Hi,

We're a couple 27-34 y.o. and are looking to enjoy the beauty of New Zealand.
Our plan is to concentrate on the South Island, but we're flying into/out of Auckland.
Not real hikers, so we won't be doing the great walks - but 1/2 to 1 day hikes should be great (started training for this kind of activity). I'm an enthusiastic amateur photographer, which means getting up before sunrise and driving to a (hopefully) pre-scouted location on lots of mornings. We'll have a car during our stay on the South Island. We're also planning to see/do some touristy activities as some adventures in Q-town, glow worm caves, etc.

Having done quite a thorough research I'm asking for your recommendations on fine-tuning the itinerary, e.g. places to see along our route, spend less time in one locations and add that time to another. We wouldn't want to add new destinations that are away from our route though as we've already removed about 50% of places we wanted to visit.

NORTH ISLAND
1 Auckland - land (Jan 28th 13:20), spend a day and fly to Blenheim

SOUTH ISLAND
2 Blenheim, Havelock, Picton (rent a car, Queen Charlotte Drive, swim with dolphins, wine tasting)
2 Golden Bay (landscapes, hike)
2 Westport (landscapes)
3 Hokitika-Franz Josef (landscapes, heli-hike)
1 Arthurs Pass (landscapes)
1 Lake Coleridge (landscapes)
4 Lake Pukaki, Mt Cook, Lake Tekapo (observatory, thermal springs)
1 Wanaka (landscapes)
1 Glenorchy (the drive during early morning, visit Paradise, still not sure when to visit here - before or after Q-town as the drive itself is important)
1 Queenstown (just sleep here and move to Te Anau)
1 Te Anau (glow worm caves?, the lake, move to Milford before sunrise)
2 Milford Sound (landscapes, day hike)
3 Queenstown (Shotover jet, paragliding, return the car, fly to Rotorua)

NORTH ISLAND (again)
2 Rotorua (thermal springs, glowworm caves, maybe blackwater rafting)
2 Auckland (leaving Feb 27th 15:30)

Jean
www.photoprospect.com

I received a suggestion from a friend to spend one less night in Westport (actually we're planning to stay in Murchison instead). That night could be spent in either Arthur's pass or Fox glacier...

I suggest that you spend just one night in Murchison (if that is where you decide to stop) and then spend the next night at Punakaiki. That will make your next shift down to Hoki or Franz a bit shorter and, more importantly, it will give you a better chance to take advantage of the great photo ops that the Punakaiki area offers.

On the way from Murchison to Punakaiki, I recommend that you take a detour up the coast road north of Westport and take the side road up to Denniston for further great views and historic interest. If you have the time, continuing up the coast road to Karamea is quite an attractive drive as well. It is a dead-end road, though. You would have to come back out the same way and the scenery that you will see further south is just as good, if not better.
Rob.

@ kiwi_rob:
Thank you for your suggestions - it seems that with Denniston on our plan, Punakaiki becomes a must stop as otherwise the Murchison-Hokitika route becomes too long. Although I'm a bit reluctant to add another overnight stop as I'll need to take this night from some other location (as it is I'd like to add one more night to spent at the Fox glacier, but can not find where to take it from). The night from Murchison/Westport went to Arthur's pass...

Regarding Karamea, I guess it'll have to wait for another time... too many places, too little time ;-)

You could consider ditching the night at Lake Coleridge. Unless you are particularly attracted to Lake Coleridge for some reason, the landscapes that you will see in the Lake Pukaki area are similar. Coleridge does not have the glacial blue colour of the other lakes, though. If you are driving from Arthur's Pass to Pukaki, you can easily do a side trip in to Lake Coleridge if you want to. It's not too far.
Rob.

@ kiwi_rob:
According to Google Earth it takes almost 5 hours to drive from Arthur's Pass to Pukaki, which in my case would translate to 8-10 hours (with photos, lunch etc.)
Some people recommended to only stay one night in Milford, but for some reason I'm reluctant to do that as I want more than 1 chance to make a worthwhile photo in the area.

I also wanted to ask whether Golden Bay is that good compared to other destinations - I'm asking because if we skip it we'll get 2 additional nights to be distributed elsewhere...

I see why you need a stop on the way to Pukaki.

Golden Bay has its own unique attraction, with some interesting beaches. It is a bit of a chore having to drive in and out over the Takaka Hill and if the road over the hill is closed for any reason, there is no other way out. We were caught there one summer when torrential overnight rain washed a considerable amount of shingle over the road and it was impassable until a large stretch of it had been graded clear. It took most of the morning for this to be done.
Rob.

Thanks Rob, you're extremely helpful!

Oh man, am I stupid - found another night that I missed earlier. Now we'll stay for 2 nights in Hokitika and 2 nights in Fox glacier!

I haven't been to Golden Bay but Abel Tasman is VERY scenic, golden sands. It's also less out of the way. You can do a day trip with a launch to one of the bays and pickup at another. I think Torrent Bay is one of the scenic ones.

For Glenorchy you want to be driving toward the Kinloch Lodge in the late afternoon. I might suggest an overnight there; very scenic looking down Wakatipu at sunset. Dart River/Paradise I didn't have any issues with time of day. I'd suggest taking one of the Dart River tours that goes as far up river as possible. This is probably one on the most scenic parts of NZ I've seen in 6 trips, so it's worth taking a day away from Queenstown or somewhere else.

I enjoyed our time in Golden Bay. It was very quiet there but we were travelling in mid winter. Some photos of our time there are on our blog
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog...ai/1/tpod.html

Entry #49

@ mlgb:
Thanks a lot - do you remember the driving time from Glenorchy to Kinloch (for some reason the Kinloch Lodge states 1 hour from Q-town to Kinloch, but Google maps state 3.5 hours)?

We'll most probably skip the Golden Bay (as the drive times are excessive and the Archway Islands are located beyond our planned locations anyway). Spend one more night in Glenorchy and another will probably be somewhere around Marlborough (this would let see visit Kaikoura)

@ crellston:
Thank you - I actually read your blog (the NZ part of it)several days ago. It's great and has lots of useful info!

Kinloch Lodge's time on their website is correct, maybe another 15 minutes to be safe. However you will be wanting to stop for pictures so it will take longer!

For some reason Google Maps has an incorrect time of over two hours to Glenorchy, whereas it's less than 50k and should take around 45 minutes or so depending on traffic and stops. To get to Kinloch maybe another 30 minutes (the last 9k is a gravel road but was in good condition when I went). You can also ferry across the lake but then you would miss "The Hillocks" between Queenstown and Glenorchy.

Sylvan Lake between Glenorchy and Kinloch is easy and ends in a pretty lake, later in the day eg if you arrive the lake around 6pm you may get some nice photos of fly fishing. (takes maybe 45 minutes to reach the lake through a forest).The walk around the swamp at Glenorchy can also be pretty and is dead flat. Since you are going in their summer sunset is quite late so you'll have lots of time in the afternoons.

Kaikoura is a good addition, I was thinking of suggesting it. There are good wineries in the Waipara area between Kaikoura and Amberly. Pegasus Bay is the most famous, but there are lots of small ones where you have a chance to meet the owners/winemakers (the people who own Torlesse are very nice so I will put in a plug for them!)

oops reread my post "the Hillocks" are past Glenorchy on the way to Kinloch.

@ mlgb:

Kinloch and the Hillocks go on the itinerary.

Regarding travel times I saw some other web sites give the same estimates (probably based on the same low-level map) as Google Earth and others that give times closer to your estimations.

There's something called Glenorchy Lagoon (seems beautiful) - is it the Sylvan Lake you're referring to?

Unfortunately Kaikoura is still out - we're going to spend another night in Wanaka in order to the Siberia valley...

Thanks yet again for your help!

Glenorchy Lagoon is what I was calling the swamp.
Sylvan Lake would just be something to visit if you want a light hike and have time between say 4 to 5pm and 7pm. The Dart River excursion would be a priority.

@ mlgb: 10x

I have a different question though - where would be the best half-day hike along our itinerary on the SI (Blenheim-Picton-Murchison-Hokitika-Fox glacier-Arthur's Pass-Lake Coleridge-Pukaki, Mt Cook, Tekapo-Wanaka-Glenorchy-Te Anau-Milford Sound-Queenstown)?
I realize there's no such thing as the best, but I'm looking for a non-strenuous 3-5 hours hike that's most suited for photography. I'd love to see lots of moss-covered trees. The hike will take longer than the specified time due to frequent stops that involve unfolding the tripod and spending some time to make the best image possible under circumstances.

From what I could find, the Rainbow Reach to the Shallow Bay part of the Kepler track seems to fit the bill perfectly. Am I missing something?

photoprospect, I haven't done the Kepler Track so can't help with that. Mossy trees would be found thoughout the west coast, Fiordland (Te Anau) so possibly Kepler would fit that. My most impressive encounter with the moss covered forest was in a location you aren't visiting, the Humpridge track in Southern Fiordland. Not to say you won't find that elsewhere, it's just that it has erased other memories (and I am not a fan of the sandflies in Fiordland so my last few visits have been on the east side of the S.Alps).

There are some good short hikes around the glaciers (Lake Matheson is very easy and worthwhile if it is clear and not windy, great reflections). Mt. Cook has a good intermediate hike at Hooker Valley, but is is rocky moraines and glaciers ending in a grey lake with icebergs. There is a shorter but more strenuous hike to look over the Tasman glacier, but the drive out there is very scenic (gravel but should be good condition). The lakes at Pukaki and Tekapo are all out there in front of you, no hiking needed.

I don't really recommend the first leg of the Milford Track that you can do as a day hike from the Te Anau end, but some people like it.

There is some pretty scenery as you are driving from Te Anau/ Milford, a little stop at Lake Gunn for reflections is worthwhile as well as the spot just before the tunnel where all the busses stop.

I've never been to Lake Coleridge and was underwhelmed by Picton.