Southern Island of New Zealand
The Southern Island offers plenty of beautiful places which deserve your time and attention. We had such a lovely time in this part of the country. Make sure to check out the Northern Island section as well.
Onahau Lookout and Centre of New Zealand
When we arrived with the ferry in Picton we moved in the direction of the Onahau Lookout. This is a return ride and the views are great. Also the hike is very pleasant and on the lookout you have a true 360° view on the area. Although it was great, the windy road getting there and back will take some time. When you would be short of time, I would recommend to skip this part.
We moved further to Nelson where you can find the centre of New Zealand. We often laugh with the things we visit, and what they put out there to keep tourists busy. However, after visiting the centre of Europe, we couldn’t let this one out. It’s outside the city center and in a kind of park which is nice to walk, so if you have an hour extra while passing Nelson, it’s worth checking this point out. You find there a tile in the ground and a kind of statue.
A small detour towards Motueka will bring you to the Salt water swimmingpool which is inside the ocean. With the tides the water is refreshed. Just like with other swimming holes we saw before, you can’t on keep on swimming everywhere during a trip, so we skipped that part. A few minutes further you will find the Janie Seddon Shipwreck. Same goes here, if you are short of time, just continue your journey to the Abel Tasman National Park.
Abel Tasman National Park
Close to Abel Tasman NP you can visit the Riuwaka Resurgence, a river spring which has the most clear water you will ever see. The lower one is also used a swimming hole. The upper one is very special, with the trees, the moss and us being there alone was worth the detour.
When you get closer to the national park you can go and visit the Split Apple. Once again, they give a rock a special name and dozens of tourists go and take a look. If you plan to take a water taxi in the national park, you can skip it, as the water taxis pass by this rock and give you the time to take a picture. An extra if you do take the time to go there is a nice beach and some cool rocks and caves which you can visit if the tide is right.
There is a 3 to 5 day hike, which runs next to the coastal line. You can only hike or take a water taxi. If you don’t want to do the multi day hike, you can select any leg and the taxi will drop you off or pick you up. The legs closest to the visitor center ar roughly 12 and 13 km. We decided to club the 2 days and do a 25 km hike. When the tide is low, you can skip 2 to 3 km, but we had to do the long distance. When you would take the short cut, do know you won’t pass Cleopatra’s Pool which is an awesome swimming hole with a natural slide. We did some natural slide in Costa Rica, but this one didn’t see that comfortable or safe. Maybe we are getting old, but we skipped it. It just looked a very bumpy ride. Nevertheless, we had awesome weather, and it was so refreshing to take a swim in the refreshing cold water. I can tell you we were very happy to get back to our motorhome as 26 km with 600 altitude meters was quite a heavy day. I would recommend to pick 1 leg as that will give you a good impression and won’t get you exhausted.
Pancake Rocks & Blowholes
Early in the morning we got up and visited the Maruia Falls on the campground where we stayed for the night. A nice and powerfull waterfall and awesome we could experience that only with the two of us. After we hit the road in the direction of Cape Foulwind where you have a colony of seals. With a short hike from the car parking you can observe them. When we were visiting they had some young ones which was nice to observe. Some were enjoying the sun, others were fishing or others were playing.
From there we continued to the Pancake Rocks which are awesome. There is a park near the coast where you can go for a walk and admire the rock formations. They indeed look like piles of pancakes and are really impressive. We had never seen something like this. There are also some blowholes, but with the low tide during our visit, they weren’t that active. Nevertheless they must be insane with high tide or stormy weather.
Not that far from the Pancake rocks you can walk the Pororari River Track. This is a gorge with a swing bridge and some nice viewpoints. Downside is that it’s an out-and-back track. There might be an option to make a loop, but we weren’t prepared and didn’t want to take the chance to loose too much time as we still had other plans for the day. A nice hike of 8.65 km.
Hokitika Gorge & Franz Josef & Fox Glacier
The Hokitika Gorge is a place which you can’t miss as the turquoise water is marvelous to witness. It’s a 40 minutes drive from Hokitika and while you might often think you are alone on the road, when you arrive at the parking lot, you will conclude differently. The place was one of the most busy of our road trip. A short hike will get you close to the water. During our visit the weather was great and the water just called us in. It was quite cold and be very careful for the current, but if you don’t go too far of the entry point, we think it’s manageable. Please do take into account that some lives were lost here.
We ended the day at Mahinapua hotel where you can camp for free if you sign up. From there there is a short hike to the Tasman Sea which was perfect to have a drink and enjoy the sand and the Sea. After we had a BBQ at our motorhome and a drink in the bar of the hotel. Several guests from the bigger campground in the area had the same idea. A cosy bar and great outdoor terrace are present. So a perfect spot if you have the time and are around.
The Neck
After several days of great weather it was predicted to change the next day, when we had plans to visit Franz Josef & Fox Glacier. We got up extra early with the intention to beat the clouds but had no luck. Even before we reached the town it started to gently rain and the fog prevented you could see something of the Glacier. First we were dissappointed, but then we realised we had another chance at the other side of the island with Mount Cook and the Tasman Glacier. During the rain we visited the Kiwi center and managed to spot 2 of them! They are such bizar creatures. We aren’t big zoo fans, but we do think the birds were treated properly and were happy to have spot them.
We decided to use this rain day as transfer day and headed to Wanaka with some stops underway. We stopped at Roaring Billy Falls, Thunder Creek Falls and Fantail Falls. The first one wasnt’ that impressive and full of mosquito’s but the other two were certainly worth the stop!
Then we reached The Neck between Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea. This is such an impressive part. You turn away from the one lake and then magically the other one appears. This is truly one of the most beautiful place I have driven a car. The colours were so great and I think it must even be more beautiful when the sky is blue. We continued our journey and went to take a look at the Instagram Famous #thatwanakatree. First I thought it was unique, but we saw more of those later during our trip.
Before heading to Queenstown we stopped at The Cardrona Bra Fence, a controversial tourist attraction. At some point between 1998 and 1999, passers-by began to attach bras to a rural fence. The fence gradually became a well known site as the number of bras grew to hundreds. It is now a place to remember people who got breast cancer. Quite impressive in our opinion.
Glenorchy
We skipped Queenstown for now and drove in the direction of Glenorchy. Where the day before the road around The Neck was very impressive, I can say that this route was probably even more marvelous. Just outside Queenstown we first stopped to hike the Mount Crichton Loop Track which is famous from Lords of the Ring. The hike is worth your time as you will have great views on some lakes, but also Sams Summer Hut is worth a visit. The little town Glenorchy is very pitoresque and we did a short hike with plenty of boardwalks over water, overlooking the mountains. This was an afternoon well spend!
Queenstown
After spending Christmas time at the beach we wanted to spend New Year’s Eve in a town and had selected Queenstown. Via our rental company Wilderness we got the tip to stay at Creeksyde Holiday Park. This is the perfect location if you are with a motorhome and I advise you to book a couple of months in advance. The campground is an easy 5 minutes stroll from the center and has all services you need. We were happy to have booked 2 nights from 30th of December and departure on 1st of January.
The morning of the 31st of December we left early for the Tiki trail which leaves at the foot of the cable car. It is a zigzag straight up the mountain which is intense. When you reach the top station of the cabble car you can continue to the Ben Lomond Saddle from which you can keep on going to the Ben Lomond Summit. Once you reach the saddle, you can see a mountain to the left which is way higher. We first laughed that would be the summit, but shortly after we realised it is effectively the summit. The last part is very steep. We are sportive and even we suffered at moments. But don’t be afraid, if you take your time, most people should be able to reach the top. But please be warned. We did it in 1 go from the bottom to the top and it was intense. On around 7.5 km you will go up 1500 vertical meters. That is a lot! (Strava track)
We advise to go up early to beat the crowds and select a clear day so you will be able to enjoy the incredible, magnificent and absolutely stunning views of the area. The views are amongst the best we have ever seen. When coming down we stopped at the Skyline Luge which is a race track down the hill with a specific type of vehicle. There are two different tracks out of which you select what you want during the track. You can buy tickets for 1 ride to 5 rides. However, the ticket for 1 ride is the most expensive one and then they add 2 dollar per ride. It’s fun, so I would advise to take the 3 rides ticket. The first ride to explore, the second you get used to it, and the third you realise you take it to the limits and it becomes dangerous. The experience is comparable with karting. If you watch it, it looks very slow, but when you are in the luge, it’s big fun. You can go back up the hill with a lift or take the stairs. The luges are brought up via the lift. You can find a movie at the bottom of this page.
The Milford Road
The route to the world famous Milford Sounds is roughly 100 km and you have to return via the same route. Along the route you have several highlights. For us Mirror Lake and Gertrude Saddle where the best ones. The first is close to the parking lot, so you only need to take your admiration time into account.
Gertrude Saddle is a different story. It’s a day hike which you can only start when the weather is great as otherwise it’s very dangerous. At first we thought the exagerated but over half way we understood it’s really the case. you cross several rock parts which are extremely slippery when wet. So all these flat rocks must be completely dry. Near the end you have some steeper parts, but there are chains to hold yourself. Before you reach the saddle there are also some steeper parts without chains so you need to be careful. But as long as the rocks are dry, you have enough grip. It is however not a hike for the faint of heart. The out-and-back track is only 9 km, but it took us around 3 hours to complete it. (Strava track)
Milford Sound
This is probably the most famous part of New Zealand and plenty of people claim this is one of the most beautiful place on earth. Although it’s beautiful I do think it’s a bit of a tourist trap and they have extremely well advertised this place. I agree it’s beautiful, but I don’t get the hype. You drive so far to see a fjord and then you pay a huge amount to take a boat in the fjord. Which sounds so familiar with the Interislander ferry between the islands which sails through the Marlborough Sound which is also very beautiful. Due to the hype I read on internet we booked a spot on the only campinground in the National Park which is very expensive. It’s a well equiped campground, but it’s very expensive. If you would turn around after the Gertrude Saddle I don’t think you miss much.
Invercargill - Home of the World's Fastest Indian
In the Lonely Planet we learned about the E. Hayes & Sons shop which is an unique place. It is a hardware store, but the owner started to showcase some unique pieces ranging from old machines to motorcycles and the original Burt Munro’s motorcycle. Nobody will look strange if you go to the shop and admire the collection without buying something. There is also an in store coffee and book shop.
Southern Scenic Route
From Invercargill we took the Southern Scenic route towards Dunedin which has plenty of places where you can stop. First there was the Southern most point of the Southern Island. Another example of keeping the tourists busy because it’s a nice cliff, but there are many other nice points where you can see the cliffs. We did enjoy the short hike to the Purakanui Falls which does come with a few km of dirt road if you come from direction of Invercargill. Leaving in the other direction is an asphalt road. We also took the time to drive to the Nugget Point Lighthouse which overlooks some very nice rock formations but prepare yourself for a lot of wind at the furthest point.
Cathedral Cave
Cathedral Cave, not to be mixed up with Cathedral Cove on the Northern Island, is a must do! You will however need to take the tides into account and you can find the opening hours announced on the website a couple of days upfront. From the gate there is a single road to the parking lot where you have to buy a (cheap) ticket. Then you have to hike around 1 or 1.5 km down to the beach and then you can get access to the caves. We assured we were early and first at the gate and were the first arriving at the caves. The guard was observing the waves, which are unpredictable and was doubting to already let us pass. While we thought he was exagerating, as the water was far away, suddenly the waves came way closer flooding the entrance of the cave again. He explained we could go in between waves but had to watch the water and if a wave would really enter the cave, just go to the back, where we could get even a bit higher up. Luckily this wasn’t needed during our visit. As we were early, we had the cave 5 or 10 minutes for ourselves, there weren’t any footprints of the day yet and the experience was very special. The cave is in fact a U so you can come out a bit furhter. When we were admiring the views, some people started to arrive and took a picture of us. The friendly person shared it with airdrop, so if you read this, thank you once again.
After some time we went back and the place was crowed at the entrance and on the beach. It made the experience different and that made our earlier moment even more special. An extra tip is that you might just run down the path and outrace other tourists like we did. We had fun running down, it’s easier for the muscles and we earned some us-alone time in and around the caves.
Baldwin Street - World's Steepest Street
This is a street which you can’t miss when you visit New Zealand. It has been a battle in recent years, but final outcome according to World Guinness Record book Baldwin Street is the steepest street in the world. To be complete: steepest paved road over a continuous distance of more than ten metres. You will see plenty of people visiting the street and go up and down or even ride their cars in the street for fun. For motorhomes it’s not allowed. It is indeed incredible steep and pictures can’t visualise this properly. One to add for strange locations which tourists go and check out 🙂
Dunedin to Mount Cook
On our road from Dunedin towards Mount Cook we had a few stops. First there were the Moeraki Boulders which are unusually large spherical boulders lying along a stretch of Koekohe Beach. The beach itself is also very beautiful, so it’s a great stop to have a short break. Next up where the Elephant Rocks which are big rocks in the middle of nowhere and when you arrive the big one you see first is indeed like an Elephant. The parking lot is closeby and you don’t need more time than 30 minutes to explore the area. Let your imagination free and you will be surprised what you think you see.
The Clay Cliffs are comparable with the Pinnacles on the Northern Island. In order to get there you need to follow a gravel road for several kilometers. From the parking lot there is a 10 – 15 minute walk to explore them. They are most inspiring from a distance as when you get very close to it, they loose a bit of their charm in our opinion. It’s a bit of a detour and I’m in doubt to judge whether they are worth it or not.
Mount Cook
In the Campermate App we learned there was a great campground near Lake Pukaki with not only great views on the lake and Mount Cook, but also a (stone) beach where you can easily swim in the lake. We made sure to arrive not too late in order to pick a great spot with views on the lake and be able to take a swim before lighting up our BBQ. The water was cold, but once you were in, it was OK. The environment is awesome. I did miss some water shoes as walking on the rocks isn’t easy for me. In combination with the nice weather we were really enjoying and living in the moment. Some friendly Belgian tourists took the picture of us.
The next morning we went for the Mount Cook Valley hike and we advice you to go early as the parking lot fills up quickly and it will get busy on the hike. We first went to the visitor centre, which is a bit deeper in the park, but you easily skip this and drive directly to the parking lot. You will cross 3 swing bridges and a magnificient part with a boardwalk (see picture). This was so beautiful! At Hooker Lake you will see the glacier which is in the corner of the lake. During our visit there was suddenly a big ice part that collapsed from the glacier into the lake. Impressive to witness, but probably not such good news. The hike is a must do when you are in the neighbourhood. It’s a 11 km out-and-back hike. We also did the Tasman Valley hike, an intense 2 km up and 2 km back. The views are very similar to the Mount cook Valley hike, and you could easily skip this one if you have done the other hike. However, in the end we were happy we did it, but you’ll find out later why.
Tasman Glacier with ski plan and helicopter
When we we earlier on our trip near Frans Josef glacier we had bad weather but in the visitor center we learned that you can also fly from Mount Cook and go visit a much bigger glacier, the Tasman Glacier. We doubted whether this experience was worth the money as it’s expensive. I had done a helicopter flight when I was in Angola for work, but Marie-Claire did not. We decided to go for it and found Inflight Experiences who offered the ultimate alpine experience. It’s a 45 experience which combines a helicopter and ski plane flight. As the ski plane at once sounded interesitng we selected this option. We asked to land with the plane on the glacier as that was our preference and flight back out with the helicopter. It was really worth it! Even more, on future travels we might do it again as admiring such landscape from the air is completely different than hiking. The helicopter was definitly the best part as the views are way better. The plane was small and you can’t easily see much due to the wings. The helicopter is faster and can get way closer to everything. So unless you want to experience landing or taking off on a glacier, I would select the helicopter only option.
Asburton
Before heading directly to Christchurch Marie-Claire found a hike in the Ashburton area: Woolshed Creek. A loop of 12 km with 850 altitude meters in a desolated environment but again marvelous. There were quite some steep parts, endless views, waterfalls, gentle river crossing and it ended with a steep decent back to the car. On the highest point we could already see our motorhome but still had to hike 30 minutes to the start. We were happy to reach our car as it was an intense hike of around 3u30 moving time.
Christchurch
Christchurch is worth a visit and certainly Hagley Park is huge! It has an 18 hole golf, botanical garden, impressive trees, live summer theater and many more. It definetly deserves some time. The square center is easy explored by foot and certainly New Regent Street with the colored houses and the old tram is pitoresque. There is also quite some impressive Street Art to see. In the late afternoon we enjoyed the Riverside food market where you can find drinks and food in small stalls. It comes with a vibrent atmosphere and we enjoyed having a beer with some local people.
Quake City is a museum dedicated to the heavy earthquakes of 2010 and 2011. It is intense and although way smaller, the experience was comparable to the 911 experience in New York as you see those testimonials, pictures and artefacts from then. The museum isn’t big, but I think we easily spend 1,5 hour looking at documentaries and information on earthquakes.
