South Island Travel Guide

Continuing on from the last post about the North Island, here are our adventures in the South Island over the last 6 months.

The first trip we took was the yellow route, starting in Queenstown and ending in Christchurch. This was in summer, when we first landed in New Zealand, before I started my fellowship.

Queenstown area 

• Ben Lomond hike 

• Take the gondola up to Skycity, then hike to the saddle or to the peak (steep and exposed!) for incredible views of Queenstown 

• Glenorchy & Routeburn Track (Mt Aspiring National Park) 

• A beautiful drive out to Glenorchy and wished we had time to do more of the Routeburn track! 

• The entire Routeburn track is 33km one way but you can do a portion of it as an out-and-back starting from Glenorchy at the Routeburn Shelter 

• We did 7.5km out to Routeburn Falls Hut and turned around for about a 3-hour hike 

• Routeburn Track: Fiordland National Park (doc.govt.nz)
  

Beautiful Glenorchy

Wanaka 

• Beautiful lake, see #thatwanakatree (instagram famous tree in the water) 

• Roy’s Peak Track- VERY challenging day hike but gorgeous views  Roys Peak Track: Wānaka area, Otago region (doc.govt.nz)
  

The top of Roy's Peak!

Lake Tekapo- hot springs (would do at night- dark sky reserve so stars would be epic if weather cooperates) Tekapo Stargazing - Tekapo Springs 

Mt Cook/Aoraki National Park 

• Hooker Valley Track (flat, easy 10km round trip) Hooker Valley Track (doc.govt.nz)

• Sealy Tarns Track (hard, 2,200 steps up the mountain but beautiful views) Sealy Tarns Track: Walking and tramping in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park (doc.govt.nz)

• Get to the trailhead before 10am if possible- fills up quickly and people were parking over a mile down the road 
  

Hooker Valley Track, Mt Cook/Aoraki

Christchurch 

• Riverside Market- tons of local food stalls and shops 

• Charing Cross Cheesery- best cheese ever 
  

• He Puna Taimoana- hot pools overlooking the ocean, must book in advance 

• He Puna Taimoana: New Brighton hot pools
  

The next trip was the purple one, which I did with my friends Erin and Emily in February. We started in Blenheim and drove up to Abel Tasman National Park, then down the west coast and across Arthurs pass to Christchurch.

Blenheim- the main city of the Marlborough region. Tons of great wineries. Our favorite was St Clair's Estate.

Abel Tasman National Park 

• Abel Tasman Track can be done as a multi-day hike, however, you can do day hikes by hiring a water taxi to pick you up and drop you off at different locations

• Walk & Hike the stunning Abel Tasman National park (aquataxi.co.nz)

• We did the ‘Beaches and Bays’ hike and really enjoyed it; beautiful views and a fairly easy hike 
  

A view from the trail in Abel Tasman NP

Hokitika/West Coast 

• The West Coast looks like something straight from Jurassic Park- huge ferns and lush vegetation 

• Pancake Rocks- 1km paved walkway that takes you out to some interesting rock formations; worth a stop if you are in the area but I wouldn’t go out of the way to see it Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and Blowholes Walk: Paparoa National Park, West Coast region (doc.govt.nz)

• Hokitika Gorge- out in the middle of nowhere; short walk to the gorge and bridge- incredible water; bugs were terrible Hokitika Gorge walks: Hokitika Gorge Scenic Reserve, West Coast region (doc.govt.nz)
  

The blue trip started and ended in Dunedin, and we did this trip in April. We drove to Fiordland national park to go to Doubtful Sound, then drove to Bluff and took the ferry to Stewart Island for an overnight. After returning to Bluff, we drove through 'The Catlins' to Dunedin.

Fjordlands

• Milford Sound 

• We took a scenic flight (~45 minutes) from Queenstown on a separate trip, but you can drive from Queenstown (~5 hours) if you have more time, there are some reportedly great stops and hikes along the way although we did not do them 

• The scenic flight from Queenstown was totally worth it in our opinion and made the trip that much better; however, it is subject to weather cancellations, our first attempt was canceled and we had to reschedule Milford Sound Fly, Cruise, Fly from Queenstown by Air Milford 
  

The incredible Milford Sound on a (rare) sunny day

• Doubtful Sound (full day, requires an hour-long boat ride across Lake Manapouri, then a 45-minute bus ride, then 3 hours cruising in the Sound) Doubtful Sound Cruise | Day Cruises from Queenstown | RealNZ

• See other blog post ‘A Tale of Two Sounds’ for comparison between them- if we had to pick, our favorite was Doubtful Sound, but we loved them both 
  

Spectacular Doubtful Sound

Stewart Island 

• One hour ferry from Invercargill is VERY rough, if prone to seasickness, recommend flight from Invercargill, almost the same price 

• Must prebook ferry at Stewart Island Ferry Service | RealNZ

• Tons of wildlife & birds

• Night-time kiwi spotting; wished we had more time to go to Ulva Island Kiwi Spotting & Bird Watching Tours Stewart Island » Ruggedy Range™
  

Angry looking albatross near Stewart Island

The Catlins 

• Stretch of coast between Bluff and Dunedin, lots of great stops along the way 

• The Southern Scenic Route of New Zealand: Things to Do, Map, Itinerary – Earth Trekkers

• Favorite was McLean falls & Slope Point 

Maclean Falls

Slope point- windy!!!

Our last trip was the red one, where we flew into Christchurch and drove up to Kaikoura for the weekend, returning to Christchurch to fly back.

Kaikoura 

• Dolphin Encounter Swim- absolutely incredible- swim with wild dolphins in the ocean, they come right up to you. One of my favorite NZ activities Home | Dolphin Tours | Dolphin Encounter NZ

• Kaikoura Peninsula Walkway- take the stairs down to the beach to see the seal colonies up close Kaikōura Peninsula Walkway: South Marlborough tracks and walks (doc.govt.nz)
  

On the beach in Kaikoura

One place we did not go was the middle of the west coast, where Franz Joseph glacier is. This is a very popular place, but William and I decided to spend our time elsewhere as we had our fill of epic glaciers in Alaska. However, I think it is worth mentioning for those of you planning a trip to NZ!

I can't believe our time in NZ is coming to a close. It's been an absolutely incredible six months with so many adventures. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to see so much of this beautiful country and the world!