Packing for a trip to New Zealand’s South Island

Despite spending the better part of my youth growing up in New Zealand, I didn’t end up visiting Queenstown – one of country’s most stunning tourist destinations – until my mid-twenties. So when my husband and I were invited to my cousin’s wedding at Glendhu Station just out of Wanaka, we decided to turn a long weekend into a tiki tour around the lower part of the South Island.

Our South Island Itinerary

I’ll be sharing a full round up of our itinerary some stage over the next week, but I though I’d touch on what we did during our nine-day stay. Our trip looked a little something like this: Queenstown > Wanaka > Glenorchy > Kinloch > Te Anau > Milford Sound > Queenstown.

We started in a city that is best known for its remarkable views (and not just of the Remarkables…); here, we spent our time traipsing around the city, before driving to our next destination; Wanaka. In Wanaka, we celebrated with my cousin as she married her best friend, and we hiked up Roy’s Peak to witness incredible views of the surrounding landscape.

Our next stop was Kinloch via Glenorchy, and it was here that we started to really take in the landscape. We spent both days hiking, and continued our hikes once we arrived in Te Anau.

Our final stop was the beautiful Milford Sound – another beautiful spot for tramping, though for us, we focused more on relaxing and taking in our surrounds.

Overall, we planned to be hiking for five out of the nine days, with two of the days being earmarked as major travel days to/from home.

Our Weather Forecast

We kicked off our trip on Thursday 7 March, which signals the start of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. The amount of rainfall in the Lakes District is higher than anywhere else in New Zealand, and naturally the weather can be a little unpredictable throughout the transition to autumn.

Having acclimatised to Sydney weather, I tend to find anything below 24 deg C cold enough to warrant a light knit or jacket, and noting that the temperatures would be between 16-21 deg C, I knew I’d need to whip out some of my cold weather gear. We also were expecting rain. And lots of it. The forecast before we left for our trip was rain across all locations. All I’ll say is, don’t let that get you down. We got lucky with our forecast (which I’ll share more of in my next post), as it was sunny on all but one of our main tramping days. Be sure to bring gear that will allow you to make the most of your trip rain or shine.

What to Pack

For any trip under seven days, I usually try and pack carry-on only, mostly as I find I need far less than I think, but on this occasion I opted to take a full-size suitcase with me. I planned for five days of tramping, and took enough gym gear to cover me for each day (I wasn’t sure what access I’d have to a washing machine), in addition to enough clothing options to see me through the nine-day trip.

I definitely packed more than I needed, as I tried to cover off my bases in hopes of good weather, though in reality I found myself wearing the same outfit each evening or for a nice meal out. Below, I’ve dropped a guide of the minimum you can get away with packing for nine days away if you’re happy to wear items more than once (assuming your itinerary and activity list looks a little like ours!).

CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES

• 2 pairs of jeans
• 1-2 knee-length or midi skirts
• 3 long-sleeved knit sweaters
• 2 lightweight t-shirts
• 1 knit cardigan
• 1-2 thick long sleeved tops
• 1 evening dress
• 1 lightweight jacket (i.e. a trench like this one)
• 1 swimsuit (bikini or one-piece)
• 1 pair of casual sneakers
• 1 pair of smart low-heeled shoes
• 1 scarf (OPTIONAL)
• 11 pairs of underwear
• 2-3 bras
• 1 leather tote bag
• 1 smart small/medium handbag (which can be worn for a fancy event)

WORKOUT CLOTHING

• 5 pairs of workout leggings (1 for each hike)
• 5 sports bras
• 5 sleeveless tops or t-shirts
• 1 long sleeved sports jumper (I took this one with me)
• 1 half-zip water-resistant hooded jacket AND/OR
• 1 waterproof zip-up jacket
• 1 zip-up backpack (I used this one)
• 1 pair of running shoes/sneakers with tread
• 5 pairs of socks

What I would leave behind

Perhaps it was a side effect of bringing a larger-than-usual suitcase, or maybe it was the last minute panic, but on reflection I found that I definitely brought along more than I needed.

Given the weather and how often I was reaching for something different to wear, I found that the things I could have left at home included:

• casual dresses – the weather was cold and I didn’t pack a thin knit or tights in my suitcase so sadly didn’t have the opportunity to wear these. Might have been different had the weather been warmer during our stay.
  
  
• silk camisoles – I packed three silk camisoles, and didn’t end up reaching for a single one. We didn’t have much access to an iron and in the end these weren’t practical as the weather was much too cold to wear one on its own.
  
  
• second pair of sneakers – because I had space, I took two pairs of sneakers with me, when in reality I could easily have made do with just the one pair. Pick your favourite, and make sure they’re ones you could happily walk 7+ hours in.
  
  
• leather sandals – as I mentioned earlier, it was cold in New Zealand, so the last thing I even thought about wearing were my summer sandals. Perfect for Sydney, not so perfect for Queenstown.
  
  
• denim shorts – perhaps optimistically, I packed two pairs of shorts for the trip, assuming I’d wear these with a long-sleeved top. The weather has cooled down considerably however so I think unless the forecast is over 20 deg C for your trip, it’s probably best to leave these at home.
  
  
• thin long-sleeved tops – I’d take this with a grain of salt, but these were one of the final items in my suitcase I didn’t find myself reaching for. I wanted to wear thick cotton tops, or cosy knit sweaters to block out the cold. It gets especially chilly in the evening, so might be worth bringing along at least one as an extra piece just to layer if you’re feeling particularly cold.

So that’s my New Zealand South Island holiday packing list. If you’re planning a trip of your own, I’d love to know where you’re headed and what you’re going to be doing on your holiday! x