A great South Island escape - Britz

Nine nights and 2,230 kilometres in a loop from Christchurch in a campervan, round the South Island by way of Queenstown, Milford Sound and the West Coast.

Oamaru comes first on the east coast, with its Victorian limestone precinct and a little blue penguin colony, then Lake Tekapo, where the water is milky turquoise from rock flour and the surrounding area is a dark sky reserve with an observatory on Mount John.

Queenstown follows, then Milford Sound, reached through the Homer Tunnel, where cliffs rise more than a kilometre out of the water and the waterfalls run almost constantly because it rains there most days of the year. Te Anau, Glenorchy and Arrowtown come next, then Fox Glacier on the West Coast, Maruia Springs inland, and Marlborough, Whites Bay and Hanmer Springs on the way back to Christchurch.

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. Ten days for 2,230 kilometres is a real pace on South Island roads, and the Milford day alone is a four-hour drive each way from Te Anau. Cruises there need booking, and the tunnel can close for avalanche risk in winter. The loop format avoids a relocation fee, which on a one-way South Island hire can be significant. Ten nights is also about the minimum that takes in both Milford and the glaciers without turning the whole trip into driving.