Queenstown, South Island New Zealand

Queenstown and the South Island is one of those places where photos can’t capture its grand majesty.

Surrounded by snow-capped mountains, pools of turquoise tranquility and sweeping vistas, if you enjoy this kind of vibe then New Zealand’s South Island is definitely for you. We travelled around November and based ourselves in Queenstown and the Aoroki/Mount Cook area.

 

Lake Pukaki

Hands down one of my favourite places on the South Island. The water looks ultra-vibrant on a sunny day. Drop in Mount Cook Alpine Salmon for some morsels of salmon as you take in the unbelievable view—or at least a view of the tourists taking photos of themselves posing atop the big boulders! Make sure you get there before noon though or you’ll be sans salmon.

Location: https://goo.gl/maps/yJQVG9PP3UWde2Bd8

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Aoraki / Mount Cook Area

One of my other favourites places. The drive is under a hour from Lake Pukaki and is a nice base for the surrounding areas such as that Wanaka Tree and Lake Takapo.

We didn’t get to the closeby hiking trails like Hooker Valley Track, but we did manage one trek up a mountain of stairs to Tasman Glacier Viewpoint—for a glimpse of what remained of an ancient iceberg (not much). The trek back down afforded us a magnificent view of the lonely mountains that was straight out of Lord of The Rings.

Aoraki/Mount Cook: https://goo.gl/maps/nqFLxFTxd2LV5iR28

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Skyline Queenstown

Skyline Queenstown was another surprise favourite! Not only did we get a spectacular view of Queenstown and the surrounds (and hang gliders), but the luge was heaps of fun. Have as many goes blazing down the mountain as you can. Worth every penny.

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That Wanaka Tree

Lolz. We spent a few hours taking photos of that damn tree. I’d recommend arriving at sunrise or sunset for that added beauty of the golden light—otherwise that Wanaka tree just looks like a shrub in the water. I had a great time watching Ange take photos though ?

Check out other people’s beautiful wanaka tree photos

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Onsen Hot Pools

Totally worth it. Each private Onsen Hot Tub has it’s own sweeping view overlooking the Shotover River. And because its away from town, the area is peaceful and quiet… only to be disturbed by the crunching of the complimentary chips.

Lake Takapo

There’s a famous church overlooking the lake, which we didn’t care too much for as it was swarming with tourists (us included). We were more excited by the seasonal violet flowers that were painted along the shores of the lake—which are in fact weeds called russell lupins.

We had heaps of fun taking photos of ourselves using tripods and remote cameras. Too much fun that we got sunburnt from being in the sun for too long. Once again, watching Ange have so much joy taking photos is always a treat.

Location: https://goo.gl/maps/SYme4usMamS2j2CEA

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Star photos

Ange and I got totally hooked on taking long exposures of the night sky. It was fun figuring it out and we got some interesting shots. On another night we went with a stargazing tour that was available through our hotel.

The tour consisted of a pitch-black bus ride (so our eyes could get used to the darkness) to a location not too far from Mt. Cook village. Our guide provided a few lolz and gave us a few glimpse through their many telescopes. Don’t expect to see up-close shots of stars though…. because they’re millions of light years away. All you’ll see at best is a bunch of bright dots. I was most impressed by the tour guide’s powerful torch that shone all the way to the stars.

I found it amusing that a handful of people were really there to take star photos. Their giveaway was they all packed tripods. Including Ange and I.

Milford Sound

Yeah look. I’ll be honest: I’ve been to Milford Sound twice and it never did it for me. I’ve never understood why tourists flock to this place—especially when 50% of the year it’s under rainfall.

From Queenstown it’s a 4 hr bus trip, but you can cut this trip down to 2 hrs if you’re embarking from Te Anau. We booked a bus and boat ride with Southern Discoveries and opted for the VIP seats at the front (gotta treat yoself). With nothing in the way of your view, it was a great way to take in the South Island’s views!

Once we reached the fjord for the long awaited cruise under patchy grey skies, we were greeted by an army of tourists (us too). The ship was absolute chaos during the lunch buffet—because everyone was hangry. Luckily for those who booked with Southern Discoveries, we had the benefit of dining in our private quarters on the 2nd level of the ship 🙂

There’s not much to report on the cruise itself. The calm waters gave way to some smooth sailing. There’s some bits of the trip where they got us close enough to waterfalls for some wet photo opportunities. I think there were seals at some point too.

The bus ride home was the same 4 hrs getting there. But they screened a New Zealand flick “The World’s Fastest Indian” with Sir Anthony Hopkins. A nice film. 3 stars from me, Margaret.

And yes If you’ve done the calculations, it was a 10-11hr day.

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