theres just the two of us bumping around in the six berther for 18 days...we are about to book the van from kea it looks like and yes we have chosen the space over the more compact versions cos i simply couldnt see us doing the bed up every day

we need to be in queenstown and we have to fly in and out of christchurch
we are thinking of visiting queenstown round the end of our trip but not firm on that
if we do...then wed have sat and sun to dri ve the campervan back to christchurch

we might drop it off on sun afternoon rather than the monday because weve read that it can take a while to go through that handing over process and we have a 2oclock flight to catch

we like nature..but wont be doing long treks...wont be doing any of the high adrenalin activities either...well past that stage haha

if anyone can suggest some routes to take thatd be great
going in early november...dont know if we should head north to the top of SI and wait a week for the weather to warm up the south or if it really makes such a difference

dont know whether to do a loop or a figure of eight
so much to see...especially wildlife areas so i know it isnt possible in just the eighteen days
thanks in anticipation

How about something like this:

Christchurch up the coast via Kaikoura, Blenheim, Picton, then over to Nelson and down the west coast via Westport-Punakaiki-Greymouth-Franz/Fox, then on to Wanaka, Te Anau/Milford, then to Queenstown, up to Mt Cook, Lake Tekapo and back to Christchurch.

That pretty much covers the highlights, plus some. How long you stay and where will depend on your particular interests.

It's a lot of driving, but it can certainly be done.

yes thanks Melnq...that's what I kinda thought too. Im just wondering if we can make it as far south as Invercargill and the catlins..maybe ambitious because we will be driving slower than usual with the big campervan and i suspect we will want to do a few detours as local information comes to hand...
we arent into wine tasting so im thinking that northern bit of the SI wont take up as much time but i think abel tasman area might need some exploring.
thanks again for your input!

We managed to fit in the north of the SI and the Catlins on our latest visit of 21 days, but we weren't doing the campervan thing.

ok...well then maybe we have a bit of a chance to get that far south since we will only be passing through the northern wine country..not actually partaking

i guess if it's raining that will slow us down too but fingers crossed for some sunny days

thanks Melnq8!