Hello everyone,
Keeping up with our theme to travel as much as we can, here is my post from my latest travel.
Let’s do South island. What say? Not the whole of it but quite a bit! So, here I have a fabulous itinerary to share. The one that I lived this Christmas.
So sit back and relax as I take you to the most scenic settings and locations of New Zealand’s south island. Also, I am often asked questions like, what places to visit in New Zealand? How many days in North island and how many in south island? Is 1 week enough or 2? Here and in my upcoming posts, you’ll find answers to all of these.
So, this Christmas season, I got to know we were going to South island. I was excited. But I didn’t probe. I absolutely didn’t know what was it going to be like and I didn’t investigate further because I wanted the holiday to unfold into a beautiful surprise.
All I knew was we were booked for one night in Christchurch. Then one day in Lake Tekapo. Next two days in Twizel. Half a day in Dunedin. And we had a rav 4 booked, which meant we were going to do whole lot of off roads.
So we flew out of Auckland to go to Christchurch on the eve of 23rd December.
And what I lived in next four days left me mesmerized. So much so, that I have clicked lot of pictures and this time made a lot of videos too. I promise to fill you up with these so much that it would feel to you that it is you who did the south island.
I have put a lot of love and hardwork into bringing this to you. Hope you like it :)
Here is the overview of the places we visited and activities we did. I took notes on my phone. Stitching them together took a tad of a time.
But now, here it is.
23 Dec – Took a late evening flight from Auckland to Christchurch.
By the recent earthquakes, Christchurch is broken again but it still holds its beauty. It is exuberantly green. Roads are quite wide and gorgeous with flower loaded trees alongside. Along these roads, also sits beautiful houses and a lot of motels, hotels and backpacking hostels.
Christchurch certainly, wholeheartedly welcomes the tourists from all over the world. So yes, it is quite a touristy place. The landscape and town brought back memories from our visit to Canberra, Australia.
Reached Christchurch
It was mid night already when we reached our accommodation. So for dinner, we had fruits, ready-to-eats and pita whole wheat breads. Soon after we hit our beds to start our day early the next day.
Since everything is closed on Christmas day, we carried with us ready-to-eats, crackers, pita breads, jams and jellies to suffice for the entire journey.
24 Dec – Early morning we picked our car. The well-chosen and desired rav 4.
We loaded our rav 4 with our bags. Setup the music. Shoved crackers and water bottles into easy accessible car pockets. And started the drive.
We didn’t do Christchurch as it is lot of construction work going on. We headed to go to our first destination. Lake Tekapo.
Drive from ''Christchurch'' to ''Lake Tekapo''
1. On our way to Lake Tekapo, our first stop was Edendale café.
2. We drove through Glenn tunnel. You can imagine a sea of campervans parked in an area and tents flanked all over the place. Barbeque, sun basking and brimming with plans to go take a dip in the nearby stream, lake or puddle.
3. Second stop was the Rakia gorge. (I have shot a video. Will share the youtube link.)
4. Driving ahead, the Southern Alps start to show up quite prominently. Stopped at roadside lookout. Highlights are stunning purple and pink Lupine flowers with Southern Alps in whole of the backdrop. Enticing and inviting.
5. Driving for an hour and a little more, we reached Geraldine. It is a boutique village. Beautiful and picturesque. 140 km from Christchurch, it is in Canterbury region.
6. We entered FreshChoice, a super market which stocked the produce of locals. Isn’t it brilliant and enterprising!
As expected, the super market was exuberant and filled with celebrations. There was music, dancing puppets and the staff dressed aptly with Christmas caps and robes. Now and then grooved at the musical beats. Not to miss there was emotion in the place. Families and many senior citizens flocked the place. Everyone felt home at this place. It was such a happy and warm feeling. We shopped here for more food – milk, fruits, pita, jams, avocados (safest and easiest)
Photo: Rakia gorge to our left
Photo: Rakia gorge
Lake Tekapo is one of the most charming and popular tourist destinations of New Zealand. The lake gets its intense milky-turquoise colour from the rocks particles that are ground by glaciers and suspended in the water.
Lake Tekapo boasts a wide range of spectacular accommodations and world class recreation activities.
1. We checked into Peppers Bluewater resort.
2. Since we had just one day at Lake Tekapo, out of the so many activities, we decided to do Tekapo Springs.
3. We walked along the sparkling waters of Lake Tekapo to go to the Tekapo Springs.
Tekapo Springs is a multi-faceted entertainment facility overlooking stunning Lake Tekapo. It offers hot pools, sauna/steam rooms and plunge pools. In winters ice rinks and snow tube slope.
We did hot pools.
4. So there are three hot pools. The lowest one maintained with water at temperature of 32 degrees Celcius. Adjacent to it and positioned a bit higher in altitude has temperature of 34 degrees Celcius and the highest pool is maintained with 36 degrees Celsius. The highest pool is only for adults.
5. You can buy or rent the towels, shorts and whatever is required for you to get inside the water but you can carry your own stuff too.
6. We hopped between the three pools. We started with 34 degrees. Then went to adults only pool at 38 degrees. And it was quite hot! We couldn’t bear it beyond ten minutes. It is recommended to constantly sip cold water to prevent the body from dehydration. Well! Even then, it wasn’t for us certainly.
We settled in the lowest pool. Temperature 32 degrees celcius. It was fun maximum. Water had moderate temperature for body. The pool also had a couple of fancy shower fixtures that sent a wide but thin film of warm water on our head.
Imagine experience all of this in a place surrounded by a forest on two sides and mountains on other two sides. It was unbelievably relaxing and exciting.
Photo: Tekapo Hot Springs
7. Having spent several hours not enough though, later in evening, we hopped out of the pool to go to the place that had a series of most creative and huge showers. It was phenomenally amazing experience.
Hot pools / hot springs are the most popular attractions of New Zealand. One of the famous ones are here at Lake Tekapo. Tekapo Springs is a bit uphill and it is an unbelievably gorgeous sight created here.
Hot Springs are certified by a Government body. It certifies that the water in the pools is naturally hot when it occurred / oozed out of the earth. It isn’t heated artificially (just a bit to vary the temperatures in the pools). It also certifies for rich mineral content in the water. No wonder, the water in these hot springs across New Zealand is therapeutic and calms the body.
8. And what a lovely surprise on the walk back to the resort. Found two wandering horses amidst the thick of lupine purple and pink foliage. But they didn’t pose. I with many others lingered but they won’t look at us even for split of a second.
9. From the terrace of our splendid and comfortable room, caught the magnificent and breathtaking sunset at 9:00 pm. It was a beautiful sight when the mountains turned bright orange as sun settled on them. And I took a beautiful panorama, which has become one of my favorite shots from the trip.
10. Dinner table we setup on the terrace. And it was about having a beautiful time with friends, smiles, warmth, wine, finest desserts with a sight of twinkling Alps. What a way to bring in Christmas of the year 2016! I felt grateful for the blessings.
25 Dec –
Started the Christmas morning with packing our bags and a quick breakfast of avocado with wheat breads, fruits and Lewis road strawberry milk. Lewis road creamery milk is so amazingly delicious. It is a must try in New Zealand.
Checked out of the Pepper’s and quickly went once again to lake Tekapo to have the view of the magnificent Lake Tekapo with morning sun shining at her in full brilliance.
Headed to ''Mt Cook''
– (Tekapo to Mt Cook is 125 km. Took 4.5 hours.)
1. Drove along the Lake Pukaki. It was a long drive one but still couldn’t have enough of it. It was a true scenic drive.
Lake Pukaki is a lovely long large jewel in MacKenzie basin. This shimmering jewel is set against a backdrop of Aoraki/Mt Cook.
There are two type of lakes – volcanic lakes and glacial lakes. Lake Pukaki is glacial lake. It has a distinctive turquoise blue colour. It gets its colour from the suspended particles of rocks. Ice rubs with stones and the broken particles of rocks are pushed up to the surface of the lake by phosphorous present in the lake.
2. Shot many videos of the drive to Mt. Cook. (Will share on youtube.)
3. Drove between the Southern Alps on left side and Lake Pukaki on the right side. And we had Mt Cook right in front of us. But still far. We drove on.
Mt Cook is the highest mountain peak of New Zealand.
4. We stopped at Hotel Hermitage. It sits at the foot of the majestic, massive and ravishingly beautiful Mt. Cook that stands tall with pride.
Celebrated New Zealand mountaineer, Sir Edmund Hillary practiced on Mt Cook before climbing the Mt. Everest in May 1953. His life and achievements are celebrated at the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre, in Mt Cook Village.
5. Along with many tourists from around the world, we spent sometime at the footsteps on Mt. Cook. Couldn’t drive ahead. Had touched the last point. The road ends.
6. Felt thrilled looking at the peak of the Mt. Cook. Soaked in the cold breeze. We were captivated by the enchanted Mt. Cook covered with snow. Didn’t wish to leave but then had to go to our next stop.
Headed to Twizel
– (Mt Cook to Twizel is 56 km via state highway 80.)
1. Settled in the car to go to Twizel. It was going back the same route. This time lake Pukaki stretched endlessly on our left and mountains on our right.
2. Imagine driving on long stretch of road with snow capped mountains and lake on the sides. Only sound was the sound of breeze, which escalated when campervans and other vehicles went past.
3. In less than an hour, we touched the outskirts of Twizel town. The landscape changed here. Mountains were far off. Now, on our sides were long stretches of farmlands filled with lambs and cows.
Twizel – The town has a beautiful history about how it came into being. It is a town with innumerable lakes. That’s why, years ago, MacKenzie company was invited to set up a power plant. After they had completed the work, it was time to leave. It is when they expressed the desire to stay back and Twizel town was setup.
Twizel with so many lakes, some calm and some rough, shimmers vibrantly in the turquoise hue. It is so beautiful that Twizel is also a favorite wedding destination among kiwis.
4. Checked into MacKenzie country inn. It was afternoon. Time for lunch but it being the Christmas day, everything was closed. Our food packets, crackers and fruits were our lunch.
5. We will stay in MacKenzie country inn for two days.
First day in ''Twizel town''
6. Immediately after lunch, we headed for an off road.
7. But we wandered and found ourselves driving towards lake Ohau. Way away from the off road we had decided to do. But it was for the best. Lake Ohau was untouched and unseen.
8. Our drive along the lake Ohau - On an extremely narrow gravel and muddy stretch we went up and down. We were driving on the sharp edge of the mountains. So one side we had the mountain and other side deep down was lake Ohau.
Up for bit of a situation -
We were driving on the edge. And it was narrow. It certainly could accommodate just one vehicle. And soon we were up for a situation. We were balked seeing this one beast vehicle coming from opposite direction. Where did it come from!!! It was the first thought that crossed our mind and so were the expressions of the guy driving the beast.
But we smiled and worked it out. A bit he climbed up the mountain and bit we dipped our vehicle further down the edge of the road just as much we didn’t lose the road. And we did it!
9. No other vehicle crossed our path after that. But there were cows taking careless strolls.
10. Cows and cows and so many – They were the highlight for me. It was their territory. And I loved how they ruled the place like a boss.
Did we know south island has higher population of cattle than humans? The ratio was 6:1 in recent times.
The cows mooed notoriously and called for their community and gathered to look at us. Then there were another kind of cows that carelessly basked in the sun and didn’t care our presence.
11. Christmas party – Got back from the drive and straight away got ready for the Christmas eve buffet dinner hosted by the Country inn. Celebrations involved Christmas music. Dinner. Drinks. Elaborate spread of beautiful looking food. All of it we soaked sitting this side of the glass walls that overlooked the snow-capped mountains. Life couldn’t be more beautiful.
Meet Alan –
An elderly who sat next to us with his lovely life kept looking at me and smiling. I smiled back. He then got up and walked to me. Very fragile frame and wobbly steps. I stood up from my chair to receive him. He was wanting to say something. He told us that he was Alan and he had worked as a tour guide with Hotel Hermitage and took many Indians to see Mt. Cook. He felt a connection with Indians.
We learnt from his wife some interesting facts about the Twizel town. The town has a population of just 1200 people. She guffawed saying that when a car passes by their house, she knows exactly whose car it was and who from the family was driving it.
26 Dec –
Second day in ''Twizel town''
1. The sunrise – We started at 4:30 am. Drove 30 km from MacKenzie country inn to go to a lookout to see the famous sunrise against the stunning, calm and turquoise waters of Lake Pukaki sunrise.
2. Watched the breathtaking sun rise. And there was much more to it! As the sun rises, the sun rays directly reach out to the snow-capped Mt Cook standing at quite a distance. At the first ray of the sun, Mt Cook becomes pink and in course of time takes many hues as the sun continues to rise.
3. Returned to MacKenzie and had a lovely buffet breakfast. Same place we had Christmas dinner.
4. Soon after, set out without a plan. Deliberately didn’t plan. Wanted to discover the near abouts of the Twizel town.
5. In ten minutes we were in the Omarama town. We spotted a Wrinkly Rams café offering display of lamb shearing. We decided to get back to it in afternoon. For the moment, we drove on.
6. Beyond the town we were again on a state highway. On our sides we had mountains, lakes and farmlands filled with lambs and cattle.
7. Stopped at the sight of tourists doing speed boats in Ahuriri river. We too parked along side the road and walked through the bushes to reach the Lake. Soaked generous amount of sun, got into the water just till knees and watched many tourists do speed boats.
Reached ''Omarama''
1. The Wrinkly Rams café - We had brunch at the village café. Country sides offer lovely texture and richness in food. And the presentation was one such brilliant that I haven’t seen in the most sophisticated cafes and restaurants of the city also.
2. This village café isn’t just limited to good food. It offers fun, entertainment and education too. It is one action packed entertainment centre.
3. Live Sheep shearing show – We attended the Sheep shearing show. A real sheep was sheared right in front of our eyes.
4. Shepherd dogs and sheep show – Second show was in the backyard. At the whistles of the instructors, two dogs controlled the sheep. Did we know one dog can control 500 sheep at a farmland? Isn’t it amazing!
5. Next we shopped from the souvenir shop. It was very different from the city souvenir shops. Lot of merino – in clothes, in toys, in shoes.
6. Hot tubs – Finally it was time to unwind in the hot springs. But these were private tubs and sauna. Spent good 2-3 hours. Imagine private huts dedicated to you. Outside it, wooden tubs with hot water placed on the lake side. The lake has ducks swim around in families.
7. On way back we drove to the clay cliffs. Natural formation. For a closer look, you can take a small walk of fifteen minutes uphill.
8. The water stream near the cliff had my fascination more than anything. It was magically musical and comforting to eyes.
9. Day came to an end with the most amazing Thai dinner from Jasmine restaurant. They say local brewed craft beer in this region is a must try too.
27 Dec –
It was the last day of our trip. We had to head to Dunedin to take the evening flight back to Auckland.
As we loaded our rav 4 with our bags, people were headed with trailers behind their cars that had boats to go to the lakes and rivers. Only sound was breeze cutting through by the cars and the trailers. I stood there outside taking the last look at the place.
Far away there was a mountain that had the shadow of clouds casted all over it with sun too shining on it here and there. It was my favorite sight.
1. We checked out of the MacKenzie Country inn.
2. Took the shorter route to head to Dunedin as weather forecast showed heavy rain. We didn’t take the scenic drive to go to Dunedin as it was the long one.
3. The shorter route too was a long drive. We took our first stop at Vanessas cottage café in Hampden. Most creative. This country side cafe will live with me forever.
4. Then drove across the Pacific ocean.
Dunedin
1. Entered Dunedin in the afternoon. We had the flight to catch in evening.
2. Took the Monarch cruise meet the royal albatross families.
3. Ahead of the tour, I spoke to our tour booking officer, Tervor and asked him about the tour – what all I could expect.
- Tervor told us that the island we were headed to was the ONLY location on the earth where Albatross lay eggs in human inhabited area.
- Many national geographic documentaries are made here.
- The island at that moment had 33 albatross nests.
- By inhabited they mean, not humans living there literally but the island is maintained by humans. Humans visit the island and the Albatross are okay with it.
- So full time rangers maintain the island and protect the Albatross.
- They have also installed fly catchers. Flies lay eggs into the mouth of new born chicks and they die.
- Albatross are sub Antarctic birds. They need extreme cold weather to survive. The rangers have installed fine mist of water sprinklers to keep them cool.
- Did we know?: Wandering Albatross are the biggest. 4.5 mtrs wing span. The common ones are southern albatross and northern albatross. Out of the two, southern albatross are bigger. They have white patch on the wings. Wing span is 3.5 meters.
4. Monarch wildlife safari was a spectacular display of beautiful sea animals and birds. The tour took us through some lovely areas and the tour guides gave us some fantastic knowledge.
5. We went to Shag point – It is one of the best places to see Seal colonies in New Zealand.
Albatross safari wasn’t even near to the difficulty level of whale and dolphin watching safari in Auckland. But it was unique in its own way. And the best part for those who have sea sickness, it isn’t a long safari.
I mention this because my husband could finally enjoy a sea safari. First, for it was a short one. Less than an hour, we were back to the wharf. Also, they give you this amazing pressure band and mint pads to sniff. Both mechanisms worked wonderfully well.
With this we came to an end of our spectacular south island adventure.
So, we got to the Dunedin airport. We dropped the car at the car rental counter. It was at the airport itself.
Dunedin airport is most creative and witty in their messages displayed across the airport. You cant help but smile all through even if it is the end your holiday.
“Dunedin airport is between a valley,” the pilot announced as the flight took off.
And what a spectacular view it was from the top!
P.S:
I have concluded the entire experience in the most comprehensive manner I could so that it is easy to understand. Have tried my best to keep it interesting too. I hope you all enjoyed this.
For all the amazing experiences and activities, New Zealand is an awesome country for tourists. Come and experience.
