South Island Final Itinerary (mostly)
 

The time is rapidly approaching! We arrive in Queenstown on May 21st and leave from Christchurch June 2nd.

Here's our (mostly) final itinerary. As you all know, we don't mind moving around and not spending lots of nights in one spot. We did finally realize we don't have enough time to get to the north part of the South Island. :-)

2 nights Queenstown - we'll spend the first day walking around town and trying to stay awake. The next day we plan to do the Dart River Safari in the morning and maybe a bit more walking up around the Glenorchy/Paradise area.

1 night Milford Sound Lodge - we signed up for their Bed and Boat package. On the way, we plan to hike the Key Summit Track. I realize there isn't much to do at Milford Sound at night, but I figure we'll still be getting over a bit of jetlag, plus we'll be tired from the hike.

1 night Te Anau - after our morning cruise and a look in the Milford Sound Discovery Centre, we'll head to Te Anau in the early afternoon.

2 nights Wanaka - we hope to visit a couple of wineries on the way, probably Mt. Difficulty for one. Is there anything like a central wine store in Cromwell that offers tastings?

We'd like to get into Mt. Aspiring National Park on our full day, hopefully do the Rob Roy Glacier walk. If the weather's really bad, we'll stay in town and see things there.

1 night Franz Josef Glacier - we're allowing most of the day for this drive.

1 night Hokitika (or maybe Greymouth) - we want to do a heli-hike at Franz Josef in the morning. If that isn't possible due to weather, we plan to drive up to Hokitika and poke around town.

Mr. Pickle is sort of interested in visiting Shantytown in Greymouth. I haven't had a chance to research much - is it worth the time?

1 night at maybe Springfield or Sheffield - we'll drive through Arthur's Pass, stop and look around up there, then either spend the night at the YHA hostel in Springfield or drive on to Sheffield for the night. Does anyone think one town is better than the other?

At this point, we are going to drive to Hakatere Conservation Park in Canterbury. http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-rec...ervation-park/ Mr. Pickle decided it would be cool to walk up Mt. Sunday, the location of Edoras in the Lord of the Rings films, and since I'm a major LotR geek, I'm all for it! :-D

I'm not sure where we should spend the nights of May 30th (the day we visit Mt. Sunday) and 31st. We don't think we have time to go much farther south, so we're considering Akaroa, then heading to Christchurch the night of June 1st. Our flight leaves in the evening, so we'll have a good chunk of June 2nd to spend in the city. Any help here would be appreciated.

I'd love suggestions for restaurants (budgeting approximately $20-25 for a main per person), coffee places, fun shops, etc.

Thanks so much for your help, everyone!

Lee Ann

Sounds like a well thought out plan Lee Ann. You know I'm not a fan of one and two night stays, but if it works for you...

As for wine - this place might work for you in QT:

http://www.thewinery.co.nz/#about

I seem to remember another place around Central Otago called the Wine Experience or some such, but can't find it online, so they may no longer be around. I was disappointed in it years ago - more of a paid attraction about wine, not tasting wine as I recall.

The wineries in Cromwell are so close to one another that you can easily fit in a couple on your own - same for Bannockburn. Or there's always tour options if you plan to really imbibe. Do visit Mt Difficulty - or better yet have a meal there (book) - it's wonderful and unpretentious.

http://www.otagowine.com/otagowine/winetrailmap.html

I'll get back to you on places to eat - have an appointment to get to.

We self cater a lot on our NZ driving trips, however, some restaurants we've dined at and can recommend are Redcliffe Restaurant in Te Anau and Vnow in Queenstown. Vnow has the feel of a small neighbourhood restaurant, as it's away from the centre.
If you're from NM, you might enjoy spicy food (I ate a lot of red and green food when I lived in NM and miss the aroma of freshly roasted Hatch chiles). If you enjoy Indian spices as well, we've had good meals at Priya in Hokitika and Spice Room in Wanaka. Thai Siam in Wanaka was okay. I've also gotten takeout from Bombay Palace in Queenstown (the place is too crowded and loud for my tastes).
My pick for a splurge meal would be Amisfield's Bistro. As the exchange rate is so good for you right now you might want to check it out. Queenstown has a great variety of dining choices, from takeout lamb at Pedro's House of Lamb, to celebrated burgers from Fergberger, to places with "star chefs" like Rata.
Wineries. Must-see Rippon Winery in Wanaka, a five minute drive from the centre. My Cromwell favourites are Wooing Tree, Rockburn, and Quartz Reef, with the latter two being in a commercial area populated by warehouses, retail outlets, and small manufacturers. You might notice someplace called the Central Otago Wine Company. No tastings here, they make wine and sell wine for a range of wineries.
In Bannockburn, in addition to Mt. Difficulty, visit Carrick. I also like Akarua.
Sightseeing. Hokitika Gorge-Lake Kaniere drive. Maybe visit its free small glow worm dell at night. Queenstown gondola and botanic garden. Heavy rainy now predicted for parts of the SI may make some roads impassable. If you can't get to Rob Roy, Diamond Lake walk has great views and doesn't take too long.
Why don't you drive to Shantytown, have a look and decide when you get there? My husband was also somewhat interested in seeing it but when we got there it looked too theme-park like, we passed on entering.

Diamantina has covered most of my favorite restaurants, but I'll add Café de Paris in Hokitika, the Blue Ice in Franz Josef, Ma Maison in Akaroa, La Toscana and The Ranch in Te Anau and Express Yourself in Darfield (good coffee and cake).

There's also a Spice Room in Queenstown.

Oh how I miss Indian food! We live in the land of Hatch's green chilies and are surrounded by good Mexican food, but Indian food is very hard to come by here.

If you like chocolate, don't miss the hot chocolate and ice cream at Patagonia in QT.

Suddenly, I'm hungry.

I can't improve on the expert advice you've had here except to second the Amisfield bistro - we loved it .We had their tasting menu [one with wine pairings as someone had to drive] and it was great.

Here's a PDF of the Wine Map brochure of the area (it may or may not be easier to read than the Otago wine link): https://www.dropbox.com/s/uza6vev9yn...e-Map.pdf?dl=0

We had a rather disappointing experience at Carrick - maybe we arrived on an "off" day. We loved Chard Farm, Peregrine, and Mt Difficulty.

Mount Iron is right across the road from Puzzling World at Wanaka and offers some great views of Lakes Hawea and Wanaka at the top. You may also consider doing the cruise and walk at Mou Waho Island. The local Wekas are very friendly and it's amazing to look around 360 degrees and not see a single sign of civilization! There's a very cool lake within the island too (with an island of it's own). http://www.ecowanaka.co.nz/lake-wana...d-nature-walk/

Thanks, everyone, for the wonderful suggestions! We will do our best to try what we can. Sadly, Amisfield is closed while we're in the area, but all those other options look great.

Do any of you have suggestions for the Canterbury area after we go to Mount Sunday (which is sort of near Mount Somers)? I don't think we have time to visit Mt. Cook, but anything between the eastern end of Arthur's Pass and about as far south as Ashburton would work. Or should we just plan to drive to Akaroa when we finish the Mount Sunday hike?

Lee Ann

I can't even find Mt Sunday on my 150 page NZ road atlas (thank you for piquing my interest in a place I've not yet been to on the SI!).

If you find yourself around Geraldine at dinner time, do call in at Taste (book or turn up when they open at 6 pm).

Wonderbar! And a huge surprise for such a small town. So much so that we booked dinner months in advance from Australia, several times, knowing we'd only be in town one night.

According to TripAdvisor, Taste has closed. :-( Is there anywhere else there you'd recommend?

Here's the Hakatere Conservation Park brochure:
http://www.doc.govt.nz/Documents/par...ation-park.pdf

Lee Ann

OH NO! Say it isn't so!

I'm getting conflicting info online, I suggest you give them a call to make sure:

Phone:+64 3-307 0307

Oh...looks like they moved to Ashburton.

May not be the same place though. Oh man, I am so bummed.

I've sent the Geraldine I site a note...will see what they say. Can you tell I'm upset by this news?

Queenstown
- Vudu - the skinny one that runs from the waterfront through to whatever the adjacent street is. I've been in Qtown a couple of times this month, and there's often a queue, but it moves fast. Great coffee, counter food and breakfast/brunch/lunch options.
- Joe's garage - great coffee, tasty cooked breakfasts. Vudu is better though.
- The Cow - I remember going here when I was little and the menu is still the same. Be prepared to wait for a table, a cosy fire and to share tables and/or be at close quarters. Menu is simple but tasty.

Christchurch
- My go to favourites are Pomeroys (pub food and friendly vibe), and the reincarnations of a pre-EQ icon - the Dux de Lux - now known as Dux Dine in Riccarton Road and Dux central in High Street. I love both. Both are very casual.

I can't imagine staying in either Springfield or Sheffield, they are both blink and miss them places. I'd keep going to Christchurch unless there was some particular reason. Springfield would be every so slightly bigger, but Sheffield has the Sheffield Pie shop. The pies here are good (also recommend the custard squares).

Lee Ann -

Thanks for posting the link. As it happens we've been in the area many times, we once hiked to Sharplin Falls near Stavely, at the base of Mt Somers.

Will have to explore Mt Sunday next time.

>>I can't imagine staying in either Springfield or Sheffield, they are both blink and miss them places.<<

Basically, we need a place to spend that night before we got to Mount Sunday the next day.

We saw the Sheffield Pie Shop online and Mr. Pickle definitely wants to stop there. :-) Thanks for your other recommendations as well!

Lee Ann

Speaking of meat/savoury pies, in Te Anau, there's Miles Pies to try.

OK...I've looked on the map and found Mount Sunday. I live a little more than an hour away and I've never heard of it... :)

If you're coming from Arthurs Pass, probably your best bet for accomodation would be somewhere in Methven. It's still just a dot, but a bigger dot than Sheffield or Springfield. Here's a website on Methven to whet your appetite...

http://www.methvenmthutt.co.nz

Blowing a gale here today and it's ridiculously warm for what should be Autumn.

Diamantina, Miles Better Pies is on our list too. :-)

Thanks, thelittlestkiwi, I'll check Methven.

Lee Ann

Heard back from the Geraldine I site - sadly, it's true, Taste is no more;

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Unfortunately you are correct in thinking that Taste has closed. There are a couple of new restaurants opened late at night in Geraldine. There is Royal India (where Taste used to be) as well as The Running Duck, which is open later on some nights & The Central Café which does burgers and again, open later on some nights. Really sorry to be the bearer of bad news!

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