North
Island:
Auckland: Tower, Bay, Kelly Tarlton’s Underwater world
Rotorua.
You’ll never forget your first noseful in this town. Rotorua is on volcanically active grounds, and the thermal activity makes the air smell like sulphur. A bit like rotten eggs, yes. But of course this makes the town also very interesting,. There are 2 parks with geysers and amazing colors of the earth from the volcanic ground: Waimangu Vulcanic Valley and Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. Go to Waikate Hotpools, every second 40 to 50 liters of hot water (90 centigrade), mixed with cold water, different pools with different temperatures. Cable car up, do a luge in a cart on a road. Lake Tarawera. Eat at Fat Dog, they have great burgers of about 20 cm high (yes, almost a foot, no joke!). Little church of Ohinemutu right on Lake Rotorua, very interesting window carving. Also the old hospital near the lake is an interesting museum.
Tauranga
The Strand, great bars and restaurants. Mount Manganui on a peninsula, nice walking around.
Wellington (capital)
LotR tours, Te Papa museum, very lovely town to walk around in, do the Eastern Walkway. Beehive the parliament building with interesting earthquake proof construction
Taupo
Famous for its Skydiving, Craters of the Moon, Huka Falls, hot springs mixed with cold rivers, find the comfortable point where the two are mixed and enjoy a bath in nature.
Tongariro Crossing
One of the best one day hikes, stay nearby (I stayed in Ohakune), arrange a bus service (NZ$25 for drop off one side, pick up other side). Start on the south side. Get a weather report, and be prepared for quick changes in weather (rain and wind jacket).
Northland, 90 mile beach, preferably with a bus tour, don’t get stuck in the sand, there already are some car wrecks left behind years ago, Te Paki Quick Sand Stream, sand boarding. Cape Reinga, northern most point of North Island of New Zealand, Paihia, dolphin watching (weather not good when I was there, maybe you will be luckier)
Coromandel Peninsula
buses go clockwise over the peninsula, lovely towns, Thames, Coromandel (Drivers Creek Railway – tourist train to Eyefull Tower), Whangamata (do the Wentworth Falls hike), Whitianga nice beach town, take boat trip to Cathedral Cove,
South Island:
Christchurch
Akaroa, Giant’s House with beautiful mosaics from the artist Josie Martin (linton.co.nz), lovely bays of Lyttelton and Taylor’s Mistake with baches, houses in the rocks,
Kaikoura
Whale watching, funny names, saw noodle a few times, sun rise is great to see there too.
Mount Cook
Abel Tasman National Park, sailing trip with night in the park on a boat, time to hike a bit around there too. Also kayak and hiking trips possible.
Queenstown
Unique thing to do: jetboating (special kind of boat developed to go in very shallow waters), paragliding, bungee jumping, eat at Surreal for a good dinner, for a burger you must have the Fergburger, even if you don’t need to eat for 3 days afterward (they are biiiiiig!), bar Pig&Whistle for karaoke, Buffalo Bar for a fun night out, The Worldbar cocktails in teapots, winter: skiing the Remarkables, Arrowtown just north of Queenstown is also worth a visit, with it’s Western-style streets and buildings, remnants of the goldrush in the 19th century.
Dunedin
do a tour over the Dunedin peninsula, including Larnach Castle, Scottish and only castle in NZ. I had a very funny guide. Baldwin Street, steepest street in the world, botanic gardens
Drive between Dunedin and Invercargil via the Catlins Coast. Seals, sea lions, yellow-eyed penguins, dolphins at Porpoise bay, petrified forest (fossils of centuries old trees) at Curiobay, Slope point, southern most point of the South island of New Zealand.
Invercargill
Botanic garden, movie and museum of Burt Monro, The world’s fastest Indian (the motor bike), Amazing thin-crust pizza at Sopranos, go for the Al Capone with lamb and mint-sauce,
Te Anau
Lakeview Holiday Park with lots of different kinds of accommodation, from dorm rooms and private one person rooms to cabins and 5 star rooms, trip to Milford Sound via Mirror Lakes and Homer Tunnel, weather doesn’t matter, because with rain it looks spectacular too, Doubtful Sound via Lake Manapouri and the Westarm Center (a hydro power installation, looks like something out of a James Bond movie), Kepler Track (even just parts of it, you can start at Rainbow Reach, walk to Shallow Bay and then all the way back via the Control Gates to Te Anau again) (or from Te Anau to Control Gates to Brod Bay and all the way back again), bar The Moose (with theme nights and karaoke evenings, they even have a courtesy taxi service to drop you off at your hotel again after drinking), bar Red Cliff small and cool too,
Franz Josef Glacier
go for a full day hike or even a heli hike. Make sure you get the right size shoes and crampons (those metal spike add ons to your shoes to walk safely on the ice)
Working on a working holiday visa in New Zealand
Watch a rugby game
Eat and drink: lambs rack with mint sauce. In Invercargil at Soprano’s pizzeria you can get a pizza with lamb and mint sauce
