Southern Lakes of New Zealand

Continuing on our road trip around New Zealand's South Island in our motorhome Vwhā, we enjoyed a picturesque drive alongside Lake Wānaka. 

View of lake driving towards Wānaka

At its southern end, we found Wānaka township with its lovely lake and mountain views, and decided it would be a peaceful spot to stop for a few days. 

Then we booked a cruise on Lake Wānaka. Arriving at the wharf, we spotted our friends Peter and Jill from Wellington who were among the disembarking passengers from the earlier cruise. What a small world, to come down here and see your neighbours. 

On Lake Wānaka with Southern Alps behind

After a chat we boarded our boat, and with a glass of wine in hand, we cruised around Lake Wānaka with the majestic Southern Alps in the distance. 

Returning to Wānaka township later, we discovered it to be a quite vibrant place, with plenty of cafes and restaurants, and with most places having a wonderful view of the lake.

We walked around this lovely resort town enjoying the ambience. Once a gold-rush settlement, now-days it’s a thriving town known as the doorway to the Mt Aspiring National Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Us with 'That Wānaka Tree'

Later, we found it was very easy to walk around part of the lake to view ‘That Wānaka Tree’, a lone willow growing out of the lake that became famous thanks to Instagram. 

The tree began its illustrious journey as a fence-post over 70 years ago. Now it’s grown into a celebrity tree, representing hope and endurance. We had heard that its fame meant hundreds of people queued to have their photo taken with the tree. However, thanks to COVID, we had it all to ourselves.

A few days later, we drove out of Wānaka toward our next destination. But then on the edge of Wānaka, we found a lavender farm.

Leigh at the Lavender Farm, Wānaka, NZ

We stopped and enjoyed wandering around their marvellous gardens full of gorgeous colours, then made a few lavender purchases before moving on.

From there, we drove south, admiring the beautiful Central Otago scenery showing golden grassy hills and green vineyards against a vivid blue sky.

Then we reached Cromwell, a town in Central Otago on the shores of Lake Dunstan. This lake was formed on the Clutha River, as a result of building the Clyde Dam in the early 1990’s. Filling the lake then caused parts of Cromwell township to be under water. 

However, several of Cromwell's old buildings were resurrected prior to the flooding and now form an historic precinct, which we visited.

Marg in the historic area of Cromwell, Central Otago, NZ

We had an interesting walk around the area, finding an eclectic mix of attractive shops.

Our next stop was in the Kawarau Gorge to visit Roaring Meg, the turbulent stream that plunges into the Kawarau River. History has it that this voluble stream was named after an equally voluble barmaid named Maggie in the early settler days. 

The noise of the stream is now quietened by a hydro power station but the name and the legend live on. 

Then we drove into the beautiful and rugged Gibbston Valley.

Gibbston Valley vineyard, Central Otago, NZ

Known as the 'Valley of the Vines', it is one of the most scenic wine growing areas in New Zealand, and the southernmost wine growing region in the world. The vines grow between rugged schist mountains and the rocky Kawarau Gorge.

Driving through this picturesque area, we came across the Gibbston Valley Winery and stopped for a look around. It’s a well-known wine so we decided to have a tasting, which led to a delicious lunch.

A couple of hours later, we drove up the road to Marg’s friends Amy and Alistair’s place. They have a beautiful home with spectacular views of the surrounding ranges and vineyards. 

Amy and Marg near Amy and Al's Gibbston Valley home, Central Otago, NZ

That afternoon, we took a short walk with Amy to visit their local vineyard, Mt Rosa, where we sampled some of their lovely Pinot Gris. 

Then we wandered back to Amy and Al’s house for a BBQ, and enjoyed a great night with them. Later, we had a very peaceful sleep, parked in their beautiful and very quiet vineyard setting.

The next morning, we reached Arrowtown, a lovely historic gold mining town on the banks of the Arrow River.

Marg in historic Arrowtown, NZ

It’s tree-lined streets were just starting to take on their autumn gold, and there were many attractive shops in historic buildings.

The town was established in 1862, during the height of the Otago gold rush. The settlement grew quickly as pioneers constructed cottages, shops, hotels and churches; more than 60 of which are still there. 

We also visited the nearby Chinese settlement, built by the Chinese gold-miners around 1868, and got a sense of the poor conditions that they lived in. 

After lunching at a local café, we drove on to Queenstown via the Shotover Gorge.

Mountain scenery driving the Shotover Gorge, Queenstown, NZ

The drive revealed some spectacular mountain scenery.

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 occasion, we visited 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.

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. 

Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown, NZ

Although very attractive, it seemed to be very quiet, with not many people around or on the water, or in the nearby shops. 

On one day, we took a trip up the mountain in a gondola to admire the view. Unfortunately, it was also deserted, with most shops closed and some of the viewing platforms roped off. 

 As with other key tourist areas we had been through on this trip, Queenstown has been hit in the pocket because of COVID.

After a few days we decided to move on, so we drove to Glenorchy at the head of Lake Wakatipu. 

Pretty Glenorchy at the head of Lake Wakatipu, NZ

We could see Mt Aspiring, in the distance, modestly cloaked in a small cape of snow. 

After a wander around Glenorchy settlement, we drove on into the Mt Aspiring National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We were there to walk part of the Routeburn Track, one of New Zealand’s top-5 Great Walks.

Driving along a very narrow road, we finally arrived at the Routeburn Shelter to start our walk. 

Routeburn Track (UNESCO), NZ

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. We followed the river gorge as the track climbed and wove its way through the beautiful rainforest. 

After around 2 hours, we stopped for lunch at Forge Flats, then walked further up the gorge before turning around and heading back. 

As we walked along, we spotted many birds.

Cheeky robin on the Routeburn Track (UNESCO), NZ

At one point, we were halted by a robin perched on a green-clad bank. He looked quizzically at us as if trying to communicate something. 

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 castanets then shot off through the trees.

It had been a wonderful day seeing the beautiful scenery and birdlife over our 14 km walk.

We decided to move on from Glenorchy so once again, we drove alongside Lake Wakatipu with its beautiful views.

Lake Wakatipu from the road near Bennet Bluff, NZ

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.

It rained heavily overnight and we were glad we'd done our walk the day before. It continued to rain the next day as we drove along the other side of Lake Wakatipu toward Lake Te Anau.

Lake Te Anau (UNESCO) with township on right bank

The drive took us through rolling hills and fields of scorched grass (obviously the rain was needed), and eventually to Te Anau, a township on the beautiful glacial lake of the same name. 

Lake Te Anau covers an area of 344 km², 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). 

It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Broody Lake Te Anau (UNESCO) from boat to see glow-worms

The next day, we took a trip across the lake to see glow-worms in a 12,000 year-old cave system. It was a wet day and the lake was quite broody.

At the caves, we learned we could not take photos. But then 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. It was amazing with all these glowing spots all around us as we moved slowly and quietly through the water. 

We had a good cruise home later, then 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 UNESCO.

Leigh on the Kepler Track, Fiordland National Park (UNESCO), Te Anau, NZ

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.

We had our lunch sitting beside the lake enjoying the peace, before carrying on to finish the walk.

A few days later, we left there to drive the spectacularly scenic road to Milford Sound, which included driving through the Homer Tunnel. This tunnel is a steep, one-way, unlined shaft taking you through 1.2 km of sheer rock.

Kea pecking a hole in our bike cover at Homer Tunnel, Milford, NZ

Once through the tunnel, we stopped at a view-point where two cheeky keas were examining people’s cars. This seemed quite amusing, until they hopped onto ours and pecked a hole in our bike cover! 

This unique native bird is the world’s only alpine parrot, and their inquisitiveness is legendary. 

After patching the hole, we made a steep descent through amazing peaks and rugged rock formations toward Milford. We were headed there to do a boat cruise on Milford Sound, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Beautiful Milford Sound (UNESCO), NZ

We arrived at Milford Wharf, deep within Fiordland National Park, and boarded a boat for our cruise. 

The boat took us out onto the fiord with its magical mountains, dark waters, and forested cliffs. 

We sailed past the spectacular Bowen Falls, the tallest falls in the Sound. Next, we sailed past Sinbad Gulley which is a perfect U-shaped valley, then past Mitre Peak and onwards. The towering cliffs made an impressive sight. 

We passed more waterfalls such as Fairy Falls and Bridal Veil Falls plus lots of other smaller ones.

Stirling Falls, Milford Sound (UNESCO), NZ

After a brief foray out into the rough Tasman Sea, we headed back into the Sound where the boat stopped for an up-close view of Stirling Falls. 

We were able to stand on the bow of the boat as it inched under the falls. But on this cold windy day, only one person was brave enough to do it – she was just about blue afterwards!

The excitement mounted as several bottle-nosed dolphins joined us, and we also saw fur seals and many sea birds. Then it was time to return to Milford after a fantastic cruise.

The next morning it was raining heavily but we caught a water taxi to Sandfly Point to walk the famous Milford Track. 

Landslide and flooding across the Milford Track (UNESCO), NZ

Despite the rain, we were enjoying our walk until we came to a place where there had been a significant landslide, which now had a large and rising river rushing through it.

We decided it was unsafe to wade through, so reluctantly turned back. Returning through the beautiful rainforest, we noticed the water levels had risen in all of the streams, so were glad we had not continued. 

Despite our wet-weather gear, we were absolutely soaked through by the time we got home.

The following day, we drove to Lake Manapouri, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Leigh at Doubtful Sound (UNESCO) viewed from Wilmot Pass

We were there for another boat cruise, but this time on Doubtful Sound and we would be out overnight.

Leaving from Lake Manapouri’s Pearl Harbour, we boated across to the road known as Wilmot Pass where we swapped to a bus. This Pass was created for the building of the Manapouri Hydroelectric Project and is an amazingly steep and twisting gravel road. 

We were pleased when the bus dropped us at Deep Cove on Doubtful Sound, where we boarded the 3-masted Fiordland Navigator, our overnight boat. Our cabin was on the top deck and well equipped with a comfortable bed and our own bathroom. 

Then we cruised through the evocatively sombre mountains of the Sound. 

Sometime later, the Navigator dropped anchor in a sheltered cove so we could experience the Sound up close. 

Leigh kayaking on Doubtful Sound (UNESCO) with our ship behind

This meant getting on the water in a kayak and paddling around the shores of Doubtful Sound. The temperature was lovely and we had a great time.

Back on board, we sailed past several waterfalls and saw more dolphins. When we reached the Tasman Sea, we saw huge rocks rising above the seal level with fur seals and their pups basking in the late sun. It was quite magical.

Later in the Sound, we cruised through more beautiful scenery. The whole time we were very well fed and watered, met lots of fellow travellers, and loved it. 

Beautiful Doubtful Sound (UNESCO), NZ

Doubtful Sound is the deepest of our sounds and has a striking landscape of ancient glacially-carved valleys lined with mountains, huge rocks and waterfalls. We found it quite beautiful. 

That night, we anchored in the Gaer Arm of the Sound. The captain explained that he had to get permission to anchor there and that this cruise was the first to do so.

The dusk was lovely, and later, we viewed the night sky in an amazingly dark part of the world. 

Dusk on Doubtful Sound (UNESCO), NZ

It was absolutely beautiful and the Milky Way could be seen in all its glory (but sadly, we It was absolutely beautiful and the Milky Way could be seen in all its glory (but sadly, we didn't have the right camera to photograph it).

The next morning, after a great breakfast, we cruised into a very quiet arm of the Sound. The captain turned off all of the engines and generators and we had absolute silence. We could hear water coming down a waterfall and lots of birdsong – it was very special.

Too soon, it was time to cruise back to Deep Water Cove, bus back over the Wilmot Pass, then cruise across Lake Manapouri and back to Vwhā. 

Our journey now continues, with our next stop being Invercargill and Stewart Island.

Postscript: We asked about the difference between a ‘sound’ and a ‘fiord’. It seems a sound is usually formed by the flooding of a river valley, whereas a fiord is a flooded glacial valley which tends to be narrow, with steep-sided mountains on either side. Apparently, both Milford and Doubtful sounds are technically fiords.

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-the top”