We usually book in advance. I have no experience renting the car from the airport directly.

Milford Sound, Franz Josef Glacier, Mount Cook, Queenstown are the most amazing places to visit in south island. You can also visit the random site scenes nearby the south island. And in case of rent a car you need not international driving license to drive a car. All you need is simple driving license.

Do we need a english translation for our local driving license in NZ???

Best if you could get one. Very cheap to get it in Malaysia.
But it's not necessary.

I'll be going to South Island this Sept..I'll travel around by bus and stay in BBH hostels. Small budget to have to take bus.

Anybody travel using InterCity bus?

Hi, im going to NZ this month from 19th to 29th Sept.
Please give comments if below is doable, with self drive included
Day 1 (19th) - Reached noon, stay at Auckland.
Day 2 (20th) - Fly to Christchurch
Day 3 (21st) - Mt Cook
Day 4 (22nd) - Arrowtown/Queenstown?
Day 5 (23rd) - Queenstown
Day 6 (24th) - Milford sound, bus back to Queenstown
Day 7 (25th) - Glenorchy?
Day 8 (26th) -Lake Wanaka?
Day 9 (27th) - Lake Tekapo/Hokitika Gorge? back to Christchurch
Day10 (28th) - Fly back to Auckland
Day11 (29th) - Fly back to KL

Possible?

Please give some input/tips/suggestion on how to improve my itineraries.

just asking for fun. if want to change date of ticket, how much is the saman?

This post has been edited by ChaNzy: Sep 3 2013, 04:37 AM

I would advised as below:

Day 1 (19th) - Reached noon, stay at Auckland.
Day 2 (20th) - Fly to Christchurch, rent a car
Day 3 (21st) - Christchurch to Lake Tekapo, stay at Lake Tekapo
Day 4 (22nd) - Drive from Lake Tekapo to M/Cook, Stay at Queentown for next 2-3 nite,
Day 5 (23rd) - Queenstown surrounding, can visit Arrowtown, is 1 hour journey away
Day 6 (24th) -Days trip to Glenochy
Day 7 (25th) -Days trip to Milford sound, why take bus?, can drive if have 2-3 people. Can stay at Te Anu
Day 8 (26th) -Queentown-Lake Wanaka doable, but need drive long hours
Day 9 (27th) - Hokitika Gorge? back to Christchurch
Day10 (28th) - Fly back to Auckland
Day11 (29th) - Fly back to KL

Tip,
QT is the best for scenery, is possible stay longer, Glenochy is a must visit place.
Must try Fergburger, it then big and value for money. Can visit wine yard on the way to Arrowtown.
If on budget, can log in coupon NZ.com, to buy their offer coupon in advance.
If rent a car at CHC airport, please book advance(cheaper compare to walk in) and request
pickup at airport, it far away and cool.

This post has been edited by youngman28: Sep 3 2013, 11:41 AM

Need some advise on my itinerary in December, if you guys dont mind..

Day 1 (3rd) - Arrive CHC at 5am, Pickup car rental and start driving to Franz Glacier
Day 2 (4th) - Stay @ Franz Glacier
Day 3 (5th) - Drive to Lake Wanaka (overnight)
Day 4 (6th) - Drive to Te Anau (overnight)
Day 5 (7th) - Milford Sound (overnight @ Te Anau)
Day 6 (8th) - Drive to Queenstown (overnight)
Day 7 (9th) - Stay @ Queenstown
Day 8 (10th) - Drive to Mt Cook (overnight)
Day 9 (11th) - Drive to CHC (flight @ 845pm)

Will it be too 'tight' ??

Thanks youngman. Previously thought of doing both NI and SI, but after some research, i thk it is suicide mission haha.

- Is all above doable within RM14k for 4 adult excluded return ticket for MAS?
- I planning to do self-drive but not sure if i should pick a self-drive tour from NZ travel agency or do a self-drive myself. What is your guys recommendation?
- Have i cover most of the "must visit" in SI? No hiking as i travel with my mom.

Don’t underestimate the drive from CHC to Franz Glacier even though it is Summer. Stock some Red Bulls for the driver(s). The drive to Te Anau and Milford Sound is challenging.

You only have 7 full days to tour South Island. That’s pretty tight.

Thanks for your comment, i cant decide whether to overnight at Greymouth on the 1st day before heading to Franz Glacier..
As i read that its not worth wasting time in Greymouth...best to continue driving to Franz Glacier and wake up in the morning for the Franz glacier walk..

Te Anau to Milford should be 2-3hours drive.. then we will be taking cruise .. from Milford sound.. after the cruise, will drive back to Te Anau (overnight) before heading to Queenstown the next day

Lake Tekapo is beautiful. Hokitika is on the west cost, don't think you can get from Wanaka to Hokitika and back to Christchurch in a day. You mean Rakaia Gorge is it? I would suggest better to spend a day at Lake Tekapo and just pass by Rakaia Gorge and some other mountains and lakes nearby on the way back to Christchurch, some LOTR filming sites there I think.

During my recent trip to SI, we spend almost 3/4 of a day in Arrowtown just walking around and visiting the museum. The hot pies at their bakery here is pretty
awesome.

Which route are you taking for CHC to Franz Josef? You won't exactly pass by Greymouth if you take Arthur's Pass route. The drive can be quite challenging.

I would suggest self-drive. It's very easy to drive around NZ. Just pay attention to the speed limit. There are tons of information on driving around NZ and planning your drive.

What ticket are you talking about?

Am not going to Franz Josef as it require alot of hiking right? Do not think my mom's leg can take it.

I think i will go with youngman suggestion, make more sense. But any recommendation on Day 9 on the way back to christchurch? And doable if i take a morning flight from christchurch to rotorua for glowcaves then back to auckland in a same day (Day10)?

Day 1 (19th) - Reached noon, stay at Auckland.
Day 2 (20th) - Fly to Christchurch, self-drive.
Day 3 (21st) - Christchurch to Lake Tekapo, stay at Lake Tekapo
Day 4 (22nd) - Drive from Lake Tekapo to M/Cook, Stay at Queentown for next 2-3 nite,
Day 5 (23rd) - Queenstown surrounding, can visit Arrowtown, is 1 hour journey away
Day 6 (24th) -Days trip to Glenochy
Day 7 (25th) -Days trip to Milford sound, why take bus?, can drive if have 2-3 people. Can stay at Te Anu
Day 8 (26th) -Queentown-Lake Wanaka doable, but need drive long hours
Day 9 (27th) - Any recommendation? <
Day10 (28th) - Fly to Rotorua, Glowcaves then travel back to Auckland in a same day
Day11 (29th) - Fly back to KL

Anyone can roughly estimate how much budget the trip require for 4 person?

Do suggest if i left out any must-visit places.

Thanks.

This post has been edited by .:BreT:.: Sep 3 2013, 06:21 PM

I did it in 2012 for 12D10 nite SI trip , just before the AA last batch flight to CHC,
actually booking in July, but last flight date was re-schedule to end of May,
thus, no choice , choose a date in May and request to re-scheduleour date,
luckyly no-extra charge involved.

I travel with my family, 4 member, with 2 kids, one 3 year old and one 6 year old.
We travel in a group of 10 people, one sedan car and a Estima MPV. The rest is my wife friends.
Total expenses round up to 10k included of air-fare and everything ( for my family).
However, i travel close to winter, the cost like hostel and car rental abit cheaper
compare with the month of September.

It doable with 14k?,
it depend on how much you paid yrs one way ticket to Auckland, Auckland to CHC.
I would say that 8-10k excluded air-fare(all) should be enough.

I would suggest that since you bring yrs mom, and some of yrs known how to cook,
Can have own cook dinner and breakfast regularly.

In NZ, all BBH or YHA hostel have all the facilities like rice cooker, freezer, kicthen with cooking gas.
You just need to bring some ingrediant like curry powder, source etc, some can be buy in QT or CHC.
On yours way to visit, i will sure you will by pass some hyper market, just go inside to buy some vegi
and meat for yrs dinner. It alot cheaper as compare to having dinner outside.

Lunch can be having at outside, like take a burger or fish & chips or go to restaurant.

Most of the traveller in NZ, will prefer self-drive, because cheaper car rental and easy to explore by our own.
SI is pretty easy to do self drive, just rents a car or maybe MPV if too much luaguage to carry.
Before departure, get some map and understand the road, the travel destination/city, then you will be OK.
I will say that after exit CHC, they will be not much car on the road.

Christchurch (CHC) is big city and crown, outside of CHC is mostly truck road with two way traffic.
The road sign is pretty clear and informatic.

Yes, yrs itinery have cover most of the beautiful area in SI.
Just drive slowly to enjoy the scenery, you won't regret and value for money spent.
Last tips, can buy some 3 litre paper pack red-wine back, it tasty and value for money.
No problem on custom.

This post has been edited by youngman28: Sep 4 2013, 09:54 AM

Hmm, you'll need to walk around 20 minutes if not mistaken to a certain point to see the glacier from far far away. The walk is not too bad. Lemme show you some photos:

Basically the walk will be that kind of path, some slope up and down if I remember correctly (done too many walks in SI ). That's my 70+ year old dad btw, he also manage to do the full 1.5 hours walk up to glacier and down. That walk is much more tough as some parts are quite steep. That's the view you get from the nearest viewpoint.

Auckland to Rotorua - depends on the flight I guess, check the domestic flights and see. Might be doable but probably very tight and tiring. It's about 3 hours drive if you're driving. There are quite some stuff in Rotorua, suggest you do a few days there on a 2nd trip.

Day 8 - Queenstown to Wanaka only about an hour plus drive, not that long. Lake Wanaka is beautiful too, you can drive a bit further north to the tip of Lake Wanaka then drive back passing by Lake Hawea, I find that route very scenic.

Day 9 - You'll be travelling from Wanaka to CHC right? Maybe can take a slow coastal drive stopping by Timaru for lunch then continue your way back to CHC.

Eating out can be quite expensive in NZ, unless you plan to eat fast food all the way. Try getting those motels where they have family rooms and come with kitchen so you can buy some groceries and do some simple cooking to save some money. We stayed at mostly Top 10 holiday park, roughly NZ$130-160 per night for 4 adults to stay, most of these holiday park rooms come with full kitchen. We have membership so maybe cheaper. You can also look into Kiwi Holiday Park to see if it's cheaper. Some may find it too troublesome to cook every night though. Car rental depending on company, we manage to get NZ$45/day at Quality Car Rental in CHC, they provided airport transfer as well. There are some fuel saving tips here on this forum, something about getting a temporary AA card or something to get few cents off per litre. Check back a few pages and see.

Edit: Forgot to mention, I did my trip end April/early May, it was autumn then and quite cold so prices may have been cheaper.

This post has been edited by munkeyflo: Sep 3 2013, 06:59 PM

I would suggested that taking early cruise at MS, it end arround 1 pm, then drive back to Queentown, overnite at QT, next day have a day trip to Glenorchy, the site of LOTR , the best scenery in SI .

So its not advisable to spend another night at Te Anau ? Leave to Queenstown after the Milford Sound cruise ?
If thats the case, is 2 days enough in Queenstown ?

Day 1 (3rd) - Arrive CHC at 5am, Pickup car rental and start driving to Franz Glacier
Day 2 (4th) - Stay @ Franz Glacier
Day 3 (5th) - Drive to Lake Wanaka and explore surroundings (overnight)
Day 4 (6th) - Drive to Te Anau (overnight)
Day 5 (7th) - Milford Sound (overnight @ Te Anau)
Day 6 (8th) - Drive to Queenstown (overnight)
Day 7 (9th) - Stay @ Queenstown
Day 8 (10th) - Drive to Mt Cook (overnight)
Day 9 (11th) - Drive to CHC (flight @ 845pm)

air ticket

Depending on which airline you are flying with and also what are the terms and condition of the ticket that you've booked. Usually promotion air tickets can't be change so maybe need to forfeit. Check with the airline company you bought with.