Family-Friendly Christchurch to Kaikoura Itinerary - Britz

Four nights and 699 kilometres in a loop from Christchurch in a campervan, over the alps to the West Coast and back by a different pass, planned with families in mind.

Arthurs Pass comes first, the highest road crossing of the Southern Alps, where the Otira Viaduct carries the road down a slip-prone slope and kea, the world’s only alpine parrot, work the car parks for food.

Greymouth and Lake Brunner follow on the West Coast, then the route turns back east through the Lewis Pass reserve, which is beech forest and tussock rather than the dramatic rock of Arthurs, to Hanmer Springs, where the thermal pools are developed enough to keep children occupied for a full afternoon. Kaikoura closes the route, where the seal colony at Point Kean sits on the rocks at the end of the peninsula and the whale watching boats go out over a canyon that comes close inshore.

Britz supply the camper and the day-by-day plan, and the hire is priced live per vehicle rather than per person; campsites, fuel, ferries, park fees and activities are all extra, with a nil-excess insurance pack available at booking. Five days for 699 kilometres leaves time at the pools and the seal colony, which is what makes this the family version. Both passes are sealed and open most of the year, though snow is possible in winter and chains are occasionally required. Whale and dolphin trips at Kaikoura are weather dependent and no sighting can be promised. Kaikoura is also the easiest place in the country to see wildlife without booking anything, since the seals at Point Kean are on the rocks beside the car park.