Not sure if the original poster has already taken the trip, but in case they haven't, or anyone else might find this useful, I have some insight to offer. (Bear with me, this will end up rather long).
To cut a long story short, the North Island of NZ is quite dull and boring. Rotorua is worth seeing, as well as Ruapehu, but aside from that, there's not a lot of scenery, and as far as photography and travel go, the South Island is your best bet. (That and I haven't seen a lot of the north island)
As people have mentioned before, Queenstown is not to be missed. Especially in winter. The town itself is nestled into the mountains and sits on the edge of lake wakatipu. Its usually freezing cold in winter, and often gets very well overloaded with tourists. Aside from this, the place is absolutely beautiful. You just need to arrive to see how many opportunities for great shots it provides. As an aside, if you're into partying, this is one of the best places to do it!!
In queenstown, perhaps the neatest thing you can do is a boat trip across the lake to Walter Peak farm, on the T.S.S Earnslaw, a beautiful, historic steamship.
http://www.realjourneys.co.nz can give you a fair few ideas for things to do and see in and around Queenstown.
Aside from Queenstown, the rest of Fiordland (while going mostly forgotten) is just as beautiful, if not more. You can get to Glenorchy through Queenstown, and from there, you can get to Kinloch. Going the other way, you can head south and then take a right somewhere down the road to get to Te Anau. This is a slightly smaller town than Queenstown, and not so heavy with tourists. It still manages to strike me every time I go there though.
Off the road to Te Anau, you can turn off to Manapouri. This is a rather tiny township, but it sits right on lake Manapouri. From here, you can get on a boat to west arm. Here, there is a hydro power station, which is quite a sight to behold. It's miles from anywhere, and the generation hall is just over two hundred metres underground, and it uses the height difference between lake manapouri and deep cove/doubtful sound to feed the generators. It's quite humbling to think of what an achievement it was, thinking that it was built in the 60's. (This power station was built to power a single factory, the NZAS aluminium smelter just south of Invercargill. The smelter also happens to be my employer )
If you've taken the boat to West Arm, you can get off there, and jump on a bus to head over to Deep Cove/Doubtful Sound. This place is one of the most under-recognised, forgotten wonders of New Zealand. Nestled in the mountains, its just you, a lodge, and nature. (At least as far as I remember, I haven't been there for over 10 years). It's an astounding place. You can take a boat tour through doubtful sound and chances are, you'll see the dolphins swimming alongside you.
These boat cruises aren't cheap, but they're well worth the dollars.
As far as Milford Sound goes, I've only been there once, and can't remember it too well. All I remember is being eaten alive by sandflies.
Needless to say, if you're heading anywhere near or around fiordland, take a LOT of film and/or memory. On any one good, clear day, you could walk away with hundreds of shots. Bear in mind that it'll probably take a number of days, possibly up to a week to see everything I've listed here. It's probably a good idea to pick a couple of places and see them, since it's not only time you spend, but the touristy type businesses in the area realise just how much money they can leech out of peoples wallets!!!
Heading away from Fiordland, you can either head south to Invercargill or north to the West Coast. I'm not too well educated on the west coast, having never been there, but I'm told there's some interesting culture and scenery. The wildfoods festival in Hokitika each year offers some VERY interesting cuisine. [From the wildfoods website] Possum pate, deep fried fish eyes and whiskey marinated duck tongue were on offer this year, so the festival is not for the faint of heart. Among the west coast area are fox glacier, haast pass and a number of other breathtaking mountain scenes. Plenty to be seen here.
At the other end (heading south) you'll eventually get to Invercargill. Commonly known as the a**hole of New Zealand, this is a bit of a misconception. Bluff is. Invercargill is 22 kilometres up . Invercargill is my hometown, and the only advice I can give is that it's not particularly exciting. There are a couple of things to see down here, but I wouldn't say it's worth the drive, or sacrificing seeing other places (like the west coast for example). Interesting to see are queens park, the Invercargill water tower, and Bluff. Bluff is a harbour town There's a rather large hill in Bluff (aptly named "Bluff Hill"). From here, you can see the Aluminium smelter, and the port of Bluff. The smelter looks quite neat, and although I work there, I still find it a very fascinating place. At full capacity, it uses as much electricity as the biggest city in New Zealand (Auckland) and at night, it looks a little like a gold guitar (all lit up). It's quite an odd feeling seeing a factory that large in the middle of nowhere.
Heading away from Invercargill, there are two ways to go. As for the windswept trees, I've never heard of an area called that, but I doubt it'll be the Catlins. The road to Dunedin (at least the direct one) goes a different way (heading inland) where the road to the Catlins heads to the south-east coast. The catlins are among the most awe-inspiring places on earth. Unfortunately, there a few of the people who have lived there a while (relatives of mine, I'm sorry to say) who are bound to wreck the place. Waikawa and Curio Bay and beautiful places. If you're patient enough at Curio Bay, you can swim alongside dolphins. Around the rocks, there is a petrified forest you can walk down to. All around the region, there is an enormous amount of history to be soaked up, so take your time around there. One thought provoking place is the wharf. It's rather rustic, and a walk down it may make you a little seasick, but it's quite a nice sight. You can also wander around the beach from here.
http://vaughanf.orcon.net.nz/waikawa_wharf.jpgIf you've got time, there's some excellent fishing to be had in the area as well. In Waikawa, be very careful. The locals have caught onto the tourist trend, and many put on an act to impress (and get money from) tourists. There's a certain dairy in the old church on the main road through Waikawa. If you should drop in here, be sure to spin the lady that runs the place a story about how you're a property investor from overseas, looking at buying up a lot of land in the area. See how long it takes before everybody in town knows Another place to watch is a certain tourist hostel (run by the relatives of mine I mentioned before). The owners of this place will spin so much garbage to you, and leave you with a lot of skewed facts. Be warned.
Heading up from Waikawa, you can drive to Papatowai. Somebody mentioned gravel roads before, and I'm very pleased to say that they've all been sealed. There's a very tight, twisty, winding road that passes through to papatowai, and from there you can head back to Invercargill, or to Balclutha (which will lead you to Dunedin, which I'll get to later). If you're driving on this road, be very careful, especially in winter. There's only a thin barrier between your car and a cliff face. The road takes between 30 minutes and an hour to drive non-stop, but if you're looking for photos, you'll take an awful lot longer. There's an amazing amount to see down here. There's Mount Sampson, a dormant volcano. If you want to get to the top, be prepared to beat the bush a little, because there's no track cut to it anymore. There's an old sawmilling site in chaslands as well. (Chaslands also happens to be where my mother grew up, so her and I are quite familiar with the area). Chaslands beach is a bit of a sore spot with me, but it's absolutely worth seeing. There's been a lot of fuss over maori land claims (long story) in NZ over the last 10-15 or so years, and a few (more!!) damned relatives of mine have decided that since they're maori, and a tiny piece of their claimed land crosses the track to chaslands beach (and because there are a lot of tourists with money in the area) that charging everybody a fee for getting onto the beach is a decent thing to do. Be careful driving into the car park, because none of this money goes into maintaining the road. Also, the beach is closed in winter. Something this beautiful should (and used to) belong to everybody, however, thats another story...
If you can stomach paying the entry fee, you can get down to chaslands beach. Be warned that it's about a ten minute walk downhill. This part isn't so bad, but don't carry too much camera gear down, because taking it back up will probably get your heart rate up!! Down on the beach, if you're there when the tide is right, you can see the cathedral caves. These are a real wonder of nature, and are absolutely worth the hike to get to. Be warned though, that the tide comes into the caves when it's in, so don't be in there when it does!! At the other end of the beach is an ancient maori camp site. You can see the shells they've laid down all over the place to make a floor. It's believe to be a landing site for them. At this end, there's a beautiful little river running inland. It's a long but beautiful walk to this end, but well worth it. Be careful if there aren't a lot of people around, occasionally you'll see the old wild pig or deer wander down onto the beach from the bush up the hill.
Heading up from here, there's tautuku beach. On the road down, there's a really neat obstacle course (if a little daunting!!) in the bush. I think it'd be a neat opportunity for some shots of the kids having fun (but keep them off the big toys on the course, some of them could see you falling a LONG way).
There's a big corner on the road that lets you overlook the beach.
http://vaughanf.orcon.net.nz will show you the kind of view you can expect. There's usually a fair bit of wind at this point, so don't get blown over the edge.
Keep heading up the road, and you'll get to papatowai. Not quite landscape work, but there's a gypsy man there (or at least I remember there being one) who has a bus permanently set up on his property, that serves as a museum. Inside the bus (open to the public) there are a large array of neat, ingenious home-made devices all made from either rubbish or driftwood or the like. There'd be an excellent portrait opportunity here for somebody.
Papatowai has become quite overrun with yuppies buying holiday houses lately, and there're very few actual permanent residents left.
Out the top of the town is a short bushwalk. It leads to purakanui falls
http://vaughanf.orcon.net.nz/purakanui.jpgPapatowai is about the end of the road for the catlins. If you head out of there, you end up going through owaka to balclutha. Given the right weather conditions, there could well be some great shots to be made of the rolling pastures between these places.
Lets figure now that you decided to go the other way out of invercargill, and head towards Dunedin, going through Gore, Balclutha, Milton, Mosgiel and you get the idea...
The first small town you'll come across is Edendale. There are some beautiful sunsets and sunrises over this town, and "Edendale Hill" is an excellent place to overlook them. You can pick Edendale from the white and green dairy factory right in the middle of it. Next up the road is Mataura, which is a rather unexciting town. If you're into history, there's a large, retired and vacant paper mill on the back road. From Mataura, there's a back road to Clinton (another small town on the way to Dunedin, which you will pass no matter which way you go). State highway 1 leaves Mataura the other way, towards Gore. Gore is mostly a retirement town, but the Mataura river, given the right conditions, can look very nice, especially in black and white. The majority of people drive straight through Gore. Keep driving for another hour, and you'll come across Balclutha. This is a rather larger town, about half the size of Invercargill. There's a large, quite neat looking bridge over the mighty clutha river which is rather photogenic. The next major milestone is Milton, which is another Mataura-style town. After there, you'll end up in Waihola. There's a nice looking lake here, which reflects sunset lights really really well.
Not far from here is the beautiful (and cold!!) city of Dunedin. You can tell when you're there once you get on the motorway. Dunedin has a lot of scottish heritage, and you can see it all over the place. My advice if you're here is just go exploring!! You'll be amazed at how many beautiful things you can find. If you take a drive out on the Otago Peninsula, you can get to the yellow eyed penguin (hoiho) colony. These beautiful, endangered animals can be seen on the beach, and it's amazing to think you're looking at one of the small few populations of them left. Further out the peninsula is the albatross colony. Albatross' are enormous birds, and seeing them flying around you is quite surreal.
Back toward the city, and up the hill a bit (Dunedin has a lot of these hills) is larnach castle. A beautiful old building, and certainly photo-worthy. The drive up also offers some excellent views straight into Dunedin city harbour, and some beautiful cityscapes can be created.
Dunedin central city has a very historic feel. Just a look at the architecture on Princes Street tells you you're somewhere special. Especially worth a look is Otago University. New Zealands oldest university, the buildings looks like they're jumping out of a history book. Dunedin, subsequently, is one of the most active student towns in the country. Most of the students live around the central city, so if you're after night life in NZ, stay a weekend in Dunedin and you won't be disappointed! (I should know, I lived there for a year while I was studying).
At the north of the city, signal hill offers beautiful views of the city. Photos up here are excellent if you can get the right light. Ive never managed to get night shots from here (since I didn't have a car when I was a student, and walking up signal hill is rather exhausting).
When you leave Dunedin, you'll get onto the Waitaki highway. This road can be absolutely lethal in winter, and quite often gets closed. If you're here in winter, take a lot of care. This is all made harder by the kind of scenery between Dunedin and Oamaru. Rolling green hills and pastures, forests and rivers are all commonplace here, as well as some very beautiful seascapes just past Warrington. I must confess, I've never actually stopped for photography driving up here, but keep your eyes peeled and there'll be opportunity aplenty. Between Oamaru and Timaru it gets a little dull, most of the roads are very straight, and there's not a lot other than plains to either side. Timaru is a harbour town, and although I've never stopped for long there, there's certainly some beautiful scenery to be absorbed. From Timaru to Ashburton, it's even less exciting than the previous leg of the trip. This area is called the Canterbury Plains. Nothing but flat fields and straight roads. Take care on this stretch; there're a lot of idiots on this bit of road!
Ashburton isn't very exciting, another retirement town. Rakaia (the next stop, I think) has a beautiful river running through it, oddly enough, the Rakaia River. Not far from here is Christchurch. The Garden City. I lived there three months, and even with the many times I've gone back for holidays, I never feel I've done my poor camera justice. Gardens, beautiful buildings, amazing decorations, incredible lights at night, it's all here. Starting from when you arrive, you can keep driving up Main South Road, which ends up becoming Blenheim Road. There's a roundabout at the end of this, and a right turn takes you to Moorhouse Avenue. This is the south edge of the city square. Take a walk through the city square with your camera gear (the city square is rather large, encompassing quite a number of blocks). The avon river runs through the centre of the city, and some of the bridges and architecture across it are just beautiful. The botanical gardens are worth a visit as well. If you're into historical things, Ferrymead historical park is worth visiting. It's like walking back a hundred years. Christchurchs most well known zoo is orana park, just out of town, in the mcleans island area. This place isn't all it's cracked up to be. It's improved a lot in recent years, but it still has a very unnatural zoo-like feeling to it. By all means, have a look. With a good long lens, there're a lot of chances to get some really neat shots.
Another place worthy of attention though, is Willowbank reserve. This is another zoo, but with a difference. There's an entirely different atmosphere there. All the animals are housed in a very natural habitat. You can take kiwi tours, and see our national icon in an environment that it would barely tell from it's own. From my memories (and they're getting a little old) all the animals here seemed an awful lot happier than those at orana park. Aside from this (I'm not sure if it's still current) there was a restaurant who served a delicious buffet, then took a tour around the park at night, when all the nocturnal animals were out. It's a really fascinating family friendly place, and there's plenty of scope for "wildlife" photos that really look like you've gone to the middle of nowhere to get them.
At the south of Christchurch city are the port hills. These give you a great vantage point over the city for photographing. You can see for miles, and there's a long road across the top, giving you endless positions from which to compose a shot. The road over them is very narrow and twisty, and it's a long drop off the edge, so take it very easy up here. There often tends to be a lot of "boy racers" up there, so watch out for them. It's easiest to just pull over and get out of the way if one of them comes roaring up behind you.
Just over the hills is Lyttleton. A beautiful harbour town. You can get there via the Christchurch southern motorway and through the lyttleton tunnel, or drive through Sumner and take a drive over the hills. Sumner is definitely worth a visit, the beach there is gorgeous on a clear day. Heading over the hills towards lyttleton, there are plenty of opportunities for some great photos there. Often cruise ships stop into the harbour, and plenty of large cargo ships stop there as well. If you follow the road down, you can take a drive around Banks Peninsula. In spring (July-October generally) the grass on the hills is a beautiful rich green, and the water is a very deep blue. Somewhat typical for photos, but it looks beautiful nonetheless. If you keep following the road out around the peninsula, you'll get to diamond harbour. This is effectively directly across the water from lyttleton, and the view of the harbour from there provides great shots. Keep following this road out, and you'll get to Akaroa, a very beautiful town with a very french air to it.
In Christchurch, as in Dunedin, just go exploring. It'll be worth your while, and you'll thank yourself when you see just how many great photos you can get within the bounds of the city.
There is also a "back road" to Christchurch, an alternate turnoff from just out of Gore, which wil take you through Central Otago, and has you get back on the main highway around Ashburton (around 60 kms from Christchurch). Going through Central Otago generally means snow capped mountains, and in the summer, fruit stalls are EVERYWHERE. Central otago is fruit growing country, and you can pick up the freshest fruit you're likely to find anywhere, and at a fairly reasonable price too.
From central otago, with this route, you'll pass through the tekapo and waitaki regions. These are the home of the oddly coloured lakes that people have mentioned.
http://vaughanf.orcon.net.nz/benmore.jpg This is lake benmore, home of NZ's biggest hydro-electric dam. I only had a point and shoot with me that day, so it's not a great shot, but it shows just how amazingly blue the water is. The only way to pick it from the sky is the mountains in between. You have to see it to really get a feel for it. Lake Tekapo is very much the same. Both very beautiful to behold.
Lake Benmore is just out of Twizel, a lovely little mountainside town. It's a very small place, but very busy. As a side, there's a great pizza place in the shopping centre (and I cant remember the name of it! ) but it's a great place to stop if you've been driving for a few hours.
Back to Christchurch again, if you're in Christchurch for a few days, one place that should never EVER be passed up on is Hanmer Springs. I can't stress how wonderful Hanmer is. It's a thermal resort, nestled in the mountains. Driving into it reminds me a lot of Queenstown, but it's a lot smaller. The drive out there takes between one and two hours, depending on traffic (very VERY heavy on public holidays!) but in terms of things to do on a holiday, and photo's, it's just unmissable. The thermal pools are just incredible, especially in winter (April - June). It's mindblowing to be sitting in 40 degrees C water, with snow all around you. It's something that everybody should experience before they die.
Around Hanmer are beautiful mountains. There're some really neat rock formations on the side of the road that make some quite neat photos. Aside from that, the mountains around the resort look great on camera.
That's about all I can think of for the time being. If anyone has any questions about anywhere in the south island, send me a PM and I'll see what I can come up with.
