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By air: with tourism continuing to thrive in Christchurch and the South Island, the number of international flights here is on the up. Air New Zealand now flies three times a week to Los Angeles, as well as having frequent flights to Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne. Qantas also provides a number of routes to the city and smaller airlines, such as Pacific Blue, have added to the number of routes from Christchurch to Australia. Domestically, Air New Zealand link Christchurch with all the major destinations in New Zealand, both on the North and South Islands. Flying time to Auckland is one hour and 20 minutes, while to Queenstown, just over one hour. By bus: there is a good bus network in the South Island, with InterCity Bus Company serving most of the major destinations including those to Dunedin, Franz Josef Glacier, Greymouth, Invercargill, Kaikoura, Picton, Timaru and Queenstown. Other useful bus services include the Akaroa Shuttle, with daily services between Christchurch and Akaroa; the Hanmer Connection, with daily buses to and from Hanmer Springs and in ski season, the Leopard Coachlines; with connections to the ski slopes. By car: travelling by car is a relatively stress-free experience in the South Island, as traffic is generally pretty light. From Picton (217miles north of Christchurch) it’s about a 5-hour drive to Christchurch, and around 2 and a half hours from Kaikoura on State Highway 1. Coming from Dunedin (227 miles south of Christchurch) you will also be on State Highway 1, and the journey is around 5 hours. From the west coast, you will drive through Arthur’s Pass and the driving time is 4 hours, the distance from Greymouth is 157 miles. | |
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