Staff Trip - Winter Southern Lakes Journey

Most winters during the school holiday break, Daryl and his family make a trip around down one side of the South Island to Queenstown and then return up the opposite coast. This year they had to carefully plan their trip due to the wild weather that had hit the top of the South Island around the same time. Luckily they caught a break heading down the West Coast through Reefton and Greymouth to Rainforest retreat at Franz, which is one of their favourite spots to stay and we mention again below in our Great Destinations segment. A few days later this route they had travelled was closed off again with various slips and washouts.
From Franz it was on to Wanaka, then Cromwell and Arrowtown to check out the Winter Wonderland set up at Ayrburn. As always Ayrburn never disappoints with its range of activities and dining. There is plenty of room for motorhome parking at the end of the main road in to Ayrburn. They visited again for brunch a few days later on their way back out of Queenstown. From there it was towards Tekapo to go ice skating and rest in the hot pools. This was not to be unfortunately as the rain set in again ending any hope of venturing outside for an evening under the stars. Leaving Tekapo it is always ideal to head to Farlie for breakfast, particularly the Farlie Bakehouse. Next stop was Christchurch to catch up with some relatives and then finally onward home to Blenheim. At this point many roads on the west coast were still closed off, so luckily this way around the South Island worked for them this time.
Daryl recommends checking the NZTA journey planner before travelling on longer trips https://www.journeys.nzta.govt.nz/journey-planner this system is really up to date and includes all road closures and road works that will likely cause a delay to your journey.