New Zealand South Island (Oct 12-28, 2026)

We had an Air New Zealand credit we needed to use that was left over from our cancelled Australia trip. We considered Fiji or the Cook Islands, but ultimately decided to take a road trip around New Zealand's South Island. I previously visited the North Island in March 2004. 

Here is our itinerary. Letters correspond to map locations.

• Oct 12-13: Fly to Christchurch
• Oct 14-15: Arrive in Christchurch (A) and take a day trip to Waipara Valley wineries 
• Oct 16: Lake Tekapo, Lake Pukaki, and Mount Cook to Twizel (B)
• Oct 17: Drive to Dunedin (C)
• Oct 18: Drive through Catlins to Waikawa (D)  
• Oct 19: Drive through Southland, to Te Anau (E) 
• Oct 20: Day trip to Milford Sound (F) 
• Oct 21: Queenstown, Arrowtown, and Wanaka (G)
• Oct 22-23: Drive to Franz Josef / Waiau (H) and sightsee in the area
• Oct 24-25: Drive to Westport (J) and take a day trip to Karamea/Oparara Basin (I)
• Oct 26-27: Drive via Buller Gorge to Hanmer Springs (K)  and sightsee in the area
• Oct 28: Drive to Christchurch (A) and then fly home

Oct 12-13: 

We had a late afternoon (4 pm) flight to Los Angeles and then a 3.5 hr layover. We left LA just after 9 pm. The late departure and our premium economy seats made it a little easier to get some sleep during our 12.5 hour flight to Auckland.

We landed at 6 am, then had 3 hours to get through immigration and customs before our 9 am flight to Christchurch.

Days 1-2: Christchurch

October 14, 2026 

Our flight landed in Christchurch around 10:30 am. I hoped for a view on the flight but all we saw were clouds. After retrieving our luggage, we caught an Uber to downtown and checked into the townhouse we reserved. 

Despite paying for an early check-in, the townhouse wasn't ready when we arrived (the cleaners didn't get the message we had an early check in). They let us drop our bags, then we walked around the downtown 

and shared a nice lunch of salmon pie and a dessert

before heading back to the townhouse for a hot nice nap.

We were able to coordinate the start of our trip with the end of the trip for one of the girls and her spouse. They met us for dinner, then stayed at the townhouse with us.

October 15: 

This morning we were picked up at the townhouse by a private driver for a guided Waipara Valley wine tour.

Our first stop was at Graystone Winery. By the end of the day, we agreed that this was our overall favorite.

From there, we went to Georges Road.

The scenery was beautiful 

And the lunch was delicious. I hoped to get to pet the resident dog, Pepper, but unfortunately it was Pepper's grooming day.

Our third stop was at The Bone Line.

The weather was turning bad, so we took a table inside. All the tanks helped Steve feel like we were at a brewery.

Our last stop was at Black Estate.

It started hailing while we were tasting these delicious wines.

We arrived back in Christchurch around 5 pm and went to Riverside Market for dinner.

It was cold and raining, so we Ubered back to the townhouse, and had an early night, since we were still a bit jet lagged and "the kids" had to be up early for their 6 am flight in the morning.

Day 3: Aoraki / Mount Cook Area

October 16: 

After saying goodbye to "the kids" at 3:30 am, we attempted to sleep until it was time to pick up rental car at 8:00 am.

The goal was to spend most of the day near Mount Cook.

It was raining for about the first hour of our drive out of Christchurch.

Because of that, we decided to skip the more scenic route and take the faster highway. About the time that we reached the turnoff toward Geraldine, the rain slowed to a drizzle and the clouds started to lift enough to see the Southern Alps in the distance.

We stopped at the bakery in Fairlie and tried a steak and cheese pie plus a raspberry donut.

The pie was delicious. The donut was meh.

Shortly past Fairlie, we saw bright yellow fields of canola/rapeseed.

We continue our drive to Lake Tekapo where we had to add warmer clothing

and took pictures of the Church of the Good Shepherd

We were too early in the season to see the blankets of lupines, but we did see a few isolated ones.

Parts of Lake Tekapo were incredibly blue!

We then drove to Lake Pukaki and stopped at several viewpoints. The water was icy cold!

We then drove along the southern edge on our way to Mount Cook Village.

We made several stops along the way.

We drove the Hooker Valley Road with the plan to walk Kea Point Track, but it was very crowded and there was no parking spots, so we drove the less crowded Tasman Valley Road.

We walked up a lot of steps on the trail 

to get to the Blue Lakes 

and the Tasmin River Viewpoint.

We also saw a couple of Paradise Shelducks near the parking lot.

From there, we drove to Twizel for dinner and to spend the night.

Day 4: Drive to Dunedin

October 17: 

This morning when we left Twizel, it was only about 40F outside, so we bundled up. 

Our first stop was at the Clay Cliffs near Omarama.

We spent about 45 minutes walking the trails in this area.

We then headed to see Elephant Rocks just past Duntroon.

We also stopped at Valley of the Whales, but decided to keep driving. 

Our next stop was in Oamaru. We saw the outside of Steampunk HQ

Then walked through Harbourside Gardens

and the nearby areas. 

We walked through the Victorian Precinct and got steak pies and a pastry from a bakery for lunch.

We then continued south to the Moeraki Boulders.

From there, we went to see the Katiki Point lighthouse.

We were lucky enough to see a couple of fur seals at Shag Point Lookout. 

Once we arrived in Dunedin, we checked into our motel and then walked to Speights Brewery Alehouse for dinner.   

Steve's lamb was good but my venison was phenomenal.

Day 5: The Catlins

October 18:

Our plan for today was to spend time in the Catlins.

Our first stop after leaving Dunedin was in Balclutha, where we got out of the car to stretch and walk around by the river.

From there, we drove to Kaka Point to look for sea lions at the beach (we didn't see any), although we later saw one on the beach as we drove to Nugget Point.

Once we reached Nugget Point, we walked the trail to Nugget Point Lighthouse

Our next stop was to walk through temperate rainforest on the path to Barrs Falls.

We saw twin falls here.

From there, we backtracked a bit and had lunch in Owaka.

We then drove to Purakaunui Falls.

Because time (and our energy) was limited, we skipped a few planned walks and waterfalls and went to see McLean Falls.

There was a series of rapids and smaller falls along the trail

before reaching the main falls.

We saw plenty of sheep and lots of cute lambs along the drive.

After checking into our motel in Waikawa, we drove to Curio Bay. We planned to walk along the beach to see the petrified logs, but it was cold, windy, and the waves were really strong and spraying.

So we got fish and chips from a local food truck then ate at our motel.

View of Waikawa Harbor from our balcony.