Give them roots and wings

Downloaded from Lonely Planet.
We printed this for each one of the children.
So they would know where we were going.

My family and I went to New Zealand for the holiday of our lifetime in December 2012. I posted some photos under “This is my Father’s world”.

Here are the details, for those of you who enjoy details, or who are planning a trip to South Island, New Zealand.

This blogpost gives an overview. Further details on the places we visited are given through the links. I will also separately write a blog post on the Campervan travel (+ Holiday Parks).

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We went to South Island, New Zealand from 4 – 18 Dec 2012.  We spent 10 nights in the Campervan and 3 nights in a motel in Christchurch.

We spent a total of about $17,000 including Airfare, Campervan/car rental, Campsite/Motel costs, Food, Activity/Attraction costs:-

Airfare by Singapore Airlines for 3A, 2 C – $6700 (We booked in April 2012)
Campervan for 5 persons (Britz) rental – $3130 (We booked in Aug 2012)
Car rental (through Britz too) – $165
Holiday Camps (10 Campsites, for 2A 3C) – $510
Motel (Amross Court Motor Lodge, 3 nights for 2A, 3C) – $660
Attractions/Activities – $1900
Food & Grocery – $1200
Petrol – $725
Others (Fines, Souvenirs) – $460

A summary of our final itinerary is as follows:-

(It deviated slightly from our original plan.  Further details are in separate posts through the links below.)

Day 1 (Christchurch)
– International Antarctic Centre, Christchurch (near to the Airport.  Walking distance from Britz office).
– Pick up Campervan
– Camp at Woodend Beach Holiday Park (30 minutes north from Christchurch)

Day 2 (Kaikoura)
– Drive to Kaikoura (170km, 3 hours).  Missed the Horse Trekking at Fyffe View Adventure Park.
– Seal Colony
– Point Sheep Shearing Show
– Light Meal at Kaikoura Seafood BBQ Kiosk
– Ohau Waterfalls (Too late to see any seal pups)
– Camp at Kaikoura Coastal Campground

Day 3 (Greymouth)
– Drive to Punakaiki Rocks at Greymouth (337km, 8 hours, including lunch)
– Glowworm Dell at Hokitika
– Camp at Lake Mahinapua Coastal Camping Ground (DOC)

Day 4 (Franz Josef)
– Drive to Franz Josef (134km, 2 hours)
– Helicopter flight
– Walk to the Glacier Wall
– Dinner at Lake Matheson Cafe
– Camp at Fox Glacier Top 10 Holiday Park and Motel

Day 5 (Wanaka, Queenstown)
– Drive to Wanaka (262km, 4 hrs)
– Puzzling World
– City Impact Church service, Queenstown
– Camp at Moke Lake Campsite (DOC)

Day 6 (Wanaka, Queenstown)
– Horse Trekking at Moke Lake
– Arrowtown
– Toy and Transport Museum, Wanaka
– Camp at The Chalets, Holiday Park Cromwell

Day 7  (Dunedin)
– Drive to Dunedin (293km, 4.5 hrs)
– Taieri Gorge Railway trip to Pukerangi
– Camp at Dunedin Holiday Park

Day 8 (Dunedin)
– Otago Museum
– Cadbury World
– Balwin Street
– Signal Hill Lookout
– Camp at Dunedin Holiday Park

Day 9  (Otago Peninsula, Lake Tekapo)

– Drive to Otago Peninsula – Albatross Colony (30km, 1 hour’s drive)
– Drive to Lake Tekapo (291km, we took the whole afternoon)
– Do the “Vanishing Trails” enroute, between Dunedin and Oamaru. See the Moeraki Boulders, Whale Fossil, and Elephant Rocks
– Camp at Lake Tekapo Holiday Park

Day 10 (Lake Tekapo, Mt Cook)
– Drive to Church of the Good Shepherd, Lake Tekapo (nearby)
– Drive to Mt John
– Drive to Sir Edmund Hilary Alpine Centre, Mt Cook (105km, we took 3 hours, including lunch and snack breaks)
– Walk to Kea Point at Mt Cook
– Camp at Glentanner Park Centre, Mt Cook

Day 11 (Christchurch)
– Drive to Christchurch (330km, we took more than 4.5 hours, including lunch)
– Check-in to Amross Court Motor Lodge
– Return the Campervan
– Pick up the car
– Watch “The Hobbit” at Hoyts, Riccarton, Christchurch

Day 12 (Christchurch)
– Airforce Museum
– Farmer’s Market (lunch)
– Cantebury Museum
– Majestic Church service

Day 13 (Akaroa, Christchurch)
– Drive to Akaroa (80 km, 1.5 hours’ drive)
– Dolphin Cruise
– The Giant’s House

Day 14 
– Home Sweet Home!

To me, the itinerary was near perfect for the time that we had. We saw and did everything which we wanted to. We planned it so such that the route we took would be efficient. We had to compromise that a bit at Wanaka/Queenstown because we wanted to go to a church service on Sunday.

The only thing I would have done differently was that I would have camped over at Mt Cook first, then at Lake Tekapo. We did not know that Lake Tekapo was between Mt Cook and Christchurch. That would have saved us a bit of driving.