South Island whistle-stop tour

With just eight days to show Gail and Stephen the highlights of the South Island, we set of at a fast pace. Flying in to Queenstown over the Southern Alps gave us some great views and a bit of a bumpy ride!

Lake Pukaki and the Southern Alps

Our first destination was Te Anau, but we had to make many stops along the scenic drive to admire the beautiful lakes and mountains.

Lake Wakatipu

Our first night was spent in a little cottage on a farm near to Te Anau, where Gareth cooked us up a yummy BBQ.

Although we had aimed for an early start the next morning, our hire car thought differently and we had to get a jump start from the farmer.

Thankfully this didn't delay us too much and before we knew it, we were on our way to Milford Sound. When we set off, the clouds were high and it looked like we were in for a beautiful day. However, as we climbed up over the mountains and down towards Milford Sound, the heavy rains came and everything went very dark. This made for a truely dramatic (and very wet!) experience as we cruised the sound.

Dramatic Milford!

Back up to Queenstown for a beautiful sunny day and views from the hilltops (and our hotel room) of The Remarkables.

The Remarkables from our hotel room

Looking over Queenstown from the sculpture walk

After a day enjoying Queenstown, we headed towards Mt Cook, visiting the old gold mining town of Arrowtown on our way. We also stopped at the bungy jumping bridge, but neither Gareth nor Stephen could tempt each other with the offers of buying the experience as a Christmas present! It was dark and wet when we arrived into Mt Cook village, but we managed a quick walk up to the face of the tasman glacier before dinner.

Gareth at the tasman glacier

The following morning we woke to clear skies and sunshine and were able to see the top of Mt Cook itself. Unfortunately, the winds were strong, so Gail and Stephen were unable to do their flight, but we did do a fantastic walk along the Hooker Valley.

It was then a long drive up to Kaikoura, but we had fun in the car with music and sweets!

Children in the back!

We had a very rocky boat ride out to see the whales and managed to spot two - amazing to see in their natural environment. We decided to watch the whales with our eyes though, rather than through the lens of a camera, so unfortunately have no photos to show you. However, here are a few of beautiful kaikoura.

View from our cottage in Kaikoura

Sunny Kaikoura

We had a relaxing few hours in the thermal pools at Hanmer Springs, which we all really enjoyed after a busy week of travelling.


Our final port of call was Christchrch, where we enjoyed the Saturday craft markets and Art Gallery, before hoping on a plane back to Auckland after Sunday brunch!

Christchurch Cathedral and central square