My wife and I just completed a 15 day trip of the South Island of New Zealand. We were there from mid-February to Early March. We rented a fully self-contained campervan and set off. The scenery, people and food were amazing. By far the best country we’ve ever visited. We did lots of travel planning and took a lot of advice from multiple travel forums. So below is an outline of our trip, hoping it may help the next travelers to the area. If I could go back again I honestly would do the same trip 100% again. Our only regret in visiting NZ is now we’re never going to want to go anywhere else
**DAY 1 – Flew from Phoenix to Honolulu and then across the international dateline. Landed in Auckland around 10pm – slept off Jetlag in nearby hotel ($115 USD)
**DAY 2 – Breakfast in Auckland then back to the airport and flew from Auckland to Christchurch. Picked up our JUCY van. Camped first night at Rakaia Gorge DOC ($7 USD per person). This was also the night Cyclone Gita hit the island and the rain started.
**DAY 3 – Drove to Lake Tekapo and Pukaki . Rain was falling really hard. Took a few pictures, but honestly spent the bulk of the day inside the van because of the storm. Camped at a free DOC site called the Pines along Lake Pukaki)
**DAY 4 – Mt. Cook National Park and hiked the Hooker Track (about 3 hours) and Tasman Lake Lookover (30 minutes). Drove Lindis Pass towards Queenstown and stopped for the night at Arrowtown Holiday Park ($30 USD per vehicle). Had dinner at Fork and Tap (amazing plus live music)
**DAY 5 – Drove to Queenstown. Arrived at Lakeview Holiday Park ($30 USD per night x 2). Took Gondola up to Skyview to start the Ben Lomond hike (4 hours round trip – best hike we did). Then did some Concrete Luge. Then went to town and ate at The Cow for pizza (The Her Majesty’s Pizza was delicious)
**DAY 6 – Walked around Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown. Afternoon hike of Queenstown Hill (go to the summit – well worth it). A round of Frisbee golf followed. Grabbed dinner at Erik’s Fish and Chips.
**DAY 7 – Went back to Arrowtown in the morning – did a wine/bike tour with Around the Basin ($70 USD for both of us) in Gibbston Valley. We got to ride about 80 minutes to the wineries - saw the Kawarau Bridge bungee jumpers. Had two stops at Gibbston Valley Winery and Gibbston Tavern. We took a shuttle back to Arrowtown then headed back south through Queenstown and headed towards Fiordland/Milford Sound. Free DOC at Swift Bay with lake side parking
**DAY 8 – Drove to Fiordland/Milford Sound. Pulled over at Earl Mountain and did the ‘wire walk’ over the creek (very fun 20 minute detour). Drove through Homer Tunnel and it opened up to amazing, but very rain scenery and stayed at Milford Lodge ($45 USD per vehicle)
**DAY 9 – Woke up to sunshine and had a tour pre-booked w/ Rosco’s Kayaks on Milford Sound – Stirling Sunriser ($315 USD for both of us) - about 4.5 hours of paddling over 8 miles in the sound (incredible experience). Afterwards hiked Key Summit (took about 3 hours - overlooks Lake Marian – looked straight out of Lord of the Rings with scenery of Riders of Rohan. Pit stop at the Chasm (quick tourist stop). Night just outside of Milford at Deer Flat Campground ($10 USD per person)
**DAY 10 – Fiordland to Wanaka. Lengthy drive of around 6+ hours. Checked into our Holiday Park ($35 USD per night x 2). Saw #thatwanakatree and then went to dinner at Relishes – best venison/salmon ever and for dessert we went to gelato at Black Peak
**DAY 11 – Isthmus Peak Hike. It was a rigorous 3 hour up/2.5 hour down hike with stunning views of Lake Wanaka and Lake Wamea. We thought about Roy’s Peak but heard much better reviews about this one and we feel we may the right decision. We had plans to go to Mt. Aspiring NP the next day – however the road to get there basically ends 20 miles before you get to the parking lot and you need high clearance and 4WD – so we scrapped that. Went to dinner at Federal Diner – best lamb burger
**DAY 12 – Hiked Diamond Lake (along the road taken to Mt. Aspiring NP). Showered and checked out Puzzling World/Maze for about $17 USD per person (pretty fun – even for adults). Drove out of town and camped at a DOC at Kidds Bush Reserve ($5 USD per person) near ‘The Neck’
**DAY 13 – Drove Haast Pass - started at the Blue Pools (very fun), did the 1 hour round trip Haast Pass Trail hike (nice, but wouldn’t do it again). Stopped by Fantail Falls and Thunder Falls (quick pictures - beautiful). Drove to the coast and stopped at Swamp Beach Trail (touched the Tasman Sea). We passed Fox/Franz Glaciers towns (rain was falling) and drove a little further north and camped at a DOC at Otto Creek ($10 USD per person).
**DAY 14 – Drove 15 minutes south back towards Franz Glacier and did the glacier hike (in the rain). Drove to Hokitika Gorge (because the rain tinted the water gray/brown, rather than the magnificent blue we were expecting – still pretty). We drove through Arthur’s Pass and hiked up to Devil’s Punchbowl and Bridal Veil Falls via the Arthur Pass Trail. Drove opposite directionabout 30 minutes back to the only holiday park (Jackson’s Retreat) for $35 USD a night – by far the cleanest / nicest HP we went to. Hiked through the rainy jungle to see the glow worms in the area (which were really cool).
**DAY 15 – Drove though Arthur Pass towards Christchurch. Stopped at Castle Hill for really fun bouldering. Checked the JUCY back in and took the shuttle to the airport
FINANCES (in total for the 2 of us)
-Flights: $2,200 USD (6 Flights in Total (PHX->HNL-AUK->CHC and then CHC->AUK->HNL->PHX)– booked last minute)
-Jucy Van: $2,800 USD (14 Days - $200/per day)
-Holiday Parks/DOC: $300 USD
-Restaurants: $750 USD
-Grocery: $325 USD
-Petrol: $500 USD (About $1.75 USD per liter or around $6.50 USD per gallon)