New Zealand South Island Road Trip: 13-Day Itinerary from India
13 days → India → Melbourne → Christchurch → Lake Tekapo → Mount Cook → Twizel → Lake Hawea → Wanaka → Queenstown → Glenorchy → Christchurch → Hong Kong → India
We are all set to take you on a roller coaster of a road trip through the South Island of New Zealand. This would require quite a bit of planning so let us straightaway get to work and see what all needs to be done, before we start. This is both our personal travel story and a practical itinerary that you can use to plan your own New Zealand South Island road trip.
Here’s exactly how you can plan a 13-day New Zealand South Island road trip from India, based on our actual experience.
Visa – The most important, as expected, is the visa to New Zealand. This can be applied online where the requested documents need to be uploaded. There is no requirement for any physical appearance. The lead time for this is four weeks after which you get your eVisa. All you need to do is to take a print of that and carry that with you while travelling. The link to apply visa is here. The cost for two people came to NZD 500 which is approx. ₹28,321 as per prevalent exchange rate at the time.
Flight Tickets – New Zealand is quite far away and hence flight tickets will be expensive. So, its best to book well in advance, in order to get the best deals. Skyscanner is the best site to initiate the bookings as it provides a variety of options. However, most of the options would be via Australia (either Melbourne or Sydney). And if you go via Australia, you would need a transit visa for Australia. This is free of cost and it would take around 10 days. And most importantly, while applying for this you need to show your NZ visa and your onward flight tickets. Hence, the total visa lead time would be four weeks + 10 days in case you travel through Australia.
Get the Best Flight Deals here. Book Your Tickets Now:
Car Rental – As we are going for a road-trip, it is best to do the bookings a week in advance. We went through the aggregator app Discover Cars, and from there we got a decent deal from Yes Rentals. For six days, the cost came to around ₹23,000.
All set to travel now. We booked our tickets through Melbourne, Australia. We would be flying by Indigo from Mumbai to Singapore and then by Qantas to Melbourne.
Our itinerary is as follows (24-Nov to 6-Dec, 2024):
Day 1: Fly from Mumbai to Melbourne via Singapore.
Day 2: Arrival in Melbourne. Overnight stay in Melbourne
Day 3: Spend Day in Melbourne. Fly to Christchurch in the evening
Day 4: Spend Day in Christchurch
Day 5: Start of Road Trip. Drive from Christchurch to Lake Tekapo (overnight stay in Lake Tekapo)
Day 6: Drive from Lake Tekapo to Mount Cook and then to Twizel (overnight stay in Twizel)
Day 7: Drive from Twizel to Lake Hawea (overnight stay in Lake Hawea)
Day 8: Drive from Lake Hawea to Wanaka and then to Queenstown (overnight stay at Queenstown)
Day 9: Drive to Glenorchy and back to Queenstown (overnight stay at Queenstown)
Day 10: Drive back to Christchurch via Twizel and Lake Tekapo
Day 11: Spend Day at Christchurch
Day 12: Fly out of Christchurch to Hong Kong (overnight stay at Hong Kong)
Day 13: Fly from Hong Kong to Pune via New Delhi
Day 1: Fly from Mumbai to Melbourne via Singapore
We began one of our most ambitious and adventurous tour on an early winter morning from Mumbai. We boarded an early morning Indigo flight from Mumbai to Singapore. We had a six-over layover in Singapore. That sounds long but not when it is at THE Changi Airport. We made the best use of the six hours by hopping between terminals on the sky train and enjoying every moment of it until we boarded our Qantas flight to Melbourne at around 10 PM.
Day 2: Arrival in Melbourne. Overnight stay in Melbourne
We arrived at Melbourne in gloomy weather in the morning. A bit of jetlag has obviously crept in. Even thought we would be there for only da and a half, we still got ourselves a local Optus sim card which costed us 12 AUD. We booked an Uber to our hotel in the downtown. We were booked at the Ibis Kingsgate hotel at Kings Street. No sooner had we got fresh, we crashed on to our beds and blanked out. We came to our senses only in late evening where there was just time to eat something for dinner. Luckily there was a Saravana Bhavan right at our doorstep so we did not have to walk much to complete our dinner. We did go for a post dinner walk through Elizabeth Street, Flinders Street and on to Southbank. The city was well decorated for Christmas.
Day 3: Spend Day in Melbourne. Fly to Christchurch in the evening
A day-out at Melbourne. The rain had relented and it was bright sunshine. We walked around the town center. Elizabeth Street, Flinders Street, Southbank, Federation Square, Bourke Street and then finally back to our hotel. We would be boarding our flight to Christchurch at 7 PM. We picked up our luggage and headed off to the airport. The flight was delayed which resulted in a longer than expected wait at the Melbourne airport. Out flight took off around 8:30 PM and by the time reached Christchurch, it was already well past midnight. We booked an Uber to go to Airways Motel, where we checked-in at around 3 AM.
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Watch our Transit and Melbourne Experience Here
Day 4: Spend Day in Christchurch
Severe jetlag crept in and we woke up only at 3 PM local time. This was a day of rest. We still found some energy to visit the Christchurch town center. It was quite deserted by the time we reached. Most shops close by 6 PM with only the eateries open. We had a burger meal at the C-One Espresso Cafe. We hung around for a while, had dinner and returned to the Motel to get ready for the big days ahead.
Day 5: Start of Road Trip. Drive from Christchurch to Lake Tekapo (overnight stay in Lake Tekapo)
Today was the big day when we would be picking up the car from Yes Rentals close to the airport and set off for Lake Tekapo. The Motel provided their van to us to go to Yes Car Rentals office close to the airport and pick up the car. We did so, returned to the motel, packed our luggage and set off on a path-breaking road trip towards the south, the first destination being Lake Tekapo. The distance would be around 226 km and it would take us three hours. Of course we were in no hurry and factored in a couple of breaks. The drive was a wonderful experience mostly due to the lack of traffic but high speeding heavy vehicles were there in plenty which one should be wary of. The road was mostly flat with beautiful greenery on both sides with the occasional climb on hilly roads. Towards the one could spot the gorgeous snow-capped mountains and finally the climax was the view of the turquoise Lake Tekapo. We were booked at an apartment Starview 88 close to the lake. We walked down to the lake and spotted the beautiful Lupins all around on the banks of the lake. This was one of the primary reasons for our visit at this time of the year. These beautiful plants can be viewed in these regions from November end to mid-January. A prominent landmark of the region is the historic Church of the Good Shepherd.
Day 6: Drive from Lake Tekapo to Mount Cook and then to Twizel (overnight stay in Twizel)
Today would be one step ahead and probably the most spectacular day on our trip. We would be driving to Aoraki Mount Cook. This was a one and a half hours drive from Lake Tekapo. On the way would be the breathtaking Lake Pukaki. One of the biggest risks of driving in New Zealand I would say is that suddenly you are greeted to a gorgeous sight and you just get distracted and slow down. As the turquoise Lake Pukaki popped up in front of me, my awestruck self subconsciously slowed down the car. The came the gorgeous first view of Mount Cook. And then suddenly, I was brought to ground by the sound of honking cars behind me wanting to go ahead on a two-lane road which I was blocking. It turned worse as I was pulled aside by cop on a bike who seemed to be straight out of the All Blacks team dugout. He checked my license and let me off with a warning. All this for slowing down my speed to a modest 60 kmph to take a first look at Mount Cook. I wondered how could all those behind me honking be in such a hurry on looking at this view. They surely needed to “Get a Life” or rather enjoy life. I understand they must be locals who might have seen Mount Cook umpteen times but such a sight would slow me down every day of my life no matter how many times I view it. As we drove down the road along Lake Pukaki, we had to take a right turn and go towards Aoraki Mount Cook. The drive felt like a dream. Our videos tell the complete story. On reaching Mount Cook we saw there were some treks which we could go. One of them was the Hooker Valley Trail which seemed to be doable. However, we decided against it as it would be time consuming so we opted for lunch. It is to be noted that Mount Cook region is where the great Sir Edmund Hillary started his mountaineering career. And he mentions in his autobiography “High Adventure” that he stayed at the Hermitage Hotel during his early days when he ascended Mount Cook. Hermitage Hotel was our destination for lunch. A truly historic and iconic hotel.
Post lunch we decided to head off to Twizel where our stay was booked. It was a quiet town not too far away. We were booked at the Twizel Holiday Park. It was more of a camping ground though there were some rooms available as well. We drove down to the market place where we packed our dinner from the Jasmine Thai restaurant. And before retiring for the day we returned to Lake Pukaki to enjoy the dusk. It was not over. It ended with stargazing on an absolute starry night at Twizel.
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Watch our Lake Tekapo and Mount Cook Experience Here
Day 7: Drive from Twizel to Lake Hawea (overnight stay in Lake Hawea)
It was now time to check-out of Twizel and proceed on the second half of our journey which aimed to take us from Christchurch to Queenstown. The day started off with coffee at the Twizel market place followed by a drive to Lake Pukaki which was in the reverse direction. How could be not enjoy banks of the Lake Pukaki? We were welcomed with more lupins with lesser people around. The pristine turquoise waters, colourful lupins, bright blue sky, Mount Cook in the distance and us. We wondered if it can get any better than this. After spending a bit of time we set-off for our destination for the day which was an airbnb in Lake Hawea. The drive took us on a hilly road through the Lindis pass. We were now moving provinces from Canterbury to Otago. On the way we stopped for a minute to view the Clay Cliffs from a distance. We did not want to take a detour to view it up from close but we heard it was sure a point of interest. We reached our airbnb hosted by Lucy and Joseph in a quiet area surrounded by a garden in the midst of nature. Once settled we drove down to the actual lake and enjoyed a pizza dinner at the Hawea Hotel located opposite. That is the only eatery in the vicinity.
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Day 8: Drive from Lake Hawea to Wanaka and then to Queenstown (overnight stay at Queenstown)
First destination for today is another lakeside town of Wanaka and then drive down to Queenstown. Wanaka was less than an hour from our airbnb. It was a small town on a gorgeous lakeside surrounded by the snow-capped mountains and giving beachside vibes thanks to the weather. As the town bathed in glorious spring sunshine, the town resembled a beachside town with a lake instead of the sea. We went for a long walk up to the famous Wanaka Tree. A tree protruding out of the water which is supposedly the most prominent landmark of the town. The experience culminate in a grand fish n chips meal by the lakeside.
We now moved on to our final destination which was Queenstown. This was around an hour through the mountains soaking in some great views. We were booked in an apartment in Queenstown on a hilly area which provided a breathtaking, panoramic view of the Lake Wakatipu.
We drove down to the town center in the evening. It was buzzing with people, most of whom have come for some adventure activity. This looked to be a place for outdoor and adventure activities.
Fergburger is a prominent eatery where we found queues to get hold of your burger while Patagonia Chocolates and Creamery is a must-visit for dessert. We visited the latter keeping the burger for tomorrow.
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Day 9: Drive to Glenorchy and back to Queenstown (overnight stay at Queenstown)
Today we were on a day trip to Glenorchy and back. Through the snow-capped mountains, along the Lake Wakatipu, it is a one-hour drive. Glenorchy is a quiet lakeside town with breathtaking landscapes. We walked around, had some hot chocolate in one of the cafes, viewed some more lupins and were on our back to Queenstown. We spent the remaining evening at the town center starting off with a burger from Fergburger.
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Day 10: Drive back to Christchurch via Twizel and Lake Tekapo
It was now time for us to head back to Christchurch after our adventure down south. We covered most of the places. The only one remaining was Milford Sound. Perhaps for another time. It was a long six hour drive though the route we took was slightly different to the one which we took while coming this way. We drove through Cromwell which enabled us to view one more gorgeous lake. We stopped at Bendigo for some time and soaked it some canvas type views of the lake. Our next stop was at Twizel where we had our lunch at the now familiar Jasmine Thai restaurant after which we took our next break at Lake Tekapo. We visited some points on the lake side which we did not visit on our onward journey. The longish break at the half-way mark of a six hour drive helped us recharge our batteries before we headed off to Christchurch. We reached Christchurch late in the evening and checked into Southern Comfort Motel.
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Watch our Wanaka, Queenstown, Glenorchy Experience
Day 11: Spend Day at Christchurch
Today was our planned day-out at Christchurch. First job was to return the car to Yes Rentals after a whopping 1378 Kms on the road over 6 days in the South Island of New Zealand. After this we were on our own. Our first stop was the Regent Street. This was a walking street with the city circle tram plying through it with eateries on both sides. We had our meal and spotted some colorful trams going up and down. We were tempted to take a ride on it but the expensive tickets did not make it feel worthy of it. We walked towards the town center by the Avon riverside where we hung around on the day we arrived here. Along with the eateries and shops there is riverside market which we visited. We followed this up with a visit to the Christchurch Botanical Gardens. The river Avon flows through it and with the punting going to it provides a mini-Cambridge vibe. There is a beautiful rose garden within its premises which was sure worth a visit. This was followed by short walk to the Hagley Oval, a place I could not miss, being a cricket fan. Looking at the ground with no stands except the pavilion, surrounded by grass banks all around, it was tough to believe that and New Zealand Vs England test match had just got over two days back. There was not a soul in sight and we could walk around freely on the outfield of a test match venue that had no barriers.
We returned to the town center, visited Regent Street once again as the evening set in, did some souvenir shopping close to Regent Street and finally had dinner one of the Avon riverside restaurants in the town center. In fact at the same place where we had on the day we arrived.
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Day 12: Fly from Christchurch to Hong Kong
It was time for us to head home now ending a glorious, path-breaking tour which involved a road trip of 1378 Km. We were flying Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong, stay overnight in Hong Kong and then fly to Delhi and Pune tomorrow.
Watch our Day out at Christchurch and Departure
Day 13: Fly from Hong Kong to Pune via New Delhi
We stayed overnight at Hong Kong and had to set-off for the airport early in the morning. The hotel provided a shuttle service. We took a six hour Indigo flight to Delhi. The flight provided a surprise in the form of gorgeous views of the great Himalayas. Surely we would have spotted some eight-thousand peaks. After immigration in Delhi, we flew the domestic leg to Pune, reaching home at around midnight.
