Missions

Trying to work out my itinerary for NZ has been seriously tough going!

I've decided to bus my way around the country and it's meant that I've had to cut out a couple of places that I was DYING to go to for the sake of time. It's just annoying because some of the places are pretty close together but there are no direct bus services between them. There is always the option of doubling back, but when you're travelling 8 hours to get somewhere, well, you've lost a day pretty much.

And when you only have about 17 days to get around the whole country, time is precious.

I talked about Abel Tasman National Park before. Incredibly stunning, but unfortunately it's one of the places that have been cut outta my plan. I've decided to fly between the islands instead of taking the ferry as I'd originally planned so that I would have enough time to spend in some gorgeous spots in the south.

You just can't do everything in such a short space of time! I'm already being my usual self and cramming in a million things as it is, but I will still have some time to relax, which is what I want. Chilling out against a perfect backdrop of stunning mountains and lakes. Nice.

Not only has that National Park been cut out, I'm foregoing the glaciers. I know they are a super famous attraction, but there is no direct route between Mt. Cook and the glaciers so I've decided to go straight from Mt. Cook to Queenstown. As it stands, I do have a day extra in Queenstown, but the glaciers are 8 hours away - unless I can find some amazing day trip, then it's just not going to happen. And that's OK because I don't wanna miss Lake Tekapo or the stunning view of Mt Cook. The days that I'm there are gonna be the ultimate chilled out days because the bus times SUCK which means I have longer there that I would ideally want, but hey, it's gonna be boxing day and a nice wind down afte visiting friends and probably blowing a fortune in Christchurch.

Now that I've worked out a rough itinerary, I need to start looking at hotels and getting a bus pass. I don't wanna book everything because we all know that things can just change, but if I can book something, then most of the time you'll be OK cancelling a couple of days before.

Gonna be such an awesome trip - I can't believe it's only a month away!!!

So this is roughly the route I'm thinking about taking:

Christchurch-->Tekapo/Mount Cook--->Queenstown--->Milford Sound--->Wellington--->Taupo--->Tongariro National Park--->Rotorua--->Waihi--->Auckland

 There are definitely more stops in the north, but it's OK because the towns are really close together and it's all on the way back to Auckland. Looking forward to catching up with friends in Christchurch and Waihi and then making new ones in between!

I wish I could take just a few more days out. Technically, I could, but it's not worth the financial strain I'd have to endure upon my return!

xoxo