🇳🇿 First-Time NZ Travel Guide: Hand-Drawn Itinerary!
✈️ Visa Update (Nov 2025) Chinese travelers with Australian tourist/work/student/family visas can visit NZ visa-free with NZeTA! Stay up to 3 months Excludes transit-only flights (must enter Australia first) Pilot program for 12 months 🗺️ 10-Day South Island Road Trip D❶ Christchurch Arrive → pick up rental car → explore the "Garden City" 🌸 D❷-❸ Christchurch → Tekapo → Mt. Cook 72 Inland Scenic Route: Lupin fields 🌸 + Lake Tekapo + stargazing 🌌 Lake Pukaki Viewpoint: Milky-blue waters 💙 Mt. Cook Hikes: Tasman Glacier (1hr return) Hooker Valley (4hr return) Muller Hut (8hr, for campers) D❹-❺ Mt. Cook → Queenstown Queenstown: Skyline Gondola 🚠 + bungee/skydiving 🪂 + Earnslaw Park Arrowtown: Gold-rush charm 🏚️ D❻ Queenstown → Milford Sound 7hr return drive + 2hr cruise 🚢 (skip if bad weather!) D❼ Queenstown → Wanaka → Fox Glacier Heli-hike ($2000+/pp) or Fox Glacier South Side Walk Minnehaha Walk: Summer glow worms! 🌌 D❽ Fox → Greymouth LOTR’s Castle Hill 🏰 + Pancake Rocks 🥞 + moody beaches D❾-❿ Greymouth → Kaikōura → Christchurch Whale watching 🐋 + seal colonies 🦭 + coastal hikes #NZTravel #VisaFreeNZ #SouthIsland #RoadTrip #AdventureNZ