MaeT

Hi there

First, I want to thank my fellow Fodorites for all of the great information and tips you've all offered in your postings. It's been a HUGE help!
My friend and I are traveling the South Island for about 10 days (SO EXCITED!!!). I'm having a bit of trouble working out whether I'm trying to fit too much in each day at the beginning of the trip and whether we'll feel rushed because we're moving to a new place almost every day. Also, should I consider adding in more public transportation to give ourselves a rest from driving/allow ourselves to enjoy the enroute scenery? Here's the current plan:

Day 1: I arrive in Wellington at midnight from Cairns

Day 2: Ferry to Picton. Meet friend and check into hotel/B&B in Nelson. Spend day at Abel Tasman. Perhaps take a tour that combines kayaking, swimming w/ dolphins and a bit of track walking. Is this too ambitious for one day?

Day 3: Travel to Kaikoura via rental car. Take whalewatching cruise. Any chance of stopping at a winery or two along the way? Drive to Christchurch drop off rental car. Spend the night.

Day 4: Take 8:15am Tranzalpine train to Greymouth. Pick up another rental car. Drive to Pancake Rocks. Then drive to Hokitika for the night.

Day 5:Fox or FJ Glacier. Haven't decided yet. I'm having a hard time understanding what one offers over another. It seems like both offer a fantastic experience! However, perhaps Fox is preferable because it's closer to Lake Matheson?

Day 6: Drive to Wanaka. Visit stops along the way (Blue Pools, Thunder Creek Falls, etc.). Stay the night in Wanaka.

Day 7: Drive to Queenstown. Perhaps take the Dart River Safari.

Day 8: Drive to Milford Sound. Spend the day on the Sound. Drive to Te Anau for overnight stay. Hopefully we'll still have daylight for the nice drive and a couple of short walks. Take the 8:15pm glow worms tour.

Day 9: Drive to Doubtful Sound for a day cruise. Back to Te Anau for the night or stay at Doubtful?

Day 10: Drive back to Queensland for flight to Auckland

I may be able to add a day if I can catch a flight from Australia a day earlier. However, so far, I haven't been able to find one. We could also remove Doubtful Sound from the itinerary to give us another day in another area/town. Any feedback or tips would be greatly appreciated! Oh, and we're interested in seeing as much unique, beautiful scenery and landscape as possible, but we're also interested in a doing a few adventure activities. We both live in NY, so aren't particularly interested in cities (although I'm sure NZ cities are wonderful. We'll have to check them out on our next trip!) Thanks again!

margo_oz

I do hope on Day 10, you're driving tom Queenstown for the flight to Auckland.

Your stated alternative does seem a little excessive!

MaeT

Oops! Yes, that would be quite a neat trick if I could drive from Queensland. I meant Queenstown. Forgive me, I'm a bit tired.

mlgb

It probably would be better to do one or the other of the Sounds. Other than that, your itinerary isn't that bad if you are going to share driving. You probably will want to spend more time everywhere you go, regardless. If you have cash to burn you could bus one way to Milford and fly back. If you can spend the night at Milford it will give you a different feeling than if you are there with all of the tour busses.

Wineries around Kaikoura, yes. The Kaikoura winery above town on the way in has a great view. Also Pegasus Bay Winery between Kaikoura and Christchurch. In Kaikoura, lobster (crayfish) to go is available at reasonable cost year round on the fishing dock on the way into town (ask at the winery).

Melnq8

Hi Mae -

I definitely think your itinerary is ambitious. For example:

Day 2 - the ferry from Wellington to Picton takes three hours (what time are you leaving Wellington?). The drive from Picton to Nelson takes about 1:25 and the drive from Nelson to Abel Tasman (depending on where exactly you plan to go) takes at least 30 minutes. That doesn't leave you much time to "spend the day in Abel Tasman". Most excursions (kayaking, water taxis, etc) run on schedules, so you'll want to check the timetables and possibly book in advance if you're traveling during the high season (Dec-Feb).

Day 3 - The drive from Nelson to Kaikoura takes about three hours. You'll definitely want to book your whalewatching trip in advance and leave plenty of time for the drive to stop along the way. The drive from Kaikoura to Christchurch takes about 2 hours. I don't know the schedule for the whalewatching trips, but it sounds like a very full day to me.

Day 4 - No problems here

Day 5 - Franz Josef and Fox Glacier are only about 45 minutes apart. The drive from Hokitika to Franz Josef takes about 1:45. If you stay in Fox, it's feasible to visit Franz Josef along the way, as you pass right through it. If you get an early start, you'll even have time for a hike to the glacier, and still reach Fox in time to visit the glacier there, or perhaps walk around Lake Matheson. I've stayed in both villages and like both. Franz Josef is a wee bit bigger, but that's about it. One night in either place will not give you enough time to do a guided glacier hike or helihike however.

Day 6 - no problems here - the drive from Franz Josef to Wanaka takes about 3:35 - more for the stops you mentioned - about 45 minutes less if you're leaving from Fox Glacier.

Day 7 - no problem here if you take the afternoon Dart River Safari or get an early start - it's a 90 minute drive from Wanaka to Queenstown - the safari leaves from Glenorchy, which is another 40 minutes from Queenstown

Day 8 - not a problem if you get a very early start - it's a full day though - Te Anau is a two hour drive from Queenstown, then it's another 1:30-2 hour drive from Te Anau to Milford. Then another 1:30-2 hour drive back to Te Anau for the night.

Day 9 - are you considering the overnight Doubtful Sound cruise? If not, Te Anau makes sense.

For flexibility and your limited time, I suggest you stick with a rental car. Adding public transportation only complicates matters as you'll have more schedules to deal with and will lose precious time.

The driving times I've mentioned come from a site I've relied on in planning six trips to the SI and have found pretty darn accurate.

http://www.accommodationz.co.nz/distances2.html

Hope this helps.

MaeT

I think you're right. I think I need to streamline this a bit. I'll just have to plan to return to hit some of the sites I'll miss. I've done a bit more research into timing. Any thoughts?

Day 1: Arrive in Wellington just before midnight

Day 2: Take 8:25am ferry to Picton. Rent car and drive to Nelson. Check into hotel and visit some wineries

Day 3: Spend day at Abel Tasman

Day 4: Drive to Kaikoura leaving early (7:30am?) in the morning. Plan to take 12:30pm dolphin swim tour with Dolphin Encounters. Drive to Christchurch for the night

Day 5: Take train to Greymouth. Rent car, drive to Pancake Rocks and then to Hokitika for the night

Day 6: Fox glacier and Lake Matheson. I'd like to try for the morning or afternoon glacier walk. Does bad weather only affect the helihikes? Will we be able to do a guided walk on the glacier or at least up to the glacier? We'll be there in early December.

Day 7: Drive to Wanaka with stops along the way. Any suggestions for activities here?

Day 8: Drive to Te Anau

Day 9: Drive to Milford Sound for day cruise. Then we could either drive back to Te Anau or push onto Queenstown. Also, does anyone recommend the overnight cruise on Milford?

Day 10: Queenstown. Perhaps Dart River or shotover jet.

Day 11: Fly from Queenstown to Auckland

Thanks!!

Melnq8

Much better!

There are some great wineries in the Nelson region - suggest you check out Waimea Estates, which also has a good restaurant. If you like beer, there's a local brewery as well. The Wearable Arts Complex is a very interesting stop if you have time.

I also enjoyed the Grape Escape,
a great little place with wine from three wineries, schnapps, liqueurs, sauces and olive oil from Prenzel’s Distillery, a gift shop, etc. The wines on offer were from Te Mania, Holmes and Richmond Plains Organic. We really liked the organic chardonnay.

We also liked Amisfeld Winery, maker of Lake Hayes Pinot Noir, which is located about 10 minutes from Queenstown.

I believe the guided glacier hikes operate regardless of the weather. I've not taken one, but have read they can be strenuous. You can walk to the glacier yourself and there are plenty of hikes in the area, but it's my understanding that you need a guide to walk on the glacier.

There are also several wineries around Wanaka and some walking tracks. I've not stayed in Wanaka, but have visited several times - it's a nice town.

MaeT

Thanks Melnq8. I love the winery suggestions.

Have you been to Te Anau? I've included it in the itinerary because I've read so many great things about the drive from it to Milford, but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot to do there. Any thoughts on whether I should exclude Te Anau and instead, stay in Queenstown (with a trip to Milford Sound) on days 8, 9, 10, & 11? Perhaps that would give us time to see Doubtful Sound as well, or reallocate another day to someplace else? I'm just wondering if I'm wasting a day by driving all the way to Te Anau from Wanaka.

mlgb

It's only a few hours from Wanaka to Te Anau and you have to go thru Queenstown on the way. Why not stop in Queenstown on day 8 and do one of the jetboats, with a brief stop at a winery around Arrowtown. Then continue on to Te Anau. Yes I have been there and no, there isn't a whole lot to do, it's mainly an assembly point for various hikes. There is a glow worm cave if you have time to take the tour. However, if you are overnighting in Hokitika you can see the free glowworm dell just north of town:
http://www.hokitika.org/Main/walks/

Melnq8

I've stayed in Te Anau twice, spending two nights the first time and three the second. There's not a whole lot to do, but we enjoyed our stay there.

In addition to the sounds, there are some walks, including the Kepler and Routeburn tracks. You've also got Lake Manapouri and Lake Monowai.

Personally, I'd rather spend at least one night in Te Anau and avoid that loooong day trip from Queenstown. If you plan to do more than a day in the sounds, you'll definitely want to stay there to avoid going back and forth to Queenstown.

The drive from Te Anau to Milford IS spectacular - personally I liked it better than the Milford cruise, which I've taken twice now.

I'd suggest staying in Te Anau overnight on Day 8, then perhaps spending the night of Day 9 in Queenstown, unless you decide to do an overnight cruise.

Another option is to get an early start and drive from Wanaka to Te Anau (3:35) then on to Milford (1:30-2) for an afternoon cruise, then back to Te Anau (1:30-2) for the night. It will be a long day, similar to the long day from Queenstown, but might be a better use of your limited time.

Give yourself plenty of time for Queenstown, as there's alot to do there.

MaeT

Thanks guys. One last question: do you recall what gas costs in NZ? I'm trying to put together a trip budget.

Melnq8

Mae -

When I was there in May 2005, gas was $1.29-1.32 per liter.

If you post a new thread asking this question, I'm sure a Kiwi can give you a more recent price.