December 2024

New Zealand is officially one of our favorite places! We spent a little over a week exploring the vast and dramatic landscapes of the South Island. This country is so beautiful, easy to drive (even on the left-hand side) and everything is clean and welcoming. We opted to fly into Queenstown and then rented a car to slowly make our way to Christchurch for our return flight. A car is absolutely essential for seeing all of the hidden gems this country provides. Just keep a rain jacket with you at all times as the weather can change in an instant.

Below are some of the highlights from our trip and we are already talking about where we want to go on a return visit!

Accommodations:

• Queenstown: Coronation Lodge – a quaint hotel located centrally to all of the Queenstown happenings. It was very reasonably priced for the time of year/location and had everything we needed for our three night stay.
• Omarama: BigSky Motels – we were surprised at how updated this small motel was in a pretty sleepy town. If we were to return, I would look into staying at the Lake Ohau Lodge or somewhere closer to Twizel to be more centrally located to hikes, disc golf, restaurants, etc.
• Windwhistle: Fable Terrace Downs Resort – the views from our hillside condo were stunning and the food was some of the best we had in New Zealand. They didn’t have any golf clubs for us to rent, so we didn’t get to play golf at the resort like we intended but it is definitely worth a night or two stay to be near Christchurch but still surrounded by towering mountains and bright blue lakes.

Tours and Activities:

Some of our favorite activities and sights included:

• The Queenstown waterfront – it was light until past 10pm while we were there and the waterfront provided stunning sunset views and plenty of shops and restaurants nearby
• Milford Sound Coach and Cruise tour. It is a fair bit of time on the bus to get to Milford Sound but the views along the way are totally worth it.
• The Skyline Luge at the top of the Queenstown gondola.
• Fergburger – the line may be long but it totally lives up to the hype!
• Disc golf! There are so many disc golf courses but some of our favorites were the Queenstown Gardens and the course at Lake Ohau Lodge.
• Maori Point Vineyard (or really any vineyard in the Otago Valley for a wine tasting).
• Hooker Valley Track hike – a 2-3 hour hike with stunning views the entire way.
• Omarama Hot Tubs – particularly following the Hooker Valley Track hike.
• Ashburton Aviation Museum – try the flight simulator!
• Golf! There’s tons of courses, but we played at the Methven Golf Club.
• Lake Coleridge – the route we took was a bit of a stretch on a gravel road to get to it, but the views and turquoise lake are totally worth it.