My basic plan for 12 weeks in New Zealand is to fly into Wellington, and reach the South Island via ferry (http://www.interislander.co.nz/The-Voyage.aspx) by January 2. Beyond that, I have almost no itinerary, but am thinking about using this as my general outline: Head south from Nelson to Murchison. Then continue towards Greymouth, take Tranzalpine train through Arthur’s Pass to Christchurch. From there, meander towards Wanaka and Queenstown, probably via Kurow and Omarama. After reaching and exploring Queenstown, make it back to Auckland for March 23 flight, either by flying north and exploring North Island, or taking bus to Wellington and exploring a bit before flying home. Somewhere along the way, work on a farm.
That's it for now, I will probably read my guide book on the plane to prepare a bit.
Lastly, I have a feeling that when the trip is over, I'll end up looking back at this preliminary outline and find that the plan and the actual trip didn't overlap at all.
