New Zealand 2026
- Thread starter aramacao
- Start date
April - June is autumn in New Zealand. They'll be out at sea at that time.
Oops, what a disaster. I was thinking about the European summer months. Big mistake...
Do you see more interesting wildlife in that area, besides the Fiordland penguins?
The Fiorlands begin nesting mid to late winter, so if you end up going in July instead (a month later), there might be a chance you could catch them. Otherwise, they can still be seen out in the ocean, it's just not as guaranteed.
I'm still preparing for next year's trip. This time, my questions are about taking an overnight tour. We have several options:
• Nga Manu Nature Reserve
• Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre
• Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne
• Okarito Kiwi Tours
Would you recommend doing just one of these or several of them? The approximate price of each tour is around 100 New Zealand dollars, so doing them all would be very expensive, and perhaps this is a bit exaggerated. What's your opinion?
• Nga Manu Nature Reserve
• Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre
• Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne
• Okarito Kiwi Tours
Would you recommend doing just one of these or several of them? The approximate price of each tour is around 100 New Zealand dollars, so doing them all would be very expensive, and perhaps this is a bit exaggerated. What's your opinion?
I don't know what the first two entail, although the second one would presumably be for North Island Brown Kiwi.
Of the other two, the Okarito tour will allow you to see Okarito Kiwi which you won't see elsewhere.
For Zealandia, if you stay on Tiritiri Matangi and see Little Spotted Kiwi there then skipping Zealandia's night tour will save you money - but otherwise it will be the only feasible way to see Little Spotted Kiwi. Basically I'd suggest that if going south to north then do Zealandia's night tour to be sure, but if going north to south then stay on Tiritiri Matangi and then you'll know whether you need to do the Zealandia tour later.
My itinerary will likely be north to south. And yes, we want to sleep in Tiritiri Matangi. I suppose it's possible to book an overnight tour in Zealandia a few days in advance, because the visit to Tiritiri Matangi would only be a few days before arriving in Wellington. In that case, I'd try to skip the overnight visit to Zealandia and just visit the place during the day.
As I did in the Australia section, I present to you the progress of Australian and New Zealand trip planning, and below I've outlined my reasonable time allowance for each area, indicating roughly what I want to see. Every day will be complemented with normal tourism, these would only be the main attractions:
NZ North Island
- Ti Point Reptile Park - 1 day
- Tiritiri Matangi Island - 1 day
- Auckland Zoo - 1 day
- Auckland y SEA LIFE Kelly Tarlton's Aquarium. Tour for watching whales 1 day
- Otorohanga Kiwi House, Waitomo Caves, Hobbiton - 1 day
- Rotorua, Wai-O-Tapu, Tongariro - 1 day
- Nga Manu Nature Reserve - 1 day
- Kapiti Island - 1 day
- Wellington Zoo - 1 day
- Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre - 1 day
- Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne - 1 day
Total days needed: 11
NZ South Island
- Picton. E-Ko Tours - 1 day
- Okarito. Okarito Kiwi Tours - 1 day
- Fiordland tour - 1 day
- Punanga Manu o Te Anau, Te Anau Glowworm Caves, Queenstown - 1 day
- Dunedin tour for albatross amd more - 1 day
- Akaroa. Hector dolphin tour - 1 day
- Kaikoura. Albatross tour - 1 day
We want to visit one vineyard too but we don't know the day now... Initially we were thinking about the north of the South Island but my girlfriend has been doing some research and we might opt for one close to Queenstown.
Total days needed: 7
We still need to figure out how much time we'll need for the transfers between Australia and New Zealand. There's even the option of traveling to New Zealand first from Europe or returning from New Zealand to Europe instead of Australia. We don't know yet. It depends on whether we need an extra day. Our plan is to rent a car and explore both islands, crossing from the North Island to the South Island by ferry.
What do you think?
NZ North Island
- Ti Point Reptile Park - 1 day
- Tiritiri Matangi Island - 1 day
- Auckland Zoo - 1 day
- Auckland y SEA LIFE Kelly Tarlton's Aquarium. Tour for watching whales 1 day
- Otorohanga Kiwi House, Waitomo Caves, Hobbiton - 1 day
- Rotorua, Wai-O-Tapu, Tongariro - 1 day
- Nga Manu Nature Reserve - 1 day
- Kapiti Island - 1 day
- Wellington Zoo - 1 day
- Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre - 1 day
- Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne - 1 day
Total days needed: 11
NZ South Island
- Picton. E-Ko Tours - 1 day
- Okarito. Okarito Kiwi Tours - 1 day
- Fiordland tour - 1 day
- Punanga Manu o Te Anau, Te Anau Glowworm Caves, Queenstown - 1 day
- Dunedin tour for albatross amd more - 1 day
- Akaroa. Hector dolphin tour - 1 day
- Kaikoura. Albatross tour - 1 day
We want to visit one vineyard too but we don't know the day now... Initially we were thinking about the north of the South Island but my girlfriend has been doing some research and we might opt for one close to Queenstown.
Total days needed: 7
We still need to figure out how much time we'll need for the transfers between Australia and New Zealand. There's even the option of traveling to New Zealand first from Europe or returning from New Zealand to Europe instead of Australia. We don't know yet. It depends on whether we need an extra day. Our plan is to rent a car and explore both islands, crossing from the North Island to the South Island by ferry.
What do you think?
I’d consider doing Hobbiton, Waitomo Caves and the Otorohanga Kiwi House in one day ambitious.
Standard tours at Hobbiton are 2.5 hours and Hobbiton is 1 hour away from the Otorohanga Kiwi House.
You could comfortably see everything at the Otorohanga Kiwi House in 2 hours and then Waitomo Caves is a 15 minute drive. For the best experience, I’d recommend doing the Glowworm Cave and Ruakuri Cave tour (which combined takes 2.5 hours). The last tour goes at 3.30pm.
Doable? Yes, but would be a rushed day. Compare this to allocating an entire day to Ti Point Reptile Park, which can be seen in 1.5 hours.
Most of this is way too rushed. Especially for the South Island you don't seem to have allowed for any driving time between destinations.
I wouldn't actually dedicate the entire day to Ti Point Reptile Park, just that day would be the main attraction and I'd spend the rest of the day relaxing in the surrounding area.
From what I understand, you recommend splitting the Hobbiton, Waitomo Caves, and the Otorohanga Kiwi House day into two days, doing one day of Waitomo Caves, Ruakuri Cave, and the Otorohanga Kiwi House and another day of Hobbiton? Because I think adding Hobbiton to the day of Rotorua, Wai-O-Tapu, and Tongariro is too much, right? Or is it feasible? I don't know if extending the trip by another day would be possible...
From what I understand, you recommend splitting the Hobbiton, Waitomo Caves, and the Otorohanga Kiwi House day into two days, doing one day of Waitomo Caves, Ruakuri Cave, and the Otorohanga Kiwi House and another day of Hobbiton? Because I think adding Hobbiton to the day of Rotorua, Wai-O-Tapu, and Tongariro is too much, right? Or is it feasible? I don't know if extending the trip by another day would be possible...
Yes, I take driving time into account, but I'm not afraid of driving for long hours and my girlfriend drives too.
My idea is to make the long trips at night so that I can be there for the tours without any problems the next morning after having rested well.
Yes, that would work better. Many tourists pair an afternoon at Hobbiton with a morning at Hamilton Gardens. You could also consider Hamilton Zoo.
That’s definitely not possible to do in one day, including driving.
Depending what you have planned for Rotorua, Wai-O-Tapu, and Tongariro, then doing those three is potentially feasible (albeit rushed).
If you’re unable to add in additional days, it would be wise to prioritise what’s most important to you.
Finally, we decided to take your recommendations and we've slightly extended the trip, so we'll be able to dedicate one day to Waitomo Caves and Otorohanga Kiwi House, and another to Hobbiton. After Hobbiton, we'll head towards Rotorua and spend the following day on a road trip through the island's interior, seeing beautiful locations along the way, until we reach the Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre, which we'll visit the next day. It's not an excessive route for a day and a half, although we'll certainly make many stops.
I have some updates and, as always, questions for you.
Yesterday we started booking some things for the trip. We booked Hobbiton and the Waitomo Caves tour, as well as tickets to the Pukaha National Wildlife Centre. We also have a reservation to stay overnight in Tiritiri Matangi so we can see the Little Spotted Kiwi at night, or at least try to. However, as we went along, we realized that our booking method wasn't the best, because it prevented us from clearly seeing how to organize our time (for example, regarding transport). Today we'll proceed in a more organized way.
We paused when it came to booking our tour in Picton with E-Ko Tours. We're unsure which tour to book. Our initial plan is to book this tour:
Blumine & Motuara in One Day - E-Ko
We think it's the most comprehensive in terms of birdwatching. However, I'm a little worried about not seeing well the dolphins. The description mentions that dolphins are often seen during the trips, but since it's not a tour focused on them, I can't help but feel a little undecided. I understand, however, that visiting Blumine and Motuara in the same day is the best option for seeing rare bird species. Blumine wasn't initially on my itinerary, but I think it's interesting. What do you think? Do you think it's worth choosing this longer tour with both islands (8-10 hours) or opting for a shorter one visiting only Motuara and focusing more on dolphins? Do you think we'll be able to see dolphins if we choose the combined island tour? Any personal experiences with this? We'll be taking a dolphin tour in Akaroa, and I know that dusky and Hector's dolphins are also seen there, but I don't know if the dolphins seen on the Picton tours are different...
On the other hand, if we choose this longer tour, we'll have less time for our next leg of the trip, which is the longest: from Picton to Queenstown (we want to visit a famous onsen there). Our initial plan was to travel along the west coast of the island and take a kiwi-watching tour in Okarito with Okarito Kiwi Tours. However, yesterday we checked their website and saw that these tours run between October and March. We'll be there at the end of April... Considering that the west coast trip is several hours longer than the east coast trip, which also crosses the island's interior, we've decided the latter is the better option. Without the Okarito kiwi, the effort of the west coast trip makes less sense. And besides, taking the longer tour in Picton wouldn't give us enough time to get to Okarito in time, I think. Anyway, if the Okarito kiwi-watching tours aren't available during our travel dates, I don't think it's worth worrying about it...
Let's get back to the night tours. In this case, the Okarito Kiwi Tour has already been ruled out due to scheduling conflicts, as I mentioned. Regarding Pukaha, the night tour appears as unavailable on all dates... This narrows down our night tour options to Zealandia, which is available for the dates we'll be there (I believe the Little Spotted Kiwi tour is viewed there), and the Nga Manu Kiwi Night Encounter, for which we've had to adjust our itinerary. So, we would do these two night tours and I think we would see different species of kiwi.
Another question: some of these sites offer guided tours in addition to the night tours:
Experiences at Ngā Manu Nature Reserve | Kāpiti Coast | NZ
https://www.visitzealandia.com/visit/plan-your-visit/tickets-and-tours/zealandia-by-day/
https://www.visitzealandia.com/visit/plan-your-visit/tickets-and-tours/photography-tours/
Do you think it's worth it? There's a photography tour in Nga Manu, but it only runs on weekends... I think I'll ask if it's possible to do it on another day (I'd be there on Thursday). In Zealandia, I could do the night tour on Friday and the photography tour on Saturday. That same day, we'd leave the North Island in the afternoon to catch the ferry to the South Island.
Sorry if I have a lot of questions, but this whole itinerary is a real puzzle!
Yesterday we started booking some things for the trip. We booked Hobbiton and the Waitomo Caves tour, as well as tickets to the Pukaha National Wildlife Centre. We also have a reservation to stay overnight in Tiritiri Matangi so we can see the Little Spotted Kiwi at night, or at least try to. However, as we went along, we realized that our booking method wasn't the best, because it prevented us from clearly seeing how to organize our time (for example, regarding transport). Today we'll proceed in a more organized way.
We paused when it came to booking our tour in Picton with E-Ko Tours. We're unsure which tour to book. Our initial plan is to book this tour:
Blumine & Motuara in One Day - E-Ko
We think it's the most comprehensive in terms of birdwatching. However, I'm a little worried about not seeing well the dolphins. The description mentions that dolphins are often seen during the trips, but since it's not a tour focused on them, I can't help but feel a little undecided. I understand, however, that visiting Blumine and Motuara in the same day is the best option for seeing rare bird species. Blumine wasn't initially on my itinerary, but I think it's interesting. What do you think? Do you think it's worth choosing this longer tour with both islands (8-10 hours) or opting for a shorter one visiting only Motuara and focusing more on dolphins? Do you think we'll be able to see dolphins if we choose the combined island tour? Any personal experiences with this? We'll be taking a dolphin tour in Akaroa, and I know that dusky and Hector's dolphins are also seen there, but I don't know if the dolphins seen on the Picton tours are different...
On the other hand, if we choose this longer tour, we'll have less time for our next leg of the trip, which is the longest: from Picton to Queenstown (we want to visit a famous onsen there). Our initial plan was to travel along the west coast of the island and take a kiwi-watching tour in Okarito with Okarito Kiwi Tours. However, yesterday we checked their website and saw that these tours run between October and March. We'll be there at the end of April... Considering that the west coast trip is several hours longer than the east coast trip, which also crosses the island's interior, we've decided the latter is the better option. Without the Okarito kiwi, the effort of the west coast trip makes less sense. And besides, taking the longer tour in Picton wouldn't give us enough time to get to Okarito in time, I think. Anyway, if the Okarito kiwi-watching tours aren't available during our travel dates, I don't think it's worth worrying about it...
Let's get back to the night tours. In this case, the Okarito Kiwi Tour has already been ruled out due to scheduling conflicts, as I mentioned. Regarding Pukaha, the night tour appears as unavailable on all dates... This narrows down our night tour options to Zealandia, which is available for the dates we'll be there (I believe the Little Spotted Kiwi tour is viewed there), and the Nga Manu Kiwi Night Encounter, for which we've had to adjust our itinerary. So, we would do these two night tours and I think we would see different species of kiwi.
Another question: some of these sites offer guided tours in addition to the night tours:
Experiences at Ngā Manu Nature Reserve | Kāpiti Coast | NZ
https://www.visitzealandia.com/visit/plan-your-visit/tickets-and-tours/zealandia-by-day/
https://www.visitzealandia.com/visit/plan-your-visit/tickets-and-tours/photography-tours/
Do you think it's worth it? There's a photography tour in Nga Manu, but it only runs on weekends... I think I'll ask if it's possible to do it on another day (I'd be there on Thursday). In Zealandia, I could do the night tour on Friday and the photography tour on Saturday. That same day, we'd leave the North Island in the afternoon to catch the ferry to the South Island.
Sorry if I have a lot of questions, but this whole itinerary is a real puzzle!
For Tiritiri Matangi see my report here: Zoochat Big Year 2025
"Tiritiri Matangi Island - 1 day" If staying overnight, you will need to allow two days. If coming for the day, note you will only be spending about three hours on the island.
"Tiritiri Matangi Island - 1 day" If staying overnight, you will need to allow two days. If coming for the day, note you will only be spending about three hours on the island.
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New Zealanders, correct me if I am wrong here. I'm questioning why this is even on the list, unless you are on a see every zoo possible tour. From what I can see from their website the collection seems to be a bog-standard group of reptiles you can see virtually anywhere in the world. The exception being tuatara, which almost certainly you can see in Auckland Zoo and hopefully in the wild as well.
Indeed, that was my surprise when I checked the ferry schedules. It was quite disappointing, because there's only one ferry each way each day; there isn't even a morning and an afternoon ferry, which severely limits our options for doing anything else on the days we spend on this island.
In the end, we had to accept that a visit to Ti Point Reptile Park wasn't possible on this trip. My hope was to visit it in the morning by driving from Auckland and then taking the ferry to Tiritiri Matangi in the afternoon. Seeing that the ferries only run in the morning, we had to rule out Ti Point Reptile Park.
Thank you for the link, and I will read it carefully.
The species list for this park includes several very rare species, especially species from New Zealand. I created this list of species that interested me:
Auckland green gecko (Green tree gecko) (New Zealand tree gecko) (Naultinus elegans)
Duvaucel's gecko (Northern Sticky-toed gecko) (Hoplodactylus duvaucelii)
Eastern bearded dragon (Jew lizard) (Pogona barbata (Syn.: Amphibolurus barbatus) (Syn.: Amphibolurus barbata))
Gold-stripe gecko (Golden sticky-toed gecko) (Woodworthia chrysosiretica (Syn.: Hoplodactylus chrysosireticus))
Golden bell frog (Green and golden bell frog) (Ranoidea aurea (Syn.: Litoria aurea))
Gray's sticky-toed gecko (New Zealand forest gecko) (Mokopirirakau granulatus (Syn.: Hoplodactylus granulatus))
Jeweled gecko (Naultinus gemmeus)
Marlborough green gecko (Manuka gecko) (Naultinus manukanus)
Moko skink (Oligosoma mucus)
Murray River turtle (Macquarie River turtle) (Australian big-headed side-necked turtle) (Emydura macquarii macquarii (Syn.: Emydura australis))
Nelson green gecko (Star-spangled gecko) (Starry tree gecko) (Naultinus stellatus)
Northland green gecko (Naultinus grayii)
Otago skink (Oligosoma otagense (Syn.: Girardiscincus otagense) (Syn.: Leiolopisma otagense))
Robust skink (Alan's skink) (Oligosoma alani (Syn.: Cyclodina alani))
Rough-scaled gecko (Naultinus rudis)
Schist gecko (Central Otago gecko) (Woodworthia spec. "Central Otago")
Small-scaled skink (Oligosoma microlepis)
Southern bell frog (Blue-thighed treefrog) (Green and golden frog) (Ranoidea raniformis (Syn.: Litoria raniformis))
Three Kings Islands skink (Falla`s skink) (Oligosoma fallai)
Three-toed box turtle (Terrapene carolina triunguis (Syn.: Terrapene mexicana triunguis))
Tuatara (Northern tuatara) (Sphenodon punctatus)
Unfortunately, we finally had to scrap this visit due to lack of time, but I don't deny that it would have been a very interesting visit.
For now, we have the following booked:
- Whale watching tour in Auckland
- Ferries and stay in Tiritiri Matangi
- Visit to Waitomo Caves
- Visit to Hobbiton
- Visit to Pukaha National Wildlife Centre
- Ferries and visit to Kapiti Island
For the visits during the first week, I don't think we need to book too far in advance for Auckland Zoo and Sea Life Aquarium, although we'll most likely buy the tickets a few days before the visit because I see they're cheaper online.
I contacted Nga Manu and I'll finally book a daytime tour so I can photograph the kiwis, among other animals. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the kiwis will be available. If they aren't, I'll see other interesting species, but I admit the kiwi is my main goal. They confirmed that cameras aren't allowed on the night tour, so for me, that loses almost all its appeal.
In Zealandia, there's a good chance I'll book a night tour (I wonder if they allow cameras?) and a photography tour, since it coincides with our stay there before leaving the North Island.
By the way, I was surprised by the strange ferry schedules between the two main islands.
Can someone please help me with my questions about the tour in Picton?
- Whale watching tour in Auckland
- Ferries and stay in Tiritiri Matangi
- Visit to Waitomo Caves
- Visit to Hobbiton
- Visit to Pukaha National Wildlife Centre
- Ferries and visit to Kapiti Island
For the visits during the first week, I don't think we need to book too far in advance for Auckland Zoo and Sea Life Aquarium, although we'll most likely buy the tickets a few days before the visit because I see they're cheaper online.
I contacted Nga Manu and I'll finally book a daytime tour so I can photograph the kiwis, among other animals. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the kiwis will be available. If they aren't, I'll see other interesting species, but I admit the kiwi is my main goal. They confirmed that cameras aren't allowed on the night tour, so for me, that loses almost all its appeal.
In Zealandia, there's a good chance I'll book a night tour (I wonder if they allow cameras?) and a photography tour, since it coincides with our stay there before leaving the North Island.
By the way, I was surprised by the strange ferry schedules between the two main islands.
Can someone please help me with my questions about the tour in Picton?