This is part 4 of a multi part blog on NZ. Earlier parts are here, here and here. We spent upwards of 10 days in the South, so this is in 2 parts: this entry is about the first few days in the South.
After 5 days in the north island, we then prepared to tour the south. There are multiple options to get to the south - a flight from Auckland is perhaps the quickest, there are ferries from Wellington as well. We took the plane to Christchurch on day 5 of our trip, and spent the night there. We really didn't spend much time in the city at all, but seemed like a quiet, picturesque city - still recovering from the nasty 6.3 earthquake that caused significant harm in 2011.
Days 6 and 7: The TransAlpine train is a very popular route in the South Island. It's a picturesque way to get to Greymouth, which is a reasonable spot from which to set out to the many natural attractions in the south. The train criss crosses from the east (CHC) all the way to Greymouth in the west, going via the Canterbury Plains, slowly covering mountains and valleys along the way, with a nice stop at Arthur's Pass for a bit. Lunch (and plenty of Kapiti icecream!) available on the train, albeit at a premium. For us this was a spend of almost 1 full day (including the previous night stay at CHC), so I'd recommend you do this only if: a)you really want to experience the train, and b)aren't pressed for time. If you've traveled on other scenic train rides or even long, expansive road trips, you might give this a pass, and find much more efficient ways to get to your first destination in the south (ours was Franz glacier). If you are taking the train though, book well in advance, it is popular and sells out quickly. We took the train, rented our car at Greymouth and drove to the little town of Franz for the night. Along the way, we also stopped at the little town of Hokitika, which is incredibly popular for jewelry made from native jade. Worry not, there's good, authentic, certified jewelry available to suit every budget.
Lunch on the train
Day 8: Fox and Franz glaciers are two of the popular glaciers in the South island. Both of them still flow almost to sea level, and are pretty impressive in person. You could have a great debate on which of the two to visit if you were pressed for time, make either choice and end up with a wonderful experience; but we weren't pressed for time, so we visited both. We started our first visit at Fox Glacier. We chose not to do the expensive (although tempting!) helicopter rides that let you land on the glacier itself, but chose to walk up to the foot of the glacier.The hike itself was reasonably easy, the boys made it up there with minimal whining. It's impressive up close, but I wasn't particularly blown away by it. It's a nice, gentle reminder of nature's power and patience, with the glacier calmly and quietly looming over all its visitors. We also then went out to Lake Matheson. This is a really nice, easy stroll around the lake and is only about 30 mins from Fox glacier. On a good, sunny day you'll find spectacular reflections of Mt.Cook in the lake, but even without it - it's a nice pleasant walk. You can do as much or as little as you'd like, but the entire thing is a loop that brings you back to the car park, if you're up for it. 2 hours-ish, flat almost all through. We wanted to do something light for the boys after the hike up Fox, and this was a great way to do it. We came back to our hotel in Franz for the night.
Braving the walk up to Fox in cold weather
Day 9: One of the charms of being in small towns like Franz is the very small-townness. There really isn't much to do, the entire city is like a block and a half total (bu with an Indian restaurant, mind you), so we woke up late, strolled through the block and a half and hung out and chilled for most of the morning. For the afternoon, we took a guided tour to Franz glacier. Originally I wasn't thrilled about this - I didn't see what the fuss was, we could just as well have walked up ourselves. But on hindsight, this ended up being fun. The guide walked us through a small rainforest section before the glacier, helped taste some of the native ferns and herbs, and then walked us up close to the glacier - TOTALLY avoiding the pedestrian (sane?!) route, and walking up over the boulders and rocks themselves. This was definitely a high for the boys; felt mighty adventurous and the guide kept it very entertaining and informative with many a tale about the glacier and its history. Perk from going on the tour: we got to spend the evening in a hot geyser pool as well. The kids got to jump around from pools of one temperature to another, I must admit I enjoyed the feeling of bubbling warm water against my skin after all that hiking up and down.
Rainforest walk in Franz
Chilling at a waterfall at Franz glacier
Day 10: This was an all day of driving for us. We drove from Franz to Queenstown, via the Haast Pass and Wanaka. This is ~4-6 hours of total drive time, depending on how many stops you want to take along the way. Gorgeous, scenic drive - mountains and waterfalls aplenty. Every few miles or so, we'd pull up because we'd hear a waterfall and then go wandering to look for it. Totally serene, quiet, very very thinly (if at all) populated, and just gorgeous all around. We also stopped at Wanaka along the way. The famous Wanaka tree is here, as is Puzzling world. The town is very pretty, the Wanaka beach and tree are lovely, and the children enjoyed a break from all that nature and walking in spending a couple of hours goofing off at Puzzling world. Puzzling world is also a great place to pick up gifts for folks back home - they have a really good collection of puzzles and games using native imagery and local folklore. We also planned it such we'd be here for lunch, there's a really nice mix of restaurants to eat at, and a nice park to hang out after all that activity. We drove into Queenstown around 7:30pm, were greeted by bright sunshine and lovely, crisp weather and walked around exploring the little town. Keep in mind, the town center (along the river/bay) is tucked in a fair bit. You might walk right next street to it and miss it (we nearly did), so make sure you wander through and explore.
The maze at Puzzling world
The Wanaka tree
Day 11: Queenstown is paradise for those that love good physical activity. Zipline tours, the restaurant at the top of the skyline offering an excellent view of the whole city, rafting tours, gondola rides, more huka jets, paragliding - the city has it all. Not to mention, the city is absolutely gorgeous with its mountains and rivers both blending right into each other, any of these adrenalin pumping activities is bound to be a phenomenal experience for the books. Each of them is fairly expensive though: the gondola rides are about $75 a pop, and things only go up from there. Try at least one of them, this is the town to do them in. The town center also has some fantastic ice-cream places and shopping - highly, highly recommend Patagonia chocolates and Mrs. Ferg Gelateria. Try a physical activity, come back and indulge, rinse and repeat. Mighty fun. The city is also very vibrant with street performers in the town center and tourists generally mulling about having a good time watching the gorgeous sunset over the river. Highly recommend a full day or two here, make sure you spend late evening in the town center.
Day 12: We loved the vibe and aura of Queenstown so much that we hung out most of the morning here again, trying this and that. Plenty of fun, eclectic shopping to do here too. I picked up a ton of gifts here for everyone - my 10 yo niece loves merchandise from this store called Smiggle, and I spent far too much time (and money!) at this lovely teaware store for my sister in law. Sadly, couldn't buy anything for ourselves, but boy, what a store! We finally managed to tear ourselves away from Queenstown, drove to its neighbor town called Arrowtown - which is another one-two block city, but with a distinct charm of its own. This is only about 20 minutes or so (IIRC) from Queenstown, but is a nice, calmer experience from the hustle bustle of Queenstown and has some fun, eclectic restaurants and stores too. After that, we drove down to Te Anau for the rest of our trip.
Rest of South island in the next post here!
After 5 days in the north island, we then prepared to tour the south. There are multiple options to get to the south - a flight from Auckland is perhaps the quickest, there are ferries from Wellington as well. We took the plane to Christchurch on day 5 of our trip, and spent the night there. We really didn't spend much time in the city at all, but seemed like a quiet, picturesque city - still recovering from the nasty 6.3 earthquake that caused significant harm in 2011.
Days 6 and 7: The TransAlpine train is a very popular route in the South Island. It's a picturesque way to get to Greymouth, which is a reasonable spot from which to set out to the many natural attractions in the south. The train criss crosses from the east (CHC) all the way to Greymouth in the west, going via the Canterbury Plains, slowly covering mountains and valleys along the way, with a nice stop at Arthur's Pass for a bit. Lunch (and plenty of Kapiti icecream!) available on the train, albeit at a premium. For us this was a spend of almost 1 full day (including the previous night stay at CHC), so I'd recommend you do this only if: a)you really want to experience the train, and b)aren't pressed for time. If you've traveled on other scenic train rides or even long, expansive road trips, you might give this a pass, and find much more efficient ways to get to your first destination in the south (ours was Franz glacier). If you are taking the train though, book well in advance, it is popular and sells out quickly. We took the train, rented our car at Greymouth and drove to the little town of Franz for the night. Along the way, we also stopped at the little town of Hokitika, which is incredibly popular for jewelry made from native jade. Worry not, there's good, authentic, certified jewelry available to suit every budget.
Day 8: Fox and Franz glaciers are two of the popular glaciers in the South island. Both of them still flow almost to sea level, and are pretty impressive in person. You could have a great debate on which of the two to visit if you were pressed for time, make either choice and end up with a wonderful experience; but we weren't pressed for time, so we visited both. We started our first visit at Fox Glacier. We chose not to do the expensive (although tempting!) helicopter rides that let you land on the glacier itself, but chose to walk up to the foot of the glacier.The hike itself was reasonably easy, the boys made it up there with minimal whining. It's impressive up close, but I wasn't particularly blown away by it. It's a nice, gentle reminder of nature's power and patience, with the glacier calmly and quietly looming over all its visitors. We also then went out to Lake Matheson. This is a really nice, easy stroll around the lake and is only about 30 mins from Fox glacier. On a good, sunny day you'll find spectacular reflections of Mt.Cook in the lake, but even without it - it's a nice pleasant walk. You can do as much or as little as you'd like, but the entire thing is a loop that brings you back to the car park, if you're up for it. 2 hours-ish, flat almost all through. We wanted to do something light for the boys after the hike up Fox, and this was a great way to do it. We came back to our hotel in Franz for the night.
Day 9: One of the charms of being in small towns like Franz is the very small-townness. There really isn't much to do, the entire city is like a block and a half total (bu with an Indian restaurant, mind you), so we woke up late, strolled through the block and a half and hung out and chilled for most of the morning. For the afternoon, we took a guided tour to Franz glacier. Originally I wasn't thrilled about this - I didn't see what the fuss was, we could just as well have walked up ourselves. But on hindsight, this ended up being fun. The guide walked us through a small rainforest section before the glacier, helped taste some of the native ferns and herbs, and then walked us up close to the glacier - TOTALLY avoiding the pedestrian (sane?!) route, and walking up over the boulders and rocks themselves. This was definitely a high for the boys; felt mighty adventurous and the guide kept it very entertaining and informative with many a tale about the glacier and its history. Perk from going on the tour: we got to spend the evening in a hot geyser pool as well. The kids got to jump around from pools of one temperature to another, I must admit I enjoyed the feeling of bubbling warm water against my skin after all that hiking up and down.
Rainforest walk in Franz
Chilling at a waterfall at Franz glacier
Day 10: This was an all day of driving for us. We drove from Franz to Queenstown, via the Haast Pass and Wanaka. This is ~4-6 hours of total drive time, depending on how many stops you want to take along the way. Gorgeous, scenic drive - mountains and waterfalls aplenty. Every few miles or so, we'd pull up because we'd hear a waterfall and then go wandering to look for it. Totally serene, quiet, very very thinly (if at all) populated, and just gorgeous all around. We also stopped at Wanaka along the way. The famous Wanaka tree is here, as is Puzzling world. The town is very pretty, the Wanaka beach and tree are lovely, and the children enjoyed a break from all that nature and walking in spending a couple of hours goofing off at Puzzling world. Puzzling world is also a great place to pick up gifts for folks back home - they have a really good collection of puzzles and games using native imagery and local folklore. We also planned it such we'd be here for lunch, there's a really nice mix of restaurants to eat at, and a nice park to hang out after all that activity. We drove into Queenstown around 7:30pm, were greeted by bright sunshine and lovely, crisp weather and walked around exploring the little town. Keep in mind, the town center (along the river/bay) is tucked in a fair bit. You might walk right next street to it and miss it (we nearly did), so make sure you wander through and explore.
Puzzling World, Wanaka
The maze at Puzzling world
The Wanaka tree
Day 11: Queenstown is paradise for those that love good physical activity. Zipline tours, the restaurant at the top of the skyline offering an excellent view of the whole city, rafting tours, gondola rides, more huka jets, paragliding - the city has it all. Not to mention, the city is absolutely gorgeous with its mountains and rivers both blending right into each other, any of these adrenalin pumping activities is bound to be a phenomenal experience for the books. Each of them is fairly expensive though: the gondola rides are about $75 a pop, and things only go up from there. Try at least one of them, this is the town to do them in. The town center also has some fantastic ice-cream places and shopping - highly, highly recommend Patagonia chocolates and Mrs. Ferg Gelateria. Try a physical activity, come back and indulge, rinse and repeat. Mighty fun. The city is also very vibrant with street performers in the town center and tourists generally mulling about having a good time watching the gorgeous sunset over the river. Highly recommend a full day or two here, make sure you spend late evening in the town center.
Day 12: We loved the vibe and aura of Queenstown so much that we hung out most of the morning here again, trying this and that. Plenty of fun, eclectic shopping to do here too. I picked up a ton of gifts here for everyone - my 10 yo niece loves merchandise from this store called Smiggle, and I spent far too much time (and money!) at this lovely teaware store for my sister in law. Sadly, couldn't buy anything for ourselves, but boy, what a store! We finally managed to tear ourselves away from Queenstown, drove to its neighbor town called Arrowtown - which is another one-two block city, but with a distinct charm of its own. This is only about 20 minutes or so (IIRC) from Queenstown, but is a nice, calmer experience from the hustle bustle of Queenstown and has some fun, eclectic restaurants and stores too. After that, we drove down to Te Anau for the rest of our trip.
Rest of South island in the next post here!
