Finally - South Island, New Zealand

  

I first came to New Zealand back in January 2001 after working out of our office in Sydney for 6 weeks.  I had chosen to visit the North Island and had a great week going to Kerikeri, Waiheke Island and Rotorua.  But having thoroughly enjoyed New Zealand and its sites and people I really regretted not taking more time here.  So, New Zealand represented since that time my one travel regret and the South Island in particular has been at the top of my wish list for almost 10 years.

What's the big deal about the South Island of New Zealand?  Well, it's supposed to be one of the most beautiful places on earth.  Most of the Lord of the Rings was filmed in the South Island (if you've seen the movies, you're probably now nodding your head understanding what the big deal is).  New Zealand is nice and small so easy to cover lots of ground.  It's fairly cheap once you get there - it's $.75US for every $1NZ.  And of course, English is the spoken language so it's easy peasy to travel here.  

I'm also really interested in the Maori culture which is the indigenous population of New Zealand.  They are a polynesian people like the Samoans and Hawaiians but were known for being fierce warriors.  New Zealanders have really incorporated Maori culture into their own - one way is to perform the haka (it's a war song that warriors would sing to intimidate their opponents) before their rugby games.  It's pretty impressive.  It's a very interesting culture - you can get a glimpse in the movie Whale Rider which I would recommend.  The girl in it is remarkable and was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in this movie.

When a work trip in Sydney came up again I booked a week before work as a vacation in New Zealand.  My sister came along.  Our itinerary was to fly into Christchurch which is the main city of the South Island and rent a car and drive down to Queenstown which is considered the extreme sport capital of the world and a great base to explore the most beautiful region on the SI.  From there we'd fly back to Sydney.

We arrived in Christchurch on a Sunday afternoon, rented our car and headed to our cute little B&B.  Luckily I've driven on the left quite a bit in other travels so my sister was off the hook and settled into the passenger seat for our trip.  We quickly discovered that the "biggest city" on the South Island was TINY.  Get this - of the only 4 million people living in New Zealand, only 1 million live in the entire South Island.  And of that 1 million, almost 400,000 live in Christchurch.  Christchurch has a population similar to Tampa, FL.  It's a quaint town with a beautiful square and relaxed pace.  It was the perfect place to start our week.  

After 2 days, we got on the road south.  It's about a 6 hour drive from Christchurch to Queenstown so I looked on the map and picked a place in the middle to spend the night.  That place is called Lake Tekapo.  Since it was just a convenient stopover I had no expectations and we were totally wowed.   Lake Tekapo is a vast gorgeous blue lake ringed by mountains and topped by a big sky that must rival Montana.  We couldn't stop snapping photos here.  At the town side of the lake stands a gorgeous little stone church dedicated to the pioneers of New Zealand.  What an amazingly beautiful place.

That night we booked a trip up to the St. John's Observatory and this was a highlight of our trip.  The town of Lake Tekapo is teeny tiny and all of the lights are low wattage and have covers pointing their light down.  There is nothing else around and the result is one of the best and clearest places in the world to star gaze.  And we had a perfectly clear night.  Looking up you feel like you are seeing the night sky for the first time and you're aware of what we lose by living in cities.  Part of the experience is that a professional photographer mounts your camera to a special tripod that moves with the night sky and we got spectacular photos of the Milky Way and Magellan's Clouds which are actually two galaxies that are visible to the naked eye.

After rising at dawn and snapping more photos at the lake, we got back on the road and drove to Queenstown.  

Queenstown itself is busy and touristy but you're not there for the town.  Hordes of tourists flock here to bungee jump, skydive, parasail, whitewater raft, hang glide and anything else you can imagine that combines adrenaline and sport.  To me it's much prettier from up on top of the local mountains accessible via gondola ride.

For those of us who are a bit tamer than the rest Queenstown is also just a good base camp to explore the surrounding areas.  There are beautiful scenic drives everywhere and adorable little towns to explore.  We did an amazing daytrip to Milford Sound which has to be one of the most beautiful places I've been.  Living in Switzerland I'm used to beautiful mountains.  But the mountains of New Zealand range from rugged Alp-like beauty to dramatic green Jurassic park like mystery.  If Switzerland and Hawaii had a child its name might be New Zealand.

 Milford Sound

From Milford Sound we did our one adventurous activity - a 20 minute helicopter ride in the area.  I'd never ridden in a helicopter before and it's much different than any plane ride.  You levitate right up into the air and the wind bobbles you around more than you're comfortable with.  But the views are extraordinary.  And helicopters can land almost anywhere - in our case on a glacier:

The ice is incredibly beautiful - white and aqua and in cool formations.  Makes you want to paint.

We spent our last 2 days enjoying the beautiful fall weather and visiting some of the cute little towns around Queenstown.  Glenorchy is right in Lord of the rings country and Arrowtown is a little old mining town that's been beautifully preserved.

   

Another wonderful trip.  Although it's quite a ways away I highly recommend it.  Most people have Australia on their wish list but to me, New Zealand is far and away a more interesting and doable vacation.  If you want to see the full album of photos it is here.