New Zealand any location suggestions?

[ST1]

I shall be visiting New Zealand in February, starting off on the North Island, after nine nights we then cross to the South Island for two weeks prior to going across to see friends in OZ.
Has anyone any suggestions for photo locations that I must not miss?
I know I'm not there for long enough but I have other constraints on my time.

[Ken MT]

What are your interests? Landscape, mountains, seascapes, birds, animals, nature, etc

[pnodrog]

I assume you are flying into Auckland and out from Christchurch. Will you be hiring a car?

Do not bother with the Sth Island unless you like snow caped mountains, lakes, glaciers, beech forests, rugged coast etc.... I think your time split is about right and if you do not mind a fair time driving you can see a lot. However depending on your interests you may be better concentrating on some key regions and taking a more relaxed approach. If you answer the above questions and those posed by Ken we can be a bit more specific.

[drjuice]

I was totally impressed with the Marine Parade in Napier. I needed to talk to my Mom on her birthday so I figured I'd be ahead to call around her dinnertime. So, I walked over to the Marine Parade and watched the sun coming up while I talked to her. As I understand it, the Marine Parade refers to the fact that it's along the coastline of Hawks' Bay and is concrete, suitable for marching on. The sunrise was gorgeous.

I was beyond totally impressed with Rotorua FWIW. Finally, wandering around the museums that my friends ran in various cities kept me busy for three days.

virginia

[rawill]

I assume you are flying into Auckland and out from Christchurch. Will you be hiring a car?

Do not bother with the Sth Island unless you like snow caped mountains, lakes, glaciers, beech forests, rugged coast etc....

Or a city smashed by an earthquake, though most of the rubble is gone now, only empty spaces where once grand buildings stood.

But anyway the questions above and the quote I have in the box above are important.

However, we are a bit of a biased lot!
Some of us think "our island" is the only one, then we miss out one of the jewels, "Stewart Island and its mate Ulva Island."

However, taking off my "biased hat", The Bay of Islands has to be on the to do list if you have the time.

[rawill]

Has anyone any suggestions for photo locations that I must not miss?
I know I'm not there for long enough but I have other constraints on my time.

Given the constraints you can still do well, however, be warned.
It may mean a strain on future household budgets as you try to squirrel away funds for another trip to the antipodes.

Rbn

[Mike Buckley]

Personally, I would never, ever go to New Zealand again. After visiting it the first time, it took me years getting over the fact that I had to leave and I refuse to put myself through that emotional anguish ever again.

[pnodrog]

Personally, I would never, ever go to New Zealand again. After visiting it the first time, it took me years getting over the fact that I had to leave and I refuse to put myself through that emotional anguish ever again.

I was so upset with the first sentence that I could not bring myself to read the rest......

[Colin Southern]

Or a city smashed by an earthquake, though most of the rubble is gone now, only empty spaces where once grand buildings stood.

I lived there for about 18 months around the late 70's -- loved it.

Have been back there recently a few times -- hated it.

The quakes have ripped the heart and soul from the place IMO.

[Colin Southern]

Personally, I would never, ever go to New Zealand again. After visiting it the first time, it took me years getting over the fact that I had to leave and I refuse to put myself through that emotional anguish ever again.

Meh - just another boring day in paradise here ...

[ST1]

What are your interests? Landscape, mountains, seascapes, birds, animals, nature, etc

Thanks for taking time to comment Ken, my prime interests are Landscape (I include mountains in that), seascapes, your other listings follow on logically. However my longest lens is a 70-200 so birds and small animals may be out for this trip.

[ST1]

Well those of you who praised New Zealand weren't kidding, what a tremendous experience we had. Practically every corner we drove around gave another "Oh Wow" moment.
We flew in to Auckland stayed two nights, then drove up to Paihia at the Bay of Islands (Stunning). From there we went to Tauranga, Rotorua, Napier and Wellington.
From Wellington we took one of the Interislander ferries to Picton, now that was truly wonderful experience with stunning scenery. The on to Motueka, Westport, Punakaiki, Fox Glacier, back up to Hokitika, then Arthur's Pass to Christchurch, to be surprised at how little reconstruction is/has taken place following the earthquake. There is some progress though not fast enough for our friends who live there. We stayed in Sumner for six days, traveling around that area, Lyttleton, Akaroa, Pegasus Bay etc. Then flew down to Queenstown for a bungy or two :-), Glenorchy etc. Sadly it was time to return to Christchurch for our flight to Australia.
Thanks for all of your suggestions and comments they were much appreciated. Robin @ #6 was spot on with his suggestion of having to scrimp and save to fund a return journey.

[pnodrog]

Delighted to hear you enjoyed it all. You seem to have visited most of the prime spots. At Glenorchy you were very close to Paradise - did you get there?

[Mike Buckley]

So glad to learn that you had a great time, though I can't imagine anything otherwise.

[Donald]

Peter

How long were you there in total?

[Val Mansfield]

Do the Grand Traverse with Air Safaris http://www.airsafaris.co.nz/

You need a "short" lens, if you use a "long" lens you will end up with rectangles of white. These guys go really close.

[wilgk]

My family still live in NZ, I am from the Deep South 'next step Antartica' I always tell people.
The central otago region is beautiful anytime of year.
I returned recently just to visit my folks who live just north of ChCh & it is very sad to see so many buildings still to be demolished let alone rebuilt.
Wanaka, Arrowtown, Malborough are 3 of my favourite towns/regions..... I am homesick now :-(

[ST1]

Peter

How long were you there in total?

Donald we were there for twenty two nights, which wasn't long enough. We went from there to friends in Sydney we spent twenty nights in Australia, between the Hunter Valley, Nelson Bay and Canberra. Having completed this trip I do wish we had spent only five nights in Australia with the other nights used to see more of New Zealand as we really didn't do it justice.
You would love the vineyard tours Donald 🍷😉

[ST1]

My family still live in NZ, I am from the Deep South 'next step Antartica' I always tell people.
The central otago region is beautiful anytime of year.
I returned recently just to visit my folks who live just north of ChCh & it is very sad to see so many buildings still to be demolished let alone rebuilt.
Wanaka, Arrowtown, Malborough are 3 of my favourite towns/regions..... I am homesick now :-(

Sorry I made you feel homesick, I shall refrain from posting any images from the trip just so as not to pile on the agony.

ChCh was a total shock to us, to walk around the City and see so many empty blocks some still with rubble over the ground was unbelievable. I did see two construction sites where new complexes were being built. Though at the same time there are multi-storey buildings still in the process of being demolished or waiting to be.
I was also surprised at how far the damage radiated a real eye opener to see and very distressing too, but...the Kiwi's are very resourceful (as I'm sure you will know) and are getting on with life.

[ST1]

Do the Grand Traverse with Air Safaris http://www.airsafaris.co.nz/

You need a "short" lens, if you use a "long" lens you will end up with rectangles of white. These guys go really close.

I'll add this to my list for our next trip Val