We are on a 6-week road trip around New Zealand's South Island in a motorhome we call Vwhā, and recently spent time around two of New Zealand’s great southern lakes. Leaving there, we drove south to Queenstown, known as New Zealand’s adventure capital.
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| The Remarkables overlooking Queenstown, NZ |
Arriving in Queenstown, we stayed at the quirky Creeksyde Holiday Park. It was located right in town so we walked into the town centre several times.
On one visit, we popped into the Milford Gallery which had a stunning display of pottery by Aaron Scythe. One piece in particular caught our eye and we made the purchase. It's a Yobitsugi style water container with Japanese influences.
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| Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown, NZ |
With our new purchase safely stowed away for the rest of our travels, we made several more forays into the town. Each time, we were drawn to the area around Lake Wakatipu. Although very attractive, it seemed to be very quiet, with not many people around or on the water, or in the nearby shops
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| Lake Wakatipu from the gondola, Queenstown, NZ |
The next day, took a trip up Bob’s Peak in a gondola. The views from the top were fantastic and we could see Queenstown and Lake Whakatipu below, and Coronet Peak and the Remarkables mountain range in the distance.
Unfortunately, the shops at the peak were also closed and some of the viewing platforms roped off. Similar to other places we’d seen, Queenstown has been hit in the pocket because of COVID.
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| Pretty Glenorchy at the head of Lake Wakatipu, NZ |
A few days later, we drove around Lake Wakatipu to Glenorchy at the head of the lake. We could see Mt Aspiring, in the distance, modestly cloaked in a small cape of snow.
After a wander around Glenorchy settlement, we drove to the Mt Aspiring National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We were there to walk part of the Routeburn Track, one of NZ’s top-5 Great Walks.
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| Routeburn Track (UNESCO), NZ |
After a slow drive along a very narrow road, we finally arrived at the Routeburn Shelter to start our walk. The track took us through a beautiful beech forest, with bright green lichen and moss covering tree trunks and banks. Then we came to the very noisy Bridal Falls where the water races down a narrow canyon of rocks, to gush under a footbridge then down into a gorge.
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| Marg on the Routeburn Track, Mt Aspiring National Park (UNESCO), NZ |
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| Cheeky robin on the Routeburn Track (UNESCO), NZ |
On the way back we were halted by a robin who looked at us quizzingly, as if trying to communicate with us. Then he popped off the rock and twittered around Marg’s feet, playing coy with the camera. We think he was asking us to move so he could get bugs from the forest floor that our walking had rustled up.
So we stepped aside, and he snapped his little beak about like a castanet then shot off through the trees. It had been a wonderful day seeing the beautiful scenery and birdlife over our 14 km walk.
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| Lake Wakatipu from the road near Bennet Bluff, NZ |
Leaving Glenorchy, we once again drove alongside Lake Wakatipu with its beautiful views. Seeking a campsite for the night, we pulled into a Department of Conservation (DOC) camp at 12 Mile Delta on the edge of the lake. This is a fairly basic camp, but was a very peaceful place.
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| Wet day scenery driving to Lake Te Anau (UNESCO), NZ |
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| Lake Te Anau (UNESCO), NZ |
Lake Te Anau is a glacial lake covering 344 sq km, making it the largest lake in the South Island and the second-largest lake by surface area in New Zealand (after Lake Taupō in the North Island, although Lake Te Anau is the deeper).
The next day, we walked to the Tourist Information buildings and bought tickets for a cruise on the Lake.
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| Broody Lake Te Anau (UNESCO) from boat to see glow-worms |
It was a wet day and the lake was quite broody. The cruise took us to see glow-worms in a 12,000-year-old cave system. At the caves, we were taken through a twisting network of limestone passages filled with sculpted rock and a roaring underground waterfall, and it was great.
Deep inside the caves we had a small boat take us to a very dark grotto to see thousands of glow-worms. No photos allowed, but it was amazing with millions of glowing spots all around us as we moved slowly and quietly through the water.
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| Leigh on the Kepler Track, Fiordland National Park (UNESCO), Te Anau, NZ |
Arriving back at the camp later, we checked the weather for the following day. We were planning a walk on the Kepler Track in Fiordland National Park, another of New Zealand’s great tracks, and also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The rain held off, so the next morning we caught a water taxi across the lake to Brod Bay. Then we spent the next couple of hours walking through a beautiful rain forest. It was a wonderful mossy and enchanted place.
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| Lunch stop on the Kepler Track, Fiordland National Park (UNESCO), Te Anau, NZ |
We ate our lunch sitting beside Lake Te Anau, enjoying the serenity of it before carrying on to finish the walk. After a few days of relaxation in Te Anau, we drove to Milford and Doubtful sounds, but you can read about that in the next blog.
This is part of a bigger blog on our travels around the South Island of New Zealand. The first blog is called NZ's South Island in a motorhome.