps of boutique wineries and breweries that way.

North Island, as Lenny said there is less driving between places. Most of the interesting stuff is at the top, so you can spend less time on the road. There are some fantastic beaches around the Coromandel, Rotorua has the mud pools. Taupo is a beautiful lake and there is a really good swimming pool/water park there, as well as kayak hire ect around the lake.

I second everything that's been mentioned about the South Island!

South Island all the way... it's absolutely gorgeous, so many things to see and do and not much travel time in between. Camper is a great way to see it :thumbsup:

Ya know what - you ladies are confusing me even MORE about which island to see :lol: Lenny, I'm not sure if you would fit in my suitcase - I have a bad habit of packing more than I need. You could try though - hee hee.

OK, if we did both islands, I need to know what is a must see, and what I can miss.

Can anyone shed some light ...

* Am I right in thinking Rotorua is THE place to go to experience and learn about Maori culture plus see a concentrated number of hot springs/mud pools etc? So we SHOULD go to Rotorua, right? Is there some other location where there's a great Maori cultural centre etc for visitors? Ditto, is there another place where we can experience what you get at Rotorua?

* Wineries - Napier or top of South Island? Where are the better wineries for tasting/scenery/etc

* Bay of Islands - really just a hole in a rock, right (er, don't mean to sound trite for those Kiwis who may read this). Something we could miss?

* An expat Kiwi told me Auckland is very ho-hum. Wellington is far more interesting. Can we give Auckland a miss?

I hear you gals about the Christchurch earthquake, but am happy to still go there. NZ is a volcanic island, isn't it. These rumbles are to be expected - just hopefully we're not in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Thanks for the help, again.
Andie

wineries - Marlborough sth island and up north around Nelson etc
Rotorua I have never been too but all told by kiwis and tourists it isn't that great.
Stick to one island you only have 12 days.
Auckland sucks - you may as well go to Sydney... it is just smaller and less interesting lol
Wellington is lovely but again you don't want to be spending too much time in a city like that - they are just cities like here but much smaller.... The best of NZ is outside the cities for sure.

Sorry for the dotpoints I am only phone still lol

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OK, if we did both islands, I need to know what is a must see, and what I can miss.

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- Personally, don't do both. You wouldn't be doing yourself any favours. It'll still be there in a few years time - do the other island some other time. It's just too much travelling otherwise. If you like the snow, you could do the South Island in winter. Beautiful.

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* Am I right in thinking Rotorua is THE place to go to experience and learn about Maori culture plus see a concentrated number of hot springs/mud pools etc? So we SHOULD go to Rotorua, right? Is there some other location where there's a great Maori cultural centre etc for visitors? Ditto, is there another place where we can experience what you get at Rotorua?

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There is actually a really awesome thermal area around Taupo too. That whole area. Yep, Rotorua is where all the bus loads of (mostly Japanese) tourists go, but you can spend a day at Orakei Korako and avoid too much commercialism. Mercury Bay is AKA Hot Water Beach. You can dig a hole in the sand and it fills with warm water. Fun. You can do this in places around Lake Taupo too.

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* Wineries - Napier or top of South Island? Where are the better wineries for tasting/scenery/etc

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Napier has beautiful wineries too (The Mission), but the South Island is probably far more famous and beautiful. Napier was flattened by an earthquake in the early 30's and rebuilt in the art deco style of the time. Quite nice if you like that sort of thing. There are nice but smaller wineries in the Wairarapa too. (Near-ish to Wellington)

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* Bay of Islands - really just a hole in a rock, right (er, don't mean to sound trite for those Kiwis who may read this). Something we could miss?

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Actually we are spending 2 weeks in the Bay of Islands in March. Can't wait!

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* An expat Kiwi told me Auckland is very ho-hum. Wellington is far more interesting. Can we give Auckland a miss?

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Give Auckland a miss. Give Wellington a miss too, really. But Wellington is much easier to get around. Windy, and the beaches are rubbish.

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I hear you gals about the Christchurch earthquake, but am happy to still go there. NZ is a volcanic island, isn't it. These rumbles are to be expected - just hopefully we're not in the wrong place at the wrong time.

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I think i'd give Chch a miss, just because it would be a shame to visit there and find that lots of the beauty is spoiled by the rebuilding process etc.
I'm not spruiking the North Island. Just answering your questions.

Confused?!

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Confused?!

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Yep! But thanks heaps for your help. And sorry if my Bay of Islands remark was a little distasteful - I've no doubt there's plenty to see there ... hope you have a lovely couple of weeks.

Sigh - decisions, decisions :cool:

I agree about sticking to just one island, otherwise you will spend all your time rushing around and on the road.

Rotorua does have the highest concentration of mudpools, but there are some other areas that are less touristy like the Craters of the Moon walk just north of Taupo. There are numerous places with thermal vents/hot pools. I can't think of anywhere else that has a Maori culture centre.

As for North Island wineries, there are a few in Martinborough (on the other side of the Rimutaka ranges from Wellington). I haven't been there but I hear good things about it.

You can also do the Tongariro Crossing which is possibly the best day walk in NZ. It is 6ish hours though so you have to be reasonably fit and it would only work if the kiddies are happy to go in backpacks (with breaks). It is about an hour south of Taupo and crosses the bottom section of Mt Ngauruhoe which was enhanced to be Mt Doom in LOTR. This is the area that I live in.

Good luck deciding.

To me the South Island just has some kind of magic. The North Island feels different, ver different. Whichever one you choose there will be plenty to go back for on your next trip :leap:

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And sorry if my Bay of Islands remark was a little distasteful

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I am SO offended!! No, just kidding. I thought it was kinda funny.

Have you considered tossing a coin :lol:

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Have you considered tossing a coin :lol:

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Brilliant idea :rofl: I swear it's starting to do my head in ... One minute DH and I say "North, definitely". Half an hour later we're like "But the south island sounds good". And we're generally good decision makers!

All the comments from BB plus friends IRL lead us to think the south may well be the place to go this holiday.

How hair-raising is the driving in the south given the country is so mountainous? Are we talking windy (as in lots of corners, not breezy!) roads with sheer drops over the edge? We should be able to drive a circuit around the island, right?

Thank you all SO MUCH. You're all helping to put this trip into some perspective for us. God forbid if we ever decide to travel Europe - eek, it'd take us a year just to work out our itinerary :o!

And finally - should we go all the way to Milford Sound or is Doubtful Sound just as speccy?

Thanks again.

To drive around the South Island is just magical! DH & I found it really cruisy. We were there for 12 days and that was plenty of time in the campervan to see most of the Island.

I don't think the driving is too windy but it is what I grew up with so I don't tend to notice it. There is a bit on the way to Queenstown called The Devils Staircase, that is quite windy and hilly. There are usually metal barriers on the the side if it has a steep drop off. But the best plan is just to stay on the road lol.

You can definitely drive a circuit around, cheapest to fly into Christchurch and go from there. I would personally cut Southland out of the tour, so go straight from Qtown/Wanaka/Te Anau over to Dunedin (via Milton). If you are feeling adventurous you can go via Alexandra and Ranfurly to come out at Palmerston, beautiful countryside but last time I was that way the road wasn't entirely tar sealed -although it may be now. Unless you like to look at sheep and cows, then Southland would be good.

Milford Sound is totally beautiful. IMO it is the prettiest place in the entire country. When you are driving down the road to get there and the rain is making all the rock face turn into waterfalls... amazing. It isn't that much further from Te Anau than Doubtful Sound and totally worth it.

Quick update - we've decided to postpone our trip to NZ till possibly November 2011. Reason being, it seems most of the less expensive accommodation or 6-berth motorhomes (which we'd prefer over a 4-berth) are booked fairly solid.
Seems silly to pay top dollar to go in January (with school hols in full swing in both countries), when we could go in November. This will give us time to save a bit more $$ and get some better deals on fly/drive/accomm or a motorhome.

Thanks to everyone for your help in giving us some good ideas on where to go. Can't wait to finally get to NZ.

Bring on November (... that is unless we DO end up TTC#3 successfully. Hmmmmm!)

Keep in mind that the world cup is in NZ until late October, so accommodation etc might book up quickly as people confirm their itineraries - some will probably decide to stay and have a look around after the final.

Ah, righto. Cheers for the heads up : )