NZ South Island Itinerary Feedback?

Old Dec 10th, 2016, 11:22 AM
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NZ South Island Itinerary Feedback?

Hello all! The community seems so friendly, I was hoping to get some feedback on the trip my husband and I are planning for late March/early April 2017. We’ve never been to NZ or done any road trips, so I’m a little nervous!

Everyone is always so helpful on this forum, I wanted to run this by the group to see if anything is a glaring mistake or needed adjustment

Here goes:

Day 1: International flight departs
Day 3: International flight arrives Auckland (AM) –stay in Auckland
Day 4: Tour of Waitmo glow worm caves +? (not self driving!)
Day 5: Early domestic flight to Christchurch, pick up campervan + groceries,
------------ Drive to Lake Tekapo (~ 3 hrs)  Camp at Lake Tekapo
Day 6: Drive up to Mount Cook (~2 hours) ; explore Mount Cook (~ 2 hours).
------------ Drive to Omarama  Oamaru (stop if time permits)  Dunedin ~ 4 hours total)
------------  Camp in Dunedin (or sooner if needed)
Day 7: Drive to Catlins (~ 3 hrs) & explore Catlins  Camp in Catlins area
Day 8: Caitlins
------------ Drive to Invercargil (1 hr)  Drive to Te Anau (3 hours)  Camp in Te Anau area
Day 9: Drive to Milford Sound (~ 2hrs)  day hiking in Milford Sound  Camp in Milford area
Day 10: Milford sound cruise + others  Camp in Milford area
Day 11: Drive to Queenstown (~ 4 hours)  camp in Queenstown
Day 12: Queenstown  camp in Queenstown
Day 13: Drive to Wakana (~1hr)  Haast (~ 3 hours)  Camp in Haast
Day 14: Drive to Franz Joseph (or Fox) Glacier (~ 2 hours) (haven’t picked which glacier yet)
------------ Glacier hike tour during the day then Camp nearby
Day 15: Drive to Greymouth (~ 3 horus)  Camp in Greymouth
Day 16: Drive Arthur’s Pass to Christchurch (~ 3 hours)  return Campervan
Day 17: Christchurch
Day 18:
Day 19: Domestic flight to Auckland. International flight departs Auckland 1:00 pm


We *tried* to not pack too much into one day, while still seeing all the places/things we wanted to see. For Day 18, I’m trying to decide if we should 1) spend it in Christchurch; 2) fly back to Auckland that day to avoid having to do the domestic and international flights back to back on the last day; or 3) “insert it” somewhere earlier in our driving itinerary if we need to space something out and shifting everything else back a day (which would of course require us to extend our camper hire a day). I’m leaning toward option 2 or 3, though.

We haven’t worked out any other details yet (like booking campsites, or the tours/cruises), though I’m getting a little nervous about the timing. I’m not sure how busy things will still be in late March/early April and how far in advance we need to book.

Thanks so much for your feedback!
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Old Dec 10th, 2016, 01:05 PM
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End of March, into April is shoulder season. You should be good.

I do have my quibbles about your itinerary. Driving for several hours and staying only one night doesn't give you much time to explore - Dunedin is a prime example. Your choices of Haast and Greymouth are certainly ones I wouldn't pick. There's little to do at Milford Sound other than to take the cruise and the sandflies are rather bothersome (they don't follow you on the boat). There's little to do at Lake Tekapo other than take photos of the lake, dog statue, and church.

I would do the trip in an anti-clockwise direction for best views. I'd also spend your Christchurch day on Day 5 and wait to pick up the campervan on Day 6. Then I would:

Day 6 - pick up campervan, drive to Punakaiki
Day 7 - drive to Fox Glacier (2N)
Day 8 - explore
Day 9 - drive to Wanaka (2N)
Day 10 - explore
Day 11 - Drive to Kaka Point
Day 12 - explore Catlins, overnight Curio Bay (to see penguins)
Day 13 - drive to Te Anau or campground along Milford Rd (2N)
Day 14 - Milford Sound daytrip, stay Te Anau (or along Milford Rd)
Day 15 - drive to Queenstown (2N)
Day 16 - explore
Day 17 - drive to Mt Cook
Day 18 - drive to Christchurch via Lake Tekapo
Day 19 - fly out

A day of driving and a day of exploring works the best. I've divided up the Catlins into two 1-night stays at each end. There's plenty in the middle of these two to keep you busy.
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Old Dec 10th, 2016, 01:08 PM
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Ooops, just noticed it's actually a figure 8, and not a loop. But the top half done in the anti-clockwise direction is best. Arthur's Pass is more scenic east to west. Haast Pass is more scenic north to south. Lindis Pass is more scenic south to north.
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Old Dec 10th, 2016, 01:49 PM
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Thanks so much for the quick reply! I figured that if we we only had 4 hours of driving time in a day, it would give us plenty of time to stop along the way and/or explore when we arrived or more in the morning. It's really hard to gauge how much time you would want in any one place! (But I feel like I need to obviously).

I should have specified more but Haast and Greymouth seemed like appropriate to stop so that we could have not too many hours on the road and be able to stop a lot along the way.

I guess overall, it seemed like we shouldn't miss Mt Cook/Lake Tekapo, and I really want to do the glaciers and Milford (and I read the the best way to go there was via Te Anau), and my husband really wants to do the Catlins and Oamaru / Dunedin-- I think he feels like there is more to see a long the coasts and didn't want to rule out the East Coast entirely. So trying to fit all those in was how we wound up with a clockwise rather than the more typical counter-clockwise itinerary. I didn't realize it made so much of a difference though! (I assumed pretty was pretty in all the directions!)

Similarly, we were driving from the Catlins to Invercagil to Te Anau because we read that coastal drive was really really nice. But it's so hard to balance and assimilate all the information that's out there! It seems like you overall prefer more central routes to coastal ones-- do you think that is preferable?
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Old Dec 10th, 2016, 02:23 PM
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The problem is that the road from Christchurch to Dunedin shows you about 5 minutes worth of the ocean - hardly coastal, it goes through mile after mile of farmland. The road from the Catlins to Invercargill doesn't have any ocean views either. And you'll see about 10 minutes of ocean from Invercargill to Te Anau if taking Route 99 along Te Waewae Bay. Google maps street view is a handy tool.

If you want gorgeous coast, the section north of Greymouth to Charleston is awesome. That's why I directed you to Punakaiki. Visit the Pancake Rocks (blowhole at high tide) and Truman's Track (waterfall onto the beach).

Haast is well-situated, but notorious for sandflies. Greymouth is the terminus for the train, but a dull city. If you aren't keen on Punakaiki, then stay at Hokitika (and visit the gorge, it's beautiful).
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Old Dec 10th, 2016, 03:56 PM
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That is so so helpful and informative! With all the information it's so hard to know if people pick one thing over another "just cause" or if there is some rationale that's unexplained. Having the reasoning for one choice over another is very helpful. Thanks!
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Old Dec 10th, 2016, 04:23 PM
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I'm happy to help. We've done two trips devoted to South Island and another trip was half north, half south. We did the campervan thing on North Island and our "Top of the South Island" trip.

I like to explore "wild" beaches, and one of the best (if not thee best) was Motukiekie Beach, a bit south of Punakaiki. Find out when low tide is, because the beach does not exist if not low tide. And if you follow my itinerary above, this could be done on Day 6 or Day 7 - but is dependent on low tide. You can find out more info at http://motorcamps.com/content/motukiekie-beach-walk (although his parking coordinates are wrong). Maybe that will keep the husband happy?
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Old Dec 10th, 2016, 07:45 PM
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Haha maybe! -- I think it was less for beaches/oceans and more for pretty views in general. I don't think he had a good reason, but he had it in his head that the "view" was better or special on the coast. But the pictures of that beach do look *very* cool!
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Old Dec 11th, 2016, 06:56 AM
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>

Unfortunately, you've not succeeded. Four hours of driving gives you very little time for exploring. I suggest you devote an entire day to get from point A to point B - any extra time on a given travel day is then gravy.
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Old Dec 11th, 2016, 01:00 PM
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Thanks so much for the quick reply! I figured that if we we only had 4 hours of driving time in a day, it would give us plenty of time to stop along the way and/or explore when we arrived or more in the morning. It's really hard to gauge how much time you would want in any one place! (But I feel like I need to obviously).>>

what Mel said.

It is REALLY tiring driving every day, and we only tried doing it in a car not a van. After a couple of days we realised that we had bitten off more than we could chew and therefore changed our itinerary so as to give ourselves whole days in one place, rather than a succession of one night stands.
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