We had previously flown from Christchurch to Queenstown and arranged our itinerary so that we could get this 1-day coach trip back to Christchurch for the next leg of our 4-week holiday. We therefore had all of our luggage but this wasn’t a problem as it was large air-conditioned coach so it was stored underneath.

We were also concerned that the trip may not run so we’d have been stranded on South Island for Christmas but again this wasn’t a problem as it we were told they run the trip every day - it seems to be a local bus service as well so this could explain why. For example, we picked up a few people at various remote locations on the way and dropped them off again at youth hostels or other remote locations en-route. The driver even stopped at one place to drop off the post! This didn’t affect our schedule and we had lots of stops on the way to take photos.

We had a great lunch at the foot of Mount Cook and the scenery was fabulous. We left Queenstown at 8am and arrived in Christchurch at 6:30pm. It was a great trip and I would definitely recommend it.

It was raining on way which was good as when there were lots of waterfalls on the journey and also when we got to Milford Sound. There were lots of photo stops so a chance to stretch your legs very frequently. We came back by Helicopter and this was amazing. The Helicopter isn't cheap but it's an experience you'll never forget - it will also reduce the 4-5 hour drive to 45 minutes! The pilot took us up to 9,000 feet between the clouds and the mountains (which was a bit scary) and landed on one of the highest peaks where we had our photo taken beside the helicopter. The views coming back to Queenstown are fabulous.

A very good trip although the whole purpose was to visit the ruins at Dephi but we were not given sufficient time as the guide also wanted us to visit the museum and give us sufficient time for lunch. The Greek guide spoke good English but his accent made it hard to understand what he was actually saying and we were only given 20 minutes to run to the top of the mountain to see the stadium. We left the hotel at 8:30am and got back at 5pm. The tour company would have been better to make the trip an hour longer and return at 6pm so we could have longer at the ruins in Dephi.