New Zealand South Island for three generations: Tekapo, Queenstown and Milford Sound

1. Day 1: Arrive in Christchurch

   Christchurch International Airport to your hotel in the city centre

   • Drive about 18 min
   • Welcome dinner at about 6 pm
   • Stay in Christchurch
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Christchurch International Airport (CHC), about 12 km north-west of the city, where a driver meets your family in the arrivals hall for the 20-minute transfer to a central hotel. Most flights from Canada connect through Auckland after a long night in the air, so today asks nothing of anyone: check in, nap, and if the children need to run, walk a few minutes to the Botanic Gardens beside the Avon River, which have a large playground and wide lawns. Christchurch lost much of its old centre in the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, and the rebuilt city mixes new buildings, street art and open sites. At about 5:30 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the ten days ahead: what to pack for mountain mornings, how each day is paced for grandparents and grandchildren alike, and what we do if the weather closes the road to Milford Sound. Then we walk to an early welcome dinner together at about 6 pm, so everyone can be in bed early.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Christchurch International Airport (CHC)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Early welcome dinner

   Free time: Free until the 5:30 pm briefing

2. Day 2: Penguins, then across the plains to Lake Tekapo

   Christchurch to the International Antarctic Centre, Geraldine and over Burkes Pass to Lake Tekapo

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Lake Tekapo
   Day 2 details

   We leave the hotel at about 8:30 am for the International Antarctic Centre, beside the airport and on our way out of town. The centre makes Christchurch's Antarctic links into a morning children remember: little blue penguins, a storm room that drops to Antarctic temperatures, and a ride in a tracked Hägglund vehicle over a rough course. Then we drive south-west across the Canterbury Plains, about 1 hour 50 minutes, to the country town of Geraldine for a sit-down lunch. From there it is about 1 hour 15 minutes over Burkes Pass into the Mackenzie Basin, a wide tussock plain ringed by the Southern Alps, and we reach Lake Tekapo by mid-afternoon, when the water shows its milky turquoise, coloured by rock flour ground fine by glaciers. Walk down to the small stone Church of the Good Shepherd on the shore, then spend the late afternoon at Tekapo Springs, whose warm outdoor pools look across to the mountains. If the sky is clear tonight, a local astronomy guide takes anyone who wants to stay up stargazing in the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve.

   Included

   • International Antarctic Centre, Christchurch, with the Hägglund ride
   • Sit-down lunch in Geraldine
   • Church of the Good Shepherd and the Lake Tekapo shore
   • Tekapo Springs hot pools
   • Guided stargazing in the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve (weather permitting; night 3 is the backup)

   Easier option: Skip the Hägglund ride and the storm room and sit with the penguins; at Tekapo Springs, the café terrace looks over the pools.

   Free time: Late afternoon at the pools, evening free

   Activity: The longest drive of the trip, split into two legs of under 2 hours by lunch. In December and January it is not fully dark until after 10:30 pm, so stargazing starts late; families with young children can join the backup night or skip it. About 3.2 hours of driving in all, split into legs of no more than about 2 hours 15 minutes by real stops for lunch, walks and views.

   

3. Day 3: Aoraki/Mount Cook at a family pace

   Lake Tekapo to Aoraki/Mount Cook Village along Lake Pukaki, and back

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Lake Tekapo
   Day 3 details

   We leave at 9 am and drive about 1 hour 20 minutes, 105 km, around the foot of Lake Pukaki and up its western shore to Aoraki/Mount Cook Village, where the road ends below New Zealand's highest mountain, 3,724 m. The national park is part of Te Wāhipounamu, the South West New Zealand World Heritage Area. Mornings are often calmer and clearer, so we walk first. The Hooker Valley Track is wide, well made and mostly flat, and together we walk as far as the first or second swing bridge over the milky Hooker River, about an hour and a half return, with the moraine wall of the Mueller Glacier beside the path. Anyone who wants more carries on with your guide to Hooker Lake, where small icebergs float below the face of Aoraki. Lunch is a sit-down meal in the village. Afterwards the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre at The Hermitage tells the story of the mountain and its climbers, a good place to sit down if the wind gets up. We drive back along Lake Pukaki, stopping at Peter's Lookout, and are in Tekapo by late afternoon for a free evening. Tonight is the stargazing backup.

   Included

   • Hooker Valley Track to the swing bridges with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch at Aoraki/Mount Cook Village
   • Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre
   • Peter's Lookout over Lake Pukaki

   Optional experiences

   • Scenic flight over the Tasman Glacier from Aoraki/Mount Cook Airport (weather permitting, booked on the day)

   Easier option: Walk only to the first swing bridge, about an hour return, or the short Governors Bush walk by the village, then wait in the warm at the Alpine Centre.

   More active option: Carry on with your guide to Hooker Lake, about 10 km and 3 hours return in all, and join the group for a later lunch.

   Free time: Evening free at Lake Tekapo

   Activity: A mostly flat, well-made path with swing bridges that move a little underfoot. The track can close in high wind; your guide checks the conditions each morning.

4. Day 4: Over the Lindis Pass to Wanaka

   Lake Tekapo to Lake Pukaki and Omarama, then over the Lindis Pass to Wanaka

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Wanaka
   Day 4 details

   About 2 hours 45 minutes and 215 km of driving today, in three short legs. We leave at 9 am and stop first at the south end of Lake Pukaki, where on a clear morning Aoraki stands at the head of the lake. Then we drive past Twizel to Omarama, about an hour from Tekapo, for coffee and a stretch; the town is known for gliding, and on a good day gliders circle over the hills. The road then climbs over the Lindis Pass, 971 m, through slopes of golden tussock, and drops into Central Otago. We are in Wanaka by about 1 pm for a sit-down lunch near the lakefront, and we check in for two nights. The afternoon is for the lake. The beach at Roys Bay is a short walk from the centre, the water is clear and cold, and children like the stony shallows and the willow growing in the water near the shore, known as That Wanaka Tree. Grandparents can watch from a café table or a bench on the lakefront path. The evening is free in town, with plenty of places that serve dinner early.

   Included

   • Lake Pukaki viewpoint
   • Coffee stop in Omarama
   • The Lindis Pass
   • Sit-down lunch in Wanaka

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Wanaka

   

5. Day 5: A slow day in Wanaka

   Wanaka and Puzzling World

   • Drive about 12 min
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Wanaka
   Day 5 details

   Nothing starts before 9:30 am. Your guide walks the group, or drives anyone who prefers, the 2 km to Puzzling World on the edge of town, a museum of illusions with a tilted room where water seems to run uphill, a hall of holograms and a large outdoor maze that keeps children and parents busy for an hour. The leaning tower outside makes the photo everyone takes. Lunch is on your own today: the lakefront has bakeries and cafés, and your guide suggests a few. The afternoon is free, and in summer it is the warmest part of the day for the lake beach again, a boat trip on the lake, or the town's indoor pool. For anyone who wants a walk, the Mount Iron track is a loop of about 4.5 km from the edge of town, climbing about 240 m to a summit with views over the lake, the Clutha River and the mountains towards Mount Aspiring National Park; your guide leads it in the afternoon. Dinner is free, and the early-evening light on the lake is worth a stroll along the shore before bed.

   Included

   • Puzzling World: the illusion rooms and the outdoor maze

   Optional experiences

   • Lake Wanaka boat trip to an island in the lake
   • Wanaka's indoor pool

   Easier option: Skip the maze and sit in the café at Puzzling World; the afternoon is free to rest.

   More active option: A guided walk up Mount Iron in the afternoon, about 4.5 km and 1.5 hours, climbing about 240 m.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Wanaka

6. Day 6: The Crown Range, Arrowtown gold and on to Te Anau

   Wanaka over the Crown Range to Arrowtown, then past Kingston to Te Anau

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Te Anau
   Day 6 details

   We leave at 9 am over the Crown Range Road, at 1,076 m the highest sealed main road in New Zealand, with a coffee stop at the Cardrona Hotel, which dates from the gold-rush years of the 1860s, and a stop at the summit lookout above the Wakatipu basin. After about an hour of driving we reach Arrowtown, where gold was found in the Arrow River in 1862. Your guide walks you down Buckingham Street, with its stone and timber shopfronts, to the Chinese Settlement, the restored huts of Chinese miners who came to the goldfields from 1866. Then the children get their turn: gold pans and a shallow, slow stretch of the Arrow River to try them in, with your guide showing how the old miners swirled the gravel. After a sit-down lunch in Arrowtown we drive about 2 hours 15 minutes to Te Anau, past the south end of Lake Wakatipu at Kingston and through the farmland of northern Southland, with a stretch stop on the way. We arrive by about 4 pm on the shore of Lake Te Anau, and check in for two nights. The evening is free.

   Included

   • Crown Range Road with stops at the Cardrona Hotel and the summit lookout
   • Guided walk in Arrowtown: Buckingham Street and the Chinese Settlement
   • Gold panning in the Arrow River
   • Sit-down lunch in Arrowtown

   Optional experiences

   • Lakes District Museum, Arrowtown

   Easier option: Watch the gold panning from the riverbank, or browse Buckingham Street and the museum instead.

   Free time: Evening free in Te Anau

   Activity: Two legs of about 1 hour and about 2 hours 15 minutes, split by a long stop in Arrowtown. Bring a change of socks for the children: the river is cold. About 3.3 hours of driving in all, split into legs of no more than about 2 hours 15 minutes by real stops for lunch, walks and views.

   

7. Day 7: Milford Sound from Te Anau

   Te Anau along the Milford Road through the Eglinton Valley and the Homer Tunnel to Milford Sound, a cruise on the fiord, and back

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Te Anau
   Day 7 details

   Staying in Te Anau puts Milford Sound, Piopiotahi, about 2 hours away by road instead of about 4 hours each way from Queenstown, so this is a full day without being a 12-hour one. We leave at about 8 am in our own van and stop whenever it helps: in the Eglinton Valley, where wide grassy flats open below beech forest; at the Mirror Lakes, a short, level boardwalk where on a still morning the Earl Mountains are reflected in the water; and near the Homer Tunnel, where kea, the alpine parrot, often hop around the car park. Through the tunnel the road drops steeply to the sea. Our cruise of about two hours runs out to the Tasman Sea beneath Mitre Peak, 1,692 m, and close under Stirling Falls, with lunch on board. Fur seals rest on the rocks, and dolphins sometimes swim alongside. We are back in Te Anau by about 4:30 pm for a rest before an early group dinner at about 6 pm. If heavy rain, snow or avalanche risk closes the road today, Milford moves to tomorrow.

   Included

   • The Milford Road with stops in the Eglinton Valley, at the Mirror Lakes and near the Homer Tunnel
   • Milford Sound cruise of about two hours, with lunch on board
   • Early dinner together in Te Anau

   Optional experiences

   • Scenic flight back from Milford Sound to Te Anau or Queenstown (weather permitting, charged only when it flies)

   Easier option: The day is mostly seated; stay in the van at any stop you like.

   Free time: Late afternoon free in Te Anau

   Activity: About 2 hours each way on the road, plus stops. Day 8 is the backup if the Milford Road closes. Bring insect repellent for the sandflies at the wharf.

   

8. Day 8: Glowworms, then Queenstown and the luge

   Te Anau by boat to the glowworm caves, then by road via Kingston to Queenstown and up Bob's Peak

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Queenstown
   Day 8 details

   A slower morning. Late in the morning we take the boat across Lake Te Anau to the Te Anau glowworm caves, a guided trip into a young limestone cave where an underground river rushes past the walkways, then a small boat glides in the dark beneath thousands of glowworms. Even the most talkative children go quiet. Back in town in the early afternoon, lunch is on your own, then we drive about 2 hours, 170 km, to Queenstown, via Kingston and along the shore of Lake Wakatipu below the jagged Remarkables, with a stop at the Devil's Staircase lookout. We check in for two nights by late afternoon. Then we ride the Skyline Gondola up Bob's Peak, about 450 m above the town, for the view over the lake as the light softens, and everyone who meets the age and height rules rides the Skyline Luge, a cart track that winds down the hillside; smaller children ride with an adult. The evening is free in town. If Milford moved to today, we see Milford first, skip the caves and reach Queenstown in the early evening.

   Included

   • Te Anau glowworm caves, with the boat across Lake Te Anau
   • Devil's Staircase lookout on Lake Wakatipu
   • Skyline Gondola to Bob's Peak
   • Skyline Luge rides

   Easier option: Stay at the top of the gondola on the viewing terrace while others ride the luge.

   Free time: Evening free in Queenstown

   Activity: The caves have lit paths with some steps and low ceilings, and it is cool inside, so bring a layer. On the Milford backup, today is about 5 hours on the road, split by the cruise and lunch.

   

9. Day 9: The TSS Earnslaw and a high-country farm

   Queenstown by steamship across Lake Wakatipu to Walter Peak High Country Farm, and back

   • By boat
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Queenstown
   Day 9 details

   Our last full day is on and beside the lake. Late in the morning we walk to the Steamer Wharf and board the TSS Earnslaw, a coal-fired steamship that has worked Lake Wakatipu since 1912; children can look down into the engine room, where the stokers shovel coal into the boilers. The crossing to Walter Peak High Country Farm takes about 45 minutes. At the farm a shepherd works the sheepdogs on the hillside, there is a sheep-shearing demonstration, and children can feed the farm animals before a sit-down lunch. We steam back by mid-afternoon. The rest of the afternoon is free: the Queenstown Gardens on the point have a playground and lake views, the town beach is a short walk, and the Kiwi Park, where kiwi live in a darkened night house, sits by the foot of the gondola. Lake Wakatipu is cold even in summer, so a swim is a quick paddle for most. We meet at about 6 pm for a farewell dinner together, early enough for the youngest to stay awake for dessert.

   Included

   • TSS Earnslaw to Walter Peak High Country Farm and back
   • Sheepdog and sheep-shearing demonstrations at the farm
   • Sit-down lunch at Walter Peak
   • Farewell dinner in Queenstown

   Optional experiences

   • Kiwi Park, Queenstown
   • Shotover River jet boat (age and height rules apply)

   Free time: Afternoon free in Queenstown

10. Day 10: Depart from Queenstown

    Queenstown to Queenstown Airport (ZQN)

    • Drive about 18 min
    • Breakfast
    Day 10 details

    A last breakfast together and a free morning. If your flight is later in the day, walk the lakefront and the Queenstown Gardens one more time, take the children back to the playground, or browse the town's shops for the gift to take home; your hotel will store bags after check-out. When it is time, our van takes you about 8 km, 15 minutes, to Queenstown Airport (ZQN) at Frankton, and your guide checks your flight before saying goodbye. Queenstown has direct flights to Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and several Australian cities, and most families flying home to Canada connect through Auckland; allow at least two hours there for the connection and the transfer between the domestic and international terminals. If you have more time, we can quote extra nights in Queenstown or a few days on the North Island before you fly home. The trip ends after the airport drop-off.

    Included

    • Drop-off at Queenstown Airport (ZQN)

    Optional experiences

    • Extra nights in Queenstown

    Free time: Free morning

    Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 11 am; we time the airport drop-off to your flight.

Wildlife and weather: The season runs from October to April. December to February is the warmest and busiest, with long evenings that push stargazing past 10:30 pm, so it suits older children and night owls; in October, November and April it is dark earlier but cooler, with more snow on the peaks and a higher chance of Milford Road closures. After heavy rain Milford Sound fills with waterfalls. Fur seals are likely at Milford Sound, dolphins sometimes swim with the boat, kea, the alpine parrot, are often seen near the Homer Tunnel, and little blue penguins and kiwi are seen in the Antarctic Centre and Queenstown's Kiwi Park rather than in the wild.

• Christchurch1 night
• Lake Tekapo2 nights
• Wanaka2 nights
• Te Anau2 nights
• Queenstown2 nights