South Island Campervan Itinerary Check
 

Hi all! We are in Picton tonight and about to embark on this itinerary tomorrow in our campervan. We would love your feedback on ordering, driving routes, length of time in each place, suggestions on what to do, and where to stay.

KAIKOURA

Sep 9th - Drive from Picton to Stay in Kaikoura. See some baby seals!

LAKE TEKAPO

Sep 10th - Relaxing Driving Day via the Inland Scenic Route to Tekapo. Stop in Rangiora and Geraldine, taking the inland route thru Rakaia Gorge

Sep 11th & 12th - Enjoy Tekapo (Church of Good Shepherd, Mt. John Hike)

MT COOK (STAY IN TWIZEL)

Sep 13th - Day Trip to Mt Cook Village & Stop on Lake Pukaki to Enjoy Sashimi Salmon, and maybe short Tasman Glacier Hike.

Sep 14th - Day Trip to Hike Hooker Valley Track

TE ANAU & MILFORD SOUND

Sep 15th - Relaxing Driving Day to Te Anau from Twizel, Stay in Holiday Park

Sep 16th - Drive to Milford Sound, Stay in Powered Campsite. Lake Marian Hike if the weather is good.

Sep 17th - Milford Sound Cruise, Stay in Powered Campsite

QUEENSTOWN

Sep 18th - Drive to QTown

Sep 19th & 20th - Enjoy Queenstown (Arrowtown, Onsen Pools, Fergburger, Bob's Peak)



21st we return the van in Queenstown and fly back out to the US. This is a rough itinerary so please help us shape it into something that will work and be relaxing =)

A few observations based upon our previous campervan trips:

1. Kaikoura is great but it is a v long drive to Tekapo. Probably around 6 hours even without stops.
2. Maybe skip a night in Tekapo in favour of adding a night to Mt Cook.
3. Stay at the White Horse DOC Camp at Mt Cook rather than Twizel which has little to commend it.
4. Two nights in Milford would be one too many for me! Watch out for the black flies there , they are a pain - literally!
5. From Te Anau do the hike from Rainbow Reach to Lake Manapouri- 4-5 hours and one of the prettiest in the SI some photos and info in our blog @https://accidentalnomads.com/category/new-zealand/
6. Akaroa May be preferable to Kaikoura and a shorter drive to Tekapo ( also in out blog)

Have fun!

Thanks so much for the feedback! We decided to skip Kaikoura and stop for a night in Methven. I'm writing from the van there now. We will definitely do the White Horse camp, and we've switched to taking a coach from Te Anau to Milford to avoid driving a campervan there in winter. I think we should have plenty of days to spare in the itinerary so we'll give Rainbow Reach a try as well!

In Te Anau! We have our Milford cruise today and yesterday we did Doubtful sound. We ended up doing Picton to Methven, to Lake Tekapo, to staying in Glentanner near mt cook and doing the hooker valley hike, hopping to Wanaka, then to Glenorchy and the Moke Lake campsite, to Te Anau. After Milford today we’ll move to Queenstown tomorrow and we’ll be done!