My husband and I took this trip back in 2017, I had to pump like four times a day because my son (who was staying with my parents) was still nursing, and it is still, to this day, the best vacation I have ever been on. I would go back to New Zealand in an instant. While it’s been a long time, I still have our itinerary (which I plan in excruciating detail), so I figured I’d share it in case it’s helpful for anyone else! You’ll find our day to day schedule below along with some notes (my husband didn’t do a trip journal for this trip, so it’ll just be from my memory after seven years) and then overall thoughts at the bottom.

Please keep in mind that we like to move really fast on our vacations and cover a lot of ground. In fact, the folder that my husband saved our pictures under is called “Breakneck Zealand.”

Day 1: (Mar 17) Auckland
– Arrive in Auckland at 0555
– Rent a car
– Go to PakNSav for breakfast supplies
– Check in hotel (Oaklands Lodge) and spend the day in Auckland
– Auckland activities: Cornwall Park and Domain Park (Recommend)
– Auckland eats: (I can’t actually remember where we ate, but these are the places I had written down that were close-ish to our hostel) Best Ugly Bagles, Burger Fuel, Wok n Noodle Bar, Eden Village Fish Shop, Zool Zool, Namaste Bar
Notes: Auckland was gorgeous. I absolutely loved the parks and walking around the city. However, I underestimated how tired we would be after the 14-hour flight, and I made my poor husband walk 13 miles around the city. Later on, we would discover the public buses were extremely easy to navigate, and we definitely should’ve used them! Our hostel (we stayed mostly in hostels with private rooms) was also cozy and in a good location. My husband also had to learn how to drive on the left side of the road, which is always an exciting adventure. 😂 But I think he got the hang of it much faster than he thought he would.

Day 2: Waitomo & Drive to Tonga
– Leave at 0600 and drive 2.5 hours to Waitomo
– Waitomo Eats: Waitomo general store (takeout Indian not Far)
– Check in at 0830 for 5-hour Glowworm Black Abyss Tour (Recommend)
– Finish at 1400 and drive 2 hours to Tonga
– Tonga eats: Groceries
– Stay at Plateau Lodge
Notes: Okay, first of all, I cannot under-describe the beauty of the New Zealand countryside, and the Glowworm tour was a blast. I also had written in our agenda ” If time/energy, visit Huka Falls & Lake Taupo” But, with the jetlag and the 13 mi walk the previous day, I’m pretty sure we were so exhausted when we got to the hostel we turned in. Plateau Lodge was a another cozy hostel with a great location, a shuttle to Tongariro, and a good kitchen that fit what we needed.

Day 3: Hike Tongariro Crossing (MUST-DO)
– Use hotel shuttle and hike Tongariro Crossing (leave at 0730, return at 1530)
– Drive 4.5 hours back to Auckland
– Stay at Oaklands Lodge in Auckland.
Notes: This is one of my favorite, most memorable hikes I’ve ever done. And not just because Mt Tongagiro is Mt Doom from the Lord of the Rings movies. Tongariro Crossing is a 12 mi point to point with wildly beautiful and varying landscape. And if you plan on summit-ing Mt Tongariro itself, you need to add about 2 hours for the extra 1.2 mi. We did not take that side hike because we weren’t sure if we would be able to make it to our shuttle in time. (There was a later shuttle but it was MUCH later and we still needed to drive back to Auckland.) In retrospect this was a good choice, because we were definitely tired at the end of the hike as it was and we would’ve had to BOOK it to make the early shuttle. Though I don’t remember it being crowded at all, as of 2023, apparently you need to book tickets for your Tongariro crossing in advance so you can be sure to get a shuttle.

Day 4: Travel to Milford Sound
– Fly to Queenstown
– Rent Car
– Drive 4 hours to Milford Sound
– Stop in Te Anau and pick up key lock and hiking tickets (see Routeburn Track Day below)
– Stay at Milford Lodge
Notes: This was mostly a travel day for us, but the drive from Queenstown to Milford is beautiful. I think I harbored fantasies that we might be able to do stuff on our way through Queenstown, but we definitely didn’t have time. It wasn’t a huge deal though because we had more time in Queenstown later on in the trip. Milford Lodge was the one place where we shared a room with another couple, but jet-lagged as we were, I think we fell asleep before they got there and left before they woke up. Not ideal, but lodging around Milford is sparse so we felt lucky to get a room.

Day 5: Milford Sound (MUST-SEE)
– Kayak tour and hike around
Notes: This is a place our photos will *never* do justice. It is beyond beautiful and just completely surreal. I don’t think the kayak tour was a must do, but in general, this place is a must visit.

Day 6: Routeburn Track Hike (MUST-DO)
– Hike 14 miles and stay at Routeburn Falls Hut
Notes: To this day, the best hike I’ve ever done. We did the Routeburn as a two day hike, staying at one of the bunk/dorm style huts along the way, and hired someone to drive our car from the start of the trail to the end. Even looking at the pictures makes me want to go back and hike some more. Honestly, if you’re a hiker, don’t miss this one. Pictures don’t do justice.

Day 7: Routeburn Track Hike & Queenstown
– Hike 7 miles
– Care ready at 1130
– Drive 1 hour back to Queenstown
– Ate at Fergburger for lunch and Erik’s Fish and chips for dinner (solid eats but the crowd at Fergburger is nuts)
– Drive the Luge in Queenstown (Recommend)
– Stay in Absoloot Value in Queenstown (solid)
Notes: Pardon the absolute glut of pictures (trust me, we have so many more), I don’t know how else to convey how amazing this hike is. I think I also entertained the fantasy of us hiking Ben Lomond in Queenstown, but we really just ran out of time/energy. We drove the Luge and walked around and that was just right for today.

Day 8: Mt Cook National Park
– Drive 3 hours to Mt Cook National Park
– Hike (I cannot remember which hikes we did, but I have written down: Hooker Valley Track, Red Tarns, Tasman Lake Walk, Sealy Tarns)
– Stayed at YHA Mt Cook (solid.)
Notes: In retrospect, if I had to cut one thing from our itinerary, it probably would’ve been this. I enjoyed the drive out to the park, but I remember being a little underwhelmed by the Mt Cook hikes after the wonders of Milford Sound and the Routeburn Track. In fairness, it was a cloudy day, but then magically, it cleared up that night, and I saw some of the brightest stars in my life. (And it’s always cool to look at the Southern Hemisphere Constellations)

Day 9: Hike and Drive to Queenstown
– Hike around Mt Cook National Park
– Drive back to Queenstown
– Stay at Bungi Backpackers (I remember not being crazy about this place.)
Notes: Full disclosure, we were starting to get fatigued and used this as a bit of a recharge day.

Day 10: Travel to Bay of Islands for Rock Adventure Cruise (MUST-DO)
– Fly to Auckland
– Drive 3.5 hours to Bay of Islands
– Stay the Floating Hostel (The 1-day Rock Adventure Cruise)
Notes: Okay, my husband and I almost called an audible and didn’t do this (it had been a long day and it was pouring when we got The Bay of Islands) but that would’ve been a HUGE MISTAKE, and I’m SO incredibly glad we did this. Like, I’m even smiling thinking about it right now. Heck, I’m even going to link it. If I ever go back to NZ, I’m totally doing this again. This was SO much fun. I have never kissed so many fish in my life (IYKYK) and my husband even caught an octopus (though he did not kiss it.) Looking at the stars as you float in bioluminescent algae, fantastic guides/hosts and just a super fun atmosphere on board. Cannot recommend enough.

Day 11: Rock Adventure Cruise & Drive to Rotarua
– Spend the morning on the Rock Hostel
– Leave at 3 p.m. and drive 6 hours to Rotarua
– Stay at Rock Solid Backpackers (Solid)
Notes: The Bay of Islands is GORGEOUS. Also have I mentioned the Rock Adventure Cruise was a complete blast? It was the perfect place to recharge while having fun near the end of our trip.

Day 12: Rotarua
– Te Puia (Recommend)
– Whakarewarewa – The living Maori Village & Forest (Recommend)
– Hobbiton (MUST-DO)
– Drive 3.5 hours back to Auckland
Notes: Te Puia and Whakarewarewa were really interesting from a cultural perspective, and the geothermal activity there is really interesting there as well. We were actually supposed to go whitewater rafting today, but it was cancelled due to high water levels. So on a whim, we decided to go Hobbiton and it was the BEST AUDIBLE EVER. I like Lord of the Rings but I’m not a mega-fan or anything, so at first, it wasn’t even on our itinerary. But Hobbiton is hands down incredible. It is absolutely gorgeous and the level of detail is astounding. Somehow we managed to luck out on a random Tuesday when crowds were incredibly low, our guide was amazing, and we had a blast. It horrifies me that we almost missed out on it!

Day 13: Sydney, Australia
– Fly to Sydney
– See the Opera House (Recommend)
– Do the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk (Recommend)
– Stay at Jackaroo Hostel Kings Cross (solid)
Notes: It just so happens that it was cheaper for us to go ATL->Auckland->Sydney->ATL then to do a roundtrip from ATL to Auckland. Go figure! I’d traveled around Australia before, but since my husband had never been, I wanted him to at least see Sydney. However, I would like to note that at this point, we were both getting pretty exhausted, so, as beautiful as Sydney is, we were starting to look forward to going home.

Day 14: Thursday, Mar 30 – Featherdale (Recommend)
Notes: If you want to go see the bizarre creatures of Australia and feed a wallaby, this is the place to go! This was my second trip to Featherdale, and while I enjoyed it, it was a little out of the way, and we were definitely worn out and ready to go home at this point.

Day 15: Friday, Mar 31 – Fly home!
Overall Notes: So yeah, like I said, this was definitely my favorite vacation I’ve ever been on and certainly the most memorable (even if we were exhausted by the end!) Whenever someone asks a recommendation of where to travel, or one place I’d travel back to it, it’d be New Zealand.

There were so many must-do and must-see things that it’s hard to pick a favorite, but if I *had* to trim a few things from the itinerary, I’d probably nix Mt. Cook and the hop to Sydney (though if it had been my first time in Sydney/Australia, I might’ve felt differently.) And what’s crazy is that even though we saw so much, I feel like there are so many things we didn’t get to do! So yeah, hoping to one day make it back to New Zealand. 💛

Anyways, hope this was helpful, and if you have any questions about the itinerary or anything, feel free to ask! If you’d like to check out our other itineraries for our other trips over the years you can find them here!