Sarah & Mum Adventures - The South Island

So many of us dream of travelling the world, seeing all the sites that every country has to offer. But somewhere in that dream, we forget to take a look at our own country. I mean how can you say that you’ve really seen the world if you haven’t explored your own backyard? After two and a half years of living in Europe, I had decided to head back home to New Zealand and one of my goals during my time at home was; before heading overseas again to see as much of New Zealand as I possibly could.

So with flights booked back to the UK, Mum and I decided to hit the roads of the South Island. If you don’t already know this, I grew up in the North Island and before 2017 never had so much as set foot in the South Island. While overseas, I had loads of people tell me about that time they went to Queenstown or Milford Sound or other places in the south. It made me a little jealous, so many people had seen and experienced more of my country than I had. Having spent a couple of months planning a road trip to see as much as we could in six days it was time to head to the airport and the South Island.

Only there was a slight weather issue. Torrential rain had plagued the West Coast, forcing road closures and the Waiho Bridge to be washed away. This caused a minor fault in our pleasant little loop of the South Island. You see the Waiho Bridge is the only way across the Waiho River. The only way to get from say Hokitika to Hasst (on the West Coast) is to the cross the Waiho River. And the bridge had been washed away. So a few last-minute changes to the itinerary were in order.

We had booked the early flight from Tauranga to Christchurch, so as not to waste a day of exploring. This particular flight also means that you get to watch the sun come up as you head south and is thus a rather remarkable and scenic flight to take.

We picked up the little car that was going to be our adventure mobile and hit the road. First, stop my brother’s house then supermarket for road snacks! We headed out of Christchurch, towards Tekapo where we stopped to take in the scenery and get some classic shots of the Church of the Good Shepherd.

Lake Tekapo

Lake Tekapo

Church of the Good Shepherd

From Tekapo, we stopped at Lake Pukaki where we had our picnic lunch and took a few more awesome photos of the Southern Alps and Glacial lakes.

We then made our way to where we were staying in Wanaka. Once in our room, having had dinner, we headed to the waterfront to have a couple of drinks to finish off the day.

The next day we decided that we would once again attempt to get to the West Coast. It was raining again. So leaving Wanaka, we began the drive to Haast, basically doing the opposite drive to what we were initially planning on doing. We stopped at the Lake Hawea lookout before continuing to Fantail Falls.

Where we walked through the bush and the rain to check them out, it was thoroughly raining. Then once again, our plans were changed. Our plans changed simply because we came across a waterfall crossing the road. You may think I am exaggerating, but I’m not. There was a waterfall crossing the road, and slowly washing away the road. So we stopped. Took stock of what was happening, chatted to a couple of other tourists who were also hindered and decided that we just were not meant to explore the West Coast this time around. Also, we didn’t have any of our luggage and stuff with us, and we didn’t want to get caught stranded in Haast with just the soggy clothes on our backs. So we turned around. We stopped again to look at the Blue Pools, not that they were very blue as it was raining and had been for a while. Here we found some DOC (Department of Conservation) Workers, so mum stopped to let them know about the waterfall crossing the road, just in case they didn’t know, because you know safety and stuff!

Now with wholly soaked socks and knickers, we headed back to Wanaka to get changed. Did I mention it was raining, a lot?

As it was only about lunchtime, we decided to try a different place. So we crossed the Crown Range. Pausing in Cardrona for a couple of classic shots.

We stopped in Arrowtown and wandered around, taking in the historic gold mining town. Even got some fudge from the sweets shop there. It was still raining and, being April and so Autumn a little bit chilly. Not wanting to have to drive back over the Crown Range in the rain and dark we made our way back to Wanaka where we decided to go and have something for dinner.

The next day we left Wanaka. As the rain had cleared, we stopped at the famous photo spot, That Wanaka Tree, before beginning our journey to Te Anau.

As the Crown Range Road was closed, we took a different route, with the plan to make it to Queenstown for lunch. Partway through the drive, I spotted some little hut hidden in the hills, curious we decided to stop at Goldfields Mining Centre. We had a go at Gold Panning but unfortunately didn’t manage to find any gold. We then wandered around the site, where the miners lived and taking in some of the history. Towards the end of this walk, mum realised she didn’t have her credit card any more; it had vanished from her phone case. So she retraced our steps but didn’t find it. We did end up finding it under the driver's seat of the car, so crisis averted.

Leaving Goldfields and our failing at making our fortunes. We headed to Queenstown, the adventure capital of New Zealand! We took our picnic lunch and sat on the lakefront watching a couple have their wedding photos taken, before treating ourselves to a fancy ice cream from Patagonia Chocolates. Mum and I know how to treat ourselves. We had decided that we weren’t going to be staying in Queenstown and that we didn’t have time to explore all the attractions there. Plus, let’s be honest, it’s a little bit expensive, and the next day we had a very early start! So we finished our days' journey in Te Anau.

We woke bright and early, had brekkie then hit the road. Travelling to Milford Sound, a Natural Wonder of the World and a World Heritage Site. This was our big thing of the trip—a bucket list item for me. We had booked to go on a cruise of the Fiord and also to go kayaking in it! Before a continue I will say this, Milford Sound is actually a fiord, not a sound, it was misnamed, and that’s just what it is now!

It rains about 222 days out of the year in Milford Sound, making it the wettest place in New Zealand and one of the wettest places in the world. And going by the fact that I have already mentioned how wet it had been while we were in the South Island I’m guessing that you’re guessing that it was raining. Well, you’re wrong. It was the most glorious day! No clouds, blue sky, sun out. Somehow we managed to score one of the not raining days!

If you should ever venture to Milford Sound, I can highly recommend doing the boat cruise and then jumping in the kayak to see it from a different perspective. It was just awesome. I do suggest making sure you have a good waterproof jacket and spare clothes with you, you do go under a waterfall, and after kayaking it is a little chilly. Chilly but well worth it! I can’t explain how beautiful it was, so take a look at the pictures and the video to see for yourself. I will 100% go back and do the same or similar trip again on a wet day; it would be well worth it!

We left Milford Sound and headed north to Cromwell, where we spent the night. The next day saw us heading to another beautiful part of the South Island and another site to cross off my list. New Zealand’s tallest mountain, Aoraki/Mount Cook. Or if you’re a Lord of the Rings fan, Mount Doom.

I could not comprehend how tall the Southern Alps and Aoraki are. I can remember looking up, and I could hear a helicopter flying overhead somewhere. I looked up to find it and then stood staring at it in comparison to the mountains behind it. The Helicopter was tiny, from my perspective, well high, but it wasn’t even above the mountains. I hadn’t exactly been in a mountain range before, like a tall one. When we were in the Pyrenees, it had been super cloudy so you couldn’t see the peaks, due to the low clouds. But it was another cloudless, stunning Autumn day.

We went up to a lookout where we could see the Tasman Glacier. Here’s the thing I had never seen a glacier before. Didn’t know what I was looking for when trying to spot said glacier. Perhaps something that was white/blue like what you see on the TV. Mum didn’t even think about the fact that she may have to point it out to me. It wasn’t until we managed to have a look at the information sign and I exclaimed, “Wait! That’s the glacier right there?” That it occurred to mum that I had no idea. She laughed. We spent some time taking in the sites before heading back down to the car where we sat under the mountains while eating peanut butter sandwiches. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any Kea’s, which are alpine parrots, native to New Zealand and who are known for stealing things, like windscreen wiper blades.

Tasman Glacier

Aoraki/Mount Cook

We then crossed back to the east coast to Temuka, where we spent a night with Mum’s cousins. From there we headed back up to Christchurch and to, my brother, Mark’s house where we got all the puppy snuggles from his dog, Poppy.

On our last day, we did a little tiki tour, as we say in New Zealand, to Lyttelton and then on to New Brighton Beach. We had a coffee, well Mum had a coffee and I had a hot chocolate, and a muffin in a cafe in Lyttelton, looking out over Lyttelton Harbour. We then crossed back over the Port Hills to New Brighton Beach, where we walked along the pier before heading back to Mark’s place to gather up our things before heading to the airport and home.

And so concludes the latest of Mum and my adventures. It was excellent to be able to explore a portion of the South Island. There is still so much more that I would like to be able to see, but that will be for a future trip.

I can highly recommend taking the time to explore your own backyard some more. I mean, as I say, we spend so much time travelling to other countries and exploring them more than we do our own home. How can you truly see the world if you haven’t even experienced where you come from?