Day 1 and 2: Flight

With time changes and long flight duration, we started travel on March 15 and arrived in New Zealand on March 17 (Basically March 16 never existed for us!)

*We drove A LOT on this trip! We decided that the driving was part of the fun of exploring New Zealand. You can easily buy budget airline flights

Day 3: Aukland

• Arrive at 7:45am and pick up a rental car at the airport

• Explore Aukland

  • Matakana Market (Saturdays)

  • Tawharanui—this is a fun nature preserve on the coast where we took a small walk/hike and enjoyed a picnic here

  • Charlie’s Gelato—on our way home we stopped here for a treat

  • We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening touring our family’s neighborhood and offices, but there is so much to do in Aukland (you could definitely spend more than one day here!)

  • Other Aukland Activities:

    • Muruwai Beach—Gannetts

    • Piha Black Sand Beach

    • Kite Kite Falls hike

    • Waitekere Museum (natural history, artifacts, military)

    • Waitekere Range Regional Park

    • All Blacks (we did this when we returned to New Zealand)

    • Skytower

• Sleep at family’s house in Aukland

Day 4: Hamilton and Hobbiton

Day 5: Rotorua

Day 6: Morning in Rotorua and drive to Coromandel Peninsula

Day 7: Coromandel Peninsula

Day 8: Drive to Wellington

Day 9: Wellington

Day 10: Wellington and Ferry to South Island

Day 11: Drive the Wild West Coast

Day 12: Lake Wanaka and Drive to Te Anu

Day 13: Milford Sound

Day 14: Queenstown

Day 15: Aukland

Day 16: Fly Home