I am hoping for some assistance in planning an itinerary of 15 days travelling the South Island of New Zealand.
The journey starts and ends at Christchurch airport. We pick up the motorhome on 26 September and drop it off on 11 October
Can you help ?
Reply to this Hi Robert,
We did it last Feb in less than 10 days...15 days is the best. Go have a look at my blog and you will find few entries about the highlights. Let me know if you have any questions.
Peter
Reply to this Hi Robert
My boyfriend and me travelled with a campervan all over New Zealand last January. The highlights of the South Islands for us was the Tasman National Park in the north, fantastic white sand bays and cristal clear water with lovely hiking treks. The Westcoast from Westport to Greymouth was very nice too, very green forest next to the sea and unique rock formations.
The two glaciers on the way South are both amazing and worth a visit. They are really easy to get there on a comfortable walking trail. Further South over the Haast pass you will be surrounded by mountains, lakes and rivers, a landscape like in a Fairy tale before you finally arrive the touristic places Wanaka and Queenstown. Queenstown is great if you love an adrenalin rush and for example jump the first bungee jump bridge in the world. Further west there is the Fjordland, was pretty rainy when we were there but the big fjords with its waterfalls and the big groups of seals relaxing on the rocks will never be forgotten.
We thought the Catlins on the South Coast were ways less touristic than the rest of the South Island and a bit of a secret tip. There is a bay called Curio Bay where you can see yellow eyed penguins and just next to it is the beautiful bay called Porpoise Bay, where you will easily spot dolphins. They come very close to the beach and my boyfriend will never forget his experience surfing with dolphins. They even hit his surfboard, thats how close they were, amazing!
Up the East Coast to Christchurch were not that many places of interest but the Peninsula next to Christchurch is definitely worth a visit with its nice little bays and tiny villages. We dropped our Campervan in Christchurch as well and thought the peninsula was a great place to finish the trip.
Hopefully I could help you a little bit! The South Island in New Zealand is amazing, so much to explore and even after a short drive the landscape changes completely!
Have a great trip!
Andrea
Reply to this Hello Robert
Might be able to help. As it happens at this time I'm living in a motorhome in the South Island of New Zealand. I note that you are into extreme hiking. Is that your intent or is this more of a leisurely drive around the Island? I can suggest all kind of things, places but it sort of depends on what you want to do.
Right off the bat I can happily inform you that the facilities here are extremely good for motorhoming. Safe, not too expensive, dump stations all over the place, clean water, scenic facilities second to none. The natives are nice and mostly harmless (people and animals), and the scenery, well, you will see.
Is it 'let's boot it to the long and arduous mountain hikes' or is it 'how about we visit the pubs in Akaroa and think about things', or what?
Tell me what you are thinking and I'll happily lend a hand.
Ask me, but don't ask for money ha ha.
Cheers
John
PS do you have easy access to Google Earth?
Reply to this We also planned 2 weeks motorhome driving trip at the South Island over coming March 2010. Apart from fixing the driving route, I need to find a reasonable motorhome rental comany.
Much appreciate to have spme experience sharing.
Jonathan
Reply to this I was able to book and plan an absolutely amazing campervan / motorhome experience around New Zealand using a website called
were really helpful, and had reservation staff who were able to help me book the perfect campervan /motorhome. They also offered advice on trip planing and what things we should stop and look at.
I highly recommend in helping to plan your New Zealand campervan / motorhome experience.
They also operate a German and Australian site : Reply to this What sort of itinerary are you looking for? I originally was supposed to be in NZ for a month..... but ended up staying 7. And I STILL had tons of places I wanted to go to.
South Island personal highlights, when you've got limited time:
Golden Bay
Marlborough Sounds
Rees-Dart Track near Glenorchy
As many great walks/parks as you can hit
Glaciers: Franz Josef (bigger than fox)
Christchurch, Queenstown, etc etc
But really, go for as much nature as possible. Even just driving in the few roads Fiordland has to offer is well worth it.
] has some interesting guides on it, especially of the Great Walks.
But really, Fiordland = MUST.
Reply to this Hi Robbo
Some must see's in the South Island
- Abel Tasman - Top of the SI
- Kaikoura - Whale watching, dolphin and Seal Swimming
- Franz Joseph - Walks, Glacier Visits
- Queenstown - Everything here
- Catlins
- Milford Sound
Have a great time!
Reply to this Thank you all. Lots of good ideas. We'll start at Christchurch and then fill up in the wine district, stay around OPicton for a few days before starting down the coast towards Franz Joseph. After that we'll just play it by ear. We only have just over two weeks but living in Melbourne we can come any time.
Regards
to all
Bob
Reply to this One thing that you should definitely see when you're there are the locations used to film the Lord Of The Rings movies. Most of them are located in the South Island, and the view is quite spectacular. Also, the structures the production crew built for the movie are still there and are now a major tourist attraction.
Reply to this Definitely have a breakfast at Balaton Crepes😊 we stayed with our camper at the holiday park fro week(next to Brecon st.) and had breakfast there every day,good coffee & great views..They booked for us cheap paragliding(35 min. flight $185 incl.pics+video) and told us when is best to go to Milford Sound,very friendly,nice people..
Enjoy your trip😊)
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