Is NZ boring for long trip with kids?

[Figs788]

DH & I are looking to take our 4 & 8 year olds on a long trip this January, as we’ve been going through big life changes and need a big break away.

Ideally somewhere spectacular looking, fun, warm, sandy beaches…but also safe. We’re contemplating taking a campervan trip around NZ.

as a family we’ve done lots of uk travel to Lake District, wales etc - all amazing landscapes. I heard a podcaster describe NZ as ‘basically like the Lake District..and it’s too far to go for just that with kids!’

We have family there, so it would be nice to see them, but the looooong flight is a concern too.

On balance, is the cost and upheaval of getting to NZ worth it for a family holiday? Should we wait until they’re older maybe? Any thoughts gratefully received!

Describing NZ as being like the Lake District is like describing your local park as being like the Lake District.

New Zealand is stunning. Really, really beautiful.
The two islands are quite different.

The 'Sounds' in the South Island are like Fjords in Norway.

The Geothermal Activity in Rotorua in the North Island is like a visit to Iceland.

The Māori Culture and History is fascinating.

The beaches are beautiful

The volcanoes are just magnificent

The penguins are wonderful - something really magical about seeing the tiny Blue Penguins in the wild.

The trans alpine train ride is stunning

The glaciers are worth going to see.

There is just SO much to see.

Yes, it is a long, long trip, and therefore flights will be costly, so it's worth going for as long as you can, but it is so easy to drive around and I would highly recommend anyone visiting.

Tricky to answer if it is worth it for dc of that age per se, but if you leave it longer, you won't want to be taking them out of school for 6 - 8 weeks so it is a balancing act.

I wouldn’t fly that far with a 4 snd 8 year old. Not much fun for them. What about school for 8 year old? I’d save it for at least 5 years.

We were in NZ last year with slightly older children (10 and 11) and found it to be extremely child friendly. Every little town village had a playground to stretch legs after car journeys and public libraries of the weather was a little wet. The people are lovely and it felt safe. I would recommend it hugely. The temperature is good for children as well- never too hot.

You can break the flight up. Stop off somewhere like dubai and have a few days in a hotel with a pool, adjust to time zone. Then do the next leg. Or somewhere else logically en route.

Book night flights taking off 8/9pm. Bring pillows, pyjamas and things. Do ‘bedtime’ on the plane, brush teeth, story etc, each child gets a parent and sleeps on your lap. Trust me they’ll be out like a light.

We started long haul at 5 and 6 years old and honestly could have done younger. But we wouldn’t do 24 hours in one go, but we’ve done 12 hours a bunch of times.

Would small kids like New Zealand? I mean they won’t get as much out of it as older kids. But it’s an amazing place. So friendly. Food is amazing. If you like wine, wine is wonderful.

Off the top of my head some places they might like at this age -

Abel Tasman national park. Lovely long flat safe sandy beaches. Wonderful nature to explore.

Bay of Islands in the north - also beachy. You can go see dolphins.

Queenstown is cool - there is a lot of more outdoor pursuit stuff there they will be small for, but the wine country is lovely and there are wineries with play areas and things so mum and dad can have a nice lunch whilst kids play.

Can’t remember the name but there is a place with lots of little hills they filmed hobbiton for lord of the rings. There are beautiful glow worm caved which also kids would probably enjoy.

Wellington is a lovely kid friendly city where you could stop if you wanted a bit of civilisation, go to the movies or whatever.

Coromandel Peninsula beautiful, beachy, family friendly, lots of lovely still bays with caves to explore and rocks to jump in the water.

Maybe steer clear of the sounds (Marlborough and Milford). They are stunning but the experience is a lot about being on a boat or kayak and just experiencing the wonder of nature. Might be over their heads a bit and too young to kayak on deep water (unless you are super brave and one of you would take the little one out).

Steer clear of volcanoes. Again can’t remember the name but it’s where mount doom from lord of the rings filmed. It was a hard trek.

Eat out anywhere. Even in the sticks you will never have a bad meal. Buy good wetsuits. Even in boiling summer the water is freezing.

On that note - there is a lot of water in NZ. Both kids should take swimming lessons as most places are by sea or lakes. just so you can really enjoy / paddle in sea etc. I know going to places like this became way less stressful when my kids confident in water.

Give over. She didn’t ask your opinion on whether she was allowed to take her 8 year old out of school.

It’s not a GCSE year or anything. There’s naff all in year 4 you can’t catch up from after a few weeks off.

You can't describe NZ as being like one area. I personally don't think it's that much like the Lake District. What it's like really depends where you go.

I think kids would like Rotorua for something different. We took ours to a farm place and on the gondalas and to some geothermal areas. That was great (and you couldn't compare it to the Lake District by any stretch).

NZ is also a lot bigger than you think. The South Island has some spectacular scenery but it's a long way from somewhere like Rotorua. If you head north from Auckland, there's also beautiful outdoor areas. For beaches, probably Coromandel Peninsula, which is a whole other direction again. More rugged black sand beaches on the west, east for calmer yellow beaches.

I wouldn't worry about the plane trip. I've done it with younger kids. How would they go being driven around a lot in a camper van though?

I was born in UK but grew up in NZ, husband is a kiwi. We have taken our kids there over Christmas twice (once when aged 3 and 5, and also last Christmas when aged 7 and 5). The flight was honestly fine! We always power straight through but last time we missed our connection in Singapore so had a day there which was great. Singapore is good for a short stopover for a couple of days, as a previous poster said you could do that. My kids are fine with the flight, they love the nonstop TV!

As someone else said that Lake District comment is odd, suggests that person only went to one part?! I agree with all the comments up thread except the one about the water always being freezing. Perhaps that's the case in the South Island, but I'm from Auckland and the water is considerably warmer than the UK (I struggle to swim here even in summer!)

As someone said consider where you go. Agree the children would find the Sounds boring. I personally love the Bay of Islands where a lot of people don't make it, the beaches are absolutely stunning.

Re size- NZ is roughly the same size as the UK geographically, to give you an idea.

Campervan - my parents did this when I was little and my husband and I always considered it but they have become very expensive so when we've done road trips (we even did one with our friends when our first child was a baby) we've hired a car and stayed in places, it worked out cheaper.

I used to live in Wellington and the water is absolutely freezing there! NZ is about 10% larger than the UK but has a lot fewer people so feels bigger. And it’s nothing like the Lake District. Weird comment! There’s lots to do for kids so I’m sure they’d have a great time but that flight is a killer. And watch out for the weather - it’s unpredictable even in summer and when it rains it pours down. You get soaked just getting from your house to the car. And don’t get me started on wellington’s wind…

Did you travel around or stay at hotels/airbnbs? How long did you stay for?

I guess at 10/11 years old they are more able to hike and get stuck into outdoorsy adventures.

Thank you for mentioning the playgrounds and libraries, that’s probably exactly what 4&8 year olds really need; and we will be doing a little bit of home schooling while we’re there

yes my intial look at costs for campervan is £200/day, eeeek!

thanks for the reassurance on the flight. Stopping at Singapore sounds a good plan

Oh yes water temperature would be an important consideration, they absolutely adore beaches and swimming and so maybe we allow extra time in the north to enjoy the warmer waters

My friend used Emirates and stopped in Dubai. A NZ couple we know stop in LA. £200 a day is ok between 4 people. What do family rooms cost and car hire, or are you camping?

What are the school rules on keeping dc on roll? Used to be 3 weeks. Most parents do consider this. Not surprisingly.

I live in NZ (am UK born but have been in NZ most of my life). There is so much to do for kids! It would be an amazing trip! But one thing about waiting until they’re older is that the kids would be more likely to remember it. I’m sure the 4 year old won’t remember it.

But, I would caution that January is HOT and you won’t be on the beaches in the middle of the day. Weather wise I would look to avoid January and February, and aim for either spring (which can be wet, but when it’s dry it’s beautiful) or autumn. Also January is our long school holidays so accommodation etc may be difficult to find and everything will be peak prices. In fact you’re probably already too late to get accommodation for next January (certainly the first two weeks) in many popular destinations.

I hadn’t considered it will be their school holidays… good point!

We only have January really as an option, so we’ll just have to cope with the hot weather. I hope we can get a decent campervan with good air con

I’m looking at lots of YouTube and instagram family videos, and I think the gentleness of NZ might be just what we need right now. Space to breathe, time together, safe, relaxing. Like British summer but in January

@Figs788 we were there 4 weeks. That included a week over Christmas in a wine area (we stayed in a villa and the nearest village martinborough had a great playground) we travelled from Auckland down to Queenstown. Agree with pp the glow works caves, hobberton and roturua were great for children (R had a great playground on the lake so we were able to culture and play as we did the Māori experience which was excellent) we tend to walk/ culture and have ice cream or playground at the end). Would it be possible to bring small scooters that fold up? That would make the walking easier? Wellington is a fun city and again would give you a break from driving. We then went to the SI (by ferry- very bumpy journey) and down to Christchurch (cute city- with a huge award winning playground) and then the transalpine over and down to Queenstown. As our children were slightly older we had the option of zip lining etc which would be ruled out for you but am sure there are other family fun activities to do.
have to comment on the public toilets too- clean, plentiful and safe.
second hand shops for stopping for picking up and returning books- toys too. It’s a very low consumption society I found.
we stayed in motels, hotels, air bnb and traveled by car, bus, train and internal flights.
even in the wine region while not catering to children the kiwis are very chill and welcoming. We tended to sit outside (bring layers- it’s not that warm or cold but fluctuating) and the girls ran about and played in the trees or explored. There are so many families about that they picked up pals occasionally too. Would go out for dinner armed with books, colouring pens pencils too. You are immersed in beauty so don’t need to go looking for it- it just surrounds you (not the city’s obviously they are cities but plenty to see and do) we did not do the sounds etc as a trek to them and dd1 and I get badly travel sick so we wanted to make our hops shortish.
my only surprise there was that I thought it would be a greatly vegetarian based diet and we would be spoiled for choice but no I found it very very meat based- like 1 veg option on a menu and that’s it. When you eating out I like to have a choice. Apart from that all good.
oh we flew direct all the way- unlimited tv, sleep was enough to please the girls. X

Just want to add to this though, if going to the geothermal areas, please do not use scooters. I don't think they'd be allowed anyway. They can be dangerous and some of those pools are hot enough to burn you severely. With a scooter the risk of someone falling in, or an accident that hurts someone else, is much greater.

I went with my 4 year old for 6 weeks. We hired a campervan it was old and had many miles on the clock but it survived the 3000 we put on it.
It was a while ago but from what I remember is you don’t pay for most attractions until they are 6. It’s very family friendly. Playing on empty beaches in the evening is one of my favourite memories of that trip.
They loved it at the time and got so much out of it. Do they remember much nearly 10 years later, no. But I wouldn’t let that stop you.
We did a day boat trip on both Doubtful and Marlborough sounds. They were happy playing with the Lego provided on the boat. My child has never stopped me travelling and has always fitted in. Most sights are suitable for a child you just do them in a different way.
Nothing like the Lake District!
They loved at the time, the beaches, glow worm caves, gold panning and the wildlife.
best thing about camping is there are a lot of free places and there will be a lot of families doing it this way. My child played with all sorts of nationalities and at this age they didn’t even realise they weren’t speaking English, just played happily chatting in their own languages.

My favourite place in the whole world , I have flown with a baby and multiple times independently but no I wouldn’t at this age unless you really want to prioritise seeing family. The flight is so painful and the scenery is wasted on kids that age who’d be happy with a pool and beach anywhere….and it’s the most expensive time of year for tourists. (and how would you get away with taking that time off from school?)

We spent three weeks there and adored it but doing adulty things due to no kids so can't really advise on that. Just wanted to second the insane rental cost of campervans; we initially aimed to van for the trip but rented cars instead (changing when flying from north to south island) and used hostels and b&bs. But while we were there we found there was a small but usable "buy a campervan for a few weeks and sell it on" trade going on, no idea if that's still the case or if it's been shut down by insurance or whatever. Worth a looky.

I guess it depends what beach. I was on a beach on the Otago Peninsula in Jan 18 and I had a woolly hat (emergency purchase from the Albatross centre) on.

Highly recommended.

Yeah sorry I’m an Aucklander who has no reason to ever go further south than Hamilton! But here in the north you can fry after being outside for 10 minutes!

It's the same in Canterbury, hot and dry. I've also been cold in Otago in summer.

Yes definitely do it, I spent 6-8 weeks travelling NZ in my twenties, it's the best. Loads of fun things to do and see and not really like the Lake District. My in-laws live in Oz so we do the long haul trip, admittedly a few hours shorter than NZ, every couple of years with the kids, it's not really fun but it's manageable.

Re the flight, it's worth thinking about the route. I found via Dubai a killer as we weren't stopping over, had to wake baby DS in the middle of the night and then get onto a 17 hour flight to Auckland. I prefer stopping halfway so Singapore is good.

NZ is far away but love the Maori culture.
Utterly fascinating.

The rest I couldn't care less about.

Stunning nature I do!