14-Day South Island Motorhome Itinerary for Post-Marathon Rejuvenation - Britz

Thirteen nights and 1,695 kilometres in a loop from Christchurch in a campervan, deliberately paced with short driving days.

Akaroa comes first on Banks Peninsula, a harbour in a drowned volcanic crater settled by the French in 1840, which is why the streets still have French names, then Geraldine and Lake Tekapo, milky turquoise from rock flour and inside a dark sky reserve.

Aoraki Mount Cook follows, with the Hooker Valley track to a glacial lake below the highest peak in the country, then Wanaka and Queenstown. Te Anau and Milford Sound come next, where the cliffs rise more than a kilometre out of the water, then Invercargill at the southern end of the island, the Catlins coast with its waterfalls, petrified forest and sea lions, and Dunedin, which has the steepest residential street in the world and a strong Scottish inheritance.

Britz supply the camper and the day-by-day plan, 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. Fourteen days for 1,695 kilometres is genuinely unhurried, which is the point of this version, and it leaves afternoons free rather than spending them on the road. Milford is a four-hour drive each way from Te Anau and the cruises need booking. The Catlins are the quietest part of the island and the stretch most itineraries leave out. Akaroa at the start is also an unusual inclusion, and an hour and a half from Christchurch it makes a gentle first night in an unfamiliar vehicle.