New Zealand - The South Island

Picton – a harbor on the Southern Island, where as arranged, the car was already on the parking lot, with the keys hung over the front license plate; thus started our southbound journey. The South Island is somewhat bigger but less populated as the North Island. This is why other inhabitants, such as the seals, sea lions, walruses, dolphins and whales, can find their own habitat. Except for the biggest one, I’ve encountered all of them.

I decided to visit Christchurch last, since my flight back home was from there, so my first stop was Queenstown. And on the south island the route you take is even more important then on the north island, for usually the route to a destination is more beautiful than the destination itself.

This definitely applies for the road from Picton to Queenstown, where you get to enjoy the view of the eastern pacific coast and further inland the lakes Tekapo and Pukaki, over which there is the shadow of the 3754m high Mt.Cook (the highest peak of New Zealand).

You can see the picture gallery of this trip at: From Pictona to Queenstowna .

Queenstown itself is on the shores of lake Wakatipu and is a great starting point for trips towards the southern most cities of the island, such as Invercargill and Bluff, as well as the Stewart Island – which is only 1000 kilometers away from Antarctica.

It is therefore no surprise to find the above mentioned animals here. Personally I’ve met the sea lions for the second time in my life, here.

But first things first - in Invercargill’s »Southland Museum and Art Gallery«, which is the largest pyramid in the southern hemisphere (it’s built in the shape of a pyramid), and holds a rich exhibition of the cultural and technological legacy. Apart from that, you can also find over 50 living Tuatars – New Zealand reptiles, which get to live over 100 years. A story goes, that one of the was born at the end of 19th century and had a tumor operation a few years ago. Now after the successful tumor operation it is sexually active again, with its 120 years of age.

After a quick look around at Invercargill, I went forth to Bluff, a city that left no special impression on me, except for its fauna and arctic wind. From here on though, I was on a lookout to find places of seals, sea lions, penguins and other inhabitants.

In my search I almost stepped on a sea lion (weighing at roughly over 100kg) while exploring the south-east part of the island. It’s a creature capable hiding remarkably well in the sand, which is surprising for a creature of that size. It’s also of the same color as the sea grass washed ashore. Needless to say he ignored me completely, even when I reached out and touched his fin. I wanted to pet him, but it would probably be inappropriate. You can get a feel of it by clicking on this link: The south-end of New Zealand .

So I started my way back toward home.

The second trip from Queenstown was to visit Arrowtoen, which lies on the river in which you may find gold. This was also the reason for this settlement. The town is still the same as it was over a century ago and you can even rent equipment to try your luck and find some gold in the river. But you’ll probably get a better impression of this through the pictures I’ve taken: Arrowtown .

Not far away from Queenstown is a little town of Te ANAU, from where you can reach two fiords:  Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound. Both are a shelter for seals and dolphins, but since the path to Milford Sound is more picturesque and the fiord is mightier I’ve only visited this one.

It’s a path over 100km long, with no gas stops, shops, restaurants, or anything that would not be in perfect sync with nature. A drive takes some two hours, but Milford Sound is a perfect day trip from morning to evening, and you can se the impressions of it: Milford sound .

I chose the road on the western shore to return to Christchurch. It runs along the Tasmanian sea and I’ve made a stop in Franc Josef, a village with the same name as the glacier. It’s a glacier very easy to reach, because it’s just a few kilometers from the main road. We can see the effects of global warming on this glacier as well, although the summer temperatures were quite low.

Some other settlements are the direct result of the natural riches. The town of Hokitika was founded because of the jade deposits near by and the Shanytown because the local river was rich with gold.

Take a look at this road in the following link: Te Anau – Hokitika .And here’s a separate presentation of the lovely Shanytown: Shannytown .

The town of Westporta might not be worth a look, but the seals living near by certainly are. From there on it was just a stop at the Arthur's pass, which is one of the connections between both coasts, and from there on to Christchurch. The rainy weather spoiled most shots, but some photographs are still available: Shanytown – Christchurch .

In the morning I arrive at my destination – Christchurcha.

John Robert Godley, a member of the Oxford church of Jesus Christ suggested the name in 1848 and it was accepted. Christchurch is a very nice town of its own already, with its parks and gardens, but it’s especially nice on the festival of flowers. But I was especially lucky, for this year it was the 100th anniversary of this festival, so people were dressed in the old fasion and many antic cars joined the procession.

But apart the town, the surroundings are interesting too. A very nice trip is through the harbor town of Littelton to Akaroe and back over the Little River. Although the weather wasn’t the nicest, it was still a great trip you can see here: Around Christchurch .

The very last attraction I’ve seen was on the airport itself (for it’s always a good idea to arrive at the airport early). There’s an Antarctic center (www.iceberg.co.nz) there, where you can see the environment of the Antarctic continent, by being put in a large freezer, where you can experience everything from a polar night to a snow blizzard within a matter of 15 minutes. But the most interesting part is meeting the penguins of New Zealand, which are among the smallest and were never really pestered by people, so they know no fear and come right up to you, so you can pet them, or even play with them. But the final joy is offered by a Swedish Hagglund, a snow mobile with which you can ride along a polygon. Sneak a peak at the center here: Antarctic center .

Plane-fair costs between 1.300€ – 1.500€, depends on the company you fly with.

Omega car rentals will charge you 10€ - 15€ per day and you should insure your car with further 4€ a day, so it’s around 20€ a day to rent a car (and leave it t a arranged location). Other companies are noticeably more expensive.

Food and drink is generally cheaper than in Europe.

Inner connections: connections between Wellington and Picton (on different islands) costs some 20€ (one way) and the plane fairs aren’t too expensive either.

New Zealand awaits you with the native Maori greeting Kia ora!