South Island road trip - part 1

Two weeks on the road, driving through 3000km along the East and West Coast of the South Island was a truly memorable experience. It’s an island that is as beautiful as on postcards and where the landscapes and nature are just like painted to the background. New Zealand is indeed a natural wonder. It’s hard not to fall in love with it.

Most of the island is not inhabited and therefore the nature is so well preserved. Total population of New Zealand is 4 million people out of which only 1 million live on South Island. There are no big cities. Most of them are like villages and farmlands with sheep and cows.

Destination 1: Malbourough Sounds

To get to the South Island from North Island you have to take a ferry from Wellington or fly. The ferry is about 3,5h and it will take you directly to Picton which is the gateway to the Malbourough Sounds – gorgeous drowned river valleys.

Destination 2: Abel Tasman and kayaking

Abel Tasman is by far one of my top favourite places in New Zealand, perfect for summer holiday getaway. It can best be described with golden beaches, blue water, sculptured granite cliffs and a marvellous coastal track. Abal Tasman has about 25 larger and smaller beaches along the coast that are hidden away between hills and surrounded by forest. You need to find narrow walkways through the woods, kayak or take a boat to reach them. It’s great that you can find small golden beaches just for yourself and have a feeling of being on deserted tropical island.

Destination 3: East Coast and Kaikoura

South Island has a very diverse climate and nature. East Coast for example is much drier and therefore not very green, resembling to a desert. The East Coast is not as popular amongst travellers as the West Coast which is richer in its nature due to the climate and higher rainfalls so it’s a lot greener and mountainous. The East Coast is more flat and has the biggest cities like Kaikoura, Christchurch, Dunedin whereas the West Coast only has small villages. What I really love throughout the Southland is that the roads are often built close to the coast line, so when you drive you get the most beautiful views and long coastal drives that are absolutely amazing.

Destination 4: MacKenzie region

After Kaikoura and the coast we drove inland to the MacKenzie region – the place of glacial lakes and Mt Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand (3700m). As we drive away from the rather grey, cloudy and windy coast line further inland the weather clears up and the most magnificent view with snowy mountains lies ahead as we get closer to the Mt Cook area.

It’s definitely my top favourite region on South Island - it's unpopulated large fields surrounded by mountains and glacial lakes makes it the most breathtaking place. It's hard to describe the feeling it creates. It feels as if you're so far away from everything in a different world, it's a relaxing and a lonely place. There's something very romantic about this area. I'm in love:)

The first glacial lake we reach is Lake Tekapo. The water is as bright blue as it can get as it was formed by the glacier waters as it melted thousands of years ago.

About 1,5h further we reach another big glacial lake named Pukaki which is even better as you get the best view to the Mt Cook on the background. We found this great view point near the lake where we decided to enjoy the sunset.

It’s about another 1h drive to get to Mt Cook from there. We had a very cool guided walk through the valleys quite close to Mt Cook and the glacier. It was interesting to learn about how all the valleys were formed about 20,000 years ago by glaciers. Because of the hot weather we could see avalanches and hundreds of small waterfalls pouring down from the mountains.

Mt Cook is one of the hardest mountains to climb. They have a memorial there for all the people that have died during climbing. Some people get rescued, but there are about 100 people that have never been found. Our guide explained that very often climbers make the most mistakes when they are descending simply because they are more tired and lose their attention.

The MacKenzie region also has a man-made canal system which delivers hydro-generated energy to the cities and towns of New Zealand.

Destination 5: Moeraki Boulders

Moeraki Boulders are interesting geological phenomena. They are huge spherical stones scattered over the sandy beach. They are not ordinary round boulders as they were created by a process similar to the formation of oyster pearls, where layers of fossil shell, bone fragment, or piece of wood cover a central nucleus or core. Lime minerals in the sea accumulated on the core over time, and so grew into perfectly spherical shapes up to three metres in diameter. Erosion of the cliffs released the three tonne captive boulders, which now lie on the beach. Further erosion in the atmosphere has exposed a network of veins, which gives the boulders the appearance of turtle shells.

Destination 6: Dunedin and the wedding

The final destination of the first part of our road trip was a beautiful little city Dunedin which is probably one of the most southern cities in the world and also the oldest city in New Zealand. Due to the Scottish settlement in the 19^th century the city’s architecture is very Scottish and this is the only city where you can find a castle in New Zealand:)

One of the highlights of the trip was a wedding of two AIESEC New Zealand alumni. Weddings in NZ can be described as simple, elegant and with humour. Not that Kiwis would do anything without humour and sarcasm:)