New Zealand is not a small archipelago. The three main islands together account for 268,000 km² of untouched nature and wonderful travel experiences. If we project this onto a map of Europe, the country stretches from Northern Denmark to Southern France.
With a length of 1,600 km and a width of 400 km, you will be busy exploring this natural paradise. If you are a lover of untouched coastal scenes, no less than 15,000 km of fantastic coastlines are waiting, all surrounded by rainforest, high mountains and even volcanoes or subtropical flora!
So certainly do not make the mistake of wanting to travel this country in 2 or 3 weeks. As you do not visit Denmark, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France all in one holiday! It would be a waste of time and precious money and most important you would miss out on so many beautiful things that you will never forgive yourself!