"New Zealand - South Island" Top 5 Page for this destination South Island by imstress

South Island Travel Guide: 5,969 reviews and 15,835 photos

My dream came true! New Zealand!!!

It has been a long time that I am eyeing to visit New Zealand.

I was told to visit as many part of Australia before visiting NZ.
Else I wont enjoy my OZ trip after I have seen NZ.
My childhood dream has been fulfilled!

After much encouragement from my dear friends, I am going to start building my South Island Page.

I dont really know where and how to start. For those who have viewed my 500+ pics on my external pages, u must be wondering how much pics we actucally took throughout our trip. Make a guess ;p

We brought along our X-drive along so we could transfer our hundreds of pics taken daily to our external drive which have a capacity of 30GB ;p It is a very useful gadget if you love taking pics. If you are as crazy as me taking lots of photos of all the beautiful sceneries, u really have to head down to Sim Lim to get it for around $300. Bets carrying all your memory cards around or burning them into CDs at a high price.

South Island Itinerary

Vt Meet with fishandchips + Angie

South Island 14 Days Self Drive

3-Dec Sat

1350 1530 Arrival at airport/Report Missing Baggage/Clear Immigration
1530 1545 fishandchips fetch us from the airport to Bealey Ave
1600 1630 Car Rental at Ascot
1700 Checkin at Bealey international Backpacker, Christchurch
1800 onwards VT meet with fishandchips + Angie at Dux de Lux

4-Dec Sun

730 1300 Christchurch to Greymouth via Arthur's Pass
1300 1430 Lunch, checkin, shop 4 dinner
1430 1530 Drive to Punakaiki
1530 1700 Sightseeing
1700 1900 Drive to Hokitika
1900 onwards Checkin Hokitika etc

5-Dec Mon

800 1100 Drive to Franz Josef
1100 1200 Lunch
1200 1430 Helicopter ride
1430 1800 Franz Josef Glacier Walk
1800 onwards Checkin Franz Josef etc
Glow Worm (BP Station)

6-Dec Tue

730 800 Drive to Fox Glacier
800 1000 Fox Glacier Walk/Matheson Lake
1000 1200 Drive to Haast
1200 1300 Lunch
1300 1700 Drive to Wanaka
1700 onwards Checkin at Wanaka etc

7-Dec Wed

800 1200 Puzzling World etc
1200 1300 Lunch
1300 1500 Drive to Arrowtown
1500 1700 Sightseeing at Arrowtown
1700 1800 Drive to Queenstown
1800 onwards Checkin at Queenstown etc

8-Dec - Thu

730 1030 Drive to Teanu
1030 1130 Lunch
1130 1400 Drive to Milford Sound
1400 1700 Milford Sound Red Boat Cruise @ 3pm
1700 1930 Drive to Teanu
1930 onwards Checkin at Teanu, Te Anau Lakefront Backpackers

9-Dec - Fri

730 1000 Drive to Queenstown
1000 1030 Checkin at Queenstown
1030 onwards Activities at Queenstown

10-Dec - Sat

730 onwards Activities at Queenstown
Checkin at Queenstown

11-Dec - Sun

730 1800 Drive to Lake Tekapo with stop at Twizel
1800 onwards Checkin at Lake Tekapo

12-Dec - Mon

730 1100 Drive to Christchurch
1100 1800 Activities at Christchurch
1800 onwards Checkin at Christchurch etc

13-Dec - Tue

730 900 Drive to Akaroa
900 1700 Activities at Akaroa
1700 1900 Drive Back To Christchurch
1900 onwards Checkin at Christchurch etc

14-Dec - Wed

730 1800 Activities at Christchurch
1800 onwards Checkin at Christchurch etc

15-Dec - Thu

730 1800 Activities at Christchurch
1800 onwards Checkin at Christchurch etc

16-Dec - Fri

400 500 Drive to Airport
500 650 Checkin
650 Flight back to SG

Travelling Time & Petrol Price

VT rozehill & imstress at Mc Cafe

Christchurch => Arthur's 5 hr 10 min 1.319 (petrol price)
Arthur's Pass => Hokitika 1 hr 30 min 1.37
Hokitika => Ross 0 hr 25 min
Ross => Franz Josef 1 hr 40 min
Franz Josef => Fox Glacier 0 hr 30 min
Fox Glacier => Hasst 2 hr 30 min 1.441
Hasst => Wanaka 3 hr 15 min
Wanaka => Arrowtown 1 hr 25 min 134.5
Arrowtown => Queenstown 0 hr 30 min
Queenstown => Frankton 0 hr 15 min
Frankton => Mossburn 1 hr 20 min 134.9
Mossburn => Te Anu 0 hr 40 min 139.0
Te Anu => Manapouri 0 hr 15 min 134.9
Manapouri => Te Anu 0 hr 15 min
Te Anu => Milford Sound 2 hr 05 min
Milford Sound => Te Anu 5 hr 40 min
Te Anu => Mossburn 2 hr 15 min
Mossburn => Frankton 1 hr 20 min
Frankton => Queenstown 0 hr 15 min
Queenstown => Kawaru 1 hr 00 min
Kawaru => Cornwell 0 hr 30 min
Cornwell => Omarama 1 hr 15 min 134.9
Omarama => Twizel 0 hr 45 min 140.9
Twizel => Pukaki 1 hr 10 min 134.9
Pukaki => Lake Tekapo 0 hr 40 min
Lake Tekapo => Fairlie 0 hr 30 min 138.9
Fairlie => Geraldine 0 hr 30 min
Geraldine => Mt Somers 0 hr 35 min 135.9
Mt Somers => Methven 0 hr 30 min
Methven => Rakaia Gorge 0 hr 20 min
Rakaia Gorge => Darfield 0 hr 30 min
Darfield => Christchurch 0 hr 35 min 131.9
Christchurch => Akaroa 2 hr 10 min
Akaroa => Lyttelton 4 hr 15 min
Lyttelton => Christchurch 0 hr 25 min

Last visit to South Island: Dec 2005
Intro Updated Aug 15, 2007
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Reviews (27)

Hokitika Things to Do (18)

Hokitika is a small town on the West Coast of the South Island. Its 40 kilometres south of Greymouth. It will be great... more travel advice

Haast Pass Things to Do (18)

To pass thru Haast Pass, you must bypass Haast. Haast is a very tiny little township that is located on the West Coast... more travel advice

Franz Josef Things to Do (18)

Franz Josef is 5 hrs from Queenstown, 5 hrs from Christchurch and 1 hr 30 mins from Hokitika. Walks from Franz... more travel advice

Fox Glacier Things to Do (18)

Fox Glacier and Franz Josef Glacier are just 30 mins drive apart. If you only have time for one glacier, I suggest that... more travel advice

Transportation (2)
See All Travelling Time and Petrol Price

Hotels (7)
See All Lake Tekapo - Tailor-Made-Tekapo...

Comments (18)

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kyoub Dec 15, 2007 at 7:10 AM

Super tips and photos. South Island is high on my must see list. Glad you enjoyed your stay.
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robertgaz Aug 16, 2007 at 8:32 PM

Superb South Island summary!
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kiwi Mar 22, 2006 at 1:05 PM

Some good accommodation info here, thanks.
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asianbelle Mar 20, 2006 at 11:41 PM

Great driving tips... complete with fuel prices...if only i could rate them..
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vic&michael Feb 6, 2006 at 7:42 PM

Hey Jen, I'm glad you had a great time in New Zealand! Nice photos! I was also there in December, it's a beautiful country isn't it?
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Scotlands_Glory Feb 1, 2006 at 1:44 AM

Nice place Jen - grettings from SCotland
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AlbuqRay Jan 23, 2006 at 7:00 PM

Jen, excellent hostel tips. Now I shall know where to stay when I go to New Zealand.
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aussiejen Jan 20, 2006 at 2:06 PM

I will have to remember these hostels if I ever get back to NZ.
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TheWanderingCamel Jan 18, 2006 at 6:51 PM

Looking forward to seeing more here Jen. We'ew off to NZ at Easter> Did you go to the movies in Wanaka? leyle
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sayedaburas Jan 13, 2006 at 6:17 AM

Hi... Have a pleasant weekend full of the best that you may expect. >:D<