Originally Posted by RustyC

Yeah, I did a circle-island over 7 days for the south island (minus Queenstown) and it was a bit hectic. Also did it with no pre-arranged bookings during the high season...reminded me a lot of Alaska in, say, June. The evening hours in particular could be delightful for exploration (nice light for pictures, all the old folks and tour groups had called it a day). But the "price" was sometimes sleeping in the car. I could be at or near the point of not being able to do that kind of trip anymore.