Our 10 Day New Zealand South Island Road Trip

Our itinerary: From Christchurch to Mount Cook Village, Queenstown, Wanaka, and Akaroa

A New Zealand road trip was on my bucket list for a while and as I’m writing this in July 2020, I can’t believe how unbelievably LUCKY I was to have spent the entire month of February traveling in Australia and New Zealand before COVID-19 rocked the United States (and the rest of the world…).

Since I don’t know when we’ll be in the clear to travel safely again, I thought writing this post would be a good way to reminisce and relive part of that trip. I also wanted to share my experience with any readers who are considering a trip to New Zealand in the (hopefully) near future!

New Zealand weather in February

New Zealand in February is the end of summer, which meant temperatures were generally a very comfortable 75 degrees F (23 degrees C). We definitely had to layer up on hikes, but in the towns and cities we wore t-shirts and jeans most of the time.

Why the South Island?

We spent a LOT of time debating between spending more of our time on the South Island or the North Island, and while they both have their merits, we thought the landscape of the South Island was more suited to our preferences. The North Island’s landscape is a bit more rocky and volcanic, while the South Island has more mountains, lakes, and glaciers. We did spend a couple days on the North Island (to see Hobbiton, obvi) though.

Renting a car

We ended up picking up and returning the rental car in Christchurch versus picking it up in one city and returning it in another because when we priced out the latter option, the rental fee doubled (not to mention flight prices increase when you buy two one-way trips from different cities).

A really popular mode of transportation in New Zealand for tourists is the campervan, and while that was originally what we wanted to do, it was a little too logistically complicated (meaning: potentially stressful finding an available plot of land to camp each night, a hassle to check in our tent and all of our camping gear for the flight, etc.) considering how little time we had.

A quick note on driving on the left side of the road: they do that in New Zealand! Driving on the left side of the road was the thing I was MOST nervous about in the days, weeks, months leading up to my trip, but it was a really quick adjustment, and I got used to it within a matter of minutes. You do end up turning the windshield wipers on instead of the blinkers sometimes!

Day 1: Fly into Christchurch

For no other reason than the flights were cheapest from our origin city to Christchurch than to any other city on the South Island, we started our road trip there. The history of Christchurch is an interesting one, and to be honest, one that I did not know much about prior to arriving. The city was hit by a major earthquake in 2011 that resulted in a lot of personal, economic, and physical devastation. You can still see parts of the city being rebuilt today.

Regardless, it’s still a nice city with a beautiful (and free) botanic garden and nice downtown area.

Day 2: Drive from Christchurch to Lake Tekapo, Lake Pukaki, and Mt. Cook

Google Maps Route: Christchurch to Mt. Cook (4 hours)
Lodging: Aoraki Court Motel at Mt. Cook Village

We left Christchurch in the early morning since we wanted to make a couple stops at Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki on our way to our hotel at Mt. Cook.

Lake Tekapo & the lupine fields (...that we missed out on!)

If you’ve seen any photos of New Zealand’s South Island, a popular view is The Church of the Good Shepherd at Lake Tekapo. The church is an old stone one and, in the photos, it’s surrounded by a sea of beautiful purple flowers. Those flowers are called lupines and unfortunately for us it was a little too late in the season to see them in bloom since we went in mid-February. They’re often seen across the South Island in November, December, and January. If and when we visit NZ again, we’ll make sure to plan around lupine season!

We didn’t spend too much time at Lake Tekapo because it was extremely windy. I think that’s actually pretty normal for the area according to some reviews on Trip Advisor here and here. Also, see photo lol.

Lake Pukaki

Lake Pukaki is just a short drive from Lake Tekapo. The lake has a small visitor center with a little salmon shop and some picnic tables. It’s a nice spot to grab some sashimi and enjoy the view of the lake and Mt. Cook. The color of the water at Lake Pukaki is unreal — the creamiest shade of turquoise I have ever seen! Again, the wind at this lake can be intense. We never saw a single boat, canoe, or kayak on either of these lakes and it’s because the wind can start up from seemingly nowhere and make the waters extremely treacherous.

On our way up to Aoraki Court Motel at Mt. Cook, it started to downpour. Any plans to hike and explore the area went down the drain (ha) that afternoon.

Note: We were planning on having a couple beers in our hotel room to wait out the rain but Mt. Cook Village is a tiny little “village” with no stores (just hotels and motels). The closest grocery store or liquor store was, I believe, an hour away past Lake Pukaki. Come prepared and bring your own booze! Not to worry if you don’t though. Our motel (and I’m sure the others do as well) had a happy hour that we took major advantage of.

Day 3: Hooker Valley Track Hike & Drive to Queenstown

Google Maps Route: Mt. Cook Village / Hooker Valley Track to Queenstown (3.5 hours)

By the next morning, the rain had cleared and we were able to start the day with a nice hike on the Hooker Valley Track. This is an easy (read: flat), in-and-back hike that takes you to Hooker Lake. The total hike took us about 3 hours, including some time to hang out at the lake. There are quite a few people out on the trail so head out early if you want to beat the crowds. We probably started sometime around 9-10 AM.

Days 4-7: Queenstown and surrounding area

Lodging: Oaks Club Resort

We hadn’t planned on spending so much time in Queenstown, but the roads to Te Anau and Milford Sound were closed due to landslides that had happened earlier in the year. Sadly, we had to cut that part out of our trip, but the extra time in one place was exactly what we needed.

Glenorchy & Paradise

A few highlights from the first day included our day trip to Glenorchy and Paradise, and this amazing little house and art garden that we randomly stopped at on the drive up. I think it cost $5 or $10 NZD to walk around the inside and outside of the property — which was SO worth it. The owner built everything himself over the course of 17 (I think?) years. The interior is filled with natural wood decor, stone floors and walls, and the most incredible details using nature as his inspiration. You can rent out the rooms on Airbnb (link here to one of listings).

Glenorchy is a quaint town with some restaurants and shops. We stopped there for a couple hours to grab lunch and walk around a bit before getting back in the car. Unlike Glenorchy, Paradise isn’t exactly a town, but a scenic area with tons of sheep, beautiful landscapes, and little to no people around! Driving through Paradise and stopping to get out and photograph some sheep was a nice, relaxing way to spend the afternoon.

As a huge Lord of the Rings fan, I scoped out some film spots (like Lothlorien and Isengard) on the way that we stopped at to geek out a bit.

Lake Alta Hike

For our second full day in Queenstown, we met up with some friends from Atlanta and hiked to Lake Alta, which is part of The Remarkables mountain range.

It was already a pretty tough/steep hike during some sections, so don’t ask me why we decided to go off-trail and start scaling the rocks and climb even higher up the mountain…

Probably not the best idea we had (landslides?) but we made it back alive.

When we got back, the rest of the afternoon was dedicated to some serious couch time and binge-watching episodes of The Bachelor in our hotel room. Speaking of which, we stayed at the Oaks Club Resort because we had originally booked a hostel but it smelled weird and had no windows so we checked out early and booked a sweet room at Oaks Club with a balcony and incredible view of the lake #YOLO.

Arrowtown

Just a 20 minute drive from Queenstown is a small, historic gold mining town called Arrowtown. We spent about half a day there exploring the town, walking around and learning about the Chinese settlement, and visiting another LOTR film spot.

Tiki Walking Trail & Skyline Gondola in Queenstown

We spent our last evening in Queenstown with our friends from Atlanta on another hike. This time, we stayed right in Queenstown and took the Tiki Walking Track up to the top of a mountain that overlooks the city. The Skyline Gondola will also take you up to the top of the mountain (for a fee), but opted to walk and catch the gondola on the way down. The Tiki Walking Track is a short but STEEP climb! There’s a restaurant, a gift shop, and a place to buy some beer and take in the view. We got up there in the evening, almost close to closing time, so we got a free ride (woot!) down the gondola since they were just trying to shuttle everyone down the mountain at that point.

Days 8-9: Wanaka

Google Maps Route: Drive from Queenstown to Wanaka (1 hour)

Wanaka is a beautiful, quiet town right on Lake Wanaka that felt like a nice way to close out four jam packed days in Queenstown. On the first full day in Wanaka, we did an early morning hike up to Roys Peak. This is one of the more popular hikes in New Zealand for that view up at the top, but the Isthmus Peak Track is actually the hike more people recommend for its views along the way. We debated between the two for a while since we only had time to do one of the hikes during our stay, but ultimately chose Roys Peak because it was closer (a 6 minute drive from the town center vs a 30 minute drive to Isthmus Peak Track) and we just couldn’t get that incredible view at the top out of our heads!

A quick stop at the Wanaka Lavender Farm

That said, the Roys Peak hike was steep, had a ton of switchbacks, and didn’t have much in the way of landscape diversity. You’re going straight up a mountain and it frequently feels like there’s no end. We started the hike around 7 AM to beat the crowds, and by then, there weren’t a ton of people on the trail. In the end, the view made it worth it!

Note: It’s pretty cold on top of the mountain. Wear layers and definitely pack a windproof jacket. We actually got rained on a bit along the way.

Day 10: Drive to Akaroa

Viewpoint from Onuku Farm Hostel hiking trail

Google Maps Route: Drive from Wanaka to Akaroa (6 hours)
Lodging: Onuku Farm Hostel

The last leg of our trip brought us to Akaroa, which is an hour outside Christchurch (where we had to return the rental car and catch our flight). I didn’t realize that Akaroa was that far from Christchurch when I had booked the Onuku Farm Hostel (probably should’ve looked that up first…) but to be honest, it looked so cool and was totally worth the extra drive (and early morning wake-up).

I wish we had stayed there longer because it was so peaceful and beautiful. There are several trails on the property that take you up to the top of a mountain where there were tons of sheep, no other people, and incredible views of the ocean.

The hostel also offers excursions where you get to swim alongside Hector’s dolphins, the smallest and rarest in the world. We didn’t have enough time since we had to catch our flight to Auckland the next day.

Can we go back already?!

We had such an incredible time on our trip and my only regret was that we couldn’t stay longer! I definitely plan on visiting New Zealand again, and when I do, I’ll be sure to catch lupine season, and hit up some of the spots we missed this time around like Milford and Doubtful Sounds and the glaciers on the west side of the South Island. Hope this was helpful to you if you’re planning a visit to New Zealand, and feel free to shoot me any questions!