I want to save up for a special family holiday to New Zealand.

Holiday in New Zealand?

• i am planning a holiday in New Zealand (from NSW, Australia). Someone plan me a HOLIDAY!!!!! i would love someone to share with me the best things that they did and saw on there holiday. i want my holiday to be atleast 2 weeks, i want to visit / drive to both islands. id love to have a day or 2 skiing, rent a car, visit nice beaches, catch the train, check out the history of places, museums, art gallery, EVERYTHING!! but not to jam packed and stressful!! my partner and i are 24 and just want to have some fun -as this would be our first holiday together.

• Answer:

  2 weeks is not that long to pack everything in, so go longer if you can. Here are my recommendations: NORTH ISLANDS Auckland - good place to start but a pretty boring city, so don't waste any of your precious time here! Bay of Islands - From Auckland you can head up to the Bay of Islands for some lovely beaches, sand-boarding and dolphin-watching. Hahei/ Coromandel Peninsula - Hahei also has a nice beach and is good for kayaking. Also here is Hot Water Beach, where you can dig a big hole in the sand and it fills up with hot spring water - like a natural bath! (Check tide times before you go). Rotorua - Next stop is Rotorua, which stinks of rotten eggs because it's 'geothermal' - there are lots of geysers and hot springs here. Make sure you visit the Maori village of Whakarewarewa to see the huge Pohutu geyser and learn about Maori culture (highly recommend this). Taupo - This is the best place if you want to do a skydive, although you may have to wait around for a few days for the right weather conditions. If jumping out of a plane ain't your thing, this is also a nice place for walks around Lake Taupo and thermal springs. Tongariro Crossing - If you like hiking, from Taupo you can do the 17-mile Tongariro Crossing, the setting for Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings. It's quite hard going in parts, but worth it for the out-of-this-world volcanic landscape. Wellington - the capital city and home of the amazing Te Papa museum - this museum has EVERYTHING and best of all, it's FREE! From Wellington you can get the ferry to Picton on the SOUTH ISLAND Abel Tasman National Park - this is so beautiful, a must-see if you go in the summer. Gorgeous woodland paths, dotted by secluded bays with bright yellow sand and turquoise sea - just watch out for the sand flies! Franz Josef/ Fox Glacier - head down the rugged west coast to one of these spectacular glaciers. Do a glacier hike if you can - it's like nothing else you'll ever do! Queenstown - my favourite place in NZ. The perfect base if you want to go skiing (June/July/August). A load of LOTR was filmed around here at Deer Park Heights. Home to all extreme sports - bungee, canyon swing, paragliding, para-bungy - you name it, they do it! Awesome nightlife as well - make sure you have a 'teapot' in the World Bar (a cocktail in a teapot!). And all this surrounding the beautiful Lake Wakatipu. Love it! Milford Sound - this is right at the bottom of the island so you may not have time to travel down. It's basically a boat trip out to sea surrounded by mountains - it is beautiful scenery, but if you're pushed for time, don't worry about missing it. Invercargill/ Dunedin - these seem to be quite popular stops on the backpacker trail, but I wouldn't bother, they're just regular towns. Christchurch - A bit like Auckland, it's a good (air)port in & out of the country but it's just a regular city. Could be a good place to fly out of but I would recommend going up to.... Kaikoura - before you leave. This small town sits next to a gigantic ocean trench, which has resulted in a wealth of marine life - you can go whale watching, swimming with dolphins (both highly recommended) or visit the local seal colony. Well, hope that gives you a few ideas - hope you have the trip of a lifetime. I'm not jealous - much! ;)