Christchurch Travel Forum

Travlling to South Island for a week in June. 3 nights in Christchurch, 2 in Queenstown and 2 in Lake Wanaka. Doing the fly/drive thing with friends. Any suggestions on the must see/do? How cold does it get? Not a seasoned traveller so any info is good info.

If you are a member of an Automobile Association in Oz, bring your membership card so that you can get all the free help (maps, accomodation guides, must see/do) from the New Zealand Automobile Association which has an affiliation with your Club there.

Yep, be prepared for the cold in Wanaka and Queenstown but with brilliantly fine weather you will go crazy. Also with these two towns, especially Queenstown, you will have a great night life and be prepared to find more winter visitors from Europe and North America than kiwis. It will be a buzz.

You look young, so I would take 1 day off your Christchurch stay and tack that onto Queenstown. Just a thought. BEST WISHES !!!

I totally agree with Chris' suggestion to take a night/day off staying in Christchurch and add it onto your Queenstown stay...

If you are just interested in partying the other two VT members are right. (Although I can tell you that some visitors just 20 years of age even spend a week in Christchurch and did not get bored.) If not, Christchurch is a great base for great trips, as to Banks Peninsula/Akaroa, Arthur's Pass, Hanmer Springs etc. It is fantastic to sit in the hot outdoor pools in Hanmer and snow all around. The trip to Arthur's Pass is absolutely spectacular in winter, wonderful landscape.

Also in Chch you can do a lot of things, like Willowbank (NZ wildlife), Antarctic Centre, Gondola, punting on the Avon, etc., also great walks. And come over the Port Hills to Lyttelton Harbour.

You can find 150 Chch, Lyttelton and Banks Peninsula tips on my travel pages, and check my Canterbury page for trips around Christchurch.

Referring to the weather:
Also in Chch it can be cold in June. The coldest months normally are July and August - but even then rarely under zero degrees. Actually we have about 20 deg on most days.

You can find many hotels and accomodations in Christchurch. If you are a backpacker like me, I recommend to stay in YMCA in Heresford St. It takes 10 minutes walk to city center and cathedral square, and it's the opposite of Botanic Garden, just across the street. YMCA is clean and has the complete facilities, such as internet, gym, etc.

From Christchurch to Queenstown, you can take Atomic Shuttle (NZ$50). Queenstown is a beautiful city for the adventurer, who like skiing, bungee jumping, and other exreme sports. I'd been there last week, and it just -5'C in the morning (lol).
From there you can visit Milford Sound as it is highly recommended. If you want to join the tours, you can use Kiwi Discovery. June is the off season. When I was there, they give me 50% discount (the normal price is NZ$155)