South IslandItinerary Help
 

We (4 ladies) are nature lovers and we love scenic easy walk . We would like to include easy cycling in our travel plans but we have no idea any scenic place for easy cycling in S Island. Below is our plan. Kindly advise us on this.
26 Nov Land about 12 am in CHR (.overnight flight from Malaysia and transit in Singapore )
27 Nov Day tour to Akaroa, jet boating . Stay in Christchurch
28 Nov Hire a car buy groceries. Drive to lake Tekapo
29 Nov Mt. Cook ( Visit Mt. John Observatory on the way)
30 Nov Mt. Cook (Glazier Explorers Tour)
1 Dec . Wanaka (Mt. Iron walk)
2 Dec Wanaka(scenic flight, Beacon Point Walk )
3 Dec Wanaka (scenic flight)
4 Dec Te Anau ( The Chasm and Mirror Lakes Walk)
5 Dec Catlins (Mati Falls, Nugget Points)
6 Dec Queens town ( explore)
7 Dec Queenstown ( Glenorchy Lagoon Boardwalk , Moke lake )
8 Dec Queenstown .Return the car
9. Dec Fly home from Queenstown
Any suggestions and comments are welcome. Thank you in advance.

HI zhung,

melnq8 knows much more than i do about the SI, so i hope that she sees this and chimes in, but IMO you are not allowing yourselves enough time in Te Anau to actually do the walks you mention, and I suspect the same applies for the Caitlins too.

In NZ as a whole you need to leave far more time for travelling from one place to another than you might imagine; this is not usually because of the amount of traffic but because the roads are hard going and it is difficult to keep up an average speed of more than about 40 mph. for example, my pathfinder road atlas, [which proved pretty accurate when we were there last year] says that from Wanaka to Te Anau is about a 4 hour drive. will that leave long enough for the walking you want to do when you get there, check into your accommodation, get something to eat, etc?

then the next day you are planning another long drive to the Caitlins, and the day after that another back to QT.

we ended up changing our plans quite radically mid trip when we realised that we had set ourselves too much driving to do. if you cut out the Caitlins, you could spend another night in Te anau, and possibly see Milford or Doubtful sound while you are there, rather than slogging over to the Caitlins and back.

as for easy biking, Wanaka is a good place for that with lots of places renting out bikes that you can ride around the lake etc. I can thoroughly recommend this B&B to stay in in Wanaka:

http://www.criffelpeakview.co.nz/

The people who run it are lovely and hospitable people and they will help you book flights, bikes and anything else you'd like to do in Wanaka, which we liked a lot. as well as B&B rooms they have a very spacious apartment which might suit the 4 of you better than the B&B rooms; I think that you can still book it on a B&B basis if you want to, but you would be able to self-cater as well.

in QT we stayed here: http://www.villadellago.co.nz/

this is a motel not a B&B so you don't get the same personal touch as in a B&B but it is very well equipped and has lovely views over the lake.

hope this helps!

Ditto what annhig stays.

Your itinerary looks good until Dec 4 & 5.

Dec 4 -

You must first get to Te Anau from Wanaka, which takes about 3.5 hours w/o stops. The Chasm and Mirror Lakes walks are on the road to Milford Sound, halfway between Milford Sound and the Homer Tunnel, well beyond Te Anau.

Dec 5 - Te Anau to Nugget Point will take you about 3:45. While this is possible, it doesn't leave you a whole lot of time to explore. The drive up to QT the following day is another four hours.

I agree that two nights in Te Anau would solve the problem. That would leave you the whole day to explore some of the walks/viewpoints along the Milford Road and give you time to actually see Milford Sound.

Thank you annhig and Melnq8 for the input. I have re plan my itinerary. Comments and suggestions is much appreciated..

26 Nov Land about 12 am in CHR (.overnight flight from Malaysia and transit in Singapore )

27 Nov Buy metro card, Explore Christchurch and buy groceries.

28 Nov Christchurch ( Day tour to Banks Peninsular and Akaroa )

29 Nov Mt. Cook ( Hire a car and lunch at Lake Tekapo & Visit Mt. John Observatory on the way). Stay in
Glentanner Park

30 Nov Mt. Cook (Glazier Explorers Tour) Stay in Glentanner Park

1 Dec . Wanaka (Mt. Iron walk)

2 Dec Wanaka (scenic flight/ Jet Boating, Bicycle riding )

3 Dec Te Anau ( Explore and short walks)

4 Dec Te Anau ( The Chasm and Mirror Lakes Walk, Mildford sound cruise, Key Summit if good weather &
still fit )

5 Dec Catlins (Mati Falls)

6 Dec Catlins ( Nugget Points)

7 Dec Queenstown ( Glenorchy Lagoon Boardwalk , Moke lake )
8 Dec Queenstown ( bicycle riding and short walks) Return the car

9. Dec Early flight from Queenstown

I have some doubts . Should I skip Catlins ? Is it as scenic as Tasmania ? Instead should I spend a night in Lake Tekapo and another day in Wanaka, so it won't be too much time on the road. Please help me in this.

<Should I skip Catlins? Is it as scenic as Tasmania?>

I suggest you do skip the Catlins this time zhung, as in order to make time for it, you've taken nights from Wanaka and QT - I think you'll appreciate three nights each in Wanaka and QT as there's so much to do in both and they're beautiful places. Less moving around will make for a much more relaxed holiday.

As to whether or not the Catlins is as scenic as TAS - they're like apples and oranges. Yes, there is some nice scenery along the Catlins coast, but it's also a very windy area and subject to some lousy weather.

You'll be going right through Lake Tekapo on your way to Mt Cook, and you can see the highlights in about 30 minutes, so no need to spend a night. You can even fit in a drive up to Mt John Observatory and have a coffee or lunch in the café there, with plenty of time to get to Mt Cook.

As for cycling, there are some bike trails around Cromwell and Bannockburn, not far from Wanaka.

http://www.centralotagonz.com/cyclin...ll-bannockburn

what melnq8 said!

Thank you melnq8 and annhig for the advice. I appreciate it!

I hope you find it useful, Zhung. Melnq8 was so helpful when we were planning our trip this time last year and everything she said turned out to be spot on.

Thanks annhig:)