its a paradise…south island is gorgeous

breathtaking scenery ..fantastic walks up hill and dale…walk a glacier ..see the hotsprings….u cant go wrong

hostels are open all year round
there is great skiing there too..mountains rival the swiss alps..its very green ..there are fjords u have to check out on the west coast of the south island

u will love it

thanks! Anyone else?? Update… we’ll be staying near Christchurch for about 3-4 days. What are some good places within a couple hours to visit with good senery (mountains and such)??

How are you travelling around NZ, as you only have 1 week, I could just concentrate on one island, let us know how you are travelling and I can take it from there

thanks for helping! We’ll have a car. The first two day we’ll be near Tutukaka to scuba dive… then a couple days in/near Taupo, then we’ll fly to Christchurch. We’ll have three nights before needing to fly back to Aukland, we should be able to see a few things, I hope. There are many small towns on the map heading west up the mountains, but I have no idea which might be a nice place to stay, or if we should try and go across Arthur’s Pass (good idea in the winter??).
Thank you!

Alot of travelling within NZ in such a short time, well your diving and Taupo days are taken care off, as for Christchurch, forget about Arthurs Pass, I think I heard it was closed the other day for bad weather, which can often happen in that area, I think I would concentrate on driving the car to Queenstown taking in the scenery of Lake Wanaka, Lake Tekapo and if time permited (it is a big drive) down to Milford Sounds and taking a 2 hour boat cruise and then back to Christchurh

thanks! is it worth heading west a bit? I see several small towns (Springfield, etc.) going towards Arthur’s Pass, is it worth seeing how far we can get and then staying in the nearest town?

Never heard of Springfield before, it must be small, or you have a very precise map, accommodation can be very sparse out that way, lucky I had my tent, cause I slept in the middle of Arthurs Pass, but their was a ‘Shelter’ there for people to sleep in, but that is basic arrangements
Have fun

NZ is beautiful. Try the bungyjumping over the Taupo River. It was fun!!