Hi Freespirit, New Zealand is a wonderful country, especially the
Christchurch is an amazing place with good beaches & wineries. I did my New Zealand tour twice with my children and travelling with children is really a challenging one. Since New Zealand is a beach destination, we packed swimsuits, Sun hats, Sun creams, sandals and so many things during our first New Zealand tour, oh! it was very hard, so the next time just we bought everything in Christchurch and felt it was an easy way. Reg. hand luggage, we kept some valuables and needed items in our hand luggage including passport, travel documents, blanket,earplugs, ipod, small wash bag with toothbrush, hairbrush, handcream. etc., Also one piece of hand luggage is allowed in New Zealand flights, so try to keep your hand luggage as a lightweight one, so that it's quite easy for you to carry anywhere during your New Zealand tour. Hope this helps!