11 day road trip on the South Island of New Zealand, part 1

Today I am writing a personal travelogue about an 11-day trip that I made on the South Island of New Zealand. I was living in Christchurch at the time so that is the start and end point of this journey. During this road trip I mainly spent the night at cheap / free campsites. Some nights we slept in the back of my car (which was set up for that purpose) and other times we slept in a tent. Below I will tell you about all the locations we have been to, where we spent the nights and the highlights of the trip.

Day 1

Our first stop was Tekapo, what a stunning place! Tekapo is known for the beautiful, clear blue lake: Lake Tekapo. But Tekapo is also known for the dark nights, it’s one of the best places in the world for stargazing. The latter was the reason we decided to stay here overnight. This road trip was early October when the nights were still quite cold so we decided to go to The Springs. This is a paid hot pool in Tekapo. We were thoroughly enjoying the warm water while also enjoying the amazing view. It got dark early and so we could watch some stars from the hot pool. Two people with us in the bath were experts at stargazing, telling us which stars and planets we saw. It was a great experience!

We slept in the car at the Lake MacGregor Campsite, which is a cheap campsite not too far outside the village.

Day 2

The next day we went towards Queenstown, but made some stops in between. The first stop after Tekapo was at Lake Pukaki. This lake is just as beautifully blue as Tekapo, but from this lake you can see Mt Cook. Mt Cook is New Zealand’s highest mountain. It is a truly amazing view, breathtaking!

Of course we wanted to get a little closer to Mt Cook so we went to the Mt Cook village. From there we walked the Hooker Valley Track. This is an easy route of about 3 hours. During this hike you will of course see Mt Cook, but also several glacial lakes, beautiful rivers and other mountains. Personally, I think this hike offers the best views for the least effort. The whole route is very flat and well maintained. I really recommend this hike to everyone! Read more about my other favourite day hikes in New Zealand here.

After Mt Cook we drove to Queenstown where we spent the night at the Haka Lodge. This is a backpackers hostel in the center of Queenstown. Personally, I think this was a great hostel with sturdy beds, your own reading light, charger, curtain and storage space. In the evening we enjoyed the famous Ferg Burger. Men says they serve the best burger in time, therefore there is always a queue here, no matter what time you come. Tip: Order your burger over the phone, you can usually pick it up after 15 minutes and you don’t have to wait in the long line ?

Day 3

Day three was mainly a travel day in which we would drive to Milford Sound. The weather was very bad and we mainly drove in the rain. When we arrived in Te Anau we asked about the weather conditions and the highway situation in Milford Sound. When the weather is too bad, they sometime close part of the highway. Unfortunately, this was also the case now. They weren’t sure whether the highway would open that day or in the next few days. We really wanted to go to Milford Sound and the Fiordland National Park so we decided to drive further in that direction, as far as possible. In Fiordland National Park we made a few more stops before camping in the car (it was raining too much for a tent) at the Kiosk Creek Campsite.

Day 4

The next day we woke up and immediately looked at the situation on the highway. The highway was mostly open, but the Homer Tunnel was still closed. It did say it would probably open in the afternoon. To bridge the time, we made many stops at lakes, waterfalls and hiking trails. Read more about stops on the route to Milford Sound here. In the afternoon the tunnel did indeed open and we went on our way to Milford Sound!

When we arrived in Milford Sound we took a boat trip and it was amazing! Since it had rained a lot the days before, there were waterfalls everywhere, it was great! In addition, we experienced all four seasons on the boat, we couldn’t keep up. While enjoying the fjord we saw seals. It was a great experience and I highly recommend everyone to admire the fjord that way.

Because we had already made many stops on the way there, we decided to drive straight through the national park on the way back. We wanted to go all the way to the southeast coast of the South Island. We ended up in Tuatapere and stayed at the Last Light Lodge and Cafe. As the name suggests, it is a lodge, but you can also set up your tent for a small amount. It was time for a nice hot shower!

Day 5

The next morning we had a fun activity planned: exploring a glow worm cave! We did this in the Clifden Limestone Caves. This is a cave that is open to everyone, so it’s completely free. We set out with our flashlights and cell phones through the dark cave. There was a route that would take us to the other side of the cave, but it was not a route in the traditional sense. Sometimes we had to crawl through openings, jump over water or climb, like in the photo. It was quite an adventure! We saw glow worms almost the entire route, but in the last room we took our time. We found a good place to sit and turned off our lights. The longer it was dark, the more glow worms lit up. In many places in New Zealand you pay a lot of money to see these worms, but they can be admired completely free in several places.

After our cave visit, we continued on our way to the east coast. Our next stop was Bluff. Here we drove to Bluff Lookout Point. From there you have a nice view of the area. We also went to Stirling Point for this famous picture.

Afterwards we drove on to The Catlins Conservation Park. There is a beautiful route through the park for which you want to take your time as there are so many wonderful stops. Our first stop was Waipapa Lighthouse where we were very lucky. We saw a sea lion lying on the beach! The next stop was Slope Point, the southernmost point of New Zealand. We slept in the Catlins that night so we could see even more of the park the next day. We ended up at Weir Beach Reserve, this is a free campsite with a beautiful view.

Day 6

On day 6 our exploration of the Catlins continued. We went to Curio Bay, admired the McLean Falls and enjoyed the view at Florence Hill Lookout. Want to read about these stops in more detail, check out the blog about the Catlins.

After the Catlins we drove to Dunedin, where we spent the night. This time we stayed with the tent on a slightly more expensive campsite: Dunedin Holiday Park & Motels. There are not many free or cheap campsites near Dunedin.

Part 2

There is so much to tell about this South Island road trip that I have decided to write it in two parts. In the second part I will tell you more about Dunedin, the West Coast and Arthur’s Pass. Click for part two of the road trip on the South Island of New Zealand here.