Travel into New Zealand
Auckland is the main international airport in New Zealand. Christchurch has limited number of inter-continental flights, mainly from Asian countries such as Singapore and Japan, besides Australia. Other airports, such as Wellington, Dunedin and Queenstown, operate international flights mainly to Australia.
From India, travel via Singapore is best as Singapore Airlines flies to both Auckland and Christchurch. There will be couple of more options if you intend to arrive and exit via Auckland. Overall flying time is ~16 hours from Bengaluru.
Travel within New Zealand
Domestically, the air connectivity is good. Some of train journeys too are very scenic though that requires more time. In my view, renting a car and driving is the best way to see New Zealand, combined with select air/rail travel.
Campervans and motor homes are also very popular in New Zealand. During my journey, I met people who had hired motor homes to go around the country. Certainly much cheaper than staying in hotels and I also noticed dedicated overnight parking areas in few places.
Public transport in larger towns is mainly buses. You will have to rely largely on your legs and taxis to get around. In smaller towns, you will need your rental car unless you stay put in the larger towns book tours.
Planning the itinerary
New Zealand has 2 main islands-North and South. An ideal travel duration is 3 weeks plus in which you can cover both North and South island. Alternative is to do North island on your first visit and South island on your second.
Key attractions in North island includeBay of Islands, Waitomo caves,Cathedral cove beach, geothermal area(geysers, boiling mud, etc) in Rotorua, Lake Taupo and Tongariro Alpine crossing trek.
Key attractions in South island includeadventure activities in Queenstown,Milford Sound fjords, Glaciers-Fox, Franz Josef, whale watching in Kaikoura near Christchurch, Winery in Marlborough.
Over a period of 2 weeks, my itinerary was as follows:
Arrival in Auckland, Auckland sightseeing, Day trip by road to Bay of Islands, Drive to Rotorua Rotorua sightseeing, Drive to Turangi via Lake Taupo, Tongariro Alpine Crossing trek, Drive to Wellington, sightseeing in Wellington, Flight to Queenstown, Sightseeing in Queenstown, Day trip to Milford Sound(missed due to bad weather), Drive to Franz Josef, Franz Josef glacier visit, drive to Greymouth, Tranz Alpine train to Christchurch, Christchurch sightseeing, Departure from Christchurch.
When to travel
New Zealand is in the southern hemisphere and hence, the seasons are directly opposite to that in the Northern Hemisphere.
December to February– the summer months and busiest time of the year with both domestic and foreign tourists travelling. Will be crowded and more expensive.
March to May/September to November– between summer and winter, this is the best time to travel. Not much crowd.
June to August– winter time. There will be snow mainly in the mountainous areas and rain.
Accommodation
In the larger towns(by definition, even the largest town in New Zealand, Auckland, is relatively small-with a population of only ~1.7million!), I preferred hotels with parking option while in the smaller towns, I preferred motels with kitchenette and free parking space. Best to stay in the center of the larger cities(near Cable car station in Wellington, CBD in Auckland) while in the smaller towns, you could be a little away if you have a car.
A room in a 3-4 star hotel with breakfast in city center can be booked for less than NZ$200 while 5 star hotels will cost upwards of NZ$250. Motels cost marginally less but can accommodate more people. Food options can be very limited in some of the motels.
Vegetarian food
No problem in bigger towns but in some of the smaller towns, it can be a challenge finding a proper vegetarian meal. In Wellington, there is a vegetarian restaurant run by ISKCON. Even McDonald’s and Burger King normally have vegetarian option. I also noted that in the smaller towns, some of the restaurants close relatively early in the evenings.
I had carried little rice and some ready to eat stuff. In smaller towns (Turangi, Franz Josef, Rotorua), it made sense to cook dinner at the motel. For breakfast too, I preferred to buy cereals, milk, honey, butter, bread, fruits etc. at the local grocery and made my own breakfast, since the kitchenette would typically include a toaster as well.
The average cost of a vegetarian meal per person in a fast food joint is ~NZ$10-15 which can beyond NZ$20 in a decent restaurant.
Activities/tours
When in New Zealand, the number of activities you engage in and the attractions you see will eventually determine your final budget! Average payments will range from NZ$40 to NZ$200-NZ$500 or more per person. Generally, activities done in a smaller group will cost less, what is done for individuals (say Sky Diving, Bungee jumping) will cost more. You will find variety of adventure activities to indulge in, and honestly, if you are going all the way, better to budget for few of these. I opted for Skywalk in Auckland, Parasailing in Paihia, Zip Lining in Queenstown, and Hot air ballooning over Canterbury plains near Christchurch.
Just looking at the infrastructure, the knowledge of the operators, apparent quality of the safety harness etc., I must say I felt safe at all times. But yes, accidents can still happen.
Wherever you go in New Zealand, there will be some adventure activity or the other. And the rates vary. So once you have fixed your itinerary, you can also shortlist activities to minimize cost.
There will be entry fee at most of the attractions costing upto NZ$50 per person, and much more if you take a guided tour. Except for Milford Sound, I did not opt for any guided tours.
For Milford Sound, I had booked to travel and return by a fixed wing plane to save time(~NZ$600 per adult including the cruise at Milford Sound and takes 4 hours) but unfortunately, bad weather lead to cancellation! Road trip by bus to Milford Sound from Queenstown is the cheapest option but takes ~12 hours. A combination of bus and flight is also available. All in all, you need to budget for a minimum NZ$250-300 per person. One can also rent a car but it takes 4-5 hours one way, so it will be tiring. Or one can plan to stay overnight at Te Anau, almost halfway between Queenstown and Milford Sound.
Additionally, the scenic train rides such as Tranz Alpine Rail costs NZ$200 per person for a 5 hour journey. Driving a car would be cheaper but I did not want to miss the chance of taking one of the top rated rail journeys in the world.