Anyone been to New Zealand with a baby?

[blushingmare]

We're going in February with dd who will then be 8 months! We're just trying to plan a rough itinerary and would love any tips or "must dos".

We will be staying with friends in Auckland for the first few days, then drive south down North Island and will get the ferry to South Island. We'll be staying with friends near Christchurch, but don't need to be with them the whole time we're on South Island.

Campervan - crazy to attempt with a baby or actually quite a practical solution? (Realise it's not a cheap option though!)

How much driving a day would you aim to do?

We have a total of 3 weeks.

We went when i was pregnant so not quite the same... Campervan company we used was great, called Gateway motorhomes. V nice personal servic. We picked up and dropped off in different places with no extra cost, and tehy even gave us a lift to the airport.
Driving-wise i think it depends on the baby! Our 8 month old is ok in the car but i might consider driving in the evenings or during nap times. He's in a front-facing seat now which he far prefers to rearwards. If you do choose to drive after your daughter's bedtime i would def ring ahead to campsite to make sure you can check in late. Most of the drives wedid were 3 to 4 hours, S Island is big with big gaps between towns, so it just takes that long to get places!
Campsites were all nice and clean though. You might have to buy a baby bath to keep in van, otherwise get your baby used to showers! I think if we were going to go now with a baby we would do a campervan over a car and hotels simply because it cuts down on packing and unpacking. Also you never really know how long you're goig to want to stay in each place until you get there, and it's far easier to be flexible in a van i think - yiu'll always find a campsite nearby.
Places not to miss: lake tekapo (sp?). Kind of bang in the middlemof south island and not many people seem to know aboutit. Scenery absolutely stunning.
Fox glacier and franz joseph were cool (pun intended!). I wuldn't bother with mt cook, a long way to go for not v much. But it was foggy when we went!
Marlborough region for wine, town not v exciting.
Queenstown was ok for climbing etc but a bit of a party town...
Hanmer spring is a good stopoff between christchurch and picton. Spas and stuff.
On north island we weren't mad about auckland but really liked wellington.
Anywhere you go will be amazing, we loved the whole place. We had 3 and a bit weeks and it was perfect. V jealous!

Oh, and the fat dog cafe in rotarua had amazing lamb!
Just seen how long my message was, sorry. You prob weren't expecting such a rant...

No that's brilliant thanks - very helpful!