Hi everyone.
We are middle aged Canadian couple, going to South Island for 6 days Feb 10-16. Wishing to pick up car at Picton, drop off Christchurch. All seem very expensive at this point.
Also looking for suggested itinerary, also places to stay: , moderate prices. Any sugg welcome!

If you don't mind the use of shared bath facilities, and no TV in the room, the Windsor Hotel has been my favorite moderate-priced accomodation in Christchurch. The rate included a very large breakfast, all-day tea and cookies. The location is excellent, near the tram route and walking distance to the botanic gardens, Canterbury Museum, and new Art Museum.

You have a very short stay, so will have to make some choices based on your interests. Being from Canada, do you even need to see glaciers?! If not, dont' bother with the west coast, consider Nelson, Kaikoura, Christchurch, Dunedin, Mt. Cook, Queenstown. Queenstown can be expensive for lodging, so if you have a car I would suggest staying in nearby Arrowtown if you can't find a reasonable choice in Queenstown. Try searching the forum for suggestions first. Also the Auto club website, aa.co.nz is a good place to start.

Six days is too little time. You might consider the following:
Day 1 - Drive Picton to Kaikoura, consider whale watching.
Day 2 - Drive from Kaikoura past Christchurch to Oamaru. Arrive before dusk and catch the blue penguin parade in town.
Day 3 - Take the short drive to Dunedin. Shop, take the brewery tour or chocolate factory tour.
Day 4 - Stay in Dunedin. Tour the Otago Peninsula. Be sure to see the Royal Albatross observatory, and Penguin Place (yellow crested penguins this time).
Day 5 - Stay in Dunedin. Take the Taeri Gorge Railway trip.
Day 6 - Drive 4 hours north to Christchurch. If time permits, see the Antarctic museum. Stay in the city centre if possible (Camelot Cathedral Square was good).

This itinerary does not allow a visit to the west coast or Queenstown, but is doable in your limited time.

If you really want to limit your accommodation costs, consider the possibility of staying at cabins in the many holiday parks. You will have a room with beds, hot showers, clean toilets, excellent travel advice, and communal kitchen facilities allowing you to prepare your own food to limit eating costs. We used (with a campervan) fine parks in Kaikoura, Oamaru, and Dunedin. Visit www.holidayparks.co.nz or www.top10.co.nz for information.

Well, I do think you could do Picton to Kaikoura (1) to Mt Cook (2)to Queenstown or Wanaka(3), then a day trip to Milford Sound (forgot to mention that), ON Queenstown (4), return to Christchurch, night (5), depart the next day. Kind of rushed, though.

We rented from "about new zealand". They were friendly with good service to airports. Although their cars were older and had pretty high mileage.

With only 6 days I wouldn't even attempt to do the scenic tour south of Christchurch. Anyway, if you're from Canada, you'll be used to spectacular lakes-style scenery!
Christchurch warrants at least 3 days, but I would include one all-day trip to Akaroa as a must-do part of that.
For the rest, how about a round trip from Christchurch? Head west from Christchurch over the Arthurs Pass to Hokitika (overnight), Greymouth, Punakaiki, Lake Brunner, Reefton (overnight), Lewis Pass, Hanmer Springs, and back to Christchurch.