Southern Connections Ltd
Unit 6 35 Riccarton Road
P.O. Box. 80139
Christchurch
South Island, New Zealand
Phone: (64) 3 379 9260
Fax: (64) 3 379 9425
Please note that this is simply a guideline to give you some help planning a tour of the South Island of New Zealand. You can shorten or lengthen the tours to suit your time frame, as well as, start or finish at points that suit your arrival and departure requirements.
1 - 6 or 7 day tour |
|
| Day 1 |
Arrive Christchurch do some city sightseeing |
| Day 2 |
Optional day tours from Christchurch
 |
| Day 3 |
Christchurch to Queenstown (7 hours driving)
|
| Day 4 |
A day to enjoy the Queenstown and Arrowtown areas
|
| Day 5 |
Queenstown to either Milford or Doubtful Sound (8 hours)
|
| Day 6 |
Fly from Queenstown to continue tour of the North Island or depart via Christchurch to finish the 6 Day Tour
|
| Day 7 |
Fox or Franz Joseph to Greymouth (4 hours)
|
9 Day Tour |
|
| Day 8 |
Greymouth to Nelson. (8 hours)
|
| Day 9 |
Visit Able Tasman National Park. (day tour)
|
10 12 Day Tour |
|
| Day 10 |
Nelson to Kaikoura. (4 hours)
|
| Day 11 |
Kaikoura to Christchurch. (3 hours)
|
| Day 12 |
Depart Christchurch. End Tour. |
For an extended tour add on the following:
Christchurch to Dunedin
- Via, Mt. Cook , Oamaru , Moeraki Boulders. Dunedin city sight seeing.
Dunedin to Te Anau
- Walking, nature wildlife and Southern Scenic route.
Dunedin to Catlins Coast and Invercargill (allow 2 x days)
- Explore Dunedin's Otago Peninsula, albatross and penguin colonies.
Te Anau to Queenstown
- Including Milford or Doubtful Sound
Invercargill to Stewart Island. (allow 2 x days)
Invercargill to Te Anau
- Continue journey Milford/Doubtful Sounds, and onwards journey to Queenstown traveling on the scenic southern route.
For a more relaxed tour add a extra night in any of the following areas:
- Mt.Cook
- Te Anau
- Wanaka
- Franz or Fox Glacier
- Hanmer Springs
- Dunedin
- Nelson
- Marlborough Sounds
Most people flying into and out of the South Island; or to and from the North Island arrive and depart from Christchurch or Queenstown airports and occasionally Nelson or Dunedin. All international flights into the South Island arrive and depart from Christchurch. Except during the ski season (July to September) when international flights from Australia arrive in and depart from Queenstown (check with your travel agent).
Should you be touring between the South and the North Island, you can cross by ferry from either Picton or Wellington. This is a very pleasant and scenic trip, which takes 3 hours by ferry or 1.5 hours on the fast ferry.
