Hey Stephnachia. Sorry about the wait on my reply - I've been really busy.
Um, there's plenty of great tours for Lord of the Rings locations - mostly leaving from Christchurch (where I live) or Matamata (near Hamilton, up north - it's where Hobbiton was built). They're easy enough to find out about.
You'll probably want to try the hot pools in Hanmer. Hanmer is about 2 hours or so from Christchurch and is really popular all year round. Obviously, it's more fun in winter when there's often snow on the ground - you can run from pool to pool between small snow drifts then sink into the lovely warm water again. *sigh*
Um, but if you're into water sports (which you can do pretty easily as well in NZ), summer would be a better time to come. If you like animals, I would recommend going to do a whale watching tour in Kaikoura (about 3 hours up the coast from Christchurch). They're supposed to be amazing. I need to get around to doing one, one of these days. My parents have been though, and it's great.
Um, another place just near to Christchurch is Akaroa. It was a French settlement originally, and still retains a lot of it's French history, cuisine etc. Very nice. Another place that I haven't been too in years and need to.
Of course, if you're into thrill-seeking, Queenstown (about 5-6 hours drive from Christchurch) is the place to go. That's where AJ Hackett invented bungy-jumping. So you can do that, or go on the gondala (not so thrill-seeking, but fun...), go luging down the hillside, go jet boating - an awesome experience where they just narrowly miss the rocks - but that's how it's supposed to be and they know exactly what they're doing.
Um...up north is the city of Wellington (our capital, though only the third biggest city after Auckland and Christchurch) where you can see some great cultural stuff, such as the museum of Te Papa (the national museum) and lots of shows etc. Peter Jackson lives in Wellington and that's where Weta Studios are!
Auckland is a nice city - my brother lives there and he loves it. I enjoy it for specified periods of time as there is lots to do. But I prefer to live in Christchurch. But anyway, Auckland has Kelly Tarlton's (a marine experience), Rainbow's End (a rather tame and small theme park compared to those in the USA), the Auckland Zoo and lots of shops. Auckland's definitely NZ's most multicultural city, with immigrants from all over the world settling there. Kind of, in a strange way, NZ's own NYC.
Um, as for Christchurch itself... As we're the closest main city to Antarctica and lots of the Antarctic research is done here through my old university - the University of Canterbury - we have a place called the Antarctic Centre. It has a snow room and all sorts of cool information and exhibits about living on the ice - the animals etc. You can even pay a little extra and go on a Hagglund ride. That's one of those big vehicles that they use on the ice.
We also have a gondala here in Christchurch and lots about our history in the museum. The Arts Centre is awesome, particularly on weekends when they have a market outside. But it has a few interesting shops and cafes the rest of the week anyway. Lyttleton is where the first four ships to Canterbury came back in 1800 and something (one of my ancestors was on one!) and that's just over the hill from Christchurch.
Primarily, I think that NZ has some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. One of my favourite places to go - particularly in summer - is Kaiteriteri, up near the top of the South Island. Beautiful golden sand, gorgeous rolling hills - just amazing. Up there is where the Abel Tasman tramp (a hike). It's about 3 days long, though you can do bits and pieces of it, 1 day at a time. Down south, in Fiordland, we have the Milford track (another tramp). That one is about 5 days long. Fiordland is beautiful and you can also do boat tours around the fiords. So lush and green down there - because of lots of rain.
Okay - scenery is just beautiful. I'm sorry, my brain is protesting at how much I've made it think for this! I know that there's more I could tell you, but I think that that's enough for now.
Hope it helps!
~Anna.
Now at least I know what to budget for. <hugs> You're the best!! 