A full-on road trip around South Island, New Zealand would normally take at least 3 weeks. We only had 6 days. We had to choose well among heaps of beautiful rivers, lakes, forests, mountains, beaches, glaciers, ski fields, restaurants and cafes, and make sure we don’t overdo it. Winter also means shorter days (sunrise at 8:30-ish, and sunset at 5-ish in June), making our itinerary planning trickier. But I reckon travelling in winter isn’t bad at all. There are obviously less people so public bathrooms are cleaner, traffic is light everywhere (except in Queenstown and Christchurch Central), and you tend to go to bed early because 7pm feels like 9pm. Oh, and of course, experiencing snow is just wonderful. The “oohs” and the “aahs” while driving and seeing the majestic snow-sprinkled mountains are endless.

Here’s our very detailed road trip travel log. I hope someone finds this useful. 🙂

With quick rest, toilet, petrol, pie, photoshoot stops in between.

In the next couple of posts, I will be writing about our experiences at each of the main destinations.