14-Day New Zealand Tour: Perfect for the Qingming Festival Holiday
The Qingming Festival holiday is coming soon, and here's a 14-day in-depth New Zealand travel guide! From black gold abalone seafood feasts to rock barbecues, enjoy a diverse culinary experience! Cross the Cook Strait, take a scenic alpine train journey, and witness the Southern Cross constellation! Visit Hobbiton and the Waitomo Caves for a magical adventure! Save this guide now!
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New Zealand, located in the South Pacific, is a country rich in history. 🏞️ From the magnificent Mount Cook to the mystical Hobbiton, the diverse landscapes here have earned it the title of "Middle-earth." 🌈 Come and explore!
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🌟 Suggested Itinerary: A Journey Across New Zealand's North and South Islands 🌟
Day 1: Depart from Shanghai and fly to Auckland, embarking on your New Zealand adventure!
Days 2-3: Upon arrival in Auckland, transfer to the capital city, Wellington. Visit Te Papa Tongarewa Museum and take the cable car to enjoy stunning harbor views. Afterward, cross the Cook Strait, visit a winery in Marlborough, and arrive at the coastal town of Kaikoura.
Days 4-5: Go whale watching in Kaikoura, visit Christchurch, and take the TranzAlpine scenic train journey to experience New Zealand's breathtaking natural beauty.
Days 6-8: Travel to Queenstown and enjoy three days of free time, exploring every corner of this charming town, checking in at popular attractions, and indulging in leisure time.
Days 9-10: Depart from Queenstown and visit the Scottish-influenced city of Dunedin, explore the Moeraki Boulders in Oamaru, and watch the blue penguins return to their nests. Then, head to Mount Cook National Park for a leisurely hike, savor a glacial-water salmon dinner, and stay overnight in a dark sky town to admire the brilliant Milky Way with the naked eye.
Day 11: Enjoy a gentle hike in Lake Tekapo, visit the Church of the Good Shepherd, and return to Auckland.
Days 12-13: Explore downtown Auckland, visit Hobbiton and a Māori cultural village. Afterward, travel to Rotorua and visit the Government Gardens, Redwood forest, and other attractions. In the evening, take a boat trip to the Waitomo Caves to admire the ancient glowworms and stalactites.
Day 14: Arrive back in Shanghai in the morning, concluding this unforgettable journey across New Zealand's North and South Islands!
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Must-See Attractions:
🌟 Waitomo Caves 🌟🌟
Address: 39 Waitomo Village Road, Waitomo Caves 3977, New Zealand
Opening Hours: 8:30 am–5:00 pm
Duration: 2–6 hrs
Thousands of glowworms illuminate the darkness like a mirrored reflection of pearls, creating a dreamlike world. The glowworms are more active in the summer, so don't miss out!
🏞️ Hobbiton 🏠
Address: 501 Buckland Road, Matamata 3472, New Zealand
Opening Hours: 9:00 am–5:00 pm
Duration: 3–4 hrs
This is a recreation of the Middle-earth landscapes from *The Lord of the Rings*, making you feel like you've stepped into the movie. It's a truly unforgettable experience.
🐑 Agrodome 🍎
Address: 141 Western Road, Ngongotahā, Rotorua 3010, New Zealand
Opening Hours: January 1–December 24, 9:00 am–5:00 pm
Duration: 1–2 hrs
Here you'll find adorable animals, bountiful orchards, and rows of kiwi fruit trees waiting to be explored. Experience the joys of farm life.
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🎒 Essential Travel Items: Packing List for New Zealand
📞 A local SIM card is essential for staying connected in a foreign country.
🔌 Bring a plug adapter, as the voltage may be different.
🪪 Ensure you have all necessary documents, including your visa and passport.
👕 New Zealand's weather can be unpredictable in March, so pack a windbreaker and comfortable shoes for a pleasant travel experience.
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Come to New Zealand and immerse yourself in the beauty of pure nature! If you like this itinerary, don't forget to book a Trip.com group tour for a hassle-free and enjoyable trip!
The experience of the Waitomo Firefly Cave was amazing. As soon as you entered the cave, it was dark and quiet, and only the fireflies above you flickered like stars. Sitting on a boat, glide up and look up at the blue-green spots, as if floating in the galaxy. The whole process was quiet, no explanation, no noise, only the sound of water and light and shadow, making people completely immersed in the dreamy atmosphere. Short but unforgettable.
it was a trip to New Zealand with family. we visited Waitomo Glowworm Caves. it was a very fun and interesting experience.
very interesting place! joined the tour and the tour guide gave us a great introduction to the caves and the glowworms. we could see under the light what the worms looked like. afterwards, we got onto the boat and in total darkness, it really is a sky full of stars (glowworms). they are all over the cave! it’s like you entered a magical world! so amazing that such creatures exist on earth!
Driving along Highway 1 and 39 from the North Bank of Auckland, we can get to Waitomo Fireflies Cave for nearly three hours. Because we wanted to come here temporarily and didn't book tickets, we bought tickets to the ticket office with a slight hope. Fortunately, there are fewer people going to the cave in the afternoon and it's off season, so we still have tickets for 4:00 p.m. ~I suggest you return here. I made an appointment to buy tickets on Ctrip. In case it was cheaper, I had a meal here and waited for a while. With the tour guide and other tourists, we didn't have to worry about not understanding. Oh, the tour guide is a standard English pronunciation and very simple language, so it's no problem for me to think that there's no sense in the newspaper group. No photo studio is allowed in the firefly hole. So there's no real super beautiful, fantastic, but just a short one. I really hope to stay a little longer. The scale of the stalactite cave is worse than that of China, but it's well preserved. So the Indian tourists who are still worth seeing are still singing a song in the cave. It's a song praising God that has some echoes in such a mysterious cave. The trip was more religious and mysterious.
Waitomo Firefly Cave is a scenic spot in Rotoruabi, New Zealand. It is through a winding mountain road and enters a cave that only two people can pass through. You will find the fireflies dotted in the cave, like stars in the sky, very beautiful and magical. For us who grow up in the city, such a wonderful sight is rare. Unfortunately, the camera can not catch this movement. People's pictures, only you personally experience, can you feel the magic of nature.
The entrance hall of the firefly cave is made of logs and membranes, beside which stands wood carved red pillars engraved with gross profit totems. On the first floor, beside the staircase is a souvenir shop. It doesn't care about postcards, T-shirts, books and firefly dolls. It bought the popular MANUKAHONEY18+, a custom brand of Huaito Cave. The price is NT$80, which is cheaper than the supermarket, and hangs in another corner. If you like, you can take pictures and make postcards to make up for the regret that you can't take pictures in the cave. This can be charged about a dozen yuan. Up the stairs is a cafe and theatre. On one side of the wooden wall hangs photographs of the Maori patriarchal tower, Dinulao, and a British surveyor, Frank, exploring firefly holes many times. They are called the discovery of the Ninth Wonder of the world by later generations.
On the wall of the cave, the green light dots scattered all over the cave lay on top of each other. The green light shines on the dark water, doubling the light and shadow. This is a wonderful world belonging to the green elves. With the light rain to go to the firefly hole, the hole is not allowed to take photos, the sky is beautiful!