We flew from the North Island to Christchurch on the South Island. Christchurch was a bit of a mess. There were earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 that took out many buildings in the downtown. Construction was in progress and had only partially rebuilt the downtown. The Franz Josef Glacier was impressive. Since the 1850's, about 3 km of the glacier has melted away.
We spent a lot of time in and around Queenstown. Maybe 80% of the bridges were one lane, so waiting for others to pass was common. Many Lord of the Rings scenes had been shot around Queenstown. The 4 wheel drive tour people compared how it looked for the shoots and how it looks now. Lots of CGI made it not so possible to tell it was the same place. We criss crossed a river in the Nomad Safari 4 wheel drive vehicles many a time, the water was often around 2 feet deep.
Lunch at the Morelea Farm gave us a small feel for how some Kiwis live. NZ has just about no heavy industry. Its all about farming. Mostly cows and sheep and tour guiding.