We spent 12 days driving around South Island, covering the major points of interest. The weather in April (2025) was cold but comfortable.
We landed in Christchurch, and our first visit was to the Botanic Garden. The Botanic Garden is massive and is very pretty. In Christchurch we also watched a Super Rugby match between the Crusaders (home team) and the Auckland Blues – the ambience was great. We explored Christchurch city centre, which includes the Bridge of Remembrance (commemorating the sacrifice of NZ soldiers). The Cave Rock / Tuawera beach is also very scenic to walk and explore.
On our 2nd day, we drove from Christchurch to Lake Tekapo. There are a lot of lookouts around Lake Tekapo, with great views of snow covered mountains, forests and the lake. We drove up to University of Canterbury Mt John Observatory from where one can get a 360 degree view of the lakes and mountains around. Another nice lookout near Lake Tekapo is the Motuariki View Point, east of the lake.
On day 3, we drove to Mt. Cook village. On the way we explored Lake Pukaki. There are nice trails to walk along the lake shore.
We reached Mt. Cook village in the afternoon on our 3rd day. We did the trek on the Hooker valley trail, which is about 5 kms / 1h20m walk each way. The views along the trek are great with lots of lakes, 3 suspension bridges, and snow covered mountains.
On day 4, we did two treks from Mt. Cook village. In the morning we did the trek to Tasman lake and glacier. The total return trip was about 2.5 hours. In the afternoon, we did the trek to Kea Point (Lake Mueller) which is roughly a 90 minutes round trip.
On day 5, we drove to Dunedin. The views on the drive were stunning. Some of the key places we stopped are Aviemore Dam Lookout, Moeraki Boulders Beach, Shag Point lookout (can see seals) and Doctor’s point Reserve (ideally during low tide).
In Dunedin, we drove up Signal Hill, which has great views of Dunedin and the water bodies near Dunedin. We also visited Baldwin street, know for being the steepest street in the world.
On day 6, we drove from Dunedin to Fjordland National Park, Manapouri. Manapouri is the starting point for the cruise of Doubtful Sound. On the drive from Dunedin to Manapouri, we visited the Nugget Point Lighthouse, Pūrākaunui Bay, Mclean Falls and Slope Point. Slope Point is the southern most point of South Island. The total drive from Dunedin to Manapouri, including the visit to the four places lasted about 8 hours.
On Day 7, we boarded the cruise ship from Manapouri. The full trip lasted about 9 hours, consisting of a boat ride across the Manapouri Lake, followed by a bus ride from the west end of Manapouri lake to the east part of Doubtful Sound. Then we boarded another boat which took us around Doubtful Sound for about three hours. The views of Doubtful Sound were great. After the cruise we took the return bus followed by the boat ride across Lake Manapouri.
On day 8, we drove north to Milford Sound. The drive was very scenic with lots of very pretty lookouts. The cruise of Milford Sound lasted about two hours, with magnificent views of ice covered mountains, waterfalls and wildlife (including dolphins).
On day 9, we drove to Queenstown from Milford Sound. Again, there were a lots of beautiful lookouts on the way.
On the afternoon of our 9th day, we started exploring Queenstown with a gondola ride. The Queenstown Gondola has a very steep climb, and the views from the top of Lake Wakatipu, the town centre and the forests were breathtaking. Later in the evening we explored the city centre, followed by a walk through Queenstown garden.
On the 10th day, we started the drive to Fox Glacier. On the way we stopped at Arrow Junction Lookout, Cardona Bra Fence, Lake Wanaka lookout, Thunder Creek Falls and lastly at Ship Creek.
In Fox glacier, we first went to the lookout to get a great view of the glacier. We then drove to Lake Matheson, which includes a 40 minutes round trek. The views of Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman from Lake Matheson were amazing.
On day 11, we drove from Fox Glacier to Christchurch. We really enjoyed the various scenic points in South Island, and April was a great month to visit.
We returned the rental car at Christchurch airport and took a flight to Wellington on the 13th day of our stay in New Zealand.
My Travels - by Sivamani 