[toby/lisa]

Hi

We (i.e myself, Toby (hubby) and 19th month old daughter) are landing at Nelson on 15th September :raebanana and have decided to book 2 weeks in a campervan (as a break from job hunting). Now obviously wanting to see as much as we can, we have come up with a list of where we would like to go but not sure if we can manage it within the 2 weeks. There are lots of mountains to kind of steer around... eeekkk. :uhoh

Do you think we can manage this route in 12 days and survive.

Nelson - Kaikoura-Christchurch-Dunedin-Te Anu-Milford Sound-Queenstown-Wanaka-Fox Glacier-Greymouth-Westpoint-Nelson

Or do you think we are totally mad................ :D

Plus are there any areas driving a camper van you would not even attempt. (Would really like to drive through Arthurs Pass as well, but not sure)

Anywhere you would really recommend visiting as a not to be missed place and any campsite recommendations?

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.


Lisa

[Glenda]

Hi Lisa,

I've been down all those routes (not in a campervan, though) and would say that on the whole your itinerary sounds fine.

I would advise not driving a campervan to Milford Sound - not only is it a long and winding journey but the road gets busy and there is a long, very narrow tunnel near Milford Sound. Best to take a coach tour from Te Anau with a boat trip down the Sound.

The only other place I recall being a bit dicey was the Buller Gorge, between Murchison and Westport (I think). The road is very narrow in places here, cut into the rock, often single lane. However, if you take things carefully you should be OK.

Have fun.
:)

[jodieinchch]

Arthurs pass is fine for a campervan, you just have to be cautious as usual on the roads. Sounds like you'll have a fair few days on the road. Have fun! x

[janeb]

HI

Wow sounds great! We lived in the south island for a year and took a couple of weeks out and toured round a similare route, personally (oh god may get slated for this!!) its alot to see in 2 weeks and not feel shattered at the end of it.....I wouldnt bother stopping in greymouth, westpoint we spent about 1 hour there and that was enough for us, the glaciers are amazing and there are a couple of good campsites at both Fox and Franz. Wanaka is just stunning, we adored it, great camping at the side of the lake or river, not much to do but so tranquil a great place to chill out and take in the views, queenstown in comparison seems busy but is great, it has very commercial sites in the centre or a nice one by the lake just outside which is better. Dunedin is def worth a visit, kaikora is good for the sealife and seafood!

Have a great trip, if you get time (maybe on another holiday!) go to Hamner Springs and have a dip in the thermal pools, great especially in winter when snow is on the mountains.

Cheers :cheers
Jane

[pinkpiggy]

.....I wouldnt bother stopping in greymouth,

I agree - we only stopped in Greymouth because OH knocked a hole in the campervan roof which had to be repaired. :uhoh Nothing there (as far as we could see). Much better to have a stop in Hokitika for a couple of hours. Go and see the glass blowing which is amazing. There is a also a beach in Hokitika which was quite nice.

Just be careful of the speed cameras around this area - we didn't notice any but were not only stopped for speeding (in the campervan) by a traffic copy but also caught on camera - double whammy :mad:

[Moorf]

Yep, Greymouth isn't worth stopping at, as well as Hokitika there's also Punakaiki (Pancake Rocks) north of Greymouth on the way to Westport. Oh, and don't forget Shantytown just south of Greymouth :nice1 . The route you described doesn't take in Arthurs Pass and to be honest, the drive is lovely but by that point you'll be mountained-out and as it's out of your way I'd stick to your route up the West Coast. Arthurs Pass is really just a collection of bad cafe's halfway through the Alps - a good starting point for walks and to see the Kea's and a welcome break if crossing from coast to coast - but really not worth going out of your way for... at least in my opinion but maybe I've been there too many times!!

I think your timetable for 12 days is ambitious, you're left with not even a day to spend in some places. Better to scale it down (i.e. Picton/Kaikoura/Christchurch/Dunedin/Queenstown/Tekapo/Hanmer/Picton) and then do the West Coast / Milford / Te Anau another time. Just a suggestion having done some of the distances myself. The driving distances may not seem long, but the roads aren't always straight and level, as you head into the mountains your drive times will increase a lot. Oh, and the stopping for photographs round every bend :D .

Hope you have a fab trip, whatever you decide. We're heading a bit further south in a few weeks too :nice1

Moorf

[veronica]

wouldn't say that its not possible to do this in the time you have set aside but feel that you will be just ticking places off of a list and at the end of it feel totally exhausted.

If its meant to be a holiday then give yourselves time to stop and smell the flowers and listen to the birds.

for what its worth I would knock some of the places of the list and spend more time at fewer places.

[Smiler]

I'm with Moorf and Veronica, I'd do a smaller trip in that time.

Earlier this year we did Wellington - Kaikoura - CC - Across Arthurs Pass and then back up the west coast round to Picton and home.

You might like to do a little detour round CC and go to Akaroa, Diamond Harbour and Governors Bay which was a great drive. Greytown and Nelson were shut :roll as we trundled through, but we stayed overnight at Pancake Rocks which was a fabulous place.

Drove up to Picton thru Buller Gorge and across the wine country. TBH we were too rushed. We had to skip the whales at Kaikoura because of bad weather and I wish we'd allowed ourselves another day there. Although there is little else to do other than whales.

Like Moorf says, miss out AP, you can get mountained out quickly.

We'll do it again (because we can) but we'll stop to smell the roses too. :nice1

[Richard_from_Long Beach]

The problem with the South Island is that you don't want to miss any of it! If you don't think you'll ever get back, then do the whirlwind tour. Otherwise, break it in half (or in thirds). If you're running out of time, you can skip the overnights in Greymouth and Westport. Do NOT skip Wanaka--the most chill place on earth!

[BaldyBeardyBloke]

Yeah, we liked Wanaka, cool town.

Crashed the campervan into a shop in Greymouth (and it was hosing it down with rain - great news with a big hole in the top of your house !) so, funnily enough, it doesn't hold quite the same fond memories.

[toby/lisa]

Thank you to everyone that replied, very useful information. I think you are right, we did want to see everything and had not created a very realistic timescale (tend to forget NZ has mountains and not large hills....). We have scaled it down so we can enjoy a good pace and views. If we really do intent to emigrate then we would have nothing left to see would we.

Getting excited coming over, will be in Nelson on Friday morning taking in the atmosphere.

Thanks again.

Toby and Lisa

[Diny]

I have to echo what everybody else says about Greymouth .... think along the lines of Rhyl ... do you really want to go there?

In January we took my folks on a whistle stop tour of the SI. We did Picton - Kaikoura - ChCh - Hawea - Wanaka - Queenstown - Franz Josef - Reefton (another place to totally miss off the list) - Picton. We did it in 10 days staying in motels and with mates.

A few years ago we spent 3 months touring the SI, camping and hostels. Having that much time up our sleeves meant we were able to really explore, there's not much of the SI we haven't covered but we tended to go to the 'off the beaten track' places more than the 'touristy' places. I think on both occasions we just adapted to whatever timescale was available. No matter what you do you'll have a great time.

Diny