Cruise or Land Trip to New Zealand

[paphoslady]

I'm planning a trip to New Zealand for my 50th birthday, my big dilemma is whether to do a cruise or land trip, or both. I am particularly interested in visiting Wellington, Rotorua and Napier and would like to see the geothermal activity in the middle of North island as well as exploring the vineyards around Napier. Due to work commitments the maximum length of our trip will be about 18 days. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

[GradUT]

Having been to New Zealand several times, I would highly recommend a land tour over a cruise. (Are you considering an organized land tour or a self-driving tour? For me, self-driving would be the way to go.)

 

While your cruise might make stops in Napier and Wellington, Rotorua is inland, so it would only be included as an excursion from some other port (if at all). I've been to Rotorua a couple of times and, for me, a one-day excursion would not be enough time there.

 

Some of the best places in NZ are not found along the coastline so you'd need a land tour to get there, e.g. Queenstown and Taupo.

 

With 18 days available for your trip, you should be able to visit both the North and South Islands.

[CruiserBruce]

I couldn't agree more. We have also toured NZ extensively, and would strongly recommend a land tour for the same reasons. Our last was 22 days, which was a good time to see both islands, so you can do it pretty well in 18, I think.

[Keith1010]

If it was me I would do both.

 

I've enjoyed many nice cruises and doing both would be terrific.

 

Keith

[whimsy7]

I agree with Keith.....do both.

do a short cruise from Sydney that goes counterclockwise..... finish the cruise in Auckland and then drive to visit Rotorua....fly out of Auckland or Wellington.

our cruise day on Milford Sound was the highlight of our trip to NZ.

[OzKiwiJJ]

There are several 12 day one way cruises between Australia and NZ, or vice versa, and some itineraries cover Wellington, Napier and Tauranga (for Rotorua) One of those could be combined with some land touring. The geothermal areas in the middle of the North Island, other than Rotorua, are near Lake Taupo, at Wairakei, and there is a smaller thermal area at Tokaanu at the southern end of the lake. Taupo is an easy drive from Auckland and 2-3 days there would suffice.

 

However you may want to see the inland parts of the South Island as the scenery there is spectacular. I would suggest flying to Christchurch, then driving to Queenstown via Mt Cook. Fly back from Queenstown to wherever your flight back home leaves from.