How to Cover New Zealand’s South Island in 5 Days
Last July, my buddy Richie and I took a graduation trip to celebrate our end of university. After tossing a few ideas and locations around, we came to the decision to visit Australia and New Zealand. With limited time off from work for Richie, we had to figure out how to squeeze our long list of places to go into a short time frame. We budgeted 5 days for New Zealand and concluded to only do the south island. Here’s and overview of how we covered the whole island in a short amount of time. If you’d rather just see the video from our trip, scroll to the end of the article.
Day 1:
After 30 hours of flying and completely missing the Fourth of July while in the air over the Pacific, we landed in Christchurch. After disembarking and making our way to baggage claim we were dismayed to learn my bag did not follow us to New Zealand but was lost along the way. Thankfully, I packed a couple changes of clothes in my backpack that I carried on the plane and was determined to have a good time no matter what.
Next order of business was to collect our rental car, which was simple enough. Now we just had to learn to drive on the opposite side of the road that we were used to. Good thing we had a 4 hour trip to Dunedin to figure it out. After a couple slight mishaps, Richie and I adjusted to it quite easily. Several hours later and more exhausted than we cared for, we arrived at our hostel, checked in and passed out for the night.
Day 2:
Early nights in lead to early mornings and after a good night’s rest we awoke before sunrise and were ready to take on the day. After a quick bite to eat in downtown Dunedin, we drove out to the coast to The Royal Albatross Centre on the Otago Peninsula. Albatross are magnificent birds that live most of their life at sea and the center offers guided tours to see the nesting grounds.
The Royal Albatross Centre is conveniently located on an old military defense installation and a package tour is offered for both the nesting grounds and the fort. Quite arguably, the most interesting part of the tour is the “disappearing gun,” an artillery piece which was loaded underground, raised up, and pushed back underground upon firing. Fortunately we were the only two to choose both tours so we had plenty of one on one time with our tour guide who was kind enough to give us recommendations on how to fill the rest of our day. She told us about some beautiful hidden beaches where we might be lucky enough to spot seals and sea lions.
I always love spots that locals recommend because those that live there know the best off the beaten path places, so we followed our guide’s advice and headed straight for Allan’s Beach. To our dismay, there were no seals or sea lions to be found; however we found a calm secluded beach with charming scenery and few others to disturb the peace. Richie and I spent some time exploring the area before heading back into town to check out the Otago Museum. A free museum with lots of history on the people of New Zealand, I’d recommend it as a quick stop for anyone interested in the rich cultural background of the island and its ancient inhabitants.
After a full day of activities, a quick bite to eat and a tasting of beer at Speight’s Brewery in town, we packed it in and prepared our bags for another early morning, long drive and new destination.
Day 3:
One of the first things we booked for our trip and a must do item on our list was a glowworm cave tour in Te Anau. A small town nestled in the mountains on a lake, Te Anau gives the feel of a small, sleepy town but still offers much to do for the tourists that flock there. We arrived in Te Anau earlier than expected after setting off from Dunedin early that morning so we checked into our hostel and walked the shores of the lake, quietly reflecting on the calm surface of the water.
The time soon arrived for us to embark on our tour of the caves. In order to reach the caves, a 30 minute boat ride across the lake is required. Due to the near freezing temperatures and the high speed of the boat we spend most of the ride inside but ventured to the upper deck when the boat slowed and entered a secluded outcove for us to take in. The trip was soon over and we arrived at the caves and our guides ushered us off the boat. A short walk through the woods leads to the mouth of the cave where the river flows out and the catwalk begins.
Once inside, the guide sits everyone into a small boat and shuts off all the lights, plunging us into complete darkness. Our guide slowly steered the boat around the corner to the section where the glowworms live and once you turn the corner it’s as if the roof of the cave has a million little blue stars. For several minutes the entire boat sat in silence and marveled at the little creatures suspended above us. The boat slowly began to drift back to the entrance and the little glowworms disappeared from view.
We arrived back in Te Anau with some daylight left to spare and our tour operators gave us the location of a small bird sanctuary. After quite a bit of walking, we finally found it and the rare Takahe birds it housed. Takahe are one of the many flightless birds that call New Zealand home; unfortunately there are an estimated 300 left in both the wild and captivity. However their numbers are slowly rising and we did see 4 of them that this sanctuary kept. Seeing 4 out of only 300 was a highlight for Richie as he kept bringing up that it represented over 1% of the entire population.
Day 4:
The drive from Te Anau to Christchurch totals 8 which meant budgeting an entire day to do. To help break up the long hours cramped in our tiny car, we planned a stop in Queenstown. As we drove along the roads were very icy and after passing one car that had crashed from sliding across the ice, we made sure to take our time and enjoy the mesmerizing countrysides we passed through. As we drove, I captured a time lapse using my GoPro mounted on the dashboard. Check out the video to see the entire 2 hour trip whizz by!
As we approached Queenstown, we stopped at several designated lookouts to marvel at the views. I have to admit many of my favorite moments of the entire trip where either in the car or stopping to get out of the car to simply admire the endless beauty that New Zealand holds. When we finally managed to drive into town, we were met with the only feel of hussle and bussle that we encountered the entire trip. As a popular destination and ski town, it made sense for it to be busy in the middle of winter.
There is a long list of things that can be done in Queenstown, however we were merely on a short layover and Richie was determined to not leave New Zealand until he had seen a Kiwi(the bird, we saw plenty of the people). Fortunately, we discovered Kiwi Birdlife Park, a sanctuary dedicated to helping the Kiwi numbers recover in the wild. The park had other animals but we cared only to see the Kiwi so we dipped in for about 30 minutes. Once we had stared enough, our stomachs reminded us it was lunch time and it led us to find a quaint Indian restaurant with little to no wait for food.
A quick and satisfying bit later, we hopped back on the road to continue the long trek to Christchurch. We made no more major stops but continued to stop at any designated lookout point we could find. The beauty of New Zealand has a way of putting you at peace and I felt that seep into me every time that I stared out over the pristine landscape stretched out in front of me.
Day 5:
Our last day in New Zealand arrived faster than we had hoped but we were too busy having fun to be sad about it. We decided to spend the day doing something slightly less adventurous but still interesting. Richie is passionate about planes and their history which naturally steered us to the Royal Air Force Museum. This free museum has a massive collection of aircraft and exhibits from the Royal New Zealand Air Force and even US aircraft. Needless to say, Richie was like a kid on Christmas there; I’ll even admit I had fun and was quite impressed too.
Exploring Christchurch was a great way to wind down our trip in New Zealand. While it flew by quickly, it was only the beginning of a larger trip. Up next, a few weeks in Australia visiting old and new friends and many bucket list items to cross off.
Check out the full video of the trip
*This post may contain affiliate links from which I earn a small commission, at no cost to you, to support my blog.