Some of New Zealand’s best beaches and glacial valleys are in the South Island and worthy of a roadie
When it comes to nature’s best, it’s hard to beat the South Island. Our family of five travelled by car, from Wellington, and saw things we’d never seen before. We took a leisurely pace and stayed a few nights at each camping ground.
Entering Marlborough Sounds
Kaikoura
We put the car on an early Wellington ferry, then drove from Picton to Kaikoura in about two hours. What picturesque wine country this is. Driving into Kaikoura we were impressed by the mighty earthquake repairs on cliffs and roads, some still ongoing. We mainly drove on pristine new stretches of road.
There’s a superb new seal colony lookout at Ōhau Point. From a safe distance we watched multiple seals, and young fur seals, playing and swimming. We were hoping for a dinner of crayfish, but settled for some of the best fish’n’chips in the world from Cooper’s Catch. The catamaran to see the whales is a slick operation. We saw seabirds and dolphins on the way out and were impressed with the echolocation hydrophones and visibility of the enormous whales.
Hanmer Springs
From Kaikoura to the quiet town of Hanmer Springs was an easy two hour drive. The main attraction is a thermal pool complex. We spent a full day sitting, soaking and zooming down slides. There are excellent walks too, we strolled around the (closed) Queen Mary Hospital grounds. There’s also a pitch’n’putt and good cafés.
Christchurch
In less than two hours we were in Christchurch. We had aircraft enthusiasts on board so enjoyed the impressive Airforce Museum at Wigram. We also had breakfast on the beach in Sumner, picked up a caravan and stocked up on camping supplies.
Lake Tekapo
This is one of the most stunning places with purple lupin flowers everywhere. It’s great for walks and bike rides. Our camping ground overlooked the turquoise lake — surrounded by Southern Alps. There are thermal pools within walking distance of the camping ground. We enjoyed the alpine landscape and the walk up to Mount John University Observatory. On the lake front there’s a famous little stone Church of the Good Shepherd. This is farming country and there’s a sheepdog statue to honour the border collies that enabled the Sottish shepherds to successfully farm the high country.
Lake Tekapo
Church of the Good Shepherd and the bronze sheepdog
Lake Wanaka
Leaving Tekapo we regretted not stopping at the salmon farm (next time!) and drove around two and a half hours, through the Lindis Pass, to Lake Wanaka. This is another spectacular lake surrounded by snow-capped alps. We spent a week in Wanaka swimming, kayaking, biking and river rafting the Upper Clutha. Our aircraft enthusiasts spent two days at *Warbirds and Wheels, *the Toy and Transport museum and Crossfire rifle range. We strolled through fields of lavender, and enjoyed a pint at the Luggate pub.
Lake Wanaka and Lavender Fields
Te Anau
A three hour drive from Wanaka took us through Cardrona, and Queenstown. There’s a lot to visit between Wanaka and Te Anau. We bought loads of luscious fruit in Cromwell and stopped at Highlands Motorsport Park for lunch and a zoom around the racetrack. We popped into AJ Hackett’s home of bungy jumping above the Kawarau River (it’s like a night club), went past the Shotover, Lake Wakatipu, the Remarkables, Devil’s Staircase and at Mossburn we turned off to Te Anau.
Highlands Motorsport Park and AJ Hackett’s bungy jump and zipline
On New Year’s Eve we took a late night cruise on Lake Te Anau below the Fiordland peaks. This is foreign tourist land and it seemed expensive for us Kiwis but it was awesome. We saw islands shaped into domes by glaciers and walked into the beech forest. We walked and punted deep underground into the silent dark 12,000 year old caves to thousands and thousands of glittering glowworms. Magic.
Dome Islands on Lake Te Anau formed by glaciation
We walked along the start of Fiordland National Park’s Kepler track and investigated the Kepler Control Gates that regulate water flow between lakes Te Anau and Manapouri for the West Arm hydroelectric power station.
Bluff
It takes only two and a half hours to drive from Te Anau to Bluff. We stopped in Invercargill which is 20 minutes from rugged Bluff. For a few days we kept an eye on the changeable sea from our camping ground. We were hoping the swell would reduce so we could ferry to Stewart Island for a day trip. It didn’t so we couldn’t, but we enjoyed learning about Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, visiting blowy lookouts and standing on the very bottom of the South Island looking out over Foveaux Strait.
Tiwai Point aluminium smelter and the bottom of the South Island
The Monica — an old oyster boat at Bluff Maritime Museum
Now we have matching photos from Cape Reinga and Stirling Point. The Oyster Cove had locally sourced oysters (apparently, but out of our price range). Bluff Maritime Museum was excellent — complete with an old oyster boat, whaling gear and an extensive hands-on history of the area.
Bill Richardson’s Transport World, Invercargill
We spent a day in Invercargill and particularly enjoyed Transport World. It’s an enormous privately-owned collection. On the mezzanine there’s wearable art and in the café you can sit in old fashioned rooms. Invercargil is also home to a motorcycle mecca but we were wheeled-out by that point. Dig This was another attraction — with hands on heavy machinery. You can drive a real digger there.
Dunedin
Driving from Bluff to Dunedin takes nearly three hours. It’s slightly longer if you go via the Catlins scenic route. Dunedin was modelled on Edinburgh in Scotland. There are distinctive Victorian and Edwardian buildings everywhere. We went on a fascinating tour of the Dunedin Prison and took a scenic coastal ride on the Silver Fern train, from the historic Dunedin Railway Station. The Otago Settlers Museum was good too.
Baldwin Street and the prison
Dunedin Train Station, the art gallery and Larnack Castle
The world’s steepest street (at time of writing) is in Dunedin and the art gallery is incredible. We drove around The Octagon whenever we could, and spent half a day at New Zealand’s only castle: Larnach Castle. We didn’t have time to visit the Botanic Gardens but apparently they’re impressive.
Timaru
It’s two and a half hours from Dunedin to Timaru. Despite torrential rain we made a compulsory stop at Moeraki to see the unusually large and spherical boulders on the beach. We went through Oamaru — famous for its limestone. Oamaru Stone is used on many of the grand public buildings around this area. This is also penguin country. There are penguin colonies all along the East Coast in Dunedin, Oamaru and Timaru.
Rose gardens in Timaru and the Caroline Bay walkway
We spent a beaut evening with the Little Blue Penguins who come ashore after sunset to nest amongst the rocks at the port. They’re gorgeous. We watched as they swam in on the waves and waddled up to the rocks.
Little blue penguins and the waterfront aviary
Caroline Bay was excellent for long walks and beach time. The rose gardens are beautifully kept, there are playgrounds and a walk-in dome shaped aviary with a huge variety of birds.
Christchurch
We drove up through Temuka and Ashburton. It was around two and a half hours to Christchurch. Our short drives made our trip chilled — we could leave when we were ready, stop wherever we wanted and we didn’t arrive at our destinations too late.
Greymouth
Christchurch to Greymouth took about three and a half hours, through rural towns and the Canterbury Plains. We enjoyed seeing towns we’d heard of like Kirwee, Darfield, Sheffield and Springfield. We followed the Waimakariri and Bealey Rivers to Arthur’s Pass. The scenery was stunning and there are impressive bridges. One is called Death’s Corner.
Death’s Corner in Arthur’s Pass and a unique rock shelter and waterfall chute
This is gold mining territory and we got a dose of gold rush at Shantytown. We rode the steam train, had a sluice gun demo, went panning for gold (and found some to take home). We spent hours walking around the old sawmill, old chinatown and colonial buildings including a jail, hospital, hall, school, butchers, sweet shop and café.
Shantytown steam train, sluicing demonstration and panning for gold
Glaciers
From Greymouth we drove down to Lake Matheson and Fox Glacier. It took less than three hours and we went through Hokitika, Ross, Harihari and Franz Josef. There are nice walks and Lake Matheson is ‘super reflective on a good day’. The Fox Glacier carpark is five minutes down the road. The walk up to see the (receded) glacier follows the Fox River and took us about an hour. The walk ends at a lookout. You can see the frozen river and the water running from it.
Where the ice turns to river at the Fox Glacier
Punakaiki
Punakaiki is 40 minutes north of Greymouth. There’s an easy and excellent walk from the road to the impressive pancake rocks and mighty blowholes.
St Arnaud
After a few hours at the pancake rocks we took a three hour drive to St Arnaud — via the Upper Buller Gorge Road, past the start of the Old Ghost Road and Murchison. We had a lovely night beside Lake Rotoiti. This is a brilliant place for walking. It’s fun to walk to the end of the lake and catch the water taxi back.
Punakaiki pancake rocks and Lake Rotoiti at St Arnaud
Picton
It’s a one and a half hour drive from St Arnaud to Picton. We completed our roadie, with coffee and ice creams on the beach, before boarding our ferry back to Wellington.
We took three and a half weeks to do this road trip. It could be done in a shorter, or longer, time frame. We particularly enjoyed the short drives and the long summer swims. The scenery in the South Island is incredible, and so different to the North Island. Thoroughly recommended 🏔️
