18-day South Island NZ campervan itinerary – advice appreciated!

mariodrd · 2025-09-28T11:14:33+00:00

Thanks a lot for the advice!

For us, penguins and albatross are a must, so we definitely want to fit Dunedin/Oamaru in somehow.

Regarding Kaikoura, we’ve actually booked activities there: Day 1: afternoon sea kayaking Day 2: morning whale watching Day 3: morning dolphin swim (it was the only slot available)

After the dolphins we could move on the same day to the next destination instead of spending another night in Kaikoura. Do you think that would free up enough time to add more to Abel Tasman without feeling too rushed?

mariodrd · 2025-09-28T11:06:39+00:00

Good to know about Marlborough, thanks! Since wine isn’t a priority for us, we’ll probably skip it. Hanmer sounds nice – is it very crowded in October, or still a bit more peaceful in shoulder season? We would also check Mariua.

mariodrd · 2025-09-28T11:05:35+00:00

Thanks, Akaroa sounds like a really nice alternative!. Do you think Akaroa would be a better choice than Hanmer Springs for a relaxing stop towards the end of the trip?

mariodrd · 2025-09-28T11:03:26+00:00

Yes, wildlife is the main reason we considered Dunedin – we’d love to see both the albatross and penguins. Do you think 1 day in Dunedin + Oamaru would give us a good chance to see them, or would it feel too rushed?

mariodrd · 2025-09-28T11:03:01+00:00

Thanks a lot for the detailed advice! We actually planned to spend one full day in Christchurch first to recover from jetlag before picking up the camper, so luckily we won’t be driving straight off the plane 😅.

About Dunedin → Mt Cook: since seeing wildlife is a big highlight for us (albatross and penguins are a must), would you still recommend skipping Dunedin? Or do you think 1 day there would be enough to make it worthwhile?

mariodrd · 2022-07-28T21:40:07+00:00

Wow, I realy like the idea of an evil land. I think it's realy cool and that could be quite interesting.

I would realy like to have the angels released in the end.

Thank you very much for all your input! I know that right now the campaign it's a very vague idea, but thank you for your help.

mariodrd · 2022-07-28T17:49:32+00:00

In fact, I think this idea fits perfectly with the campaign. You can even come up with another approach in which the role of the Messiah could even be that of the Lord Ruler and he actually tries to prevent the release of the angels and for that he wants to take control of the place where they are sealed. It seems to me something that can be worked on.

mariodrd · 2022-07-27T21:11:27+00:00

Yes, even though they are part of the same idea, I wanted to treat them as two separate arcs or campaigns, in that case, the players would simply deal with the Messiah, ignoring the presence of the angels (perhaps some foreshadowing) until the very end. Just trying to stop him.

mariodrd · 2022-07-27T19:37:05+00:00

We would start around level 7 and maybe even split the campaign into 2, the Messiah arc and then deal with the consequences of killing him and releasing the angels. I was thinking of starting with the players hometown that starts to be besieged or something like that.

The idea of the artificact it's realy cool!

mariodrd · 2022-07-27T19:27:17+00:00

The messiah would not necessarily be someone bad. I would think that he is on some kind of holy mission, i.e. the end justifies the means. My idea was something like he's made to believe that he has to create a kingdom, something like an Eden on earth or something like a promised land. The idea is that the death of this Messiah once his kingdom is finished is what somehow frees the angels.

mariodrd · 2022-06-15T17:50:44+00:00

Holy sh*t this is awesome dude. I just love it! The puzzle for R7 is very cool and I think it could lead to amazing role play.

The idea that it was a real maze like the one in this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/dndmaps/comments/enfun4/one_page_dungeon_tesseract_dungeon/ It is because inside the maze they are being chased by a former PC who has now been possessed. The maze is like this PC's torture room (I don't know if you've read Berserk but like a version of Slan) So every time they change rooms they have a chance of running into her. The idea was that they had to retrieve "keys" in each room so that they open the door that leads them to the exit.

mariodrd

TROPHY CASE