Christchurch to the West Coast and Kaikōura: An 11 Day Outdoor and Wellness Campervan Itinerary - Britz

Ten nights and 1,200 kilometres in a loop from Christchurch in a campervan, with short drives and rest days deliberately built into it.

Arthur’s Pass comes first, the highest road crossing of the Southern Alps, where kea work the car parks, then Hokitika, the centre of the pounamu trade, with the gorge inland running milky blue.

Punakaiki follows, where the Pancake Rocks are limestone weathered into stacked plates with blowholes beneath them that perform best at high tide with a swell running. The route then turns inland for Maruia Hot Springs, a thermal pool in a riverbed on the Lewis Pass road, and Hanmer Springs, where the pools are developed. Kaikoura comes next for the whales and the seals at Point Kean, then the Hurunui country before 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. Eleven days for 1,200 kilometres is a slow pace by design, with rest days rather than destinations filling the gaps. The glaciers are not on this route, which keeps the West Coast leg short. The loop format avoids a one-way relocation fee, and both passes are open most of the year, though snow is possible in winter. For a traveller who wants the West Coast and the hot pools without the long run south to the glaciers, this is the itinerary that does it.