New New Zealand

I have been to the south island of New Zealand four times now. The beauty, freshness and peace never cease to amaze me. Each time, Caroline and I have favoured the west and central regions being blown away by mountains and fjords. This time we spent a little time in the south and briefly skirted the east coast. They didn't disappoint.

The south is full of lakes and rugged coastline. It is an area I'd like to explore more with the natural sanctuary, Stewart Island probably the top on my bucket list now.

Hauntingly still lake, Fortrose

Rugged Coastline around Waipapa Lighthouse

Rock pools are resting grounds for seals and sea lions

Bull Kelp washing up at Curio Bay

Curio Bay 170 million year old petrified forest

Curio Bay petrified forest has impressive surf in the backgorund

The Catlins have beautiful forested areas that I also want to go back to. The brief taste wasn't satisfying enough.

Purakanui Falls were looking good

The east coast from Dunedin to Christchurch has another wonderfully interesting coastline and Oamaru, would be good place to be based.

There were plenty of NZ fur seals quite close at Shag Point

Weird 60 million year old Moeraki Boulders

Oamaru is a good base for the east coast, especially for steampunk fans

As much as I love the west coast and the central mountainous regions that I have visited before, the new parts of New Zealand were a joy to discover. Caroline and I will be travelling back to find out more about these beautiful parts of the world when we can!

Routeburn Track

The road to Glenorchy, the start of the Routeburn Track

About 8 years ago, Caroline and I walked the Milford Track from Te Anau, across mountains to Milford Sound. It was a breath taking experience, culminating in a cruise around the fjord at Milford. It is one of the most special experiences I have ever had the privilege to undertake. This time, I was able to take a day walk along the Routeburn Track. I took a guided walk with Ultimate Hikes which was great as our guide was knowledgeable on both flora and fauna in the region, and kept a steady pace.


The Routeburn Track winds from Te Anau to Glenorchy, or vice versa. I was staying in Queenstown, so I walked from Glenorchy. The drive to Glenorchy from Queenstown along the side of Lake Wakatipu is considered one of the most beautiful in New Zealand, which gets things off to a good start. The walk then climbs as it follows the Route Burn, the river that the track is named after.

The Route Burn through the forest

The flora is varied, with ancient native beech trees towering over dozens of different ferns and many varieties of trees and flowers. Unfortunately, mountain lilies weren't flowering, so I didn't get to see any, but there was plenty to see and the light was beautiful at times.

No end of ferns dominated the track.

Sun kissed ferns by the path

Trees and ferns dominate the track

We stopped for lunch at a meadow with the Routeburn Falls in the background. There were spectacular views all around, and one of the oldest trees known on the track, a red beech estimated to be between 800-1000 years old.

Lunch time view

The way from which we came

A flowering Ribbonwood partly obscures a most ancient beech tree.

We walked back the same way we had come with a detour for a native forest loop. The guide talked of forest regeneration, and how moss and fungi help support and maintain the forest. I learned a lot from the walk, experienced sheer, natural beauty, and walked further over uneven terrain than I have for a long time with my legs telling me so after. 

I saw an array of different birds on the track, including Paradise ducks, Robins, Riflemen and Fantails. We heard Yellowheads, but didn't see any. Once again, New Zealand is proving to be a wonderful natural paradise, with different delights to see each time I travel here.

Ribbonwood flower falls on ferns

Sweet yellow daisies were in abundance

I'd love this to be an orchid, but I don't know, not the clearest shot either!

Mount Cook

Today saw us take a short drive to Mount Cook. It is about 45 minutes from where we were staying in Twizel, so naturally we took about 4 hours to get there! It was a late start as we were both tired from travelling to New Zealand the day before. I think I managed about 1 hour sleep in the previous 2 days so it was only natural to sleep in a bit today.

Lake Ruataniwha

Once we started we took a quick detour to Lake Ruataniwha which was spectacularly turquoise, and then headed off. Except we took another detour back to Tekapo to see the lake which hadn't been at its best yesterday. Again, Lake Tekapo proved quite fabulous today. Then it was definitely off to Mount Cook, with a drive of about an hour from Tekapo, though it took us about 2 and a half because of the stops along the way. Lake Pukaki was absolutely brilliant today, and we just couldn't get enough of it.

Beautiful Lake Pukaki

Mount Cook, or Aoraki, is the tallest mountain in New Zealand at 3,754m, not bad compared to Mont Blanc, Europe's highest mountain at 4,808m and dwarfing Australia's Mount Kosciuszko which stands at 2,228m. Mount Cook is an impressive sight, and seeing the range of Southern Alps that it sits in, is breath taking. We had a drink in Mount Cook Village which has great views of the range, and then headed to Tasman Lake to get a view of New Zealand's biggest glacier.

Mount Cook peaking through the gap, seen from Mount Cook Village

It was a fairly tough walk to the viewing point for Tasman Lake up a number of steps. This was particularly tough for Caroline because of her conditions, but I was puffing a bit as well. Determination broke the pain barrier and Caroline made it to the top! There are plenty of other walking tracks around the lake, and there's loads of walking and cycling tracks through the whole area, mostly starting form Mount Cook Village. But the walk is worth it as at the top you are treated to views of the green lake, and the Tasman Glacier flowing from Mount Tasman, New Zealand's second highest mountain.

Mt Cook (left), Mt Tasman (centre right) with Tasman Glacier flowing from the bottom 

Tasman Lake has icebergs in it, and Kayaking in the lake close to the icebergs, and close to the glacier is apparently a big thing. We could see the icebergs, but the most wonderful view was of a butterfly on an Alpine Daisy! Tomorrow it is off to Queenstown...

Natures beauty

New Zealand Roadtrip

Today, Caroline and I set off on an holiday to the south island of New Zealand. We have been here many times before, but hope to see some new things this time around. I have to say that we are the least prepared we have ever been for a trip. We are road tripping for about a week and usually we have the entire journey mapped out with some possible side trips thrown in. This time around, our time has been so taken up with moving house that this holiday has crept up on us almost unnoticed.

Anyway, today has seen our arrival, flying into Christchurch, picking up a car and driving to Twizel where we are staying for 2 nights. Twizel is a gateway town to Mt Cook National Park which we'll be going to tomorrow. We took a scenic drive through the centre of the island, passing through Rakaia Gorge to the country town of Geraldine. From there, we drove to Lake Tekapo, where we have stayed before, and finally to Twizel. Although we hadn't planned our trip, the route we took was stunning.



After an overnight flight it was a bit of a long drive, but we broke it up by regularly stopping to look at the scenery. I'll try to post a bit more tomorrow and the rest of the holiday.

Expansive view above Rakaia Gorge

Rakaia River at Rakaia Gorge

Church of the Good Shepherd, Lake Tekapo

Mt Cook NP across Lake Pukaki

Fabulous clouds above Lake Pukaki

Wellbeing

People go on holidays for all sorts of reasons, and they choose the type of holiday to suit their purposes. Caroline and I both needed to get away from city life, and find some peacefulness. We chose a road trip as it means that you're never tied to one place, and we went to the south island of New Zealand as it has few people and plenty of nature. This wasn't a trip to laze and relax, but it was to explore and refresh the soul. This was fully achieved, and at times, the sheer beauty of the places I saw nearly brought me to tears.

I've already written about much of the trip, but the feelings it evoked are important. We flew into Christchurch, and drove straight out to get away from the largest city on the south island. Our first drive was across country from east to west coasts, and we weren't sure what to expect. What we were treated to was a beautiful drive through hills and mountains, skirting beautiful rivers and lakes. It was a pleasant surprise just how beautiful this first day turned out.

Day 1 was a pleasant surprise

Day 2 was a drive down the west coast starting in Greymouth, and ending in Haast and travelling through glacier region. We caught a distant glimpse of the Fox Glacier but I was probably most impressed by the coastal beaches. Hokitika and Haast have interesting seafronts to explore, and the coastal road has its share of scenic stops. There were plenty of fast flowing rivers running down through this region, but there were also the start of our invasion of sandfly territory. These insects are merciless, and it doesn't matter how much repellent you use, they will get you. However, it is a small price to pay for the experience for this amazing region.

We stopped at the side of the road regularly, and were almost always treated to something beautiful, like this fern, the national symbol of New Zealand

We left Haast and headed inland with Arrowtown our destination. Arrowtown is a small town about 15km from Queenstown, the adventure playground of the south island. In fact, the road to Arrowtown crosses the Shotover River, where the famous jet boats traverse the beautiful river while scaring the shit out people! Following the Haast River was a truly beautiful road,one of the most beautiful I've ever driven along. There are plenty of scenic stops along the way with Haast Gates being perhaps the most spectacular, a roaring river gorge. Our stop in Arrowtown saw us stay a few days while New Year struck. We spent most of New Year's Eve in Queenstown, but as the crowds grew in the evening, we decided to leave and head back to Arrowtown and quiet. The NYE show in Queenstown just wasn't the sort of thing we were looking for on this trip.

White water at Haast Gates

The highlight of our stay in Arrowtown was when we decided to drive to Glenorchy. We were having breakfast in Queenstown, and wondering what to do, neither of us really wanting to stay any longer in the picturesque little central Otago town. It had just become too busy, and in our state of mind, that was not what we wanted. As soon as we started driving we knew we'd done the right thing, feeling better on the open road, and suddenly treated to the most beautiful lakeside drive you could wish for. Glenorchy is about 45km from Queenstown, and very part of that trip was stunning.

Big sky, bold colours over Lake Wakatipu on the road to Glenorchy

From Arrowtown we traveled a short hop to Te Anau and took a trip to the fjord Doubtful Sound. This is really remote, with no access from road. We took a boat across Lake Manopouri, a beautiful start to the trip, and then a bus ride across to the Sound. The conditions were haunting, with low clouds masking the mountains, and at one point, the Sound cruise stops, turns off its engines, and just drifts allowing those on board to listen to complete silence, save for some birdsong. It was raining, so many people decided to stay inside the boat, but Caroline and I were outside and the lack of sound was also something beautiful.

Hauntingly beautiful, Doubtful Sound

We drove from Te Anau to Lake Tekapo, an area I'd never heard of. Lake Tekapo is a designated area of darkness making it one of the best places in the world to see stars. The lake itself is a rich turquoise colour in sunlight, and is shadowed by Mt John. an hill with an observatory on top, and amazing views in all directions. Mt Cook, the tallest mountain in New Zealand is only an hours drive from Tekapo and the range dominate the western skyline. At night we drove around the lake, found a deserted spot and just looked up. Sorry, no photos, as me camera wasn't good enough, but at one point I thought I was looking at a bright sky rather than a night sky. And most amazingly, this is not apparently the best time of the year to see the stars! This whole area whispered of serenity.

Lupins and mountains from Mt John

Reflections on Lake Tekapo

Our last day was a short drive to Christchurch so we loitered around Lake Tekapo savouring its beauty in the morning. We took the Inland Scenic Route to Christchurch passing through the dramatic Rakaia Gorge. It was a final farewell to this beautiful roadtrip which finished as it began, with a pleasant surprise.Once again we expected little from this final drive, but in the end we just had to admit that the south island of New Zealand just doesn't stop giving sights of vast beauty.

The Church of the Good Shepherd on the edge of Lake Tekapo

Sitting in Christchurch Airport, Caroline and I were physically exhausted and almost drunk on the sights and experiences of our roadtrip. More than once we Caroline caught me staring into space with a smile on my face, simply reliving a moment from our time in New Zealand. Mountains, passes, beaches, rivers, gorges, flowers, waterfalls, lakes, fjords, animals....and a great deal of peace.

I woke this morning in Melbourne, feeling ready to tackle city life again. And to plan the next trip....

Doubtful Sound

The centrepiece of our trip to New Zealand was a trip to the fjord, Doubtful Sound. We have traveled to Fjordland before, and cruised around the picturesque Milford Sound. Doubtful Sound is much bigger than Milford, and we very remote. To reach Doubtful Sound you need to catch a boat across Lake Manapouri, and then drive along a track, over the Wilmot Pass and into the Sound. We were hoping for a great display, and weren't disappointed.

Misty and mystical Doubtful Sound

The west coast of New Zealand receives about 8 metres of rain per year with rain falling about 200 days of the year. So it was not a big surprise that it should be a wet day. This only added to the atmosphere, with the clouds often highlighting the mountains, and hiding them. Even the boat trip across Lake Manapouri was pretty spectacular.

Clouds across the mountains, Lake Manapouri

But the highlight was definitely being in the fjord, a most peaceful and hauntingly beautiful place. Here are some images of the day.

Mossy rocks and waterfalls

Raining in the Sound

Some of the many islands in Doubtful Sound

Clouds clinging to the Mountains

Waterfalls that looked as if they were coming straight from the clouds

The overnight cruise passed us in the Sound

Even More Beauty

The first time Caroline and I came to New Zealand, we were enchanted by the small town of Queenstown, situated by a lake and surrounded by breathtaking mountains. We walked the Milford Track that time and was wowed by the beauty of the fjord Milford Sound. We thought so much of Queenstown that we encouraged our good friends Nick and Zoe to come there with us, and we traveled back to Queenstown, spending quite a bit of time around the town itself and the northern towns of Arrowtown and Wanaka. Again, we were spellbound by the beauty that we saw.

Today we had breakfast in Queenstown and then headed in the other direction, south along the lake towards Glenorchy. We had read and heard that this was something special, but we weren't prepared for the sights we saw. Glenorchy is about 45 km from Queenstown, and the drive took in some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever witnessed.

Amazing light on lake Wakatipu

Lake side drive

Foxgloves and shadows on the water

Ominous mountains overlooking Glenorchy

The long view back from whence we came

We were fortunate to have great conditions adding colour and shade to the water, mountains and clouds, but it's hard to believe that natural beauty such as this isn't amazing in any conditions, or with any processing.

A silvered view across Pig Island towards Glenorchy