Top of the South - Britz

Nine nights and 993 kilometres in a loop from Christchurch in a campervan, up to the top of the South Island and back over the Lewis Pass.

Nelson and Marlborough between them hold three national parks, the Marlborough Sounds and the largest wine region in the country, which is a lot in a corner of the island most itineraries give two nights to.

Waipara and Kaikoura come first up the coast, where fur seals lie on the rocks at Point Kean, then Blenheim in the Marlborough vineyards and Picton at the head of the Queen Charlotte Sound. Nelson and Motueka follow for Abel Tasman National Park, where granite headlands and golden beaches are walked or kayaked in sections with water taxis filling the gaps, then Takaka and Golden Bay over the marble hill, and St Arnaud for Nelson Lakes, where Lake Rotoiti sits in beech forest with a jetty running out into water clear enough to see the bottom. Hanmer Springs and its thermal pools close the loop.

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 993 kilometres is an unhurried pace, which is the right way to use a route this compact: most of the stops are worth two nights and the schedule allows for it. The Takaka Hill into Golden Bay is a slow climb in a camper. Abel Tasman water taxis and the Golden Bay campsites both want booking over summer. The Lewis Pass on the way home is the quietest of the alpine crossings.