ha, yes, dunedin/south island is far superior to the north island; but I would say that, dunedin is my home town.
You'll love central otago/fiordland/the west coast - its magnificent, truely what NZ is about (and what they push on tourism ads)
http://www.aeondesign.orcon.net.nz/C...Iakewanaka.jpg
http://www.aeondesign.orcon.net.nz/C...crownrange.jpg
First is Lake Wanaka, with the Coronet range in the background
Second is the highest point on the crown range road, looking down towards Queenstown. Thankfully, we picked the best day to travel - the only day in the 14 that we were in Dunedin that was hot (27 for most of the day) - 750km in one day, pretty hard on the old 1.3L Ford laser we were using.