We're looking at visiting New Zealand in November. While our plans are very, very preliminary, we'd probably spend ~4-5 days of it on the North Island based out of Auckland, driving as far as Lake Taupo or so. The remaining time (8-9 days) would be on the South Island (flying AKL-ZQN); destinations could include Queenstown, the glaciers, Mt. Cook, Milford Sound - the usual suspects, but we're not looking to cram in everything.
My question - what are the actual drives from place to place like? Generally open, straight two lane roads, something that would give a mountain goat nightmares, or a mix? I don't mind driving but don't particularly enjoy roads with lots of hairpins with steep dropoffs (especially exposed!), or mountain roads that are 1.5 car widths wide, forcing someone to back up on a steep incline. Are there destinations which I'd want to simply cross off the list?