Have you purchased your flights to/from NZ yet?

We have tickets from CA-SYD roundtrip. We were looking at flying in and out of Christchurch from SYD.

The first recommendation is to see if you can change your tickets so you don't have to double back to Sydney. Would save you lots of time in the air (3 hours each way from Christchurch) and possibly some money too.

We don't have kids, but we did the following loop in 12-13 nights:

Fly into Christchurch, drive to Kaikoura

Stay in Kaikoura 1 night-- swim with wild dolphins or go whale watching

Drive to Hanmer Springs for one night, enjoy pools

Drive to Westport and down west coast to Franz Josef Glacier, stay two nights. Visit glacier.

Drive to Queenstown, stay 2-3 nights. Lots to do there.

Drive to Te Anau, stay 1-2 nights, hike in Fiordland, spend a night on an overnight cruise on Milford or Doubtful Sound.

Drive to Dunedin, stay 2-3 nights. Fly out of Dunedin.

The above itinerary does not include Abel Tasman or Mount Cook. Most of the other highlights are covered. We really enjoyed our trip. You can probably modify the above itinerary to suit the needs of your family. Let me know if you have any questions!

Also, due to the time you are traveling, IMHO you will want to make accommodation reservations at least a few months in advance.

Liz

Because your family likes hiking, you might consider something like this:

Drive from CH to Kaikoura - 1 night, whale watching, etc.

Drive Kaikoura to Picton - 2 nights (visit the Marlborough Sounds, maybe take a mail boat into the Sounds or take a water taxi to a resort in the sounds and stay there, hike some of the Queen Charlotte Track, etc)

Drive Picton to Abel Tasman area via Nelson - 2-3 nights (kayaking, hiking Abel Tasman coastal track, wineries, arts and crafts studios, etc)

Drive Abel Tasman area/Nelson to west coast via Westport, visit Pancake Rocks and continue down west coast via Greymouth to Hokitika - stay 1 night Hoki

Drive Hoki to Franz Josef or Fox Glacier - 2 nights (helihikes on glacier, glacier hikes, many walks in the area)

Drive Franz Josef/Fox Glacier to Queenstown - 2-3 nights (bungy jumping, jet boats, Dart River Safari via Glenorchy, many tracks out of Glenorchy, which is a 40 minute drive from QT, countless adventure activities)

Drive QT to Te Anau - spend 1-2 nights - visit Milford Sound, hike, etc.

Drive Te Anau to QT - fly QT to CH for connecting international flight (?)

This itinerary covers some of the best of what NZ has to offer, but by no means all of it. Other highlights for those who love the outdoors (like me!)are Lake Tekapo, Mt Cook and Banks Peninsula.

Assuming you're arriving early in the day, and don't want to drive much your first day, Banks Peninsula, Kaikoura and Hamner Springs (if you're interested in thermal springs) are all within a 1.5-2 hour drive of CH and make a good first overnight stop.

As far as first rate accommodations, I highly recommend Bay of Many Coves in the Marlborough Sounds.

Awaroa Lodge in Abel Tasman has gotten good reviews on this forum:

www.awaroalodge.co.nz/

Lake Moeraki Wilderness Lodge is another gem:

www.wildernesslodge.co.nz/

Others include:

www.wildernesslodge.co.nz/arthurspass/

http://www.teweheka.co.nz/

For drive times/distances, this is a great site:

http://www.accommodationz.co.nz/distances2.html

Have fun!

Thank a million for the two phenomonal itinerary suggestions. I have a few guide books and will research the places you recommend. I know it's sub-optimal to fly via Sydney, but we have to be there for family reasons pre-Christmas and I used frequent flyer miles. Liz-do you remember where you stayed at Franz Josef Glacier? Thanks again. Brad

Hi Brad,

We stayed at Punga Grove in a Suite. I highly recommend it.

Liz

We also stayed in Punga Grove in Franz Josef and we liked it too. If you're looking for more something more upscale though, you might take a look at the link I posted previously on Te Weheka, which is 40 minutes away in Fox Glacier.

Thank you both for these terrific ideas and links. I've begun checking them out and they look great! Brad