I am looking for a 10-day trip to NZ with my son as a college grad present. Looking for some adventures -- ziplining, rafting, bungee, and a bit of culture with a day of R&R and hiking. Like full
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Cat:Australia and the South PacificForum:0EE6B2F6
Cat:Australia and the South PacificForum:0EE6B2F6Discussion:d2e89b37-f89c-439d-8007-a33b7ca6dbeb
I am looking for a 10-day trip to NZ with my son as a college grad present. Looking for some adventures -- ziplining, rafting, bungee, and a bit of culture with a day of R&R and hiking. Like full and busy days. Best time of year and inclusive items. Im looking at June-Sept timeframe. Appreciate the help!
June through September is winter in New Zealand, lots of rain and can be very cold. Mokai Canyon near Taihape (middle of the North Island) will provide you thrills like bungee and zip lining. Hiking is great everywhere, look for "bush walks' to see fabulous prehistoric fauna and flora. The best museum for "culture" is Te Papa in Wellington.
I just returned from New Zealand and have some great action packed recommendations for your request.
I focused on the south island in order to do everything it had to offer out of Queenstown. I stayed in Queenstown a couple days doing ziplining and bungy jumping then drove up the west coast to Franz Josef Glacier. Once I arrived there, I hiked on the glacier with guided group for a full day, enjoyed the hot springs that evening, then drove back south the next day. I tried to sky dive in Franz Josef but the weather didn't cooperate. It's the #2 place in the world to sky dive behind Mt. Everest.
The drive from Queenstown to Franz Josef is a solid 5 hour drive without stopping with lots of curvy roads, so allow for extra time because the scenery is spectacular and you will want to stop along the way. I also recommend Wanaka for a day or two - this area offers canyoning, white water rafting, rock climbing, etc. Back in Queenstown, there is more action including the world's highest cliff jump, the world's highest bungy jump, sky-diving, canyon jetboats, and wine tours out to nearby wineries. If you only have 10 days, I highly recommend you focus on the south island in order to not spend a ton of time driving. If you are up for an action packed trip and you want to add anything else to the trip, you could also look into connecting in Auckland and spend a few full days on the North Island venturing out to the Bay of Islands, Waitomo Caves for canyoning, hot springs near Rotorua where you can go zorbing!, and see the Wairakei Geothermal Valley. Wineries everywhere offer relaxing opportunities and you can do a nice bike ride anywhere so you shouldn't have any difficulties with that part of the trip. The schedules of activities make it easy to stack various ones up in one day and you can either book them directly with the company or through your hotel concierge. You can also add in any additional activities once you arrive and find you have any extra time you want to fill. Enjoy!!
If you can push the dates back, the weather is much nicer in their summer. I went last December on an 11 day guided trip of teh South Island with REI. Among our daily travels we did hiking in rainforests and high mountain ranges, sea kayaking, went to a glacier, had beach time, and had opportunities for all of the "high adrenaline" stuff also. Lodgings were in motels and guest houses and the local food was superb! We did so many incredible activities I couldn't begin to describe them all here. I highly recommend it. Check the REI Adventures site for details. Trips this year are Jan-March.
