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We have only 6 days on the South Island. We will be flying into Queenstown on dec 27
1) dec 27- arrive in queenstown at 2pm pick up rental car and drive to milford pass. spend night at the lodge.
2) dec 28- take first cruise at 9 am for milford. leave right after for dunedin. arrive 5pm at dunedin penguin palace to take evening tour. spend night in dunedin. (busy day)
3) dec 29 leave for queenstown visitng arrowtown and glenorchy before arrivng into queenstown in the evening. (we could also spend the night in glenorchy) what do you think.
4) dec 30, 31. jan 1 slow down and relax. spend these days in queenstown. flying back to auckland on jan 02.
What do you think, we will have 2 small children with us.(age 6 and 2.5 yrs old.) They are usally good on driving trips as long as they have their dvds to watch.
South Island 6 day itinery what do you think?
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Well, it's not an itinerary I would choose, but I realize your time is very limited and you know what you want to see and do.
I hope that after your six hour drive from Milford to Dunedin you see lots and lots of penguins!
Dec 29 might be a bit of a stretch - the drive from Dunedin to Queenstown is four hours (283) and that's without any stops. Keep in mind that Glenorchy and Arrowtown are in opposite directions from Queenstown. You're going to be hard pressed to fit all of that into a day, even with lots of daylight to work with. Because of your tight schedule, you might do well to spend the night in Glenorchy. You could drive from Dunedin to Glenorchy (about five hours total), spend the night, explore the Glenorchy area that evening and the following morning, work your way to Arrowtown for a few hours, and then settle in Queenstown for your three days.
I think it's a heck of a lot of driving and moving around even without small kids.
Have you considered flying into Dunedin, picking up a car and working your way towards Queenstown and departing from there?
December 27...what lodge? The one in Milford? Can you even get reservations?
In your favor is that it stays light way late..so there is lots of time for driving.
Dec 28 By my calculations it will take you about 6 hours travel time. So I don't even think you will get there in time. Maybe shift your Milford wxcursion to later in your stay. Arrival day see Arrowtown/Kawarau Gorge and overnight in Dunedin. Possibly go on the first morning tour at Penguin Place the next day.
If you have not already booked flights, that is a good idea about the one-way flights but you may pay a hefty drop off fee on the car. I think it might be worthwhile, though.
the problem is that we already have booked our flights from auckland to queenstown. it would have been nice to fly into dunedin and back from queenstown. I am now thinking that as much as we love to see penguins driving to dunedin is out of the way. so we may just skip that. instead drive to milford and the other day spend seeing arrowtown and glenorchy. while spending the remaining days in queesntown.
I think you will find plenty to do between Queenstown and Milford.
I think the Earnslaw cruise might be a good family excursion.
When you are in Queenstown you might wander into the I-Center and ask if there are any penguin spotting areas on the Catlins coast that are easier to get to in a day.