nhastings Loc: Telluride, CO

I will be heading to New Zealand in the beginning of May. Yes, I know it is fall there and the weather can be iffy. However, that is when I am going and any help I can get from my esteemed friends on UHH would be well appreciated. Will be on the Southern Island for 4 days and the Northern Island for 4 days. Any suggestions as to the best photographic areas? Not sure whether we will be renting a car or using tour operators. Doing my research now. Thank you all in advance for your recommendations. Neil

dyximan

I was there some years back but if you can get a helicopter ride to the glacier, if you can overlook the waters that flow from the glacier absolutely beautiful the colors are incredible. The fjords. A lake or town called or in teanu, Will have to check my spelling it’s like a sheet of glass reflections are incredible, christ church with some of the old schools look like English manors, Mt Cook. You can easily go from one end of the island to the other in less than a day driving, or on a bus you can see a lot. This is for the South Island only I’ve never been to the north. You can also Google there were some really nice caves with stalagmites and tited, nice to see

TonyP Loc: New Zealand

Its anybodys guess regarding New Zealands' weather, at any time. Seems we have all the symptoms of global warming. February is the peak of our summer, normally, but we've so far had everything from balmy very hot days thru to this weeks offering of drenching rain. Weird. And today we are advised another cyclone might make landfall here next week.
Anyway Neil, if there is anything specific I can give you my opinion on, just ask. We spend quite a bit of time traveling New Zealand in our Camper and my time is spent mainly taking pics as we go. You might get some ideas for your travels from my website (below my signature).
If you are visiting Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty, would be very happy to meet up for a coffee or something. We are 1 hour from Rotorua, which you might want to visit to experience some Maori culture. The South Island will possibly be chilly in May (so do bring some good 'weather' gear) but the photo ops will abound. Probably one of the prettiest times of the year for landscape photography. Trees full of colour, snow on the Southern Alps.
As said, let me know if I can narrow your options down. 4 days in each island ain't much so your time will be valuable. (we usually spend more than a month each time we visit the South Island, and still find places we havent seen, same in the North).
From North to South, (some of my suggestions for someone with limited time):
Bay of Islands (Russell)
Rotorua
Wellington (the Capital of NZ and a very pretty city as well)
Bluebridge ferry from Wellington to Picton (in the South Island) via the Marlborough Sounds.
Queenstown (tourist mecca, expensive but another very pretty part of the country, especially if snow on the Remarkables Range)
Time allowing, a boat trip around Fiordland. (Weather dependent, breathtaking scenery). We haven't visited for over 20 years as we travel with a dog and this whole area is 'dogs prohibited.
I could go on and on with suggestions but without knowing your interests it would probably be a bit futile
Cheers

TonyP Loc: New Zealand

Sorry to say it dyximan but personally I wouldn't try driving from the top of the South Island to the bottom in one day. Its over 1000kms, even if one follows the direct route via the Eastern coast highway. Our open road speed limit is 100kph, but there are many towns and cities to drive thru where the speed limit is 50kph. You wouldn't have much time to see anything or have meal stops (and toilet breaks).
Christchurch is going through a rebuild due to the terrible earthquakes of recent times. Its coming back, but many of those old buildings have been demolished. Christchurch is very English though and the further south you go it seems the more English heritage you see. (On the East Coast).
Yes Lake Te Anau and Mt Cook are beautiful and very photogenic. They are on the West Coast however and driving over to the West Coast though the Passes can be slow (and sometimes dangerous for those inexperienced driving on the left).
Just saying

dyximan

I didn’t say you should but that or at least I thought you could.

alawry Loc: Timaru New Zealand

The good news is, in my opinion, the weather here is at it's most settled in late summer. Still very changeable though, it's to do with where we are on the southern ocean current system. Don't try to cover too much ground in the time you have, all you will see is the road. It seems anywhere is photogenic, if the weather and light is on your side. I know two people in my town, both professional photographers, who seem to make a scene that I see every day into a calendar photo. I guess it's timing, and angle. I watch them and try to learn from them. Please be careful on our roads for your safety and ours. Welcome Neil.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

tripadvisor.com

cdayton

Don’t miss Rotorua (thermal area) on the N island and agree with other recommendations. A flight over the “Southern Alps” is fabulous. If you’re a birder, the albatross centre on the Otago peninsula is mandatory but check for the breeding season. I would definitely rent a car - 8 days isn’t much time (we spent 3 weeks touring from Auckland to Dunedin). Oh, yes, watch out for the sheep - they have dibs on the roads.

cdayton

PS We used the Best Western booking guide and rented motel rooms on the fly (except for one night at the “world famous” Heritage, Mt Cook) with great results.

cdayton

PPS Hermitage.

cdayton

PPS Hermitage.

venkatesh_eng

We had been to NZ many years ago when my sister and brother -in law used to live there. We toured the North Island only. Drove (brother-in-law the driver) from Wellington to Auckland . Some of the places visited:

Castle Point - a beach near Wellington - I could not believe how blue the waters were
Rotorua and Napier - for the thermal springs (whole area lot of thermal pools - every motel or hotel has a natural thermal pool). Definitely worth a visit.
Mt Ruapehu in Tongariro National Park - (some of the scenes from Lord of the Rings were shot here as I now read)
Waitomo Glow Worm Caves- (they take you on a small boat like a kayak into these underwater caves and in pitch darkness you can see thousands of glow worms) - not to be missed
Rainbows End - Amusement Park in Auckland ( Like Six Flags)
Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World in Auckland (Aquarium by the ocean front)


One place in South Island which I heard not to be missed is:
Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound which are part of the Fiordland National Park - ( by ferry ride ) one would surrounded by waterfalls from mountains that flow into the ocean - awe inspiring as I was told by my brother in law when he had visited on an earlier trip. Sadly we did not have time to go here this time.

Corsica fox

8 days in NZ is very limited especially if you drive. Mostly 2 lane roads with no shoulders, figure an average speed of 40 MPH at best.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Tony, we have been contemplating a trip to NZ here in the near future as well. I despise canned tours. So is renting an automobile feasible? Also there would be no marathon driving but more wandering less traveled places avoiding the usual tourist traps and "hot spots". Are the smaller communities generally equipped with room rental spaces in hotels etc? as we would have no itinerary and would stop when we pleased even if we only got 5-10 miles down the road for the day.

David in Dallas Loc: Dallas, Texas, USA

I've been to New Zealand twice--20 days in 2004 and 12 days in 2017. Both trips were "canned" tours with resident guides and planned transportation. There was not a lot of overlap between the 2 tours, either. It is not possible to just drive from one island to the other--no bridge--vehicle travel uses a ferry, and that involves time. Milford Sound is very nice--both trips went there (overnight on a ship in 2017)--but getting there is a long drive and doing so will require a full day. A helicopter ride onto the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers is also very interesting, but that will probably use up a day, also. There is a lot to do around Queenstown. And the area near Taupo (North Island) is rife with day-trips.

If you're interested, my photos of the 2 trips are here:
2004 -- https://www.flickr.com/photos/8712554@N02/collections/72157632155088501/
2017 -- https://www.flickr.com/photos/8712554@N02/collections/72157682547593526/
Perhaps you can get some idea of what you'd like to concentrate on by reviewing those.