RichardJ

We are pleased with the following itinerary but need to add one more day (we are already ticketed) Would all of you experienced with south island itineraries give me some advice? If you could comment on hotels choices that would be helpful too.

Day 1 and 2 Arrive Christchurch from Sydney, fly to Queenstown. Stay Browns Hotel two nights
Day 3 Overnight cruise on Doubtful sound
Day 4 return to Queenstown afternoon
Day 5 Drive to Fox Glacier (not interested in hiking) Stay TeWeheka Inn
Day 6 Drive north near Hokitika--see Pancake Rock --overnight somewhere? Kapitea Ridge?
Day 7 Take Tranzalpine train to Christchurch Stay Club Level Crown Plaza or Millennium?
Day 8-Tour Akaroa and Christchurch
Day 9-depart 7am for Sydney (return to US mid afternoon

Would we want to stay in Akaroa overnight rather than a few hours with a day tour?

Melnq8

Personally I think Banks Peninsula (Akaroa) is well worth at least an overnight stay, but depends on your interests.

We spent three nights in Duvauchelle (near Akaroa), but we're hikers and we found plenty to do.

If you're interested in seeing penguins in their natural habitat, you might look into the Pohatu Penguin Reserve. A harbor cruise is also well worth the time IMO.

RichardJ

If we don't have a car, would it be difficult to get to Akaroa on public transportation?

Maybe we should skip the train ride and just drive back from the West Coast to Chc. That way we could drive to Akaroa and spend a night. Is that a good plan?

Melnq8

I'm not familiar with NZ public transport (we always rent a car), so can't help much there.

I wouldn't recommend skipping the Tranz Alpine to spend a night in Akaroa, but if you're looking to add a night Banks Peninsula is a good choice IMO.

You might also consider spending that extra night in Fox Glacier. The drive from Queenstown to Fox is close to six hours, so if you leave Fox the following morning, you've not allowed yourself any time to see the area. I realize you're not planning to hike, but if you want to see the glaciers or perhaps take a walk around Lake Matheson, you might need a little more time.

I had to look up Kapitea Ridge, as I'd not heard of it. Looks like a nice place to me and a good location for an overnight before the Tranzalpine.

There are some interesting looking tours from CH to Akaroa - some include wineries - I pulled up a slew of possibilites when I googled. If you won't have a car at that point, you should have no problems locating a tour of some kind.

Have fun!

RichardJ

If I have to choose to add one night, I would prefer staying 2 nights at Fox and driving directly to the train, skipping Pancake Rocks. Too bad but a second night at Hokitika involves too much time. I just read about Grasmere Lodge 75 miles west of Christchurch which sounds amazing but it's $422 US per night (too much for us). If we check the car in before boarding the train, we will be on foot in Christchurch and end up on tours. I can't figure out the logistics of staying in Akaroa without a car. Maybe we'll end up with a day tour. Thanks so much for your ideas.

Jed

On day 4, you might want some variety by going past QT and stay in Arrowtown or Wanaka. This would also make the drive on day 5 less.

Seeing the pancake rocks was memorable.

If you give in the car at Greymouth, you can pick one up in CC the next day to go to Akaroa. You don't need one in CC.

Melnq8

Pancake Rocks is worth the short side trip if you can fit it in - it's not far from Greymouth and doesn't take long to see. I can certainly understand having time constraints though...

Found this direct shuttle service from CH to Akaroa which might work for you -
http://www.akaroashuttle.co.nz/

RichardJ

If we drive between Wanaka and Fox Glacier, should we spend 2 nights at Fox even if we are not serious hikers?

To see Pancake Rocks, we need to drive north 3.5 hours from Fox Glacier. We could spend the night in Hokitika and then drive to Christchurch. To do this means we sacrifice the train ride but the advantage is that we keep the car. It sounds so much easier to keep our car then to rent again or take a shuttle. We would like to stay overnight at the Otahuna Lodge outside of Christchurch the night before driving to Akaroa. Please comment about the hotel choices.

Here's the new itinerary:
Day 1,2 fly Queenstown - Browns Hotel
Day 3 Doubtful Sound overnight
Day 4 Wanaka Homestead
Day 5,6 TeWeheka Inn Fox Glacier
Day 7 Kapitea Ridge - Hokitika
Day 8 - Othauna Lodge (Christchurch)
Day 9 -Akaroa Where to stay?
Day 10 - Christchurch Millennium?Crown Plaza? So many negatives about all hotels!!!
Day 11 - Depart for Sydney/home

someotherguy

If you're not into hiking up close, the Fox Glacier is not particularly interesting (you can see much better in the Alps or Alaska), but the walk around Lake Mathieson is ok. The Pancake Rocks are pretty good, but if you're not into hiking and geology you might do better to skip the whole West Coast and return from Queenstown to Christchurch via Dunedin (or Mt. Cook) instead.

Melnq8

I suggested two nights in Fox because you have so little time on the West Coast, but it really comes down to what you want to do. If you're just stopping at Fox because it's a convenient place to overnight, one night is probably enough.

Sorry, can't help with the hotels other than I've heard good things about Te Weheka. Based on the rates of Kapitea Ridge and Otahuna Lodge, your hotel budget is quite a bit higher than ours usually is.

xxxxx

We stayed in Oinako Lodge in Akaroa, a beautiful b&b. It is close to the water and a short walk to town. It was approx $200 NZ per night for a great room and good breakfast.

mlgb

You can see enough of Akaroa on a day trip. There was a daily bus that stopped at a few places on the way. I would recommend the Lake Matheson walk for non-hikers, if the weather is clear and there is no wind, the reflection of the glacier/mountain is remarkable. Otherwise, if you do not want to walk to the base of the glacier, or do some other longer walks, I would not add the extra night there. Bear in mind the likelihood of bad weather on the west coast. I'd probably add another day around Queenstown, see Arrowtown (some good restaurants there), Gibbston Valley, wine tasting, TS Earnslaw, tour up to Glenorchy (have not done it personally but heard favorable reports). There is definitely enough to do around there. Alternatively, you could see more of Christchurch, possibly take a trip up to Kaikoura, there's nice wine tasting along the way, with some highly rated vineyard restaurants.

RichardJ

Thanks for the suggestions. Since we don't leave Manipouri until noon on the day after the overnight cruise, we could either spend the night in Queenstown or Wanaka. We chose Wanaka because it would lessen the long drive the next day (but it sounds like their are better restaurants in Queenstown)The only reason we are going to Fox Glacier is that it breaks up the long drive from Queenstown to Hokitika. Maybe we would get lucky and be able to see Lake Matheson if the weather is reasonable. Sounds like we would miss some wonderful scenery if we skip the west coast drive and go back to Christchurch via Dunedin. Since we aren't the backpacker/sporting type people, finding the right mix is very difficult. There will be four of us in a car and usually the couple sitting in the back can't see very well over the head rests and the curvy roads put back seat riders to sleep. We were hoping to shorten the daily drives to no more than 4 hours per day. I do agree that an extra night in Queenstown would be ideal but it would mean 2 nights and one full day in Christchurch--is that a good idea?

Day 1 fly Queenstown -
Stay 2 nights Browns Hotel
Day 3 Doubtful Sound overnight
Day 4 Wanaka Homestead
Day 5,6 TeWeheka Inn Fox Glacier
Day 7 Kapitea Ridge - Hokitika
Day 8 drive to Christchurch
3 nights
Day trip to Akaroa
Day 11 Depart for Sydney/LAX

Jed

If I had to choose, I would spend the extra day in QT.

RichardJ

After careful consideration and thanks to everyone who has helped me, I feel really good about our latest revision. We do have a keen interest in the rhododendron festival in Dunedin during our stay so included a quick 2 night stop over to see the area. I also added an extra night to Queenstown and elminated some of the driving by going through the center vs the west coast. Here's the newest:
Day 1 fly into Christchurch, drive to Dunedin,
Day 2 tour Dunedin,
Day 3 Te Anau, glow worm caves
Day 4 overnight Doubtful Sound
Day 5,6,7 Queenstown
Day 8 Drive to Tekapo
Day 9 Drive to Akaroa
Day 10 Christchurch
Day 11 Depart for us

Will hotels think we're nuts if we book 10 months in advance?

Jed

Book your rooms when you can. The hotels will be glad to get your business.

Consider flying from CC to Dunedin as soon as you get to CC, rather than driving. A long 5 hr drive as soon as you get to NZ may not be a good idea.