Wiz'n'Ton

Hi all. The wife and I will be headed off to Q'town soon. We have a shyte old car, so need a relatively easy route and as I've never done the drive before I don't know which was is best.

Any suggestions?

Cheers in advance y'all

Wiz

Apple13

Oh oh oh oh, this is just the best drive!!!! If there is ANYONE living in ChCh for more than 6 months that hasn't done this, then you just aren't living =)

Ok, from ChCh head down south to Geraldine. This is the boring bit of the drive done, about two hours, dead straight roads.

Head west inland to Lake Tekapo. Go wow. Head down to the lake shore to the Church of the Good Shepherd.

Head to Lake Pukaki. Divert to Mt Cook - stay in a tent at the end of the road and listen to the avalanches =) Awesome food at the Mountaineers cafe, dinner and wine. If you can't handle a tent, stay at the hotel. 1/2 day walk up to the glaciers over swing bridges should be compulsory for anyone with PR, well actually anyone at all. Easy walk, but wow what views.

Head down to Omarama and over Lindis Pass. Take lots of arty black and white photos of the tussocks and the hills, just like velvet.

Go South to Wanaka. Go wow. Stay here, not Queenstown. Go to the awesome little picture theatre with sofas and good coffee and hot biccies at the interval.

Drive over the Crown Range to Arrowtown, explore the gold mining area.
To Queenstown, if you have to. Lots of tourists, buses, hotels, just a busy little resort actually in stupendous mountains. But if you want to go jetboating etc etc then it is all here.

Drive through to Alexandra. Find the best winery with the best view (Mt Difficulty in Bannockburn). In fact wineries are compulsory... the pinot noir from this region is wonderful.

Drive through the Maniototo, the inland plateau. This place is just magic, look out for Graham Sydney paintings, as this will give you some idea. Out to Palmerston on the coast. Good bakery on the main road by the old railway station.

Stop at the Moeraki Boulders - don't go to the kitschy carpark where they make you pay, go to the free carpark and walk along the beach.

north to Timaru, then back to ChCh.

I hope you have a week! or maybe two... =)

lapsed kiwi

Just wanted to say thanks to Apple for sharing my favourite drive in the whole world and saving me a load of typing

happynz

Likewise. Well done apple13.

southerner

Recommended other sights/stops:

Buy smoked salmon from the canals around Twizel
Steamer cruise on Lake Wakatipu to Walter Peak
Day trip to Glenorchy
Gibbston Winery nr Q'town - great al fresco dining
The Cow - pizza place in Q'town
Fleurs restaurant at Moeraki
The old Victorian part of Oamaru
H2O restaurant at Oamaru harbour

Other alternative routes worth a possible look are:
-come back through Dunedin
-drive down or up the Waitaki valley (fabulous autumn and winter scenery with lots of lakes)

Wiz'n'Ton

Nice work all! We'll just be going for a few days, so this time it will just be a 'there and back' trip and Apple13 seems to have covered all the bases (as usual - cheers gal ).

We went to the Moeraki Boulders last time we were here and loved them - just SO wierd and I still insist that they are alien eggs!

Will report back on how it all goes.

planty

And if you're heading back to Christchurch via Timaru, you can always drop in at our place for a cuppa!

Wiz'n'Ton

You've got yerself a deal!

SavBlancGal

If you were wanting accommodation, just got notification on the wotif.com newsletter I get that the Heritage Hotel in Queenstown has a "red hot deal" of $115 per room per night (available 1 June to 13 June). That's a bargain for Queenstown.

Wiz'n'Ton

Cheers for the tip! We're doing it on the 'entertainment book' this time, but will keep an eye out for future deals. Nice one

westiepom

I've just done a search on this as we're going to Wanaka for the airshow at easter, then a night in Queenstown and wanted to know the best route so.... thanks for that info !
DH really wants to see the Moeraki boulders, and as it's a long drive back to ChCh from there is it worth staying a night in that area or is it just the boulders and nothing else ?

Cheers

Wiz'n'Ton

It is pretty much just boulders, however they are definately worth seeing as they are just so damn odd looking! But if you are going out of the way to see them and want to stop somewhere, then stop off overnight in Omeru and go and watch the little blue penguins come home to roost at dusk. It's a sight well worth seeing and despite me thinking it would be rubbish I really enjoyed it. I think it's about $12 per person or something.

I think (if memory serves) that the Moeraki boulders are then a bit of a drive North from there on the way back to ChCh. Don't take my word for it though - check the map, I just don't have one to hand right now.

You'll have a great time

westiepom

Yeah, we're looking forward to it. Thanks for the tip re Oamaru. I may look for some accomodation there for the night. Anything to delay returning home to the same old same old !

southerner

Probably NZ's best seafood restaurant is at Moeraki - its called Fleurs and is at the Moeraki fishing village (from the boulders the turnoff is about a mile south on the main road)

southerner

A good route from Queenstown to Moeraki is through the Maniototo from Alexandra. This has some really iconic landscapes, and interesting stops such as Ophir, Naseby and St Bathans. You can also (if interested) visit the Macraes gold mine, they do tours.