Visiting New Zealand South Island?

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Robee

Hi
Great to hear you are coming down under...I had a service station on the South Island tourist route for 10 years and have traveled NZ extensively myself.

1) I think the stay over ferry would be a great option for you. If you do that it will be a comfortable trip to Queenstown the next day. Some tour buses do the return trip in one day and I have heard tourists say that they felt it was rushed. Your stay over ferry option sounds perfect.

2) Franz Josef to Christchurch can be done in one day - drive up to Hokitika and head inland from there through Arthur's Pass on to Christchurch.

The road is good, quite windy through parts of the pass though. The length of time it takes would be dependent on stops. Most of the road is good easy driving.

I have driven from Christchurch to Hokitika and back in a day when skiing was cancelled one day. The one way trip from Franz Josef is not too long for a one day drive.

It depends on the season you are traveling as to what scenery you will see. If you decide to take an extra day, there are some popular walks at Arthur's Pass.

How difficult you find the roads really depends on your driving experience and ability.

Gilsh

2: The quickest route from Franz Josef to Christchurch would be through Authurs Pass. It is very scenic with the west coast part of the trip has forests, but the canterbury part has flat land and hills. If you go in winter then you will almost be guaranteed snow

Driver T

You can easily get confused just by looking at a map and taking distances on the page, as time.
It will take you all day to get from Dunedin to Te Anau,
It will take 3 hours to drive from Te Anau to Milford.
I would advise strictly against driving this tortuous road, especially in winter when it can be closed by snow and avalanches.
There are many buses serve this route, and you get the advantage of an experienced driver and a full commentary on a bus that you won't get in your car.
Many overseas tourists come to grief trying to drive the Milford Road.
Google 'Fiordland Travel' or 'Destination Queenstown' or 'Real Journeys' to get full details.
Most coaches travelling the Milford Road, start the trip from Queenstown and return to there.
All go through Te Anau, there is no other way.
If you a staying overnight at Milford Sound, arrange with the cruise company for transport from Te Anau to Milford. Coaches for this service go through the road at a different time to all other road users.

The quickest way from Franz Josef to Christchurch is through Arthurs Pass, and yes. the road is tricky, but nowhere near as bad as the road to Milford. You should be able to do it in the same day, but you will have no time for sightseeing on the way.

Suggest if I may, you go from Christchurch, through the Mackenzie to Queenstown. Take the coach on the day trip to Milford (or if you are overnighting in Milford it will be a 2 day trip), then travel to Wanaka, Makarora, Haast, the Glaciers, Kumara, Arthur's Pass and back to Christchurch. This will take a minimum of 4 days.
Happy trails,
Driver Trev

Tania C

I live in Dunedin and I'm familiar with the trip from Dunedin to Te Anau and from Te Anau to Milford.

The quickest way to Te Anau is via Gore but you can follow the scenic route down through the Caitlins (turn off at Balclutha) and then go via Invercargill. It will take longer, but I recommend it if you've got the time - and bear in mind that the Caitlins route does have some narrow windy parts.

The road from between Milford and Te Anau is fine - this time of year, you should be OK - but it depends on when you are travelling - you'll get the most out of the trip if someone else does the drviving and you can concentrate on the scenery. There are some "bendy" bits - and a couple of narrow places, but I don't find it too bad - just don't get distracted by the scenery - plan to stop often :-) - that applies to your whole trip!!!

If you're travelling at this time of year, it is light fairly late into the evening, particularly in Southland - so you should have plenty of daylight to work with. The road from Te Anau to Queenstown is fine - but I'm pretty sure there's at least one one-lane bridge (you'll come across a few of them in the other parts of your trip, too) so make sure you know who should be giving way (they are sign posted and you'll have a red arrow if it's you who should give way - but don't assume anyone coming towards you knows the rules that well :-)). It also has some windy parts.

BTW: I've heard from my aunt (she lives in Te Anau) that Doubtful Sound is the best - but you won't be disappointed by Milford either.

I am not familiar with the road between Franz Josef and Christchurch - but, I have travelled from Christchurch to Greymouth - and again, that part of the trip is fine. All of the roads you are planning to travel on are tourist routes, and reasonably well maintained - but the nature of the countryside is such that there are narrow, windy parts to many of them. I'm sure you'll be fine, but there will be buses on all of them if you prefer.

I find wises.co.nz really useful - you can get maps, driving directions and times (that are usually not far off - but won't allow for any lengthy stops so factor those in) - enjoy your trip :-)

travel_stories

You could do the Franz Joseph to Arthers Pass in a day if the weather conditions are good. There are no guarantees in winter! They can have heavy snowfall. But there is so much to see and do on the West Coast you wouldn't have time to see it properly. It is one of the main highlights of the South Island! I would try and spend a day or two in the Te Anau- Milford Sound area so you can do the boat trip in daylight.If you have time do the Doubtful Sound trip to the power station it is really worthwhile.New Zealand roads are often narrow, windy and hilly, so you need to allow plenty of time.Ideally you would want 2 days for Milford Sound then travelling to Queenstown. It is a really lovely part of the country and yes, you don't want to rush so you don't have time to stop and see and do things along the way.On the West Coast after you have seen the glaciers, you would want to stop in Hokitika, go to Punakaiki( Pancake Rocks), the kotuku - NZ white herons are lovely if it is the season, and you would want to go back to Christchurch via Mt Cook if you haven't planned to see this area on your way down.

Have a look at http://www.holidays-in-newzealand.com/west-coast-new-zealand.html and also the www.holidays-in-newzealand.com/new-zeala... where there is an article specifically about a South island itinerary.

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