I question it too, but I'd hate to miss the Glacier, and I have limited time. Do you think its not worth it?

Maybe what I'd do is move things around a bit. Perhaps you could do Skippers Canyon or Arrowtown or some other Queenstown thing on your arrival day and then spend that night at Wanaka (about an hour closer to the glaciers). Then two full days with an overnight for the glaciers. Gives you two chances for the flights (one the first afternoon and the following morning). Just so you know it takes more like 5 to 6 hours to drive to Fox from Queenstown.

Then you'd have days 11 and 12 for Milford and the rest of Queenstown. It is possible to see Milford sound in a full day from Queenstown, but I'd take a tour (you can also fly one way, though expensive).

I would agree that you don't have to do the overnight cruise to Milford Sound in order to see it. I did it years ago. We covered the same distance as the day cruises (the distance you cover is not that far), the only difference being we spent the night out there, and ate dinner and breakfast on the boat. Also, it costs more.

We departed during the late afternoon, so it was already starting to get dark; the light wasn't good for photos. Soon it was dark. (It definitely wasn't summer as the days were short.) In the morning on the return it was still cloudy, rainy, and the light was dim. It would have been better to do a midday cruise, when the light might have been brighter.

We did the overnight cruise in combination with a bus tour from Queenstown. Our tour guide was very informative and we learned a lot about the area. On a tour you are shown the highlights. My husband and I always travel independently, but we do take the occasional day tour. We enjoyed this one from Queenstown. We had arranged to take a scenic flight back to Queenstown from Milford Sound, but the weather did not cooperate, which made for a longer day.

On Day 11, you plan to drive from Milford Sound to Queenstown, then you plan to do things in Queenstown. Unless you leave very early, you won't be getting back to Queenstown until the afternoon, not leaving much time for daytime activities around Queenstown.

Also, I think in rushing to Franz Josef Glacier from Queenstown you are underestimating the beauty of this magnificent drive. This is a drive to be savored. If the weather is nice, then you will want to stop along the way, many times.

The Central Otago wine country is also very beautiful. It is not just about the wineries. I can't wait to get back there, which I hope to do in a couple of months.

I've had a change of heart. I'm starting to not look forward to this trip because it just seems frantic with alot of time in the car, so I think I'm going to skip Franz Josef. That should make it much more relaxed.

I understand that its not necessary to do the overnight to Milford Sound, but my travelmate wants to do it, so I think we're going to. She also would prefer to drive, and since she's the one driving, I figure its up to her. Its early fall, so it shouldnt start getting dark until around 6pm, so I think we'll still get some light.

I'm leaving today. Thanks all for your help. I'll try to check back in when I get back and let you know how it went.

Update -- I just returned from my trip, and we had a great time! I'm not a big trip reporter, but I'll do a mini version here.

I was extremely lucky on my flight over that I had a whole back row to myself, so I was able to recline all the seats and lay out. As a result, I slept pretty well, and wasn't too jet lagged. After I arrived in Auckland, we drove to Rotorua, had lunch, and then headed to the lake spas at the Polynesian Spa. It was a little pricey, but a good first day activity. Afterwards, we went to the Maori Hangi & Performance near our hotel, which I enjoyed. The next day, we were originally planning to go to Waimangu, but we thought Wai-o-tapu looked more interesting in the brochures, so we went there first. Great decision. We LOVED Wai-o-tapu. It was so neat, with all the colors and formations. Afterwards, we went to Waimangu, which probably would have been interesting if we hadn't been to Wai-o-tapu first, but we didnt like it as much. Still some interesting sights though. Day 3 we drove back to Thames, stopping along the way at Rainbow Springs, were we did a "behind the scenes" kiwi encounter, which takes you through the back rooms where they are hatching new kiwis. The money for the tour went to Kiwi Conservation, so we didn't mind paying (and it wasn't much anyway). We also stopped at the Hobbiton tour near Matamata. I'm not an obsessive Lord of the Rings fan or anything, but I've seen the movies a few times, and the tour was neat. We were lucky with timing because they are going to film The Hobbit there soon, so the set was fairly complete. The next few days we were in and around Thames because my travelmate was working. There is not too much to do in Thames, but I think I did most of the touristy things there -- The Goldmine Experience, School of Mines, and the Butterfly and Orchid Garden near town. We also went to Hamilton and participated in the Balloons over Waikato festival. Our balloon was one of many that took off over Hamilton in the morning -- very neat experience. Our last day on the North Island, we went to the Hot Water Beach in Hahei and to Cathedral Cove. We completely failed at finding hot springs at hot water beach, somehow. We felt other people's water though, and it was VERY hot. Cathedral Cove was also beautiful. We were supposed to do a kayaking trip out there, but it was canceled because of winds, so we walked instead. It's a trek to get out there, and part of the path was washed away, so there was a tricky section at the end, where you have to hold onto a rope and shuffle down a muddy hill.

It seems people on this board are often recommending the South Island over the North, but I almost preferred the North Island. In part because we had great weather in the North. We were lucky with weather everywhere, but the North Island was warm and sunny the whole trip. It was chillier and cloudier in the South. But I also thought there were some great sights in the North. We particularly loved the Thermal Valleys around Rotorua.

The next day, we flew from Auckland to Queenstown. After we settled into Queenstown, we drove out to Glenorchy, stopping to take photos along the way. We went past a lake that was completely reflective and captured beautiful fluffy clouds above. It was much nicer than the mirror lakes, which we saw later, but which weren't particularly mirror-like at the time. The next day, we drove out to Milford Sound. Again, we were lucky that we had a clear day, and the drive was lovely. We did the overnight cruise, which was pricey, but the whole trip was pricey, so we'd pretty much just accepted it at that point. We did the overnight in part because we didn't want to do Milford Sound as a long day trip, but the overnight cruise was also nice in that it anchored, and we were allowed to kayak around the Sound. And I liked that we had many hours of lighting and weather for photos. The next morning it was bright and clear, so we got some great pics. People say you haven't seen Milford Sound until you've seen it rainy, but I prefer blue skies for pics. The next day, we went to vineyards. I'd been planning to walk along the Gibbston River Trail, stopping places along the way, but we got a late start to the day, so we ended up driving and just stopping a couple places. I particularly liked Chard Farm. The man doing the tastings there was informative, and generous with the FREE tasting (we did buy some bottles, but Gibbston Valley charged just for the tastings). My final day, my travelmate felt compelled to bungy while she was in the bungy capital, so we did that in the morning. I opted out. It looked pretty terrifying, and we watched one person chicken out at the last second. Then we went on a tour of Skippers Canyon. We went with the company that does Skippers Canyon jetboats because we wanted to do a jetboat too. I'm glad we did that instead of just jetboating closer to Queenstown because the trip out to Skippers Canyon was nice. Then for our final dinner, we took the Gondola and had dinner at the top. Lovely views.

All in all, we had a great time, and I was happy with the pace and the sights we choose. Even though I'm a little sad I missed the glaciers, I was happy with that decision because it would have been exhausting. So thanks all for your help, and hopefully this mini report will help some others.

Thanks, Amicita. Sounds like you did pretty well weather-wise.

Thanks for posting back Amicita. Milford in the rain is not a good thing IMO, the tour operators just like to say that it is to console disappointed tourists who only see it in the rain. Milford under clear skies is perfection...You were very lucky.

Thanks for reporting - sounds like you had a great trip!

Lee Ann