[Closed] Two weeks free in New Zealand - what to do?

Biking = rotorua or queenstown will work best for you on a trip like that.
If you an take a bike then take bikepacking gear and follow some of the Tour Aotearoa route.
Kayaking, lots of options but Abel Tasman is lovely and well set up, quality biking in nelson as well and easy internal flight from Akl. Just avoid the usual thing of trying to do both islands by car in two weeks
Nice tramping round there too, Heaphy is a nice walk, any of the great walks (bar the QCT which I think frankly is an awful walk) will make it easy, esp as you are on your own. The backcountry is quite rough and not many people around, just saying.

Personally, I'd head south. Fly into Queenstown, you can MTB around their along with doing the usual bungy type stuff. It's also a good start point for getting down towards the fjord's which are well worth a visit. There's some awesome walks from there too, the Ben Lomond track is a good walk and, if you're brave, you can bivi at the top and/or walk all the way over to Glenorchy. Wanaka is also not far away and a stunning outdoorsy town, there is shed loads of walking, climbing and MTBing there, I really liked it.

If that doesn't keep you busy, Christchurch is worth a visit and you can get into the mountains from their too.

If you want to stay north, Rotorua is awesome, it's a beautiful little town and, if you like a walk, provides entry to the Tongariro Crossing that is a stunning walk.

What lunge said. Head south as far away from Auckland as possible.

Taupo is also worth a little visit with a fair number of trail networks there (I helped build the first couple). Nothing technical just swooping singletrack. Ease your muscles in a nice thermal pool after.

But yeah Christchurch is a nice town with plenty of quality riding in the surrounding hills.

I'm with NZCol with regards to heading to Nelson and thereby following the long held forum tradition of suggesting what you have/know. (I was born in Nelson many moons ago but frequently return).
If you decide to head to Nelson I can put you in contact with a group associated with building many of the local trails and I’m sure one of them has a spare bike lying around for you to use.
There is heaps of quality kayaking to be had with lots of friendly people to see you right. You may never want to return……

Roto over a weekend to catch the shuttles, May be a trip out with Ed from planet bike too. Then probably South, though the tour of the shit works trails in Hamilton was a hidden gem

+1 for Nelson/Abel Tasman region. It's the sunniest part of NZ. The biking around Nelson is truly world class and there are some well organised shuttle or heli trips from Helibike Nelson. I'd recommend the Wakamarina. If you want to Kayak then Abel Tasman is stunning and very well set up for multi-day trips with lodges or campsites. The region also has dozens of vineyards for your rest days.

Queenstown is a must too but very much a tourist town. Rotorua is also ace and the geothermal stuff makes it feel otherworldly at times.

What lunge said. Pick up a 4x4 and just drive. See where you end up. Rotorua is bloody brilliant, and Queenstown is mental. It seems everyone is trying to outdo each other to see who can come up with the most insane activity. River surfing on a bodyboard down white water was a terrifyingly brilliant highlight.

The Fox Glacier is a bit bonkers, because you start driving and before you know it you're in rainforest, which completely messes with your head. The West Coast beaches feel brilliantly remote. The South Island is the most spectacularly beautiful place I've ever been, and just driving through it is an experience as you pass through so many different landscapes, in such short timeframes, and through such utterly stunning scenery

Thanks for all the replies.

The love for Rotorua makes me tempted to stay north - maybe even ride out from Auckland (Tour Aotearoa info was great!) - which would cut down on time and cost lost to travelling.

But is there enough to see up there to keep me occupied for two weeks? The consensus stills seems to be head south so there must be more to do there, but I'm not going to see everything, so "missing" something doesn't bother me. Definitely don't want to do this:

the usual thing of trying to do both islands by car in two weeks

I'm not really interested in doing the all the bungy jumping, sky-diving type stuff. Not really into gnarly uplift-assisted biking either, though if there was the option I'd maybe do a day or two.

Biggee, if I do head to Nelson I'll let you know, cheers.

Nice, where's that Mike?

Roto, one of the ews stages from 2 years back. Other videos on my page from the trip.

two weeks is plenty of time to see the whole place (at pace) or spend the whole time focused on one island.

I prefer the south island - its more rugged and empty.

abel tasman is gorgeous - I'd definitely go there.

Next time I go, I've promised that I'll do the [url= http://www.alps2ocean.com/ ]Alps2ocean[/url] trail from mount cook to omaru.

otherwise I'd tempted to get on the backpacker bus and do the hostel thing.

if you find yourself in lake tekapo the mount john observatory is fascinating.

Could you cycle tour / bikepack with your MTB? Stop at backpackers and ride the fab MTB spots and cruise between them soaking up the lovely countryside and free camp along the way.

I went about 20 years ago and we had our honeymoon in NZ - charging around in two weeks was not enough to do it justice. Luckily our friends got married about 2 years later so we had a chance to go back.

Highlights from three trips:
Snowboarding on a volcano
Whitewater body boarding
Milford Sound overnight trip
Franz Josef Heli-hike
Kaikora Dolphins
Roto-vegas smelly ponds.

Things fancied but didn't get round to -
Abel Tasman kayaking
Poor Knights diving

There are probably 1000s of other touristy things to do, but also just hanging out somewhere beautiful is a fine way to spend your time.

From Akl

Drive to rotorua, 2-3 days there, ferry to Picton fr Fush n Chups.

Drive to Whites Bay, ride sleep.
Drive to Havelock, ride Wakamarina*. Needs a shuttle, a long drive or a big out & back. Next day ride the Nydia Bay Track (also requires a shuttle, a lond ride around or an out & back)
These 3 are some of the finest natural rides you'll ever do.

After that, go to Marahau, and sea kayak and drink til your're sunburnt.

Then find a base in Nelson, buy The Nelson & Tasman MTB Guide (can't find it on google, but the local MTB shops have it) and ride to your heart's content. You can have DH (Kaka, Broken Axe, Maitai Face), natural mega-tech (Black Diamond & Peaking Ridge, Little Twin, Fishtail) more bike park stuff (629, Turners Bike Park, Hira MTB Park).

When you're spent, you can just lie on the beach

You'll not exhaust it in two weeks.

If that's too much biking then break it up with the Tongoriro Alpine Crossing ("The Worst Finest Day Walk"), the Whanganui River Journey or some multi-day hiking in the Nelson Lakes National Park.

*I don't want to hype it up too much, but it's my favourite in the work ever

That's definitely not putting me off going to Roto!

But then...

I prefer the south island - its more rugged and empty.

...sounds good.

Could you cycle tour / bikepack with your MTB? Stop at backpackers and ride the fab MTB spots and cruise between them soaking up the lovely countryside and free camp along the way.

Yep, thinking along those lines. Any advice on camping, wild or otherwise, in NZ?

FFS stop telling peeps about the Wakamarina 😉 (My go to ride as well, fantoosh and always has been) - Kill devil also v v good fun.

Camp where you want, normal rule on water, OK in high ground with no stock, avoid in low lying ground.

Other non secret brew in Rotorua for the croucher beer, say hello to Mel too.

Sorry to high jack the thread slightly
I'm heading to the south island for 2.5 weeks in oct/nov.

So any south island hints and tips will be good.

Got the heli flight over the glaciers booked and some MTB in Queenstown but very much open to other suggestions.

Wanted to do something in milford sound

the white water body board looks good.

thanks

If in Queenstown, get the bus to Milford Sound - the scenery is amazing and I imagine it'd be hard to concentrate if you're self-driving! We had a great driver who did a running commentary along the way, and you stop at all the view points. You can get the ferry out and back along the sound - stunning in good weather, more atmospheric & better waterfalls in bad weather, so a win either way.

OP - if on the North Island, Rotorua is worth a visit for the novelty value - geysers, bubbling mud pools, boiling lakes, take a swim in a hot stream in the woods (look up kerosene creek). The town itself isn't much though (but second Mike's tip on Brew bar), but a good base for a few days of superb riding in the Redwoods/Whakarewarewa. There's a shuttle service in the forest which is great even if you're not into gnar, saves your legs so you can ride more trails if you've only got a day or two. Hire bikes are available at reasonable rates, might pay to book ahead if you're coming in the summer.

The Tongariro Crossing is stunning, I can't recommend it enough. I've done it twice, drove past it last week and am now keen to try a spring crossing when there's still a bit of snow about. A side trip up Ngauruhoe (aka Mt Doom) is do-able if you're fit - 45 mins inching up the scree, 5 mins running back down 😀

Personally in two weeks I'd do:
3 days in 'Vegas - 1 doing geothermal stuff, 2 biking.
2 days in National Park or Turangi while you do the Tongariro Crossing
Fly to the South Island - Franz Josef/Fox/Mt Cook/Lake Tekapo area for afew days
Queenstown, day trip to Milford Sound, bit of jetboating.

With the travelling inbetween that's probably a bit of a stretch time-wise, it takes longer than you think to drive places and public transport is pretty thin on the ground.

very useful info boys and girls, i'm hoping to head over for christmas 2017.

FFS stop telling peeps about the Wakamarina

I'd agree with you, but as they're using in on the NZ Enduro (along with the Nydia Bay Track and Whites Bay loop) one more is hardly going to spoil it.

I certainly have mixed (ok mostly negative) feelings about using these tracks for racing on 🙁

I'll also 2nd WillH - I've done the TAP twice, it really is stunning.

Lots of good ideas. What you didn't say was the time of year as that could make a big difference. Campervans are very popular as hotel accomodation can be booked up depending upon time of year, possibly too expensive solo though.

To all that above I'd add a glider flight over/around Milford Sound area. Rather more serene than the helicopter stuff and should be much cheaper.

If you like to stay unplanned...
https://www.drivenow.com.au/onewayrentals.jspc#/relocations/NZ
Also [url= https://www.google.com.au/maps/dir/Auckland+Airport+(AKL)+Ray+Emery+Dr,+Auckland+Airport,+Auckland+2022,+New+Zealand/Rotorua,+Bay+Of+Plenty,+New+Zealand/@-37.5525737,174.9566066,9z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x6d0d4fe87ef3d5bb:0xf00ef62249b7130!2m2!1d174.7850358!2d-37.0082476!1m5!1m1!1s0x6d6e983d82f6b22b:0x500ef6143a39931!2m2!1d176.2497461!2d-38.1368478!3e0 ]Google Maps is your planning friend[/url]
Auckland to Roto is 3hrs drive or a 45min flight.
Roto to Wellington about 6hrs driving or just over an hour on the plane.
Internal flights are generally cheap and for one person probably similar to hire car and fuel for a couple of days.
http://www.airnewzealand.com.au/where-we-fly
http://www.jetstar.com/au/en/home
http://www.webjet.com.au/flights/
Extra luggage is generally cheap too. Flying domestic is laid back too, like catching a bus or train in the UK.