I think anytime between November and March is good. I spent three weeks in March touring both Islands a few years ago and had fabulous weather. Be aware though that New Zealand climate can be similar to the UK with quite a few rainy and cool days.
A friend was there last November and had very mixed weather. If you do go in November I would head for the North Island first where it should already be hot then go to the south where summer often arrives a bit later.

Fiji and Tahit have all the year round sunshine though it can get extremely hot and sticky from December to May.

We went in April and spent nearly 3 weeks touring the North and South Islands. We had very good weather - lots of sun, only a couple days when we saw some rain, and temperatures were nice for touring and walking. I wore short sleeves in the North Island and sometimes long sleeves in the South, but it really wasn't cold. However, I think a month earlier would probably have been much warmer.

It's a lovely place and you can barely scratch the surface in 3 weeks. Have a great time!

I would just say that during our 2-day stopover in Hong Kong the weather was foul!!

We went in January this year and had glorious weather. From talking to locals they said that they had had an early summer starting in November but then it got chilly again in December but really picked up in January. The North Island was warmer than the south but bear in mind the South Island has almost an East West divide of weather. The East has more mountains and more rain, even in summer (we had one days rain when travelling the East). The West is almost always in drought during the summer months and very hot and dry.

Whenever you decide to go you will have a ball, most wonderful country. We are off again in December this year and cannot wait!!

We went two and a half years ago now, for the last 3 weeks in October. It was spring then, so lots of spring flowers but not hot and with mixed weather. I agree that whenever you go, it is a fantastic place. We had 3 weeks, 2 in South Island and one on North Island which seemed about right. The only problem we had with planning was deciding what NOT to see, as we wanted to avoid one night stops, so as not to see the whole island from the car. We certainly have lots od scope for further visits and would be back like a shot, if it wasn't for the distance.

Happy planning!

Thanks everyone for your input. Still lots of time before we have to make a decision as it could be a while before we've saved up the pennies to do it properly! Maria, I take on board what you say about spending the whole holiday in a car but I've seen 2 fabulous sounding self-drives in the Qantas brochure, 2 weeks in both Islands with some of the stops being 2-nighters. The distance from the UK is pretty daunting and as I get older (aah!) I hate flying more and more so want to get all long distance holidays out of the way sooner rather than later; thats why these two drives appealed so much as they seem to cover the major places of interest. Mind you, when we went to Oz 3 years ago I didn't think we'd ever get the chance to go back but we were there in March of this year and in November we are doing a cruise round the south coast of Oz, Tasmania and the South Island of New Zealand.

Hi Babs,

I've been to both Fiji and Tahiti and, personally, I would recommend Tahiti. If the budget stretches to it, include a trip to Bora Bora or Moorea from Tahiti for a few nights. We went to Bora Bora for three nights and fell in love with it and the flight from Tahiti took less than an hour. We have promised ourselves we will be back there one day.

However, Moorea might be some peoples preferred option, as it really is only a few minutes short hop on the plane, or around 30 minutes on a catamaran.

Let me know if I can answer any other questions for you, either on this thread or by pm.

JJ

JJ, thanks for the input. It's hard enough deciding on stopovers, etc. without people adding fabulous ideas that we hadn't thought of Visiting other places such as Bora Bora (not mentioned in any of the brochures I've been reading) hadn't occurred to me but it is certainly something to add to the list of what to do and where to go. Isn't life complicated

Babs135 wrote:

JJ, thanks for the input. It's hard enough deciding on stopovers, etc. without people adding fabulous ideas that we hadn't thought of Visiting other places such as Bora Bora (not mentioned in any of the brochures I've been reading) hadn't occurred to me but it is certainly something to add to the list of what to do and where to go. Isn't life complicated :rofl

Just re-read brochures, and of course Bora Bora and Moorea are mentioned I'd mentally crossed them off the list because they are not cheap!!Did notice a 3 days cruise round Fiji which looked interesting. However, still a long way to go before we have to make any decisions.

whatever time of year you decide to go will be good. I prefer the May to Aug months because we get the snow on the mountains. And my husband is a big rugby nut so we get to watch some rugby games as well.

forgot to say we just got back from Fiji...just awesome we stayed in a village in a homestay and it was just perfect. It was a real village and was a traditional village right on the beach any closer to the beach and we would of been in the water, just beautiful. Crystal clear water and sandy beach. The house/cabin we stayed in was clean, tidy and basic but the food was just awesome so much of it and fresh and beautifully cooked, the flavors and smells were delightful. the people of the village were all welcoming and friendly (some of our friends were worried about us staying in a village but we had no problems at all) It was an experience I will never ever forget.