I finally made it to New Zealand!! Originally our honeymoon destination back in the 90’s but plans changed when Jamie left his job at Continental Airlines in Guam for another covering the airline industry on Wall Street. Our New Zealand ski resort was traded in for a Chilean one, much easier to manage for a few days from NYC.

This NZ trip came together unexpectedly after Jamie received an invitation to participate in United’s inaugural flight from the US to Christchurch in December ’23. The flight could prove a boon for tourism on the South Island — some say the more beautiful island — as previously there was no non-stop from the U.S. Now most visitors from the US probably will hit both islands BUT if your time is limited and you are looking to maximize your time in the natural beauty of the South Island, this is the way to do it.

Since the flight was scheduled the second weekend of December, we only had 6 days on the ground before needing to head home for the start of the Christmas holidays. How much can one actually see in New Zealand in less than a week? Quite a bit, actually, if you are willing to hit the road daily.

This was my first time experiencing all the hoopla surrounding an international inaugural flight. And WHAT an event it was, starting with a party in the Polaris Lounge at SFO, and continuing on board with inaugural specific swag including pj’s along with the usual amenity kits for each passenger in the Polaris cabin. The best part for me, though, was watching Jamie in his element, as journalists, pilots, flight attendants, and several UA management team members made their way to his seat, excited to discuss the flight and new route with him. The flight team even presented him with the flight manifest at the end of the flight, making his day, or perhaps even his life… he was beaming with joy at that.

Coming into Christchurch, we could see a huge crowd of plane peepers gathered near the start of the runway, and as we taxied in, we were delightfully greeted with a water canon salute by fire trucks. How cool!!  Unfortunately, I did not have a window seat so no photos for me. Or you. Sorry. After passing through customs and immigration, the warm welcome continued as each passenger was given a stuffed kiwi bird while local Maori musicians and dancers entertained the crowd.

Another celebratory event that evening at a rooftop bar in Christchurch. How often does one get to enjoy cocktails with their flight crew?!! I met so many interesting people from the flight attendants, pilots, passengers, reporters, and United management personnel. With all the fun, I forgot to document the lovely party.

Thoughts following our whirlwind trip…

• The scenery lived up to or actually exceeded all expectations.
• The people are incredibly friendly.
• Driving is easy even with adjusting to opposite side of road. No big highways, just plenty of scenic drives.
• Yep… there are sheep everywhere. 25 million of them in fact. People? 5 million.
• The wine is fantastic; The food is mostly great. However, in my opinion, Australia trumps NZ in this domain. That being said, one of the restaurants on this trip made my top 5 restaurant experiences.
• Jamie and I both hope/need to return to see more of this amazing country.

Below is our six day itinerary with details on hotels, restaurants, etc. below that. I hope it may inspire your own Kiwi adventure.

South Island 6 day/5 night itinerary

• DAY 1: CHRISTCHURCH Arrive late morning. Lunch, explore Christchurch; Overnight at The George in Christchurch.
• DAY 2: CHRISTCHURCH & QUEENSTOWN Explore more of Christchurch in the morning. Fly to Queenstown in the afternoon; explore the bay area of town. A two night stay here at the aptly named Central Private Hotel or your hotel of choice.
• DAY 3: MILFORD SOUND Day-trip to the stunning Milford Sound: 4 hour scenic coach tour with stops, a cruise on the sound, finishing with a return flight over the mountains and into Queenstown.
• DAY 4: WINE COUNTRY & LAKE PŪKAKI Rent car and drive to the beautiful wine country near Queenstown for lunch at Amisfield Winery; Keep going and enjoy a gorgeous drive to the lovely town of Wanaka. Finally, head towards Lake Pukaki, one of the best locations in the world for viewing night skies without light pollution. Dinner and overnight at the fabulous Lakestone Lodge overlooking the lake and Mt Cook.
• DAY 5: LAKE PŪKAKI & AKAROA Delicious breakfast at the lodge. Explore, by foot or bicycle, the grounds and area surrounding Lakestone Lodge. Drive to quaint Akaroa for the night, a historic French-settled village in the scenic Banks Peninsula area. Overnight in a charming historic small inn, French Bay House.
• DAY 6: AKAROA & CHRISTCHURCH Hearty breakfast and a morning stroll through Akaroa; drive to airport for afternoon flight back to San Francisco from Christchurch.

Thoughts: You could easily add on a day to any or all of the stops. I definitely wished we had another day at Lakestone Lodge in Pūkaki to explore that area further including Mt Cook.. The Lodge was so beautiful and peaceful. And there are other areas north of Christchurch which look very interesting as well. We only passed through Wanaka but this looks like a great town… would make an excellent stop for a night. Driving was pleasant without much traffic and no major highways. It was a great way to see more of the country.

Itinerary Planning App:  I’ve been using the app Wanderlog for all my trip planning and itineraries. I am not sponsored by them, fyi, just letting you know because I find the app incredibly helpful. Wanderlog initially reached out to me after I published my Iraq post, asking if they could make a map for the post with all my stops. I sometime receive requests for collaboration on my blog — Hello! Your blog is great. Let’s work together! — but this was one seemed legit and interesting. And because of that, I looked into their trip planning app which I now use for all of my itineraries. I can forward all my email confirmations for hotels, flights, tours, restaurant reservations, care rentals, etc. ar do, travel articles, others itineraries for the location, and more. All of the information is now in one place and it organizes it all, creating a day by day itinerary and map. It even finds the costs of hotels and tours within the emails forwarded and creates a tally of expenses making it incredibly easy to manage a trip budget. I can also add trip-mates to the plan so they can participate in the planning OR just have access to the itinerary. They offer a free version but I upgraded to the paid one to access all the features.

Below you can find detailed information on the locations from my itinerary including hotels, restaurants, and activities.

Christchurch

hotel

The George https://www.thegeorge.com This hotel was perfectly nice. Nothing extravagant. Comfortable bed. Convenient location next to Hagley Park and the Botanic Gardens. Walking distance to shopping and restaurant area. There is also a decent restaurant here where we enjoyed two meals.

restaurants/bars

50 Bistro https://www.thegeorge.com/dine/50-bistro

This is the hotel restaurant at The George. We had a lunch there and breakfast and both were very good. Loved the scallops served over a corn puree with chorizo.

Amazonita https://amazonita.co.nz/

Dinner for our one evening in Christchurch. Funky decor. Food was pretty good but vibe felt more like a chain restaurant. The appealing menu pulls from around the world. My spicy prawn linguini was excellent. Located in an area with many restaurants and pubs. Walking distance from our hotel, The George.

 

Mr. Brightside https://mrbrightside.co.nz

This is a rooftop bar where we attended a private event for the United Airlines inauguration. Nice atmosphere, view, and cocktails.

Sights

Ok, we didn’t see nearly as much as we should have due to jet-lag and inauguration events BUT we did enjoy walking around the area near our hotel. We walked through lovely Hagley Park and the Botanical Gardens (which are free by the way!) We explored Central City neighborhood as well. Everything feels neat and tidy, and the people seem extremely friendly.

queenstown

hotel

The Central Private Hotel https://naumihotels.com/thecentralhotel/

We first booked a lovely Hilton in Queenstown BUT it was not in the thick of things and required a ferry back and forth from the main area. The Central Private Hotel, besides being a strange name, is a smaller option within a ten minute walk to the bustling waterfront area. Nothing fancy here but it proved to be comfortable, centrally located, and we will always welcome a complimentary happy hour with wine and snacks.

restaurants/bars

Amisfield Restaurant https://amisfield.co.nz

OMG, this goes into the Top 5 of best restaurant experiences of my life! Please, PLEASE go here. It is not far from Queenstown… maybe 30 minutes? Gorgeous winery overlooking a lake and green hills. We dined with friends from United Airlines and chose to pair wines with each course. This is a winery, so makes sense! Oh, every single thing was absolutely divine, including the weather and conversations. The wine! The extraordinary flavors and theatrical presentations of each course!

The chef is Vaughan Mabee, a passionate New Zealand hunter, fisherman, and forager who spent time in the kitchens of both NOMA in Copenhagen and a Michelin 3* restaurant in Spain. His love for his country and its bounty comes through loud and clear. Every course is a feast for the eyes followed by a symphony for the palate. And don’t forget the wines… fabulous. I will cherish memories from this lunch til I am old and gray, or rather older and grayer.

Fergburger https://fergburger.com

This place gets GREAT reviews as well as an extremely long line to enter. We were soooo excited to try it, but the first day, the line was 2 blocks long. Nope. We tried it late on our second night when the line was finally reasonable. Meh. Expected to be really wowed, but found it mediocre at best. Not even close to the level of Shake Shack or In and Out in our opinion. Try it and let me know if you agree, only IF you can handle wait times!

Mirch Masala https://mirchmasala.co.nz/menu/

Our plan was to get Fergburger our first night but the line was too long so we ended up at this Indian place. We should have booked somewhere — every place was full, we were freezing and tired, but Mirch Masala said they could seat us in 20 minutes. Sold! Food was good, nothing amazing. Several Indian joints in the same area that all have decent reviews. Spice level pretty mild. Always happy for Indian. A fight broke out between a diner and a waiter when we were leaving… dinner and a show!

Finz https://www.finzseafoodandgrill.co.nz

We made a reservation here. It is very good, nothing amazing.  It would appear that the touristy waterfront area of Queenstown is not known for exceptional restaurants.  We enjoyed our seafood, mussels for me, seafood linguini for J. Nice NZ Savignon Blanc to pair.

Vudu Cafe https://vuducafe.co.nz

We stopped here for a coffee on our final morning. Beautiful water view, great coffee, and beautiful looking sweets and other delightful looking fare.

SIGHTS

• Explore this picturesque town surrounded by water. Lots of shopping, art galleries, restaurants and bars. The town is fairly touristy, just so you know in advance.
• Wine tasting: Many gorgeous wine estates within half hour drive of Queenstown. We loved the wines poured at our spectacular lunch at Amisfield Winery.
• We didn’t have time for other pursuits, but Queenstown is famous for its plethora of outdoor activities: hiking, biking, climbing, skiing, boating, bungy-jumping, skydiving, white water rafting, paragliding, and more.

milford sound

A must see from Queenstown area! Self-drive or do a sightseeing tour. We don’t like group tours but as it is a VERY long drive, we chose to take a sightseeing bus there, do the included cruise on the sound, and then take a scenic flight back (30 minutes vs. 4+ hours driving.) You will spend the entire day with your mouth open wide, bewildered by the surrounding beauty. Here is the link for the company we chose — https://www.milfordsoundselect.com

The bus ride, albeit long, was actually quiet comfortable with spectacular scenery most of the way. Our driver was informative and entertaining. We had plenty of bathroom and photo stops along the way.

The flight was a bit terrifying for me, fyi, but the scenery was unbelievable! The tour company also offers a helicopter return as well… that probably would have been a better option given my nerves on turbo props.

lake pūkaki

hotel

 Lakestone Lodge https://www.lakestonelodge.co.nz This was our one splurge hotel of the trip and it was worth every cent. Small lodge known for it’s passion for the surrounding natural environment and spectacular night skies free from light pollution. The beds were heavenly, and the views of Mt Cook, the lake, and the stars were magical. I honestly wished we could stay one more night to truly enjoy everything the hotel had to offer. There is a fabulous restaurant onsite for guests only, and both our meals were exquisitely prepared.

There was one mishap but by no means the fault of the hotel — our neighbors left all their lights on WITH the blinds open (ignoring the signs to use the electrical black-out blinds at night) after they left with a guide for a star-gazing excursion. Meanwhile we were sitting outside our room for our own private star show, but with the annoyance of the bright lights emanating from next door. We left a diplomatic note on their door which management saw, were equally annoyed, and extremely apologetic to us.

restaurants

Lakestone Lodge: AMAZING!!  However, it is only open to hotel guests. I suggest you stay here!!

Mt Cook Alpine Salmon Shop: Exquisite salmon. I first read about the shop in this NY Times travel article. The author mentioned that he’d been served the “best salmon I’d ever had” from a sushi chef in Sydney who told him it had come from this place, “the most beautiful place I’ve ever been,” said the chef. Needless to say, I had extremely high hopes after reading all that. The salmon and view certainly did not disappoint but the long lines of Chinese tourists and a crotchety cashier did.

Banks Peninsula: akaroa

Akaroa is a small picturesque town with French roots. Activities in the area include a harbor cruise to look for dolphins and fur seals, hiking, biking, and visiting a penguin preserve nearby. It is less than an hour to Christchurch airport.

hotel

French Bay House https://www.frenchbayhouse.co.nz/ After Lakestone Lodge, I worried we would be let down by our final night’s accommodation, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Charming historical home set up as B&B, and run by a young couple. Easy walking distance to the waterfront and all the shops and restaurants. Our breakfast was fabulous.

restaurants

Ma Maison Decent place with nice views on the water.