The South Island of NZ is so different to the North that it is almost hard to fathom. The North was almost like Australia with rolling hills and green among the odd patch of golden paddock and a surprising number of gumtrees.
The South Island is tall! It has mountains, those things they tell you about as a kid growing up in Australia but never quite develop an understanding of living in a country were things just aren’t tall.
Anyway out itinerary for the South Island was pretty packed and as it turned out pretty limited. There is just so much to see that in the 9 days available we saw some of what we assumed were going to be the highlights and some other places that actually were.
For those interested it is well worth looking into the DOC (department of conservation) campsites on the south island because not only are they amazing but they are almost all near water and close to some point of interest you’d want to stop at anyway. We picked up one of their free maps and put it to very good use!
Our itinerary was something like this.
Christchurch – Akaroa – Mt Cook – Â Queenstown – Milford Sound – Wanaka – Franz Joseph – Greymouth – Arthurs Pass – Christchurch.
You can guess that there could be a whole lot more detail included in that but I don’t want to use words when there are photos to be seen.
Categories: Life and Daily Interest
Tags: Adventure, camping, Life and Daily Interest, National Parks, nature, New Zealand, outdoors, photography, photos, South Island, travel
The Graceful Cyclists 
Want to swing by New Zealand so very badly and the pictures you got are amazing as well. Looks and sounds like an awesome time, thanks for sharing! 🙂
Thanks for the memories : )
Now you’re hooked (on NZ) can I suggest watching Marcus Lush’s “South” and “North” on DVD? He’s got a few others, too, but those ones explore places at each end of NZ that are off the beaten track.
: )