We spent nearly 5 weeks driving round South Island. You can see our pictures and read about the trip here.

Having read Insight Guide to New Zealand and looked at pictures on the web, we decided North Island wasn't for us. It felt busy and commercialised compared to the South. We had seen hot springs and volcanics in Iceland and we felt that anything else we could see in South Island. I did all the planning and research. By the time I'd finished what began as a 3-4 week trip had grown to 5 weeks.

We hired a car and drove clockwise round South Island stopping for several days in most places. We were based in motels and did all our cooking. Quality of food in the supermarkets was excellent - especially beef and lamb. We learnt that it paid to move up market on the wines.

We AVOIDED Queenstown (dreadful place as we are not into high adrenaline activities, night life or other tourists) but stopped in Cromwell. This was a delightful place ignored by foreign tourists and we felt we were seeing the genuine NZ rather than tourist NZ.

We were in two minds whether we wanted to do the west coast, but in the end decided we would regret it if we didn't. Having done it, we felt it didn't live up to the hype. We were underwhelmed by Fox and Franz Joseph Glacier (Iceland and Greenland spoil you) but I should say we didn't do the helicopter tour. The weather down the west coast was also WET and I'm afraid we didn't share the NZers enthusiasm for rain.

The countryside is beautiful. There are so many places to explore off the beaten track and the people are so kind.

Eleanor