For my Christmas holidays, I decided to go to the South Island. After spending almost a year and half in New Zealand, I’d never found the time to go there, and because I didn’t want to go back to France for Christmas, it was the perfect opportunity to enjoy the south island of New Zealand.
With two friends who came with me, we planned our trip as follows:
Days 1 and 2 – Picton and Nelson
Day 3 – Abel Tasman surroundings
Day 5 – From Abel Tasman to Greymouth
Day 6 – Arthur’s Pass
Days 7 and 8 – Fox and Franz Joseph Glaciers
Day 9 – From Franz Joseph Glacier to Wanaka
Day 10 – Wanaka and Tekapo
Day 11 – Christchurch and Akaroa
Day 12 – Kaikoura
Day 13 – Taupo
It’s not that we didn’t want to go to Queenstown, but we thought that it was a better idea to spend more time in fewer places, rather than to rush the trip. After doing this trip, I think it was a great choice. There’s nothing more frustrating than not being able to stay as long as you want at your different stops. The trip was well-planned because the amount of driving per day was good (not too short, not too long), which means that we were able to stop for some unexpected waterfalls and we never arrived exhausted at night.