Queenstown to the Top of the South Island: a 21-day campervan itinerary for outdoors, food and wine - Britz

Twenty nights and 2,100 kilometres from Queenstown to Christchurch in a campervan, by way of the top of the South Island, which is about as far from a direct route as it is possible to get.

Wanaka, Twizel and Tekapo come first through the Mackenzie Basin, where the lakes run milky turquoise from rock flour, Aoraki stands at the head of Lake Pukaki and the dark sky reserve overhead is among the largest in the world.

Ross and Franz Josef follow on the West Coast, an old gold town and a glacier that comes down through rainforest almost to sea level, then Reefton inland. Kaiteriteri and Abel Tasman National Park come next, where the coast track runs between granite headlands and golden beaches, then Nelson with its breweries and hop gardens, and Blenheim in the Marlborough vineyards. Kaikoura follows down the coast, where sperm whales feed over a canyon close inshore, then Hanmer Springs and its thermal pools 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. Twenty-one days for 2,100 kilometres is the slowest schedule in the range relative to its distance, which is the point: nothing on it needs doing in a hurry and most stops take two nights. The West Coast highway and the Takaka Hill are the slow sections. This is a one-way hire of some length, so a relocation fee is worth checking at booking. Three weeks also means the West Coast weather stops being a threat to the itinerary and becomes a few days indoors instead.