travel route from Hamner Springs to Wanaka
 

Hi

Just wanted some advice on the best travel route from Hamner Springs to Wanaka. I am touring through New Zealand with my 11 and 13 year olds in mid January. We plan to travel from Hamner Springs to Wanaka, across to Dunedin and back up the coast to Christchurch. My query is the best way to travel from Hamner Springs to Wanaka. Should I take the inland route through Oxford and Twizel, bypassing Christchurch, or should I go through Christchurch down along the coast and then cut across at Wairnate? I was thinking of going inland seeing we will be seeing the coast when travelling back from Dunedin to Christchurch and we will be seeing Christchurch when we complete our tour but I just wondered whether the inland route would be too mountainous and a lot slower. It would be nice to see as much of NZ as possible so the inland route may be a good idea but we will only have a small car and I don't know how it would handle any steep areas. I would really appreciate any advice.
Thanks
Leanne

If you want a really scenic drive, I'd suggest taking Lewis Pass to the West Coast and driving down the coast to Wanaka. This is probably the longer route, but the scenery is very much worth it IMO. I don't remember Lewis Pass or Haast Pass being all that steep, but I'm from Colorado, so I'm used to mountain passes.

The drive along the East Coast from Christchurch would be shorter, but it's flat and rather uninteresting IMO - we avoid it whenever possible.

You'll see plenty of the East Coast on your drive to CH from Dunedin, so why not take a scenic route to Wanaka?

My mileage calculator shows the drive from Hamner Springs to Wanaka at 559 km - about 7 hours. Not sure which route they used though...

Just looked it up -

"Lewis Pass crosses the main divide of the Southern Alps at a height of 864m"

"This pass travels through the Lewis Pass National Park, and even from the road it’s a splendid journey".

Compliments of:

http://www.westcoast.org.nz/tourism/...ion/lewis.html

"The Haast Pass is the lowest route over the Main Divide, rising only to 563 metres. The road is seldom closed by snow, but it frequently rains and the magnificent view may be obscured by fog or clouds".

Compliments of:

http://www.westcoast.org.nz/tourism/...tion/haastpass

Hope this helps.

Thank you so much. Will get out my maps and check it out!

I drove the route via Twizel, Methven, etc, and did it in a Toyota Echo with manual shift. No problems. It is definitely more scenic than the coastal route.

Do you know if the Twizel route take a lot longer than the coastal route? I really need to get there in a day so there will be a lot of driving but pleasant scenery could make the trip more bearable. Thought I'd break the trip up by driving from Hamner Springs for a couple of hours and then continuing on the next day. Any suggestions for accommodation in Wanaka or for the stopover?

If you choose to drive from Hamner Springs via Greymouth to Wanaka (the most scenic way to go, IMO) it will take about 8 hours - 666 kms.

If you choose to drive from Hamner Springs to CH, CH to Twizel and then on to Wanaka, it will take about 6:45 -559 kms.

These driving distances/times were taken from the following site, which I've used extensively in planning our trips to NZ.

http://www.accommodationz.co.nz/distances2.html

Crossing over from SH1 on the east coast at Waimate doesn't make much sense to me - it prolongs that boring drive down the east coast. If you choose to take the east coast route, you'd do better to pick up 8 at Timaru, and catch Lake Tekapo on the way to Twizel.

The route I took from Hanmer to Wanaka was by cutting inland at Rt 77 (via Rangiora and Mt Hutt, then Geraldine, Fairlie, Lake Tekapo, Twizel, Then Route 8 to Omarama, Lindis Pass, and cutting over to Wanaka (8A). Very scenic. However I overnighted in Twizel on the hopes that I could get to see Mt. Cook the next day. As it was it's usually clouded over self, I continued on the next day and wound up staying in Arrowtown.

The route via Rangiora, Geraldine, Fairley, Tekapo, Omarama, Wanaka would be the quickest, and easiest, and also quite scenic.

If you decide to go via the West Coast you really need an overnight stop somewhere, possibly Franz Joseph or Fox. It's possible to do it in one day, but you would miss a lot by rushing it.

Don't get wound up by imagining steep roads. Most of the main roads follow the coastal plains, and are relitively flat. Even where you cross the mountain passes the roads are not particularly steep. Most Kiwis drive smaller cars, between 1200cc and 3000cc. Even the smaller engines make short work of the hills. Where a larger engine is an advantage is in overtaking. Often there is only a small window of opportunity, and the smaller engines struggle a bit.

Thank you all so much. I feel I am a little more wiser, not so worried about the size of the car or the mountains and possibly a little more confused as I think both routes sound great. I think because of time constraints I might have to opt for the shortest route but if we make up a bit of time before hand I might go along the west coast.
Thanks again

In February, at the end of our trip, we will be driving from Lake Tekapo to Christchurch, sort of in the opposite direction as previously discussed but involving the same dilemma of which route to take. Right now, as Barry(VBCA) and MLGB have advised, it looks like the following route would suffice: SH8 from Tekapo to Fairlie, SH79 to Geraldine, and then either SH72 or 77 to Mt. Hutt (Lord of the Rings?)-Methven area and then SH73 toward Darfield and into Christchurch. SH73 looks like the spectacular road that takes you to Arthur's Pass in the other direction. Is this too good to be true? Can this drive be done in one day or is the map deceptive?

You can certainly do Tekapo to Christchurch in a day. I estimate 3-1/2 to 4 hours as lomg as you don't stop to admire the scenery. If you do the LOR thing then you should throw any time estimates out the window.

I've never actually done it, but I think you could drive from Darfield to Arthurs Pass in about 1-1/2 to 2 hours. The Viaduct on the west Coast side of the pass is worth a look, and the scenery is pretty good.

We regularly drive Te Anau to Christchurch(400 miles) in 8 hours, and Tekapo is on the ChCh side of half way. It's very easy driving. The roads are not crowded, and the route is well signposted, so you shouldn't get too lost.

Cheers,
Barry

We usually follow SH1 from Christchurch to Rangitata, and then cut through to Geraldine. Alternatively you can cut across from Ashburton to SH72. It's slightly longer, but the roads are dead straight, and carry very little traffic, so you can put your foot down. (not that I am advocating that you exceed the speed limit)