At the end of a dream vacation, my wife and I are planning a two-week tour of New Zealand, from April 1 to April 13. (Before New Zealand, we will cruise across the Pacific from LA to Sydney, and then spend two weeks in Australia.) As part of our New Zealand trip, we are planning a nine-day driving tour of the South Island. We will leave from Christchurch and return to Christchurch.

Most of the driving tours I have seen on various web sites start by going South from Christchurch on the East Coast to Dunedin, then to Tu Anau and the Milford Sound, then to Queenstown, north up the West Coast to Greymouth, then across the Arthur Pass back to Christchurch. WeI prefer the reverse itinerary, leaving out some places, such as Dinedin, so we can spend more time at the remaining places. Is there something wrong with this "reverse itinerary." .

Absolutely nothing wrong with the reverse itinerary. The drive to Dunedin via the east coast isn't particularly scenic anyway, and we never go that way if we can avoid it.

Keep in mind you'll be visiting during school holidays and over the long Easter weekend (Good Friday-Easter Tuesday) so you'd do well to book your accommodation and any activities you don't want to miss out on well in advance.

When you reach Milford Sound, the most distant point, what is your plan for getting back to Christchurch? Where do you go from there?

Returning to Christchurch from Milford, I'd suggest backtracking to Queenstown and then heading to Christchurch via Omarama, Twizel, etc. By all means take the side trip to Mt Cook Village - some great walks, plus a beautiful drive along the shores of Lake Pukaki to get there.

Thank you all for your comments. Since our plane will arrive in Christchurch from Sydney around 3:00pm, I thought that there would not be enough light left on that day to appreciate our journey from Christchurch to Hokitika, so we plan to spend our first night in Christchurch. Our proposed itinerary will then be as follows:

Christchurch to Hokitika through Arthur's Pass

Hokitika to Franz Joseph

Franz Joseph to Wanaka

Wanaka to Te Anau

Tu Anau to Milford Sound Mariner or Wanderer (overnight cruise)

Milford Sound to Queenstown (2 nights)

Queentown to either Lake Tekapo or Mount Cook Village

Lake Tekapo or Mount Cook Village to Christchurch.

In order to get all this in, I have added a day in the South Island, thereby subtracting a day in the North Island.

Is this doable, or have we bitten off more than we can chew? If we have, what do you suggest we drop. Also, does anyone have a preference for staying at Lake Tekapo or Mount Cook Village.

We are experienced travelers in our 60s, but most of our foreign travel has been in Europe, mainly France and Italy. We are not big hikers, a walk of about an hour or two is about it. Normally, we like to stay in a place for more than one day, but all the above stops seemed interesting. For this trip, our primary objective is to see New Zealand's nature sights.

Your planned itinerary is very doable and slow paced compared to ours. We are also well travled and in our sixties.

We did a trip to NZ this past Jan. We flew to Wellington, spent two days..wonderful wine and scenery; took the ferry to the SI, spent two days in Nelson area...beautiful scenery with lots to explore; drove to Fox Glacier, spent the night; drove to Queenstown for two days...wonderful area, scenic and lots to explore and great little town; drove to Dunedin and spent the night...one of our favorite areas and one we wished we had allowed more time for...remote beautiful coast, nice town; finally drove to Christchurch by way of Mt Cook...beautiful countryside and a great city!

Everyone likes/dislikes different things. I read lots of trip reports and looked at everyones pictures while planning our trip. It helped a lot. That said, most people love the West Coast, but it was our least favorite area...the country side is nice, but not as beautiful as other areas and the sand flies were terrible while we were there! I tend to be a bug magnet anyway and got a number of bits. Most peolple seem to blow the problem off, but we were miserable when we were outside. After reading a report that said they were bad, we all most skipped that part. The whole SI is wonderfully beautiful with lots to see, it is hard to narrow things down!

If you would like to see our pictures and read our daily trip report, go to:

www.aroundtheworldin132days.blogspot.com

click on JAN on the righthand side and scroll down to Jan 12 to Jan 21.

I'm with you on the sandflies. I am glad I saw the west coast glaciers, Fiordland and the sounds, including hiking the Milford Track and the Humpridge Track, but now I prefer to stay east of the Southern Alps.

I really liked Dunedin, actually. Some incredibly nice people there (all over New Zealand, really). The city itself is pretty. We found a tour through the I-site (take advantage of those) to a sheep farm with amazing views, and an opportunity to view yellow-eyed penguins. After you've seen the Sounds, though, everything else will seem less.

We are also in our 60's from Australia and have had two trips to the South Island, both of 10 days. We found a long time ago not to fit too much in.One trip was flying into Dunedin hiring a car and doing the Catlins to Invercargill then to Te Anau, overnight cruise on both Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound then on to Queenstown and then back to Dunedin.
On the other trip we flew into Christchurch. We took a 7 day rail pass-- train Christchurch to Greymouth, hired a car and did Hokitika and Franz Josef back to Greymouth ,rail back to Christchurch then the rail to Picton, hired a car and did a B&B at a vineyard in Blenheim and then returned to Picton for the rail back to Christchurch.From there we hired a car and had 2 nights in Akaroa.I can't comment on Lake Tekapo or Mount Cook but for what it is worth here are my views on the other areas.
Great drive from Christchurch to Hokitika, should stay there and see the glow worm caves, a good place to stay is opposite those caves. Hokitika to Franz Josef ,also a great choice and great accommodation.Can't comment on Wanaka but it seems the most logical next step, and then to Te Anau which is a great base to do either Milford or Doubtful Sound.We did them both in that order and found Milford wonderful but Doubtful better.The difference is a matter of choice ,Milford is now commercialised with lots of crafts on the water whereas to get to Doubtful it is a boat accross the lake, a bus over the mountain(inaccessable to most other vehicles)and then the overnight cruise. This cruise was so peaceful,this of course was 3 years ago but I think it is still isolated.Te Anau to Queenstown, yes, but we stayed in Arrowtown which with a car is about a pleasant 20 min. drive from Queenstown.It is an old gold mining town with old world charm. If you do get a chance for a special meal try The Post Office Restaurant in Arrowtown if it is still there.
The only other comment I would make is it is a pity you wont have time to drive from Christchurch to Akaroa,look it up and see if you can fit it in when you get back to Christchurch. Happy holidaying

Thank you all for your comments. I guess we should make sure to take bug spray with us. With regard to the Doubtful Sound cruise, we thought about that trip but the cost was $946, and even in New Zealand dollars, that is quite expensive.

I forgot to say why I mentioned Akaroa. It is that it was one of the highlights of our tour. It is 80 km. out of Christchurch,over a most stunning scenic road, a quaint french village having been settled by the French in 1838. The cruise on the harbour to either swim or just view the Hector dolphins swimming round the boat is unforgettable.
The Milford Sound cruise is itself truly magnificent.Hope for what we had, rain during the night which had the waterfalls cascading over the cliffs and an eerie mist/ fog in the morning that lifted after a short time.

Jamessexton_1. If we add an 11th day to the South Island, can we do Akaroa in the manner you describe. We will be coming from Mount Cook Village.

In Mount Cook Village, we decided to stay at the Hermitage Hotel, reserving either a motel studio or chalet room. Does anyone have an opinion as to which is the best choice.

Akararo can be done in a half day tour from Akaroa or probably a full day tour from Christchurch.I dont know what your itinerary is in Ch/church, that is what time you get there one day and what time you leave presumably the next.What I suggest you do is search these sights yourself and make up your own mind.Just put in Akaroa cruises to research the harbour or Akaroa to get the feel of the town. I would hope other Fodor subscribers who know about this area would also pass on some advice. The beauty about New Zealand not only in my view, but how they sell it to tourists is that it has every other part of the world in it, but in my view at least 2/3 of that is in the S.I.

It's been years since I stayed at the Hermitage, so can't comment on which room would be better. I was going to suggest Lake Tekapo over Mt Cook (strictly for accommodation), but it seems I'm a bit late.