Hanmer Springs, Lake Tekapo and Aoraki Mount Cook - Apollo

Six nights and 1,059 kilometres in a loop from Christchurch in a campervan, north to the hot pools and then inland to the Mackenzie.

Hanmer Springs comes first, an hour and a half north of the city, where the thermal pools are developed with slides and a spa, which makes an easy opening afternoon.

Kaikoura follows on the coast, where the whale trips go out over a submarine canyon close inshore and the seals lie out at Point Kean, then Leithfield on the way back south. Lake Tekapo comes next, milky turquoise from rock flour, with the Church of the Good Shepherd on the shore and a dark sky reserve overhead, then Aoraki Mount Cook, where the Hooker Valley track crosses three swing bridges to a glacial lake below the highest mountain in the country, and Geraldine before Christchurch.

The camper and the day-by-day plan come from Apollo, and the hire is priced live per vehicle rather than per person; campsites, fuel, ferries, park fees and activities are all extra, with a nil-excess insurance pack available at booking. Seven days for 1,059 kilometres is a comfortable pace with a final day left in Christchurch. The Hooker Valley track is the best short walk in New Zealand and better done early in the day. Whale trips are weather dependent with no sighting promised. The loop format avoids a one-way relocation fee, and the schedule covers hot pools, a whale coast and the highest mountain in the country inside a week without a long driving day in it.