jmoy

Hi all,

We will be in the South Island in January 2008. Please review our itinerary and give us advice on how to improve it!

Thanks for everyone who has posted SI itineraries - tremendous help! - and special thanks to williams44 (I've patterned our itinerary close to what you've posted!), luv2globetrot, mlgb for your postings!)

Day 0
Arrive from Sydney into Christchurch (midnight)

Day 1
TranzAlpine from Christchurch to Greymouth, leaves at 8:15am (4 hrs 30 mins)
Pick up rental car in Greymouth
Drive to Fox Glacier (2 hrs 15 mins)
Overnight in Fox/Franz Josef

Day 2
Heli-hike at Fox
Overnight in Fox/Franz Josef

Day 3
Drive to Queenstown (5 hrs 25 mins)
Explore Queenstown
Overnight in Queenstown

Day 4
Explore Queenstown
Overnight in Queenstown

Day 5
Explore Queenstown
Drive to Te Anau (2 hrs 25 mins)
Overnight in Te Anau

Day 6
Drive to Milford Sound (1 hr 45 mins)
Milford Sound cruise (1 pm, 1 hr 40 mins)
Drive to Te Anau (1 hr 45 mins)
Overnight in Te Anau

Day 7
Drive to Manapouri (30 mins)
Real Journeys overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound

Day 8
Drive to Queenstown (2 hrs 25 mins)
Explore Queenstown
fly to Sydney 4:30pm

(1) We plan to stay in Queenstown for about 3 days so DH can do the high-adrenaline activities he's been dreaming of (bungy, etc), and maybe do some daytrips in the area - any recommendations? Any reviews on Nomad Safaris LOTR tour?

(2) DH would like to go skydiving. Are there any skydiving outfits in/near Queenstown or do we need to head to Lake Wanaka for that?

(3) I still have to research lodgings and look through recommendations on fodors, but any recommendations you can post are welcome!

(4) Since we are leaving from Queenstown, is it better to just book a tour with Real Journeys for their Milford/Doubtful Sound cruises instead of doing a self-drive (and save on the rental car)?

(5) Any SI must-see's/must-do's we're missing?

THANK YOU!

mlgb

Your itinerary looks relaxed, just a few things to think about and a suggestion

Look at a Dart River tour (up to Glenorchy) Or just drive up to Glenorchy and the start of the Routeburn Track from Queenstown. This will take the better part of a day. I believe you can book jetboating as part of this package.

To search activities by a location, try the excellent NZ tourism website
www.newzealand.com.

They show the following operator for skydiving out of Queenstown
http://www.nzone.biz/

There are also some hang glide and para glide outfits.

If you drive yourselves to Te Anau, you have the ability to time your arrivals to take the cruise before or after the majority of tour busses at Milford Sound. For Doubtful, there is no escaping the tours since you'll need to be on one.

jmoy

mlgb, thank you for the prompt response and suggestions! I will be looking around on the website you posted!

I've also made some changes to my itinerary starting Day 5. I looked at Real Journey's schedule for the Doubtful Sound overnight cruise and it ends at 12pm (which would have been our last day in the SI when we fly out at 4:30pm from Queenstown, so not enough time to make the drive from Manapouri back to Queenstown on Day 8!).


Day 5
Drive early morning to Te Anau (2 hrs 25 mins) - QUESTION: This early morning drive shouldn't be a problem, right? We would need to be in Te Anau for the 10:20am coach pickup)
Milford Sound cruise, coach pickup/drop off from Te Anau (10:20am - 6pm)
Overnight in Te Anau

Day 6
Drive to Manapouri (30 mins)
Real Journeys overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound (12:30pm - 12pm on Day 7)

Day 7
Real Journeys overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound (ends 12pm)

OPTION 1
**Drive to Queenstown (2 hrs 25 mins)
**Overnight in Queenstown

OPTION 2
**Tour the Te Anau Glowworm caves
**Overnight in Te Anau
**Drive back to Queenstown on Day 8

Any recommendations on Option 1 or 2?

Day 8
Explore Queenstown
fly to Sydney 4:30pm

cheryllj

<i>Any reviews on Nomad Safaris LOTR tour?</i>

jmoy: I did the Wakatipu tour in 2006 and thought it was a lot of fun, and an interesting way to see some of the surrounding area.

I'm not a huge LOTR fan so I didn't recognize half the locations, but everybody else on the tour had to re-enact every LOTR scene (&quot;If you want him, come and claim him!&quot.

Photos from the Nomad safari tour:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7208173...7601884441298/

jmoy

cheryllj, thanks for the feedback and the photos (awesome scenery!). I'm trying to decide if the cost is worth the tour (LOTR is one of my favorite movies but I'm not obsessive about it !). I've also read some postings suggesting Ian Brodie's LOTR Location Guide so I'm also looking into this option.

mlgb

Would it make any sense to do an overnight on Milford Sound and drop Doubtful? I've been to both, Milford has the more dramatic Mitre Peak. The scenery on Doubtful Sound is quite similar to that which you see when cruising Lake Te Anau. The features that people seem to like on Doubtful are a better chance of viewing some wildlife (dolphins, penguins) and the quiet overnight experience.

If you decide to keep both, I might do a coach tour from Queenstown to Doubtful on the 5th day, end at Te Anau, and then the next day take the coach from Te Anau to Milford. You can also look into flying one way to Milford Sound, which is spectacular.

jmoy

Thanks mlgb, I'm waiting to hear from Real Journeys on the availability of the tours I'm interested in, then I can go from there. I'll check into the option of flying OW to Milford Sound as well.