Guide to New Zealand - South Island
New Zealand is often lumped together with Australia when Americans think of traveling the distance - that's exactly how I ended up there. We traveled to Australia and spent a bulk of our time there but if I could do it again, I'd plan to spend more time in New Zealand.
We flew into Queenstown from Sydney and stayed a couple of nights at the Hilton. The location is slightly secluded but is truly one of the most amazing hotels I've ever stayed in. The views were unreal, the rooms were very spacious and the onsite restaurants were incredible. Even if you just spend one night, definitely plan to make this part of your journey.
If you end up staying and decide to go into down town Queenstown, the hotels offers a free water taxi directly from the hotel. There is also an incredible spa onsite so you can treat yourself. Don't forget to grab a delicious breakfast and cup of coffee.
After staying out on the outskirts for a few days, we decided to head into town and stay at an Airbnb. We had a phenomenal view of the downtown area and could walk to any restaurant, bar or shopping around.
The town is on the waterfront, hence how you could water taxi there from the Hilton, but you can also take longer boat cruises along the water to take in the views.
Another option for sight seeing is to take the Skyline Queenstown to the top. It's a gondola and you can either take cable cars up to the top or ride the luges down the hill (a great option for kids)!
The best thing we did in Queenstown was through Alpine Luxury Tours. We had originally planned to take a helicopter tour from Queenstown to the Milford Sound, but due to weather constraints the day of, we had a change of plans.
We piled into the helicopter and took off for our to our first stop of the day - landing on top of a glacier! Going from the ground where it was 80 degrees during the day, to landing in the snow was such a cool experience. Our pilot was super knowledgeable and spoke to us the whole time, telling us all about the glaciers and how much they move each day.
Our next destination on the tour was down into the Earnslaw Burn, a location where Alpine has the exclusive rights to land. You may recognize some of the shots from the Lord of the Rings series since some of it was shot behind the waterfalls here! This was by far the most amazing scenery I've ever seen in my life. I cannot even describe how picturesque the view was from down below. Flying from the top of a frozen glacier, down into a valley really showed how massive the snowcapped mountains were. As we flew down to land, we saw the melting water turn into hundreds of waterfalls, all varying in size.
Once we landed the pilots set up a picnic for us while we explored the terrain. I filled my water bottle with the coldest, most fresh water in the world and swear it tastes better! We were in awe of its beauty and could have spent all day there.
Since our helicopter tour changed from the original plan, we worked with Alpine to schedule a wine tour the following day! We were driven around to a few different wineries and made a stop to view some bungee jumpers!
From Queenstown we drove up the coast over the next several days. Our first stop was in Wanaka, only about an hour or ~50 miles from Queenstown. This was our first day on the road so we were acclimating to driving on the opposite side of the car and the road, so we didn't go too far. Here we toured the Wanaka Lavender Farm, did a winery tour at Rippon and saw the famous Wanaka Tree . Check out my post on my favorite ways to use lavender HERE.
The next day we drove about 175 miles to Franz Josef, another popular stopping point along the beaten path. We stayed in the coolest spot, The Rainforest Retreat, a tucked away oasis. The staff, rooms and views were unmatched.
The next morning we hiked to the base of Franz Josef Glacier, before hitting the road another ~80 miles to Hokitika for our last night in New Zealand.
We checked into one last boutique hotel, the Hokitika Fire Station, and I don't have enough good things to say about it! It was incredibly spacious, clean, and such a cool esthetic. The hotel is in an old fire station, and all the rooms and décor were themed.
The next morning we hit the road on our last leg of the drive, about 150 miles, to Christchurch for our flight back to Sydney. I can truly say that New Zealand is my favorite place I've ever visited! The scenery was gorgeous and had such a broad spectrum of terrain. The food was FABULOUS, the people were so nice and I cannot wait to plan another trip back!
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