Dunedin to Milford Sound and back in 7 days ?
 

We have 7 days to spend in South Island. We are flying into Dunedin on a Sunday afternoon and will fly out one week later on Monday early AM.

One goal we have is to visit Otago University therefore we'd like to spend at least our first two nights in Dunedin.

Please recommend routes that you think would maximize our time . We'd like to see Milford Sound and also spend a couple of nights in Queenstown.

Should we drive a loop via Invercargill to Te Anau then to Queenstown and back over inland ?

Thank you for your help.

Doubtful Sound is also an option instead of Milford .

Another question I would appreciate help with : our flight out of Dunedin Airport leaves at 650 AM . Is the drive from Dunedin to the airport really an hour ? If so, is there a hotel near the airport we should consider instead of staying in town ?

You can start with this rough itinerary:

Sun and Mon nights -Dunedin
Tues night - Catlins
Wed- through Invercargill to TA
Thurs -day cruise either Doubtful or Milford
Fri- to QT, stay Sat night. (You could also go to QT on Thurs.)
Sun- back to Dunedin via inland.

The airport is approx. 13 miles west of Dunedin. I don't remember how long it took us to get there. ((*))

Thank you Jed.

Is driving from Dunedin to Te Anau all in a day too much ?

Can you recommend a map ? I've read of HEMA and AA ?

Te Anau to Dunedin takes 3-1/2 to 4 hours. We frequently do a return trip for a day's shopping, so no big deal.
THe airport is south of the city, about 10 minutes from the city boundary. from central Dunedin would take about 30 minutes if you got a good run, 60 minutes or more if there are traffic holdups.

<Is driving from Dunedin to Te Anau all in a day too much ?>

It depends on how you go. If you go through Gore, then it is OK. If you want to go through Invercargill, then you are talking about driving via the Southern Scenic Route. In that case, you should consider staying overnight so you can get the benefit of the area. ((*))

PS - Do you play the trumpet?

okoshi2002-

You will have no problem at Dunedin airport. We departed around 7am and the flight desk didn't even open until 6:15am. The airport doors were locked until then, and after checking in there was NO type of security at all!

Have fun!

My 14 yr old son plays the trumpet- why do you ask Jed ?

Is Invercargill are good place to overnight ?

Wondering whether Doubtful Sound might be a better choice for us. The drive to Milford must be beautiful but long. If we don't take the overnight trip on the Milford Sound, that is going to be a long day driving back to Te Anau from Milford.
The Doubtful Sound trip sounds a bit easier ? Am I right on this ? Any thoughts ?

Here are some thoughts. One: At the end of your trip, could you change your departure city to QT? That would save a travel day and burning a night back in Dunedin.
2nd: I'm bettin that vbca, who posted above, is from the Campbell Auto Lodge in Te Anau. Listen to his wisdom. We stayed at that neat motel in March of 06, and he and his staff were soooo friendly and helpful at all times. He is too modest to advertise here, but I will give his place a most enthusiastic recommendation.
Back to you okoshi2002, we drove from Manapouri to Dunedin, after the overnight on Doubtful. 3 hours max, if you don't miss a turn, when your navigator is sleeping.
The Dunedin airport at that hour of the morning is virtually deserted. Nobody to check your car into. I just left the car and keys in front of the little Hertz office. This is NZ, not USA. It works.
So: Tues:, early start to Manapouri for 12:30 PM start for the Doubtful overnight.
Wed: Return to Manapouri at noon-ish. Drive to QT. What? 3-4 hours.
Thu and Fri to enjoy QT environs.
Ok, extra night in QT, or the Invercargill route to Manapouri. Or a night on the east coast (though not much there except for Morekei) on the way back to Dunedin if you can't change departure city. Just some thoughts :)
There's a bunch of us here that love to kibitz on itineraries. While there's lots of info available here, sometimes it gets pretty confusing because basically, we have all found we don't have enough time in NZ to do it right. good luck.

I have read about the Southern Scenic Route - where does it turn in land towards Te Anau from Invercargill ?

Would it be better to stay overnight towards Dunedin or towards Te Anau if we are driving from Dunedin to Te Anau ?

Can you recommend a nice B&B for one night in the Catlins ?


Am still torn between overnight on Doubtful versus Milford. I am sure you see this same, old question over and over so I will not belabor it.

Can you recommend a good place a family of four can spend two nights in Queenstown ?

Thank you everybody.

We like this place in QT (they have 1, 2, & 3 bedroom units) -

www.villadellago.co.nz/

Bill's idea of leaving from QT instead of driving back to DUD is excellent. Do it if at all possible.

Also, <There's a bunch of us here that love to kibitz on itineraries.> Exactly. It shows how much we all loved our NZ adventure.

As to Doubtful or Milford, we reluctantly gave up Milford and did the Doubtful overnight, beacuse it was just too much driving and too much time to go to Milford. Now I do <i>not</i> regret the decision.

As you can see on this map, http://www.southernscenicroute.co.nz/Map/Default.asp, SSR goes from TA through IC, almost to DUD. But, we drove through Lunsden because we did not have enough time, and I thought that was the shorter route than going through Riverton. From IC we drove to DUD.

&lt;Would it be better to stay overnight towards Dunedin or towards Te Anau if we are driving from Dunedin to Te Anau?&gt;

Why not stay in one or the other?

As for the trumpet, http://www.answers.com/okoshi?gwp=11...7&amp;method=3 ((*))

As for QT, we stayed at The Point, http://www.queenstownthepoint.co.nz/ which was next door to Villa del Lago. We enjoyed it greatly. ((*))

What great web sites you have all sent me to! The SSR site is especially helpful.

Changing departure city to Queenstown is not possible. We will drive inland back to Dunedin- need a good map to figure out route from Queenstown to Dunedin. Any suggestion ?

The Wises map is my NZ Bible:

www.wises.co.nz

Thanks for the great plug BillJ. every little bit helps. Glad you enjoyed your time in Te Anau
As to Milford Vs Doubtful; as you say, it's a perrenial question, which really has no correct answer. Both have similarities, and one is sure to appeal to some people more than the other, but really it doesn't much matter, whatever you choose you will have a fantastic experience.
IMO Doubtful has a slight edge, because you are likely to see more wildlife, but you will still see seals, penguins &amp; dolphins on Milford as well.
As to overnighting between Te Anau/Manapouri and Dunedin. If you drive on the direct route via Lumsden and Gore, there is no need for an overnight. if youwant to go on the scenic route, which starts in Te Anau, and goes through Riverton, Invercargill, Papopowai, Owaka to Balclutha, then to Dunedin, you should probably look at breaking the journey, either in Invercargill, or perhaps Tokonui or Papotowai. There are a few good B&amp;B's between Invercargill and Balclutha, and a motel at Papotowai, but accommodation is rather limited, so you should have it aranged before you set out. The trip Te Anau/Dunedin via the Southern Scenic Route takes aproximately 8 hours alowing for a few stops, and if you don't intend stopping you might as well take the shorter route.
Whatever you decide will be the right choice. everything in Fiordland is fabulous.

As I read more on the Catlins I feel we should spend a night there enroute to Te Anau.

I'm not sure what to make of the B&amp;Bs, farmstays, etc in the Catlins.

Can anybody recommend one where they had a good experience ? Not looking for anything fancy- but a first-hand recommendation would be great.

We were on the doubtful sound overnight trip last week and it was the highlight of our 12 days in NZ. I will get to full trip report soon I hope. We were fortunate to have postcard weather. Great food, incredible scenery, wildlife........amazing!! We also did day trip to Milford ( we had fresh snow !) It was also lovely but as you have such limited time I would go Doubtful. You don't have to be to the boat until mid-day so could drive into Manapouri from your Catlins trip.

Sorry , just saw your question re accomodation in Queenstown. We stayed at Creeksyde Tourist Park (Top 10) in a park motel 2 bdrm full kitchen, laundry etc reasonable prices and great location. Virtually 2 mins to town, gondola, grocery store and very helpful. We drove to Queenstown after Doubtful sound trip . 3 hours max - still managed to do the Godola and luge in the afternoon comfortably.