Anyone who knows my family knows that we can pack a lot into one trip. I decided pretty early in our trip planning that if I am going to sit on an airplane for 15 hours to Sydney, I am going to make the most of it and hop on over to NZ while I'm there. With my husband and dad being huge LOTR and The Hobbit fans, I did not have to try very hard to convince my family otherwise.
The South Island
Queenstown
The stunning city of Queenstown (ranked in the top 25 most beautiful cities in the world according to T&L) is just a short 3-hour flight from Sydney. The views coming in from the plane window are like none other. The city sits right on Lake Wakatipu and is surrounded by gorgeous mountains on all sides. Due to a flight delay, we weren’t able to explore as much as we had hoped, but the views are enough from any location here. We rented a car from Apex at the airport and headed into town. We stayed two nights at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel. The location was just what we needed to be within walking distance of the downtown area with all the shops and restaurants.
On our second day here, we took a full-day bus/boat tour of Milford Sound with the company Pure Milford. This was a FANTASTIC tour. The coach picked us up right outside of our hotel. We drove around 2 hours to the town of Te Anau and had a pit stop here for coffee and shopping. We then traveled the remaining two hours to Milford Sound, with multiple stops for photos of the breathtaking scenery along the way. (For those LOTR fans, the mountains you pass through on the way to Milford Sound are actually the Misty Mountains from The Fellowship of the Ring). Once we got to the Sound, we boarded a nice catamaran and had a two-hour boat cruise through Milford Sound. This is an absolute must-see! The waterfalls, blue water, adorable wildlife, and stunning mountains all combine to create an incredible area of the world.
We were fed a nice lunch on board, with tea, coffee, and water available throughout the cruise. The catamaran gets you right up close and personal with a few of the stunning waterfalls, so maybe bring a raincoat if you plan to stand outside on the viewing deck. Overall, this was a highlight excursion of our trip. Our coach driver, Dave, and everyone we encountered were so friendly and welcoming, and the views are worth every penny. Pro tip- this is a long day with long stretches of time on the tour bus. The views are incredible the entire journey, so you will not get bored. However, you may get hungry. Definitely bring a backpack with water and snacks.
Fergburger- definitely lives up to all the hype. The sweet Bambi burger was quite literally the best burger I’ve ever had. Not many places to sit and eat, so it’s more of a “takeaway” place, especially when crowded. Holiday Inn Express Restaurant- We ate dinner here after our 12-hour tour of Milford Sound. We were exhausted and starving, so the convenience of a nice dinner right at our hotel was much appreciated. The burger was not up to Dad’s standards, but the rest of us enjoyed the curry, fried rice, and fish and chips.
Hooker Valley Trek to Mount Cook
This is a fantastic hike suitable for all hiking skill levels, with incredible views not found in many parts of the world. The trail itself is either flat gravel paths, boardwalks, or swinging bridges the entire way to Hooker Lake. This lake is glacier-fed, and right at the base of the incredible Mount Cook (NZ’s tallest peak). The hike itself took us about 4 hours. We stopped at the lake for about 30 minutes before heading back. There are picnic tables by the lake if you wish to enjoy a picnic lunch. This hike is about an hour and a 15-minute drive from Lake Tekapo. Definitely recommend this hike if you are exploring the South Island! Pro tip- There is a bathroom at the beginning of the hike and one around the halfway point as well.
Lake Tekapo
Ok, this is quite possibly one of the cutest little towns ever, and I wish we had had more time to explore it during our stay. The town is situated right on the lake, with amazing mountain ranges all around. The town is considered a “low light pollution” site, making it perfect for stargazing. The church and dog statue- these two landmarks are located right on the lake and offer beautiful pictures with the mountain backdrop. We stayed at an Airbnb, The Opera House on the Lake. The location of this house was perfect, with a short 10-minute walk to the restaurants and shops in the town. There is a cute little bridge that connects this little neighborhood to the town, and on our morning walk we spotted ducks swimming around. Also, the water of this lake is SO blue. It’s just a really beautiful area. If we had had more time to stay and explore the area, there are quite a few hikes that I’m sure would have been incredible.
Ramen Tekapo- Everything we tried we liked! Fun dinner place in Lake Tekapo.
The Greedy Cow Café- We ate here for breakfast, and oh. my. I am a breakfast food lover, and this place is right up there in my top five breakfast places I have ever eaten; it’s that good. The waffles, pancakes, and breakfast platter were all fantastic. I don’t think you can go wrong with any option here. This place also takes the prize for the best coffee of the trip.
Mount Sunday
This is quite the hidden gem in the South Island. This mountain is the setting of Edoras from The Two Towers and The Return of the King movies. The film set has been entirely torn down, but the mountain is open to visitors for hiking up to the top. It’s a steep little jaunt, but my parents in their 60s handled it like champs, and boy, are the views worth it. From the top of the mountain, there are 360 degrees of beauty all around. We were the only ones on our hike, so we had the entire place to ourselves. It was Kyle’s favorite day of the trip and a beautiful place to explore even if you’re not a LOTR fanatic.
Pro tip- this is pretty out of the way from most other highlights of the South Island. However, it’s an incredible area and one worth working into your trip if you have the time. Some cute little towns along the drive from Lake Tekapo are worth stopping at for a bite to eat. This is privately owned land that the owner has agreed to let the public visit, so do your best to stay on the marked trail and be respectful of the occasional passing sheep or cow.
Kaikoura: We stayed the night here after our hike up Mount Sunday. We did not arrive here before 8 pm, so the town had pretty much closed up for the night by the time we arrived. We then had to leave pretty early to catch the ferry in Picton, so we were not able to explore the area in the morning either. The town is located right on the coast, so you have beautiful coastal views in one direction and mountains in the opposite direction. Pro-tip- the drive coming into Kaikoura from Christchurch is quite insane. You pass through the mountains with many switchbacks and end up driving along the coastal mountains through tunnels and tight curves. It’s beautiful, but if you are from the States and aren’t used to driving these roads, allow yourself plenty of time.
Picton to Wellington ferry: The ferry between the North and South Islands of New Zealand connects Picton in the south to Wellington in the north. Wellington is also the capital of New Zealand. We took the Interislander ferry, but Bluebridge is also an option. Our ferry experience was fantastic. There was a good café and coffee shop on board, free Wi-Fi, and plenty to keep anyone entertained. There was even a movie theater on board. However, since we came to see the scenery of New Zealand and not the latest Guardians of the Galaxy film, we spent most of our time out on the observation decks. As the ferry was leaving the South Island, we passed through many beautiful sounds and saw lots of ocean wildlife,e including seals and dolphins. We encountered a huge pod of dolphins just outside of Picton that were jumping out of the water and racing our boat. It was one of the most magnificent sights.
The North Island
Tongariro National Park
From Wellington, we made our way to the Tongariro National Park towards the center of the North Island. It took us roughly 4 hours to get here from Wellington with a few stops along the way. We stayed the night at the Skotel Alpine Resort. This is one of our favorite stays during our trip. The staff is awesome. We called ahead and told them our arrival time, and they kindly kept the restaurant open for us since dining options near the park are limited after 5 pm. The meal was fantastic- the meat lover's pizza, chicken schnitzel, and salmon salad were some of our favorites.
The next morning we woke up early to enjoy the sunrise over the volcano. It’s a stunning area of the country, and a must-see when exploring the North Island. For those LOTR fans, this volcano is the inspiration for Mount Doom in the LOTR movies. There are various hikes you can do while exploring this area. You can even hike to the top of the volcano; however, the trail is rough during the winter, with many parts of it icy and dangerous, so keep that in mind when planning your trip. Many of the hikes actually start at or near the Skotel Alpine Resort, making this a great base camp if you plan to spend a few days here. The hikes range anywhere from 2 hours to an entire day. This is also the only place on the North Island you can go snow skiing, making it a popular destination year-round.
Waitomo Glowworm Caves
This was a super unique excursion that every single one of us enjoyed. The tour we chose was the one-hour walk/boat through the cave. We started on an easy walk down into the cave (it’s paved and not very steep, also fine for those who are claustrophobic-myself included), and our guide pointed out various stalagmites/tights. We ended with a short boat ride into the dark area of the cave where all the glow worms are. I won’t spoil all the information the tour guide gives about these unique creatures, but it’s super interesting and a unique experience if exploring the North Island.
Hobbiton
This was our last excursion in New Zealand and such a great way to wrap up our trip. I don’t think I can speak highly enough about this place. Hobbiton is the actual film set of The Shire from the LOTR and The Hobbit movies. The set was actually torn down after the LOTR movies, and they rebuilt it for The Hobbit films a few years later. After the Hobbit films, they decided to leave the set up for visitors to come and enjoy. To access the film set, you must purchase a guided walking tour. The tour begins with a quick bus ride out to the set where your guide will take you through the film set, pointing out various things along the way. Our guide was amazing and did a fantastic job of pointing out where certain scenes of the movie were shot, or interesting facts about the set during filming.
The tour ends with a complimentary drink at the Green Dragon, the famous “pub” found in the movies. There are snacks to purchase as well- and I highly recommend doing so because everything we tried was fantastic. You have about 40 minutes to explore the area before meeting back up with your tour guide and commencing the tour. Even my mom, who has not seen either the LOTR or the Hobbit, enjoyed this excursion. There is just something about the quaint little hobbit holes and all the details that make you feel like you’ve stepped into another world. It’s really cool. Another must-see is exploring the North Island.
Final thoughts to consider when traveling to New Zealand
Flights- We took Qantas from Sydney to Queenstown, and our service was seriously fantastic. I am a huge Qantas fan after this trip and highly recommend this airline to anyone traveling in and around Australia. We were fed an entire breakfast on our 3-hour flight to Queenstown, and the complimentary Lindt truffles are a nice plus. However, leaving New Zealand, we flew Air New Zealand. This is a company I never care to fly with ever again. Everything that is normally complimentary on other flights was an added charge on our flight with Air New Zealand. Just about every show or movie option had to be purchased, and on a 6-hour flight, we were not offered even a snack. The only options available complimentary (without having to purchase them) were tea, coffee, and water. When they did bring out the breakfast for those passengers whose tickets apparently included the meal option, they ended up feeding basically the entire plane but the back 5 rows. Quite ridiculous in my opinion, especially considering our flight with Air New Zealand was the second most expensive flight of our entire trip (second only to our flight from America to Sydney).
Driving- if you have never driven on the opposite side of the road (meaning from the USA or a country where we drive on the right-hand side of the street) and want to rent a car to explore NZ but are nervous, starting in a smaller city like Queenstown was honestly so nice for us. It’s a small enough town without a ton of traffic, so it’s much easier to get the hang of it before driving in super heavy traffic.
Customs- this is a biggie. NZ is one of the strictest countries I've visited in terms of biosecurity. They WILL check your bags and confiscate anything that resembles fresh fruit, fresh veggies, meat, eggs, plants, etc. We had an open bag of beef jerky taken. I suggest looking at this before traveling so you don't end up frustrated at the airport before your trip even begins.
The South Island has the classic NZ mountainscapes everyone dreams of seeing, but definitely check out the unique things the North Island has to offer as well. I wish we would have had more time to spend on the North Island because there is so much we did not get to see.
If traveling in June, July, or August (our summer in the U.S.), keep in mind that it's winter in NZ, and it's COLD, especially on the South Island. Bring your winter gear; you'll regret it if you don't.
Lastly, I think NZ has been one of my favorite trips in my lifetime. The scenery is stunning, the people were so friendly, and the country has such a rich heritage you can immerse yourself in while you visit. Not to mention it's the filming location for so many good movies, LOTR and The Hobbit being the most obvious ones. It's a top bucket list place to visit in my opinion and hands down worth the trip to get there.
