Hi

I am about to book hotels for a 3 week trip to the SI with my wife and her parents during Dec. Here's the itinerary - would love to hear comments on whether this is sensible and enjoyable!

9 Dec: Wife and parents arrive in Queenstown. Staying at Outrigger at the Beacon (2 bedroom lake view apartment)
10 Dec: At leisure exploring; I arrive in Queenstown (from Milford track)
11 Dec: Queenstown sightseeing
12 Dec: Pick up hire car - visit Arrowtown plus other scenic spots around Queenstown
13 Dec: : Drive to Te Anau via Glenorchy. Staying at Campbells Autolodge (2 apartments)
14 Dec: Drive to Milford Sound for cruise (Mitre Peak or Red Boat)
15 Dec: Drive to Manpouri for Doubtful Sound overnight cruise
16 Dec: Return to Te Anau
17 Dec: Drive to Wanaka. Staying at The Moorings (2 bed apartment)
18 Dec: Drive to Fox Glacier. Staying at Rainforest Motel (2 studios). Walks to Glacier
19 Dec: Helihiking in morning, drive to Greymouth and drop car off. Catch Tranzalpine to Christchurch. (No time for Pancake Rocks?) Staying at The Heritage (2 Tower Deluxe rooms)
20 Dec: Explore Christchurch
21 Dec: Pick up car and drive to Kaikoura. Staying at Hapuku Lodge (1 bed treehouse and 1 King room)
22 Dec: Whale watching tour
23 Dec: Drive to Picton via Blenheim and drop car off. Catch ferry to Wellington. Staying at Duxton Hotel (2 Club rooms)
24 Dec: Explore Wellington
25 Dec: Christmas Day! (any tips on what will be open for sightseeing and food??)
26 Dec: Fly to Auckland. Staying at Duxton Hotel (2 bed suite) Sightseeing.
27 Dec: Leave for Hong Kong

Look forward to reading your views
John

Hi John -

Just a few comments.

You can't drive to Te Anau via Glenorchy. They're separated by a mountain range. Glenorchy is a 40 minute drive from Queenstown in the opposite direction of the road to Te Anau.

The drive from Fox Glacier to Greymouth is close to three hours, so it's very unlikey you can take the helihike, drive to Greymouth AND Pancake Rocks, then back to Greymouth in time for the train. What time is the helihike? What time is the train? You might be pushing it a bit as it is - any way you can add another day in Fox? The weather there can be iffy anytime of year, so you might want an extra day there anyway.

Otherwise, you're itinerary looks pretty good.

Look like a great itinerary. We loved the South Island and would love to return in the summer since we kept running out of daylight. One thing to keep in mind (if you haven't been warned already) is that the roads are very windy and go through the mountains and such. They also love to have one lane bridges any time you cross a stream (a bit scary when you first encounter one with a truck at the other end!). Therefore, you won't be able to drive quite as far as you might think given the distance. We tok the Tranzalpine from Christchurch to Greymouth getting in at about 12:30. By the time we got our rental car and had a bit of lunch, we barely made it to Fox Glacier by the time it was dark (6pm). I don't know what time the train leave Greymouth, but I wonder if you will really have time to do the helihiking that morning and still drive to Greymouth, drop off the car and catch the train. I would tend to doubt it, since my recollection is that the train left about 2pm. I figure it took us about 4 hours to drive to Fox Glacier and we didn't stop much - just a few times for pictures.

For Milford Sound - we went with Red Boat and were very pleased with them. We chose to to the underwater observatory stop - pretty cool. If you have time I would say it is worth it if you like undersea life.

The people in New Zealand are incredibly friendly and the scenary is magnificent. You will not be sorry you went there!

Sorry for the typos. I'm a bit spastic this morning.

Thanks for your comments. I will go to Glenorchy instead on the day before, along with Arrowtown - is this feasible? Any other local sights worth driving to that day?

As for the helihike, it does seem too tight. THE only way to get an extra day is if I can drive from Manapouri after the Doubtful Sound cruise at 12pm straight to Wanaka, instead of spending a night in Te Anau. Is that going to be possible or a long day?

Cheers!

One other thought - if we allow an extra day to do the helihike, then we can leave early for Greymouth (8am?) If it is a 3 hour drive, does that allow time for the Pancake Rocks before we have to catch the train at 1.45pm? May still be cutting it fine I know...

Yes, you can do both Glenorchy and Arrowtown in the same day. They're in different directions, but are both close to Queenstown.

There are some nice wineries in the Queenstown/Cromwell area if that appeals to you. Be sure to stop at the bungy bridge too - fun to watch.

Te Anau (near Manapouri) to Wanaka is 273 km - about 3.5 hours drive, so yes, you could drive there after the Doubtful Cruise with no problems. Keep in mind the sun will be setting late, so you'll have plenty of daylight to make stops along the way as well.

Yes to your second question as well. If you leave Fox early in the am and head for Greymouth, you should have time for Pancake Rocks, which is only about 40 minutes past Greymouth. You won't have time to make any other stops though and you'll be limited on how much time you can spend at Pancake Rocks.

Not to confuse the issue, but have you considered devoting all your time to the South Island? You've only allowed 3 days for the North Island, and it seems a shame to go to the expense and time of traveling from one island to the next and not having any time to see it. You could easily spend those three days on the SI and then fly from Christchurch to Auckland for your flight back to Hong Kong.

Just a thought.

Thanks for the tips Melnq8. Is there anything worth stopping for on the way from Fox to the Pancake Rocks? If not we will head straight there.

We thought about staying on SI but wanted to be somewhere on Christmas Day that was bigger so that there would be things to do and places to eat (like Te Papa museum) and also my in-laws would enjoy the ferry trip I think. Also since we live in London I guess Christchurch will have a familiar feeling anyway so don't want to spend too much time in 1 place.

Any Wellington suggestions though?

Thanks

Regarding the drive from Fox to Pancake Rocks - this is a pretty drive with plenty of photo ops. You'll pass the turnoff to Okarito, home to Okarito Lagoon, NZ's largest wetland. Lots of walks here as well as kayaking and birdwatching.

You'll also pass through Hokitika, NZ's major center for greenstone. There's a museum, a glowworm dell, jade (greenstone) shops and galleries and some good restaurants. Lots of walks too, but you probably won't have enough time for those.

Blackball, 25 kms north of Greymouth is a historic gold and coal mining town. It's home to "Formerly the Blackball Hilton", a hostel that's been designated a NZ historic place. There are also a few walking tracks, and a place that makes venison salami, but not much else.

Of these three, I'd suggest at least a short stop in Hokitika if you have time.

Haven't been to Wellington in years, so can't help much there. I remember eating at a really good Turkish restaurant and taking the cable car up for views over the city, but that was before I started keeping notes, so don't have the details.

I'm sure someone more familiar with Wellie will chime in - you might get a better response if you repost with Wellington in the title.

Sounds great!! And the about advice is very sound.

As for Xmas day. Amlost everything will be closed. I recommend visting the gardens and going to the top of Mt Victoria etc. i.e. free sights.

I would also book somewhere for Xmas lunch in advance just in case. Restaurants are allowed to open Xmas but many will not.

Sorry to jump in on your post but we need similar advice. We are doing the train Christchurch to Greymouth picking up the car and driving on to Fox. We were hoping to detour to Pancake Rocks - is this feasible, worthwhile? We are travelling similar time to JSCChan.

It doesn't take very long to look at the Pancake Rocks and walk on the little trail, I would say altogether its about a 2 hour detour. The days are quite long in December. If it was me, I would decide based on the weather. If it is overcast, go to Pancake Rocks. If it is clear head to the glaciers for a fair weather view. You never know what the next morning will bring.

Re: Wellington stopover.
I believe most places will close early on Christmas Eve. We have been in NZ and in some towns/cities nothing was open on Dec 24th at 4PM!
There are some great restaurants in Wellington but I think you might miss them due to your dates.
I would like to suggest you check on Te Papa too, to find out if it will be open during your proposed dates.

It might be wise to ask the hotel concierge to suggest restaurants that will be open on Dec 25th (very few of the top ones, I would suspect). It would be a good idea to make early reservations for dining not only on Christmas Day but also the other days you are in Wellington.
Kiwis value family and vacations over everything else! Good luck.

thanks for the tip re: Wellington. Will anything be open on the 25th? Te Papa's website says it is open 365 days so I am hopeful we can visit that. Otherwise do kiwis do BBQs on the beach like the aussies?