South Island in a Week

So many organised tours of New Zealand are conducted at whistle-stop pace. We were lucky to be able to take our trip around North Island at a much slower gait even if it did involve, for the most part, a different resting place every night. South Island, however, is renowned for its scenery and to appreciate that within a limited timescale of 8 days it was important that we avoided, so far as possible, mist and rain. Unfortunately most of our week was subject to a weather warning for the west coast with storms and heavy rain or snow depending on the altitude. When we planned our trip we had envisaged visiting the glaciers;  we adapted our route, however, to follow the sun and in so doing probably drove much further than we had initially intended.

Whilst New Zealand's public transport system outside of the main cities is nothing like we are accustomed to in Europe, internal flights to and from Auckland are plentiful and, if booked sufficently in advance, reasonably priced. So we flew to Queenstown and even before we landed were marvelling at the scenery from the air.

We picked up a hire car at the airport and headed immediately on the picturesque journey to Te Anau, positioning ourselves ready for a much shorter day trip to Milford Sound and in anticipation that we might even catch it in sunshine, a rare occurence for a place that endures rain on more than 260 days a year. It was glorious when we left Te Anau and it continued so right up to our entry into the Homer Tunnel where we  engaged with a Kea (prudently closing the car doors, it was so curious) whilst waiting for the green light to proceed. We emerged on the other side into a different climatic zone of low cloud and mist. It didn't rain but there was no blue sky; we still saw penguins and seals as well as the beautiful fjord scenery.

We retraced our steps to Queenstown which was no disappointment as the scenery really is marvellous; all those colours I've blogged about before with the addition of snow-capped mountains. Renowned as the adrenaline capital of New Zealand if not the World, we did pass some time watching bungee jumping from the top of the cable car ride but could not be enticed to participate. By the lake there was a real vibe of activity from sunseekers and musicians which continued into the evening when the former took to the restaurants and bars, many eating outdoors.

The next day we continued to Wanaka for more lakeside and mountain scenery, 

 via Arrowtown

and Cardrona with their goldmining heritages. 

On the South Island we passed through farming country where fields are irrigated to produce lush grass for the enormous herds of  cows and sheep and in some places deer too. Whereas we had been accustomed on North Island to the roadside verges being adorned with redhot pokers and altar lilies in Northland, Potukhawa trees in Coromandel and then bright yellow gorse bushes in the Waikato region, on South Island there were miles and miles of lupins, frequently the yellow tree lupins but between Wanaka and Christchurch in hues of pastel shades. The weather closing in on the West meant that we were denied a view of Aoraki Mount Cook but I still stepped into the Church of the Good Shepherd at Lake Tekapo to imagine that perfectly framed Alpine picture, through its altar window.

 
Christchurch was a reminder of the force of nature and the devastating after effects of earthquakes. Six years on the evidence of the strength of the quake that struck in 2011 is still in evidence and we were told that it is estimated that rebuilding is going to take another 14 years. The spirit of resilience showed in the quirky shopping area developed from shipping containers and the now famous "cardboard" cathedral. Fortunately both the Art Gallery and Museum survived

  

Although we were heading to Picton and a ferry to Wellington to connect with a flight back to Auckland, the most direct route through Kaikoura was still closed due  to the earthquake last year. Instead we drove over Lewis Pass to Nelson and spent a day visiting the Abel Tasman National Park where we hopped from beach to beach by water taxi, encountering several weka at one point. 

It was beautiful and, after  4 weeks travelling around New Zealand, we had truly reached the stage where the views had to be really astounding to impress, but they did.

Fortunately the drive to Picton along Queen Charlotte Drive following the sound rather than the inland route still lived up to scenic expectations, although our hope to repeat the experience from the water in the afternoon was dashed when our ferry sailing was cancelled and we travelled in the dark instead out of the Marlborough Sound and across the Cook Strait to Wellington.

We couldn't help but make comparisons with North Island as we travelled and were pleased that we had organised our trip in the order we had as it would have been a shame if the scenery on North Island appeared an anti-climax after the sheer enormity of that on the South. We were surprised to discover that the roads on South Island were on the whole better than those we used on the North, but disappointed to find the overwhelming friendliness and conversation of everyone on North Island reduced, by comparison, to tacit indifference on the South. 

There were distinct differences too in the flora and fauna, including even in the seagull population with the red-beaked gull inhabiting the North and the black-beaked gull the South. 

Fortunately and despite a 5 week trip we have still left much to explore on both islands, an inducement perhaps to undertake another trip in the future.