The long way
south

The route · at a glance

drive the islands, fly the gaps

Flights · at a glance

every leg, in order · all confirmed

Times are local to each airport. The LAX→Auckland leg crosses the international date line, so you depart Jan 2 and land Jan 4 (Jan 3 vanishes) — which is why you’ve booked the Auckland room from Jan 3. Coming home, the date line runs in reverse: you leave Christchurch on Mar 3 and land LAX earlier the same morning.

North Island · the appetizer

~14 nights · early January

Mon Jan 4 – Thu Jan 73 ntsSettle

Auckland

Land, shake off the date line, ease in. Harbour city, Ponsonby food — and once your legs are under you, a full day on Waiheke Island: early ferry, e-bikes down the coast to the beaches, long lunch, a couple of wineries (Kim & Hudson's tip — and the reason for the extra night). Then point the car south.

In: fly Savannah → LAX → Auckland (AKL) · the long haul

Clay: St Andrews Rd Tennis Club, Epsom — Auckland's only clay, casual hits welcome

✅ Booked: Adina Auckland Britomart · 1BR apartment, central, 24hr reception, ~5-min walk to the Waiheke ferry · Jan 3–7 (incl. the pre-arrival night for the 5:50am landing) · NZ$1,194 ≈ US$690 · itin #14687B10321748

Thu Jan 7 – Tue Jan 125 ntsSettle · hub

Rotorua & Taupō

The North Island's tightest cluster, so you unpack and the sights come to you: Hobbiton (en route, non-negotiable), geothermal parks, a Māori hāngī feast and concert, the Redwoods, and Lake Taupō. Food and music in one evening. Book Hobbiton tickets well ahead (Hudson's warning — they sell out), and consider splitting the five nights across two bases.

Drive: Auckland → Rotorua ~3 hr (Hobbiton's right on the way)

✅ Hobbiton booked — Signature Tour, 1:00 PM Thu Jan 7, Shire's Rest (self-drive), 2 adults, NZ$260. Check in by 12:40. Flow: pick up car Auckland Downtown 9am → ~2 hr drive → 1pm tour (~2.5 hr, pint at the Green Dragon) → Rotorua ~45 min on.

Jodi's picks: the Agrodome sheep-shearing farm show (10 min from town — live shearing, 19 sheep breeds, dog trials, ~2.5 hr; book ahead) and a geothermal soak — Polynesian Spa (lakefront mineral pools) or Waikite Valley (natural pools, more scenic).

◷ Lodging TBD — 2BR

Tue Jan 12 – Thu Jan 142 ntsMove & sleep

Napier & Hawke's Bay

Art Deco town wrapped in premier wine country — Syrah, Chardonnay, long lunches. Pure you, and a natural stop on the way south.

Drive: Rotorua → Napier ~2.5 hr

◷ Lodging TBD — 2BR

Thu Jan 14 – Sat Jan 162 ntsMove & sleep

Martinborough · clay & Pinot

A clay-and-wine interlude in the Wairarapa, and the reason it earns a stop: this is home to New Zealand's only clay courts. Do a proper hit — or a short training block — to keep your game sharp for the season back home, then walk it off among Martinborough's Pinot Noir cellar doors.

Drive: Napier → Martinborough ~3.5 hr (down through the Wairarapa)

Clay: Dry River Tennis Centre / Red Clay Tennis — 2 Italian clay courts, public hire (book ahead), rooms on site

◷ Lodging TBD — 2BR / on-site rooms

Sat Jan 16 – Mon Jan 182 ntsSettle

Wellington

NZ's best food, coffee, craft beer and live music, plus the Weta Workshop for the LOTR thread. Walkable cool-city energy — then fly the Tasman.

Drive: Martinborough → Wellington ~1.25 hr · then fly WLG → Melbourne

◷ Lodging TBD — 2BR

The hinge · Australia

~5 nights · mid January

Jan 18 – 23 · the Australian Open

Melbourne

The tennis is the pivot between the islands. You fly in Monday the 18th — skipping the quiet opening Sunday — and catch first-week main-draw sessions: Tuesday through Thursday, maybe Friday, while every star's still in and the grounds are electric (weekday seats also beat the middle-weekend crush). Walk to Melbourne Park each day, then the laneways for food and music. Fly into Queenstown Saturday the 23rd.

South Island · the main course

~39 nights · the prize

Sat Jan 23 – Sun Jan 318 ntsSettle · hub

Queenstown

The country's strongest hub and your big settle — Arrowtown, Glenorchy (Middle-earth country), the Gibbston wine valley, and the lakes all within a short hop. Food, wine, energy on tap, your own door to close.

In: fly Melbourne → Queenstown (ZQN) · pick up the South Island car

✅ Booked: The Waterfront · Beach St · 2BR/2bath, lakefront & central · Jan 23–31 (8 nts) · ~US$4,441 all-in

Sun Jan 31 – Wed Feb 33 ntsMove & sleep

Milford Sound

Kim & Hudson's play: skip a Te Anau base, drive Queenstown all the way into Milford and sleep in the Sound itself for the cruise at its quietest — then a one-night heli-in lodge they highly recommend (name coming). The drive in is half the spectacle.

Drive: Queenstown → Milford ~4 hr (the full scenic run; Te Anau's just a coffee stop)

◷ Milford lodge + heli-in lodge TBD (splurge)

Wed Feb 3 – Tue Feb 96 ntsSettle · hub

Wanaka

The calm counterweight to Queenstown — lake-stunning, slower, gorgeous. Roys Peak, Rippon wines, easy days. (Mt Cook is a worthwhile detour from here if you want the alpine fix — ~2.5 hr each way, your call on whether it earns a night.)

Drive: Te Anau → Wanaka ~3 hr

✅ Booked: Belvedere Apartments · in-town Wanaka · 1BR Superior (bedroom + separate lounge), reserved parking · Feb 3–9 (6 nts) · NZD $3,460 ≈ US$2,010

Tue Feb 9 – Sat Feb 134 ntsMove & sleep

Franz Josef & the Glacier Coast

Ice meeting rainforest — heli-hikes onto the glacier, wild West Coast beaches. The fourth night is deliberate weather insurance: glacier choppers get grounded for days, and a spare day is what turns "we never got up on the ice" into "we waited a day and went."

Drive: Wanaka → Haast Pass → Franz Josef ~3.5 hr (one of NZ's great drives)

◷ Lodging TBD — 2BR

Sat Feb 13 – Sat Feb 207 ntsSettle · hub

Nelson & Abel Tasman

The second big settle: golden-sand beaches, the Abel Tasman park by kayak or water-taxi, the sunniest corner of the country, and a genuinely good food-and-arts town. Pure summer.

Drive: Franz Josef → Nelson ~6 hr up the West Coast — the one long leg; break it at Punakaiki

✅ Booked: 95 Hardy Street Apartments · central Nelson CBD · 2BR + separate living room · Feb 13–20 (7 nts) · ref 11923884 · NZ$2,520 ≈ US$1,460

Sat Feb 20 – Tue Feb 233 ntsMove & sleep

Marlborough

Sauvignon Blanc country — Cloudy Bay and a hundred cellar doors, long lunches among the vines. Pre-book an e-bike winery tour (not walk-in like California), and get out on the water in the Marlborough Sounds — a day trip, or a ferry-in lodge for a night (Kim & Hudson).

Drive: Nelson → Blenheim ~2 hr

◷ Lodging TBD — 2BR

Tue Feb 23 – Thu Feb 252 ntsMove & sleep

Kaikoura

Whales offshore, crayfish on the dock, the Seaward Kaikoura range falling into the sea. A dramatic coastal pause on the way south.

Drive: Marlborough → Kaikoura ~1.5 hr

◷ Lodging TBD — 2BR

Thu Feb 25 – Sat Feb 272 ntsSettle · unwind

Hanmer Springs

A soft landing before the finale: a walkable alpine spa village wrapped in forest and mountains. Soak in the thermal hot pools, good restaurants and a wine bar or two a stroll from your door — decompress after the long push down the island. (Swapped in for Flockhill Lodge, whose peak-season rates had gone stratospheric.)

Drive: Kaikoura → Hanmer Springs ~2 hr (inland via the Waiau valley)

◷ Lodging TBD — 1BR+ w/ separate lounge, in the village

Sat Feb 27 – Wed Mar 34 ntsSettle · finale

Christchurch · the finale

Rebuilt garden city — the one Hudson loved — and a finish with two terrific day trips. One day, Akaroa & Banks Peninsula by car: French-village harbour, little bays, a long lunch. Another, the TranzAlpine — one of the world's great scenic trains, coast-to-coast over Arthur's Pass and back through viaducts, gorges and beech forest behind panoramic glass. Settle, explore, then the flight-eve before home.

Drive: Hanmer Springs → Christchurch ~1.5 hr · keep the car for the Akaroa day, drop it at CHC airport on departure · fly home Wed Mar 3

Rail: TranzAlpine day return — out ~8:15am, back early evening; book ahead (it sells out), Scenic Plus worth it. No car needed — it just parks.

◷ Lodging TBD — 2BR

From friends who've lived it · Kim & Hudson

three months on the ground, distilled

Logistics · the moving parts

flights, cars & honest drive times

The flight chain

1. 1Savannah → LAX · Delta, on miles · ✅ booked — Thu Dec 31, then two nights in Manhattan Beach to reset before the big haul.
2. 2LAX → Auckland · Air NZ Business Premier · ✅ booked — Sat Jan 2, 8:00pm → lands Auckland Mon Jan 4, 5:50am. The long one; year-round, no seasonal cliff.
3. 3Wellington → Melbourne · ✅ booked — Qantas QF172 nonstop, Mon Jan 18, 2:35pm → 4:40pm (4h05m). Conf. DMIYG6 · NZ$1,135 / 2. Lands mid-afternoon — relaxed settle before Tue's opening AO session.
4. 4Melbourne → Queenstown · ✅ booked — Qantas QF177 nonstop, Sat Jan 23, 7:20am → 12:25pm (3h05m). Conf. DMOYDN. Lands lunchtime — full first afternoon on the South Island (Hertz pickup 1pm — tight but fine).
5. 5Christchurch → Auckland → LAX · Air NZ, one ticket · ✅ booked — Wed Mar 3 (CHC 4:05pm → AKL → LAX 11:25am). Solves the Christchurch dead-end, no Sydney detour, bags check through.
6. 6LAX → Savannah · Delta, on miles · ✅ booked — Thu Mar 4, after an LA overnight → home.

Dates: depart Savannah Thu Dec 31 → 2 nts Shade Hotel, Redondo Beach ✅ → LAX→Auckland Sat Jan 2 (8:00pm) → land Auckland Mon Jan 4, 5:50am — book the Jan 3 night so the room's ready when you stumble in. Home: Wed Mar 3 Christchurch→Auckland→LAX (one Air NZ ticket, land LAX 11:25am) → overnight LA (Mar 3 — still to book) → Thu Mar 4 LAX→Savannah. The Delta bookends and the Air NZ ticket are separate tickets — keep the LA cushion each way; no through-checked bags across airlines.

Two one-way rental cars

No ferry-with-vehicle — two separate rentals, both on NZ's most popular one-way routes:

• North Island car: ✅ Booked — Hertz, Kia Sportage (midsize SUV). Pick up Auckland Downtown Jan 7 · 9am → drop Wellington Airport Jan 18 · 9am · ~US$1,350 (paid; insurance not yet added). Confirm Amex NZ coverage or add LDW.
• South Island car: ✅ Booked — Hertz, Kia Seltos (compact SUV). Pick up Queenstown Airport Jan 23 · 1pm → drop Christchurch Airport Mar 3 · 1pm (clears your 4:05pm flight). Conf. L700E75C2B8 · ~US$2,662 (insurance not yet added). Add excess cover / LDW or confirm Amex NZ coverage before pickup.

Accurate drive times

Real distances and typical times — NZ roads drive slower than the kilometres suggest (winding, hilly), so these are honest, not optimistic:

Reservations to flag · book ahead

suggested dates tie each to where you’ll be — shuffle any of them

The only two that need action soon are Amisfield and (if you want it) Attica — mark Oct 22 for the Attica release. Your four Melbourne dinners (Jan 18–21) are spread above so nothing doubles up; Fri Jan 22 is left light before the early Queenstown flight. 🟢 Everywhere else, wing it — Rotorua, Napier town, Martinborough, Franz Josef, Nelson, Kaikoura, Hanmer, Christchurch are all fine day-before or walk-in. Chin Chin & Supernormal (Melbourne) are walk-in/queue — go early. And Milford has no real dining — sort dinner through your lodge.

What it runs · the ledger

two adults · booked actuals + padded estimates · USD

Booked figures are actual charges converted to USD (NZD ≈ 0.58, AUD ≈ 0.72 at booking — the live rate wobbles a little). Estimates are padded, peak-season, all-in placeholders for stops not yet booked; they’ll firm up as you book. The Savannah⇄LAX flights were paid with 184,000 Delta miles (~$6,850 of value), so only the $22 in taxes shows as cash. Food is a rough $120/day allowance for two.

Pins to remember

• TennisAO is Jan 11–31; you're catching first-week sessions Tue–Thu (~Jan 19–22), done by the middle Saturday. Weekday seats are easier than the middle weekend — but book early.
• SeasonFebruary is NZ's peak. Best weather, highest prices, and cars and lodging book out — Queenstown and Christchurch especially. Lock early.
• CarsTwo rentals, not one — a North Island car, then a South Island car after Melbourne. No ferry-with-vehicle, no big one-way fees.
• DrivesThe glacier coast → Nelson leg is the one long haul (~6 hr). Break it at Punakaiki. Everything else is ≤3.5 hr and scenic.
• AlpineMt Cook is east, the glaciers are west. Pick one as your alpine fix or detour to Mt Cook from Wanaka — don't try to chain both.
• PaceEvery base is 2BR and ≥2 nights, two week-long hubs anchor each island, and ~10 nights of slack let you slow whatever grabs you.