Planning a big trip.
Looking for guidance of the best spots.
Surfing and/or Sea paddling?
For surfing (and nice coastal paddling), check out the west coast of the North Island:
Taranaki:
http://www.newzealandnz.co.nz/surfing/taranaki.html
For simply spectacular sea paddling, perhaps the Fiordlands on the SW corner of South Island. If pictures are worth a thousand words:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/ykzg6ov
There are so many beautiful places, and lots of water to paddle (both sea and WW), but these two regions I’ve mentioned–for surfing and paddling–should be well worth your trip half way around the world! 
Melissa
Oh man !
That is on my lust list.
Want a porter?
Cheers,
JackL
Bruce Brown’s Route…
for filming the Endless Summer. Fantasy land – humongous trout in ww water runs and beautiful/bountiful surf.
G’day, mate.
sing
Bay of Islands
It’s the northern most part of the North Island. Camp on the beaches, put a few shrimp on the barbie (oops, that’s Austrailia), oh well.
No shortage of scenery, rivers amd mutton. Queenstown Lake on the South Island would be awesome too.
Bringing back fond memories of a 2 month backpacking stay. If you’re fairly young or young at heart, NZ has the best hostels in the world, as well as the best organized “treks” for backpacking and sightseeing.
Good Luck.
what are you looking to do there?
Sea Kayaking - D’Urville Island, Abel Tasman, Queen Charlotte Sounds, Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound, Great Barrier Island, Farewell Spit
Whitewater - Murchison - It has whitewater for every level. The NZ Kayak School can get you info on all the hotspots that are off the track. Hokitika is another good jumping off point.
Tramping - just about anywhere. You can do the Milford Track but it if crowded. There are lots of better tracks in the Milford Sound area that are much better and peaceful. Rotoburn is nice too. Also check out Aoraki, Ball Pass, and Lake Tekapo.
If you have a limited amount of time just skip the North Island. There is a lot of cool stuff to do there, but the South Island has so much more to offer.
Queenstown is a place you will hear a lot about. Despite all of the ‘outdoor’ attractions it is pretty much a party town.
West coast swells work in January?
I’m assuming most of the swell will be coming from North East?
Mostly hiking and surfing. plan on doing an overnight Seakayak trip in Doubtful Sound.
We paddled…
…Able Tasman in 2004. A great park and fun coastal paddle on the South Island. Good places to camp or just store your kayak at night along the way at night. We took two Feathercraft Kahunas.
http://outdoors.webshots.com/slideshow/193595251XINdpW