It’s been a dream of mine for a while to do a campervan trip around the South Island – I love the idea of not having to pack and repack each day, and being able to stay closer to some of the amazing natural attractions the South Island has to offer.
What follows is a selection of photos from my 2.5 week trip around the South Island. As it turned out, 2.5 weeks still wasn’t enough to see everything on the South Island, essentially we only managed to tick off the attractions south of the line between Hokitika and Christchurch. Oh well, plenty of ground to cover for the next trip.
We ended up going with Wilderness Campers and their ‘Breeze 2’ campervan, which was a very new campervan with all the mod-cons and also had roadside assist. Unlike other 2 person campervans, the efficient use of space also meant that it was a bit shorter than normal, making parking and handling somewhat easier.
Out itinerary involved landing in Christchurch, then heading to Lake Tekapo, Mt Cook National Park, Queenstown, Te Anau, Milford Sound, back up to Wanaka, then Fox Glacier, Hokitika, Arthur’s Pass then back to Christchurch.
The view from near Lake Alexandria. As we had a Wilderness certified camper, we spent the previous night camped out by Lake Tekapo. It was a great feeling to wake up to snow-capped peaks dropping down into a pristine blue lake. This much snow is actually unseasonal, at it was only Autumn when we were there.
The view from Lake Alexandria.
A stunning vista from Mt John, a few km out from Lake Tekapo. There is an observatory on the mountain, as the area is a ‘dark sky reserve’ meaning there is very little light pollution so it is a great spot for stargazing. The observatory is actually open at night for tours and stargazing, well worth a look in if the skies are clear.
Another vista from the top of Mt John. They have a great little cafe there where you can grab a hot chocolate and soak up the views.
After Lake Tekapo, we made our way to Mt Cook. The journey is almost as good as the destination because around every corner there seemed to be more jaw-dropping views. This photo was of the vistas around Lake Pukaki, yet another glacial lake surrounded by snow-capped peaks.
This photo was taken on the other side of Lake Pukaki. I like how the sunlight brings out the colours of the lake.
As we arrived in Mt Cook village pretty late in the afternoon, we chose to do a quick little walk on the first day. This is the view from the top of the Tasman glacier walk looking back towards Lake Pukaki – the Tasman Glacier is just behind me.
Coming back from an early morning walk on the Hooker Valley Track, we saw a few people in the distance admiring the Mueller Glacier. I couldn’t resist taking a shot as it really highlights the scale and majesty of the Mt Cook area.
This is the view from the top of the Red Tarns track back towards Mt Cook and the Mueller glacier. A very steep ascent up a lot of stairs to get up here, but the views are simply stunning.
The snow-capped Remarkables as seen from Queenstown Hill. We cheated and took the cable-car up instead of walking 🙂 Make sure to do the luge when you’re there…looks kind of dorky and boring but it’s actually alot of fun! A good way to enjoy the views is to have the buffet lunch at the restaurant they have up there – decent food with an amazing backdrop.
This photo was the reward after a long day’s drive from Te Anau. It wasn’t a very promising start when we left Te Anau, with incessant drizzle and grey skies. The rain only got heavier as we approached Milford Sound, with many of the lookout points along the drive there not worth stopping at due to the driving rain and mist. The rain didn’t let up as we exited the Homer Tunnel on the final part of our journey to Milford Sound, however the mist cleared slightly and we could see hundreds of temporary waterfalls cascading down from the surrounding mountains as a result of the rain.
We drove to the lookout point at Milford Sound, but the view was impeded by low hanging clouds and rain, rain and more rain. Defeated, we retired to the Milford Lodge for dinner. As we were having dinner in the common room, I noticed sunlight lighting up the tip of one of the mountains outside the window. Excited, I dashed outside, grabbed my gear and quickly drove back to the lookout point – this is what I saw. I hope you enjoy viewing it as much as I enjoyed being there.
The weather the next day didn’t disappoint either. We were blessed with sunshine and clear blue skies, and the sea was like glass – ahhh, the serenity. Ollie from Rosco’s Milford Kayaks took us out on the ‘Sunriser Classic’ tour and it didn’t disappoint. This covered the inner part of the sound and we were able to access areas that were not possible on one of the big ships that cruise around the sound.
As we left Milford Sound that same day the weather was still good so we decided to do one of the best day walks in the region, the Key Summit walk. After an hour or so we finally struggled up to the summit and enjoyed a late lunch whilst drinking the the views.
Leaving Queenstown we drove around the Crown Range in the late afternoon light. The shot below was taken from one of the pullouts on the Crown Range Road, looking back towards Queenstown.
Looking back towards Arrowtown from the Crown Range Road.
Next up on the road trip was beautiful Wanaka. This shot was taken in the morning from one of the lookout points on the shore of Lake Wanaka. Glad I consulted the map I picked up from the Tourism Office as it was only a 5 minute drive from town, yet the view was stunning. It was a perfect still morning with not a breath of air – the lake was like a sheet of glass and perhaps best of all, there wasn’t another soul in sight. Truly a sight to behold.
The shot below is one of the most famous views in Wanaka and is taken from Rippon vineyard. It has commanding views over the surrounding area and the wine isn’t bad either.
Up close and personal with the Autumn leaves at Lake Wanaka.
After days on incessant rain at Fox Glacier and Hokitika on the South Island’s wild west coast, we finally caught some nice weather at Arthur’s Pass. Not many accessible walks to do in the area so you can just spend a few hours here on your way through, wouldn’t bother spending the night there like we did.
The view from the plane on the flight from Christchurch to Auckland.
