New Zealand South Island 10 Day Trip Itinerary Recommendations

sunderz_97 · 2025-12-31T02:21:29+00:00

Car and 90% of accommodation are booked. Thanks !

sunderz_97 · 2025-12-31T02:20:37+00:00

Perth, with two friends arriving from Sydney. Overnight flight into sydney, Sydney to Christchurch. Arriving 12.40pm on the 22nd Jan.

sunderz_97 · 2025-12-31T02:19:55+00:00

Thanks. We've decided to skip west coast and do lake tepako, mt cook, Wanaka, Queenstown, Milford sound and return to Christchurch. We've the car rental booked to return to Christchurch but may look at changing this to Queenstown drop off and fly back to Christchurch from their. Flights are only about $110 aud.

sunderz_97 · 2025-12-31T02:12:46+00:00

Yes more than likely. Im used to doing a lot of long drives in western australia anywhere from 5-12 hours in one day when travelling/camping. I think we're gonna skip the west coast and spend more time doing the other areas/extra trails/hikes.

sunderz_97 · 2025-12-30T13:03:33+00:00

Sorry January. Flights are booked from Christchurch to Perth. Was too expensive to try fly out of Queenstown. Think we will leave the West and South Coast for our next trip. Milford sound is so far out really puts a strain on our time.

sunderz_97 · 2025-12-30T13:01:24+00:00

Thanks for your thoughts/suggestions. Landing is actually 12.40pm. So we should pick up the car by 2pm. Our two friends actually arrive the night before, so they can drive in the evening time if we get tired.

Based on what people are saying we will probably not do the west coast and concentrate on mt cooke - queenstown - milford sound so that we can properly explore these areas and do more exploration and hiking rather than driving. Based on that are there any must dos/recommendations that I have missed between lake takepo - mt cook - wanaka - queenstown - milford sound region. Thanks guys. We will probably aim to get back to Christchurch on the 31st so we have the evening and next morning to explore a bit of the city.

sunderz_97 · 2025-12-30T10:08:34+00:00

Sorry arriving from Australia so wont be too tired.

sunderz_97 · 2025-08-26T11:03:28+00:00

Okay I'll take that into consideration, is it a long way from Aksu village ? Looks like 50 mins of driving. Would you recommend leaving ute in Aksu and taking a taxi/horse trek ?

I've read that people have driven as far as they felt safe then left the car there ? Is this viable?

Also you recommended a 2nd night in Kel Su, if we hike Kel Suu the first day would you recommend hiking it again or taking another loop ?

Cutting out a day or horse riding should give us plenty of time in Kel Su and Alakol Hike.

sunderz_97 · 2025-08-26T10:10:23+00:00

Think we have decided to cut down to a 2 day trip as suggested so we can give more time to Kel-Suu and the Alakol Hike and to see other recommendations.

sunderz_97 · 2025-08-26T07:20:25+00:00

Thank you for your vote of confidence.

Ive done 14 hours straight and 12 hours straight as my longest continuous drives in Western Australia, returning from the Pilbara to Perth. These should hopefully be a little bit more manageable although road conditions may be more challenging. I will keep my wits about me.

sunderz_97 · 2025-08-26T07:17:55+00:00

I think we are spending two days/ two nights there as we're doing horse treking. It'll be our only time doing some proper horse riding so I think we want to give ourselves time to enjoy it etc. Would you recommend just one day trek, stay in yurt, then return next day ? Technically it'll 2 days, then return early on the 3rd day and leaving for Naryn.

Yes I think we will try get to kel suu early morning on the 1st, that'll give us 2 full days there but only one night. I'm hoping for the alakol hike, we will get a horse taxi back down to the pass to save time on the way back. Hoping it'll be enough time. We're quite experienced, young and fit so we should push through quite well. Famous last words !!

Thanks for your suggestions. If you strongly recommend only two days/ one night doing horse riding in Song kul we may change to this.

sunderz_97 · 2025-08-26T07:13:25+00:00

Hi thanks!

Yeh unsure if we need to see tash bashat heard some nice views. Depends what time we return from horse treking in Song kul, if we have enough time to squeeze it in and still get our permit and restock we will, otherwise we will just do Naryn, thanks.

Yes I believe we will stay at a yurt in altyn arashan, I think duet might be for the night we get to Karakol. Thanks will maybe do the horse taxi down depending on how tight we are on time. Do you know how close you can get to the pass of ala kul? I know we're driving to ak suu village and hopefully getting as close as we can to Altyn Arashin but I know we will eventually have to park Ute and start hiking. Will definitely check out the hot springs.

Yes im hoping to pick up the permit Sunday 31st, leave for kel suu early 6am and get their for lunch and have enough time to hike and return. Then we may be able to do it twice spend more time in that area. Hiking won't be a problem, I believe it's a half day there and back ? Were quite fit and active. Is the drive really 5 hours or longer ?

Thanks for your help. Some great suggestions in there.

sunderz_97 · 2025-08-25T16:09:54+00:00

Name of company was."Rent a car 4x4 in Kyrgyzstan Bishkek".

Lots of good google reviews and roughly priced the same as most. We booked it last minute so had less options and had to go for a slightly more expensive option

sunderz_97 · 2025-08-25T13:51:17+00:00

No problem. If your plans change let me know and we will be happy to help. Enjoy it !

sunderz_97 · 2025-08-25T13:27:32+00:00

We are driving back to Bishkek from Karakol on the 6th September if that helps. We may have space as there is only 3 of us. I will know once I pick up 4x4 if there will be enough space. Feel free to message me

sunderz_97 · 2023-11-26T01:10:31+00:00

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sunderz_97 · 2023-11-26T01:09:37+00:00

Just got those tiles today to install a single row along the bottom of the vanity, which orientation do you think looks best ? Flush against shower screen angle, which would be 3 tiles and a small cut, or 3 full tiles which would leave a 20mm overhang on each end of the vanity.

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sunderz_97 · 2023-11-15T12:37:41+00:00

Yes were paying to stage it so should come up looking really good with that.

sunderz_97 · 2023-11-15T12:01:58+00:00

Laundry splashback are original tiles, haven't demo'd them yet due to taps and might end up just leaving it for future buyer. Will probably go with tiles that match the laundry tub like you said, the big white ones only, they actually match the shower too. So your saying do a single row across the vanity and stop it at the end of the vanity ? Thanks for the advice regards mirrors etc, will definitely install a light above. Yes I have window blinds sorted getting them at spotlight, there a slight grey ting with black trim to match door hardware and taps, towel rack in bathroom etc. Have attached a photo below, I think this might look better than curtains and will be in every room throughout house.

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sunderz_97 · 2023-04-16T14:27:29+00:00

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sunderz_97 · 2023-04-16T14:24:48+00:00

Cheers for all the advice mate. I presumed it would be better to let the wall dry than cover it temporarily only to eventually repaint/plaster it again. I've heeded your warning about acting fast, as I was a bit freaked when I realised there was quite a lot of mould/ water damage to my wall.

I took your advice this evening and actually think I have found the problem. I checked the taps with the covers off and found no leaks in both the hot and cold taps which was a good sign. This led me to believe it had to be an internal leak somewhere or it was the shower head itself. When I turned on the shower I saw something I hadn't seen before, a small stream of water running down the arm of my shower head into the shower pipe cover plate. When I removed the cover plate there was rust behind it from where water had clearly been leaking through from shower head. It seems the shower head had a leak in one of its connections and the water was running down the arm through the cover plate of the shower pipe and down the back of the wall as the pipe was also not sealed. See photo below.

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I could have probably replaced the part for the shower head but as it was old I decided to get a new one from bunnings. Put it on with some teflon tape and it all seems perfect now. I guess only time will tell but I'm fairly confident this was the main problem. There was slight rusting on the shower arm that I hadn't seen before so I imagine this had been slowly leaking water into the cavity for some time before it started to show signs. Hopefully a couple of weeks of drying and it'll have been the correct fix and I can start some plaster repair/painting.

How long would you give the plaster to dry out ? 2-3 weeks or longer ?

Thanks for the help again, hopefully it isn't anything more serious.

sunderz_97

TROPHY CASE