2 Week vacation to South Island - late July/Early August

[yorky500]

Morning/Evening,

Mrs and I are looking at coming over to New Zealand, South Island for 2 weeks in late July/early August.

Week one will be doing the sightseeing bits, so setting off from Christchurch in a rental. I am looking for suggestions for things to see, roads to take, places to stay etc as we will eventually head towards Queenstown (see week 2).

Week two will be spent snowboarding at the ski resorts: The Remarkables/Mt. Hutt/Coronet Peak (not sure which ones yet). So I am looking for suggestions as to where to stay that will give me easy access to all of them (as options). No issues with staying a few nights in a location that will allow us to get to the resorts quicker than staying in 1 location (or are they not that far apart - difficult to see on maps).

We may look at exploring the areas around Queenstown anyways for a day or so in lieu of snowboarding.

So, any suggestions/recommendations for hotels, ski resorts in and around Queenstown are or sites to go and see?

Appreciate that it is winter and some areas may be hard to get to.

Final question: how long (time) is the drive, in winter, from Queenstown to Christchurch?

Cheers ahead for all the replies/suggestions.

PS: as for hotels would consider B&B's/Lodges etc

[CR6ZZ]

Hmm, so much to see, so little time. There are a number of loops you could do from Christchurch, but if you want to see as much as possible, I'd suggest heading north along the coast to Blenheim, Nelson, then down the West Coast to Greymouth and Hokitika and on to Haast. Then cross to Wanaka and up to Mt Cook, Timaru, Dunedin, Te Anau and in to Milford Sound. Then hit Queenstown for your boarding etc. Some will argue that is too much driving for a week - if that is the case, slow it down a bit and miss out the Mt Cook/Dunedin leg. You can do Milford Sound from Queenstown. Even though it will be winter most roads will be open unless we get a really heavy dump of snow. There are heaps of hotels, B&Bs, motels to choose from, so shop around. Only place where accommodation will likely be tight is Queenstown, which tends to get reasonably well booked up for the winter months. Remarkables and Coronet Peak ski areas are an easy and quite short drive from Queenstown and even Cardrona is not that far away - lots of people head up there and back each day. Hope this helps.

[yorky500]

Thanks for the info.

Appreciate that we have left too little time to "sight-see" with wanting to go boarding for a week. This however may change slightly depending on whether the Mrs' sister and her husband join us from Aus. Given the amount of luggage we could be moving around as a result, a Previa will be the rental of choice - groan!

[CR6ZZ]

Forgot to add that you will very likely need to carry chains (and maybe fit them) to drive up the skifield roads. If you don't want to bother with them, there are plenty of shuttle services that take skiers up and back to all the fields every day.

[Fulvisti]

I'd give yourself 5-5.5 hrs to drive from CHC to Queenstown, that's allowing for a couple of stops for coffee, a look around and a leg stretch. It's quite nice to do the side trip through to Mt Cook if it's a nice day too. Depending how the weather's been you may even need chains to get over the Lindus pass. Coronet Peak is good skiing/boarding if there's enough snow, Treble Cone is steeper and more advanced, and Cardrona is good if there's not much snow as there aren't many rocks, it's mostly tussock so won't wreck your skis/board. The Remarkables need at least a metre, and is a good field if you just want to take it easy.

The West Coast is worth seeing for the views, it's a nice drive from Westport to Hokitika. The drive through the Buller gorge and Lewis pass are really nice, but so is the drive from Hokitika to CHC, so you'll have to choose. They say that Te Anau and Milford are spectacular, I must get down there one day, and don't forget sandfly repellant, maybe not too bad in winter. Wanaka's great, a smaller more relaxed version of Queenstown. About an hours drive over the crown range, again you may need chains.

It all depands on what you're after, Dunedin's a nice spot to visit, some nice bars and cafes, interesting architecture, good weekend market at the train station.

Looking forward to seeing some photos!

Get lots of opinions and then choose what sounds best.

[yorky500]

Cheers for all the replies, much appreciated.

The 5.5 hr drive back to Christchurch means an early start as our flight would be at 15:30, so would need to be back at the airport by 13:00 to drop car off and then check-in.

Looks like there will be 4 of us, so Toyota Previa might be on order.

[GravelBen]

For 4 people + gear you could probably get a Legacy wagon instead of a Previa, plenty of luggage space and 4wd handy up and down the skifields.

[yorky500]

GravelBen said:

For 4 people + gear you could probably get a Legacy wagon instead of a Previa, plenty of luggage space and 4wd handy up and down the skifields.

That thought has crossed my mind, however, we will have board bags full of stuff with us which can be fairly long plus suitcases & hand luggage (the Mrs and her sister do not travel lightly!).

I am just thinking of comfort for x4 pax on a road trip

[Bapple]

It is a fantastic road from Geraldine south, wasted on a van really, but be warned, the police are everywhere on the route especially in Otago and in the towns.

When you are there everything around Queenstown is great, make sure you do the luge which is great even though they have got rid of the bits that might be termed "dangerous".

[yorky500]

Bapple said:

It is a fantastic road from Geraldine south, wasted on a van really, but be warned, the police are everywhere on the route especially in Otago and in the towns.

When you are there everything around Queenstown is great, make sure you do the luge which is great even though they have got rid of the bits that might be termed "dangerous".

If I may ask, what are the speed limits on State Highways, roads etc and what is the max allowable limit over the stated speed limits?

[Bapple]

yorky500 said:

If I may ask, what are the speed limits on State Highways, roads etc and what is the max allowable limit over the stated speed limits?

Open road is usually 100kmh, you are pretty safe up to 105kmh in most instances, 110 and over throws you at the mercy of the officer although traffic will often move at this speed. You have to watch for roadworks (30 or 50kmh) and towns (50-80kmh). Part of the challenge is that most of the State Highway, especially in the South Island is single lane each way and passes through these towns so you must slow down. Passing can be tricky outside of two lane "passing lanes" as you have to cross into the opposite lane but these are quite common. Annoyingly though traffic tends to speed up on these though!

[yorky500]

Bapple said:

yorky500 said:

If I may ask, what are the speed limits on State Highways, roads etc and what is the max allowable limit over the stated speed limits?

Open road is usually 100kmh, you are pretty safe up to 105kmh in most instances, 110 and over throws you at the mercy of the officer although traffic will often move at this speed. You have to watch for roadworks (30 or 50kmh) and towns (50-80kmh). Part of the challenge is that most of the State Highway, especially in the South Island is single lane each way and passes through these towns so you must slow down. Passing can be tricky outside of two lane "passing lanes" as you have to cross into the opposite lane but these are quite common. Annoyingly though traffic tends to speed up on these though!

Thanks for the info, good to know. We are used to a 20km/h over the stated speed limit (on most roads)!