Two weeks of Otago summer sun, starting at Dunedin Airport
Dunedin Airport sits out on the flat Taieri plains, and in late December the light hangs around, with golden evenings that run past 9pm and a sea breeze that can swing from warm to jersey weather in an hour. Families are home for Christmas, the Otago Peninsula is busy with albatross and penguin watchers, and the road south to the Catlins feels like a proper summer escape. A Dunedin Airport car rental is the easiest way to stitch it all together, because the bus network thins out just when you want to go further. This 14 night window, 27 December to 10 January, covers the whole New Year stretch, and the prices show it.
Across 27 listings the median quote is $2,894, and the spread runs from $2,149 up to $4,888. GO Rentals has the most listings (8) and the lowest floor, Ezi is closely matched on average at $2,712, and Hertz sits at the pricey end with an average of $3,531. Compare at least three suppliers, then grab the cheapest option that fits your luggage, since the gap between the best and worst deal here is more than $2,700.
Most of the fleet is a five seater, so two big suitcases plus daypacks is about the limit in a compact, while an SUV like the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid AWD gives you proper boot space. Hybrids are well represented and make sense on the long run to Queenstown or down the Southern Scenic Route, where petrol stations can be a fair way apart. Holiday traffic builds on State Highway 1 around the New Year, so pick up early and leave Dunedin before the afternoon rush.