19 days exploring New Zealand South Island
Itinerary:
Day 1: Picked up hire car at Christchurch airport and stayed close by as we flew in late.
Day 2: Drove to a winery just out of Geraldine for the night. They had animals and wide open spaces for the kids. The owners were amazing and the kids got to feed the calves their breakfast in the morning.
Day 2-6: We stopped at Lake Tekapo and the kids got to experience snow for the first time. We then drove through Lindis Pass and headed to Wanaka which we called home for 4 nights. Wanaka is a small town on the lake that you can walk everywhere and is great for kids. Lots of playground and parks, places to eat and just a relaxed town.
We did a day trip to Cardrona- A short drive from Wanaka. We skied for the day, Patty did ski school whilst Louis and Sebby were in the Kinder.
Snow farm- a more kid friendly experience if you want to play with snow and ride tubes down a hill this is the place for you.
Day 6-8: Queenstown
A beautiful tourist town where you can luge on top of a mountain, ride a gondola & wander around the town admiring the beautiful lake & mountain backdrop.
From there we picked up the winnebago-
Day 9: Drove through Cromwell and down to Oamaru on the coast. This is where we got to see the penguins come in from the ocean and were scattered around our caravan park. This was nice to see but did run pretty late and kids were tired.
Day 10: Farm stay- feeding the animals & donkey rides = kids paradise
Day 11-12: Hanmer Spring- hot springs. This was so relaxing, it’s like a tiny swiss village in the middle of NZ. A beautiful place to stop on the way to Picton.
Day 13: Kaikoura- The sea level has risen due to a major earthquake and you can now see the plate of the earth that have poked through.
Day 14-17: Picton - A cruise dropping off the mail around Marlborough Sounds, playgrounds, & all the Sav Blanc Wineries you’re used to seeing at Dan Murphys.
Day 18: We chose to do the massive drive to Christchurch so we could spend more time in Picton. We then stayed at the Top 10 Christchurch which was easy to get to the airport and drop off our RV before our morning flight
Day 19: Flight home.
How to pack for 5 people away for 19 days?
Easy!! We took 2 suitcases for the 5 of us. When packing think of what they can mix and match which will make your life so much easier. Then when loading the suitcases up I individualised each of our items into small bags which meant it always easy to find and you knew who had what because when moving around so much you don’t have a chance to unpack and everything will stay in the suit cases. This is especially helpful when in an RV and needing to know whats clean and whats dirty.
So if you’re looking for a great trip with the kids, fancy some of the most beautiful scenic driving you can do, have a look at the South Island of NZ… and there’s plenty of great playgrounds in every town!
