New Zealand South Island – Habitual Travelers

South Island, New Zealand

It has been 25 years since we visited the South Island of New Zealand. When we last visited it was on a quick stopover on the way to sail on a friend’s 50 foot sailboat throughout the Tongan Islands. Bungee jumping had just been invented in Queenstown 25 years ago and in one day we bungee jumped off the Shotover River Bridge (Barb let out a primal scream I had never heard), parapented off a mountain peak tandem with an expert behind each of us controlling the parachute, took a wild ride on a jet boat on the Shotover River, and Barb also rode a bull! Barb is always looking for adventure so when we were at a farm dinner eating lamb and the farmer asked who wanted to ride “that big bull in the pasture”, Barb naturally volunteered. Thank goodness the bull was as tame as a mule.

We flew to Christchurch and connected onto Nelson the next day.

We had to spend the night in Christchurch, so we stayed at a boutique hotel called “Eliza’s Manor”.

Nelson is near the Abel Tasman Park (New Zealand’s only marine park) and Kaiteriteri Park. It is about a 20-30 minute drive. In Kaiteriteri there are developed mountain bike trails onto bluffs overlooking the Cook Strait between the Tasman Sea and the South Pacific.

We reserved a Bush Chalet at The Resurgence Eco Luxury Lodge. It’s about 20 minutes away from town. We later learned that the Hobbits and Gondor stayed here during the filming of the Hobbit. Gondor stayed in our Chalet. Most of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings films were all filmed in New Zealand.

The Resurgence is set in the valley of a box canyon. At the head of the valley is “The Resurgence” where clear and pure water gushes out of the rocks to create a river with crystal clear water and pools. This was not in the movie but the director of the movie said in his book describing the filming that The Resurgence is one of the most beautiful places in New Zealand.

The entrance to “The Resurgence”.

We rented full suspension mountain bikes in Kaiteriteri and biked to the top of a high ridge with beautiful views down to the ocean. The ride was technically demanding and steep with many switch backs. The trail up is called “Corkscrew” and at the top of the climb there were many cork screws left in wood logs as evidence of the many celebrations of the effort it takes to reach the top.

The down slope was a fun roller coaster ride.

We took a luxury day cruise into the Abel Tasman National Park to see the beauty and learn the history. Abel Tasman is famous for its golden beaches, granite cliffs and coastal walking track. There are no roads into the Abel Tasman. Access is by walking the” Coastal Track” or by boat.

The beach at Kaiteriteri, where you can catch the boat that stops along the coastal track.

We swam and kayaked and enjoyed the sites. We saw sea rays in shallow water while kayaking.

These people kayak between the stops along the coast.

We rode horses on the sand and lounged on the beach.

We took the public boat to the Tonga beach and walked the Coastal Track up and down the sea bluffs back to Medlands Beach. The Coastal Track is a beautiful walk. You can take the public boat up and down the coast, get off or on anytime, (just let them know where to pick you up) and either hike or kayak between stops.

Here is a copy of the coastline and the stops.

The public boat that drops you on and off the coastline.

Split Apple Rock. (granite)

Hiking the track.

We flew from the north end of the South Island to Queenstown, which is closer to the south end of the island.

We spent four days in Queenstown. On our first day we rode mountain bikes along a river and had dinner near Arrowtown. Arrowtown is an 1850’s gold mining town. Queenstown was settled by miners after the discovery of gold in nearby Arrowtown.

Old miners homes along the track.

Barb in her favorite Candy store after our bike ride.

Some good friends recommended that we climb up to the base of the Rob Roy Glacier. We were not disappointed. We drove 2 hours from Queenstown past Wanaka (known for skiing) and began walking across a suspension bridge and along side a glacier fed river in the shade. The shade was welcome. It was 85 degrees Fahrenheit and locals were complaining that they had not seen heat like this for two decades.

The alpine scenery is spectacular. Shimmering blue ice hanging glaciers with waterfalls cascading down sheer cliffs to form the headwaters of a stream carrying glacial silt to the lakes on the valley floor.

I want to build a cabin on this spot. These powerful and majestic high alpine locations are my happy place. We both love it here.

Our Picnic.

One of the most beautiful hikes in the world. This hike was right up there with Yala Peak in the Himalayas, Torres del Paine in Patagonia and Lake Solitude in Teton National Park, Jackson Wyoming.

The mountains and glaciers of the Southern Alps are rugged and beautiful. Sir Edmond Hillary, the first to summit Everest, along with his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay, is native to New Zealand and learned his skills here that helped him climb Everest and return alive.

And the hike back down.

View of Queenstown.

The Remarkable Mountains on the shore of Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown are named that because the entire range runs directly north and south.

On one day Queenstown we took a fixed wing small aircraft charter to the Milford Sound, took a two hour cruise the length of the Sound, chartered a helicopter to drop us off at the Dart River, took a Dart River Jet Boat for a 3 hour trip deep into what they call “Middle Earth” near Glenorchy.

From the plane, you see beautiful mountains, waterfalls, and glaciers.

This is the landing strip at Milford Sound.

On The Milford Sound Cruise.

Milford Sound was misnamed. It was carved by glacier and is therefore a fjord. A sound is created by water flowing into space. Either way, it was beautiful.

From Milford Sound, we took a helicopter up to the town of Glenorchy, near the Dart River.

Jet boats can operate in 6 to 9 inches of water.

These boats can go very fast, in very shallow water.

The glacial silt reflects a turquoise blue color in the water.

We took a walk through the forest. New Zealand aggressively protects its indigenous plants and animals by killing and extracting all species introduced in the past 350 years.

I am NOT a Hobbit.

This chair was made to make normal people look like hobbits. It is a replica of the chair they used in “The Hobbit” to make regular sized people look like Hobbits.

Many movies have been made in this spot including: Lord of the Rings, Hobbit, Mission Impossible 6, etc etc etc.

The international gateway city into the south island of New Zealand is Christchurch in the greater Canterbury area. It has a rich Maori history. The Europeans came about 1815. This city feels more like England than England. It was fun to discover the rich heritage demonstrated by the schools built by settlers from England. Early settlers were persons from all educational, economic and vocational backgrounds from Canterbury England.

We had a 5 hour layover, so we rented a car and drove into town to sightsee, have lunch and go to the Botanical Gardens.

These schools look like they belong in England.