Did a 2 week trip to NZ earlier this month of Auckland to Wellington and Christchurch to Queenstown. Overall the trip went pretty well without issues, but I am not sure I would head back to NZ. The scenery was good to very good, but it wasn't quite unique (eg comparable to patagonia/northern europe/canada/PNW) and nothing really stood out as something I would do again.
Accommodation: Reservations went without a hitch and mix of motels/hotels wasn't too expensive at rough range of 100 to 180 USD/night but ran into an issue that I didn't expect: Nobody has goddamn window screens to keep out bugs. So if there wasn't aircon, you would be stuck either having a stuffy/hot room or bugs getting in, a really terrible choice to have to make.
Activities: Liked that the national parks were all covered by the visitor levy. Lots of hiking and scenery to take in. Hobbiton was super touristy, but its worth doing, especially if you can get the lunch or dinner combo option.
Driving: While its possible to use busses and trains to get around, its about as efficient as trusting Amtrak and Megabus. Much easier to rent a car and pretty straightforward as there is very little traffic except for Auckland but its annoying to have so many single lane roads where passing a slow camper van going 60 kph was an issue. also, definitely get the insurance cover for windshields, very high chance of road work with flying rocks hitting the windshield.
Food: mid as hell. its basically upside down Scotland, with less ethnic options so somehow even blander and less varied, bring sauces/condiments if you can. chip shops were ok for the fish, but I am not a fan of UK style chips, so I mixed and matched with McDs fries. spinach was crazy expensive at 20+ per kg so all the salads were sad and flavorless iceberg lettuce and you couldn't find a decent tortilla if your life depended on it. meat overall was expensive, somehow I can get imported NZ lamb cheaper at my local costco. drinks at pubs/bars were extremely expensive, wine is reasonable but that was useless to me.
PS Can someone get Air New Zealand to stop serving that awful couscous