NZ South Island Trip?

Question

I have planned a 6 day trip to the South Island of New Zealand starting and ending in Christchurch. Is this too short? Should I wait until I get more time off? If 6 days is OK (I have a 4 your old boy) can you suggest a nice planner that includes Queenstown? Will drive. Thanks

Answer 1

6 days is short, and to see the South Island would take more than 6 days, but reality is not everyone has that much time, and I did quite a bit in 6(well actually 6 nights 7days) in the South Island. I was by myself, so I had the freedom to travel at my own pace, and work at my own speed, with a 4 yo it may be challenging. I did alot in 6 days though. Here was my Itinerary(I dont have all the names I went to on the top of my head).

Day 1-Flew into Christchurch in AM, checked into my Hotel, and started a walking tour of Christchurch, including Cathedral Square, then to the art museum, then to the Gardens, took a walk down the river, and went to a bunch of the sites around downtown such as the old govt. buildings, some churches, and explored around downtown, ate dinner at a nice restruant, relaxed a little in my hotel room, went out for a couple drinks, and went to bed. There are lots of good maps in Christchurch where you can get all the good sites.

Day 2- Had breakfast in Christchurch, then made my way towards Aoraki/Mt. Cook NP. on my way there stopped and rested at some small towns, got a latte at one(dont remember the small town names) Took plenty of time stopping to snap pictures, stopped at Lake Tekapo toured the church they had there walked around Lake Tekapo some, then off to Mt. Cook, before I got there I stopped at the little rest area at Lake Pukaki went to the little museum there, spent some time resting by the lake, then got to Mt. Cook NP. At Mt. Cook village, I spent some time getting acquainted with the area, and then set out to do the Hooker Valley trail, up to the glacial lake. Amazing, I started from the Hotel, instead of the Campground so I added about an hour of walking. I also went up a couple side trails. At that point it was getting late, so I decided to stay at Mt. Cook village for the night(great choice), had a wonderful dinner there, and woke up early next morning for my trek to Queenstown.

Day 3-Hiked up to the Blue lakes, and the other glacial lake by there. Had breakfast in Twizel, explored around there some, then really didnt make another stop until I got to Cromwell(except to take pictures of the great views). After Cromwell, I headed to Queenstown, but made a stop at AJ Hackett to watch the Bungy Jumpers, and book my trip to do the Nevis for the next day. Once I got to Queenstown, I checked into my Hotel, and walked around town, and did the Shotover Jet boat, and took a walk through the gardens down the lake a bit, before I started to wind down for the night.

Day 4- Started off by doing the 134 m Nevis bungy jump, once I got back, I hiked up Mt. Queenstown to the summit, and came back down, and went to the Kiwi Reserve/Maori village, I chose not to ride the tram since the hike you got to see quite a bit already. Went to eat, then got ready and spent the night on the town doing a little partying :)

Day 5-I pretty much didnt stop much on the way to the coast, except for pictures, but once I got there, I took the scenic route past the beach. Stopped and took in the beauty of the beach there, walked up the beach and explored some. Had lunch at a great fish and chip stand, and off to Dunedin. Once there walked and explored around downtown, and then took to drive to Otago peninsula, went to the castle, but I really wanted to see the Penguin reserve, so I booked a tour there, and saw the penguins, it was cool. Stayed the night in Dunedin.

Day 6- Started to drive back to Christchurch, stopped at the Maoraki boulders, but for the most part kept going, I was a little ahead of schedule, so I decided to stop in Ashburton to relax a little, do my laundry, and kind of chill out. I could have made it back to Christchurch fairly easily but decided not to.

Day 7-Back to Christchurch via Mt. Hutt, and the gorge. Hiked up the Gorge(forgot the name at this moment), made it back to Christchurch, had a couple hours to kill so I toured the Antartic center by the airport, before I had an afternoon flight back to Auckland.

Hope this helps, I would go to NewZealand.com, and they have great driving routes where you can plan your trip. The key for me, was waking up early in the morning instead of sleeping in, I was able to avoid a lot of crowds, and see so much. The only downfall is I do wish I could have spent more time relaxing, but I am happy I go to see as much as I did.

Answer 2

It's a little bit difficult to see all the best of the South Island in 6 days.

Normally,  I would suggest that on Day 1 you take the Tranzsenic rail trip to Greymouth, and pick up your rental car from there to continue the trip down the West Coast, especially for a 4 year old boy. But, hiring a car in Greymouth will probably mean returning it to Greymouth. Make enquiries with the lower level car companies (see the yellow pages at www.yellow.co.nz).

Just out of Greymouth is Shanty Town, then a drive down the Coast to Hokitika where there is glassblowing, greenstone and glowworms.

Then on Day 2, carry on to one or the other of the Glaciers (no need to do both), having a good look at Lake Ianthe and Lake Matheson (if the weather is fine). Check out Okarito if you have time. There are tours here, but probably not suitable for a 4 yr old.

Day 3 head for Arrowtown. A long drive. Arrowtown is about 15 km from Queenstown and accommodation is very, very much cheaper. You probably won't be doing skydiving, bungy jumping or jet boating, but you may find interest in the Old Cromwell Town and the Kawarau Gold Mining Centre.

Day 4 you can take the bus tour to Milford if you wish. It's just (if not more) spectacular in the rain as in the fine weather. DON"T TAKE YOUR CAR!

If you don't go the Milford, there's heaps in QT to look at, including a trip on the Ernie Boat (TSS Earnslaw) (ask about Pot, the dragon of the lake), and a ride in the gondola.

If you go to Milford, you'll miss out on QT.

Day 5 head down the Clutha River to Dunedin to see the albatrosses, the penguins and the butterflies.

Day 6 will be a return to Christchurch perhaps inspecting the Moeraki Boulders, Clark's Flour Mill at Maheno, and the pottery factory at Temuka.

Along the way there will be points of interest, like old buildings, mines, farms, orchards, air, car, radio and train museums, so you should be able to keep yourself reasonably occupied.

A longer stay will give more time to meander a bit.

This itinerary assumes you are a reasonably fast but safe driver, and that you can get a car in Greymouth and leave in Christchurch.

Look up places of interest using Google (www.googleearth.com), where you can also get some maps.

Drive Safely!

Driver T

Answer 3

6 days is way too short

Answer 4

People always make the mistake of coming to NZ for too short a time because we are a 'small' country. I really really beleive you need more than 6 days. I would say at least 2 weeks is nessacery in the South Island.

From Christchurch :

You can go up the east coast to Kaikoura for Whale watching and dolphin swimming.

You can go inland to Hamner Springs (relaxing natural hot springs thermal resort)

You can go across to Queenstown (highly recommended), best to fly because a bus will take 8 hours. This is the adventure capital of the world and you could spend months here and not get bored.

Milford sound - you can do day trips from Queenstown but personally I would do an overnight trip.

The west coast of the South Island is just beautiful. There is not much there and it takes around 2 days to drive down it but it is just amazing.

Able tasman national park - top of North Island, also very beautiful.  You can go on kayaking trips or just scenic walks.

I hope you can change the length of your trip...Otherwise I would say Christchurch, Queenstown and Milford sound are your best bets.

Answer 5

6 days would be very rushed, herhaps you should fly into Queenstown and then drive around the lower region, then up the West Coast and fly out of Christchurch - this would involve a lot of driving though.

Answer 6

As per the answers you've already recieved I would say 6 days is really a bit short, you'd be exhausted at the end of it!. Christchurch is a good starting and ending point but by limiting yourself to only 6 days you'd really only be able to fit in going south of Christchurch (and thus fitting in Queenstown) or going North of Christchurch to kaikoura, Picton/marlborough sounds area, Nelson and the beautiful Abel tasman national park which are well worth a visit also - but then you'd miss out on Qtown.

Personally I would wait until you could get a bit more time off(maybe 2 weeks as someone already mentioned) that way you'd get to see a lot more and wouldn't feel rushed / disappointed at having missed certain places.