The path crosses New Zealand’s South Island late in the winter afternoon, including Queenstown and Dunedin, with the Sun very low above the horizon.
A spectacular South Island totality option with about 2 minutes 49 seconds, but the eclipse occurs with the Sun only about 10° above the horizon.
Open guide →An accessible New Zealand city in totality, with about 2 minutes 47 seconds and an extremely low 8° Sun that makes horizon selection critical.
Open guide →New Zealand is best treated as a scenery-and-itinerary eclipse rather than a duration-maximization trip. The low Sun makes horizon scouting essential and turns mountains, ridgelines and local cloud into unusually important site variables.
Winter cloud is the major strategic weakness compared with inland and north-western Australia. Keep a mobile South Island plan and avoid a non-refundable itinerary that forces one viewpoint regardless of the forecast.