In November 2019 I decided to have a relaxing 16 days trip in New Zealand South Island. I am glad I did this trip before the Covid-19 Pandemic began.

I did a lot of research and preparation to finalize finer details of the trip.

Below is the map that I came up with after extensive research and planning. It was around 3000KM drive covered in 16 days.

List of Places Visited

Auckland Airport
Christchurch
Akaroa
Lake Tekapo
Twizel
Mount Cook
Queenstown
Glenorchy
Te Anau
Milford Sound
Wanaka
Fox Glacier
Franz Josef
Hokitika

Auckland Airport

We arrived at Auckland from Perth in Air Newzealand direct flight. Flight was round 6 and half hours.

We had around 3 hour layover at Auckland Airport before catching our next flight to Christchurch. We had to collect our luggage, declare anything if required at custom and then take all these to local terminal. It took a while to wait for baby Pram at over sized baggage counter. We then took all the luggage to local terminal and checked in again. It was bit difficult to find over sized baggage counter at local terminal and long queue for check in. Ultimately 3 hours was almost the least amount of time you might required for transit. Plan this in your journey if you have similar travel stops.

Christchurch

Next destination from Auckland was to Christchurch. You can fly in to south island both Via Christchurch or Queenstown. Christchurch is very underrated but I highly recommend flying in from Christchurch. 1st day of long flight is usually gone in Jet Lag so you may relax in Christchurch with out going for long trip.

Also note following reasons:

Variety of food options in Christchurch
Accommodation is cheapest here
Lower airfare from Australian cities
Grocery is Cheaper. Stock all your snacks and stuff here
Fuel is fraction of price compared with anywhere else so full your tank
A better car for lower rent available in Christchurch even after airport surcharges
Town of Akaroa is just an hour drive from Christchurch and its de-tour so do visit it in your first or second day as a relaxing trip with short drive.

Arrival

Below is a video of plane landing in Christchurch that I recorded. It was very beautiful and scenic landing.

Here Is a photo at Christchurch airport.

Car Rental

I rented a RAV 4 from Christchurch as it is was self drive tour. Bigger car is required as we had to carry all our luggage including infants stuff. It also had enough room to occupy child seat and still carry some stuff on back seat. Based on your preference you might consider station wagon or Camper van.

Remember for camper van most of the suburb and sites have limited parking so carefully consider what you want.

Hotel Stay

You can use several different services for booking your hotels. I personally used hotels.com which has coupons for discount. There are several lodges and hotels. We stayed at Colonial Inn Motel for 2 nights.

Things to Do

Although Christchurch is mainly for relaxing and recovering from Jet lag. There are still countless activities that you can choose from. Some ideas as follows:

Gondola Ride
Tram ride
Lord of the ring tours
Botanic Gardens (pics below)

Again save your energy sleep tight and get ready for 3000 Km journey that s out of this world. Better relax in Christchurch.

Food

Christchurch has really a lot to offer in terms of Food. I highly recommend below places:

Afghan Restaurant (Simply awsome food, pic below )
Prince Of Persia Restaurant
Taste of Egypt

We also used uber eats to get delivery at hotel you might find list of nearby restaurant in application.

Departure

From Christchurch be prepared and begin spectacular jaw dropping road trip. There are many malls in Christchurch. Visit your nearest one to get all the groceries and Snacks. It is best to stock up snacks for whole trip since everything will get much more costly in remote areas. Also full your tank in Christchurch this is last time you will see fuel this cheap :D

Some photos when we start our journey out of Christchurch towards Lake Tekapo. Beautiful sight of mount hut partially covered with clouds is stunning.