After a longish Christmas break in Brisbane we set out for New Zealand in early March 2016, flying to Christchurch on the east coast of South Island. Our plan was to circle South Island clockwise and this blog takes us from Christchurch to Milford Sound on the west coast.

We hired a Hyundah 30i and spent a few days in Christchurch.  A major earthquake hit the city five years (22 February 2011) earlier and Christchurch was, and still is, recovering.

Although many new buildings were being constructed, the centre of town still looked devastated with the cathedral being a prime example. (Work on rebuilding the Cathedral began in 2019)

Despite the destruction, there was still plenty of wall art plus some colourful windows.

A tribute to the Mr Grass mowing guy and Mrs Kiwi housewife feeding the dogs.

One of the lucky buildings

We came across a memorial to the 185 people who died during the quake. The white painted chairs stand in silent reminder of the devastation that nature can bring in a moment’s notice. It must be really hard living in Christchurch not knowing if and when it will happen again.

We traveled out to the Banks Peninsula south-east of Christchurch visiting the small town of Akaroa. We got a bit of a fright when standing  having a bite to eat when the car started rocking as another tremor hit.

We set out on our round the island journey heading to an Airbnb on a farm on the coast north of Oamaru. On the way, we diverted inland via Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki before making our way back to the coast.

The snow melt blue waters of these lakes are magnificent and we were able to see the Southern Alps with Mt Cook in the distance over the waters of Lake Pukaki. 

Later we drove up towards Mt Cook along the road skirting Lake Pukaki.

Traveling down to the farm past Twizel

While staying on the farm (where we were entertained by a sow and her three offspring) we took a trip down to the famous Moeraki boulders, large concretions of mud, fine silt and clay cemented by calcite. Unfortunately, the water was dirty and and the day was dull but we encountered a post-wedding shoot, one of many on our travels, getting wet in the process.

We found sea lions and yellow-eyed penguins, thought to be one of the worlds rarest penguin species, on a walk along the beach near the farm

 While in Oamaru , we found an interesting gallery, the best junk shop in the Southern Hemisphere and an interesting local.

Dunedin, just over 100ks to the south, was our next destination.

We nearly ended up sleeping on the sidewalk as our Airbnb was full as Jen had booked for the following month…… Our host came to the rescue by letting us sleep in his daughter’s bedroom while she ended up on the couch in the lounge. On the whole, New Zealanders are quite chilled, friendly and accommodating (fortunately).

Dunedin is the second largest city on South Island and is home to Otago Uni, NZs oldest, as well as hosting the steepest street (Baldwin) in the world, inclined to 35 degrees.

We explored the Otago peninsula to the east of the city, driving down to Cape Saunders seeing Wickcliffe Bay in the distance.

Tunnel Beach and some random tourists

We drove down the eastern edge of the internal bay until we got to the eastern point of the peninsula. Tairoa Head is home to a lighthouse as well as hosting the Royal Albatross Centre (you can see their large wingspan in this rather average photo).

On our final evening, our host took us up Mt Cargill and we looked out over Dunedin and Otago Harbour towards Tairoa Head as the sun set behind us.

With the intention of visiting Milford Sound, we made our way to Te Anau, skirting Invercagill to the south while avoiding kiwis, and booked into a cabin in a caravan park on the edge of town.

The following morning we set out, initially in the dark, to Milford Sound (a 1hr 40 min drive).

The weather was cloudy but at least dry when we boarded the Sound tour boat.  Milford Sound sits within the Fiordland National Park where the sheer cliffs and rocky valleys were formed by ancient glaciers over hundreds of thousands of years. It’s 512 m deep at the fiord’s head.

Some would rather paint the landscape than take a photograph.

Close enough to one of the waterfalls

Paddling the fiord would be a once in a lifetime experience

On the way out

There are a number of famous walking tracks in the area and we trekked the initial few kilometers of both the Routeburn and Kepler Tracks. On the Routeburn we walked up to Lake Howden before returning.

On the Kepler Track we met some Canadians who, when asked why they bothered coming to NZ when Canada has such beautiful scenery, stated that it was safer in NZ, as there were no bears! In fact we didn’t see much wildlife at all on our travels, particularly birds. Stoats and possums are blamed for decimating the populations by stealing eggs and there is a baiting program underway to try and eliminate them.

Division of labour

Magnificent