A New Zealand South Island highway journey needs to be on the bucket checklist of each journey or panorama pictures fanatic. From stunning seashores, wild shoreline, and epic glacial fjords to the snow-capped Southern Alps, it may be exhausting to plan a visit that takes all of it in. That’s why I’ve achieved the exhausting give you the results you want!
New Zealand South Island Map – Street Journey Itinerary
New Zealand South Island Street Journey: 11 Epic Pictures Spots
Most guests to New Zealand’s South Island fly into Christchurch or Queenstown, nonetheless, if you’re together with the North Island in your journey, then you might take the ferry into Picton. This New Zealand itinerary runs from the Northern tip and is generally round in an anticlockwise route, so you can begin and finish at your comfort. And don’t neglect there are limitless choices for facet journeys off my marked route!
1. Wharariki Seashore
On the very prime of the South Island, one can find this secluded and huge seashore, tenting is obtainable inside strolling distance or you may choose to remain in a lodge a brief drive away. The most effective time for pictures here’s a sundown to seize the rock formations and the large sand dunes. Wharariki Seashore can also be house to New Zealand Fur Seals that may can help you get shut sufficient for some epic wildlife photographs.
2. Nelson Lakes – Lake Rotoiti
Even when you solely cease briefly on the Lake Rotoiti carpark you may be rewarded with an incredible view. The traditional shot at getting right here is of the jetty searching throughout the lake with the steep mountain sides towering on both facet of your body. Be warned, the climate can go away the entire place lined in fog for days at a time!
3. Punakaiki Pancake Rocks
These unusual rock formations present an fascinating topic for a seashore panorama shot. As they’re on the west coast, it would be best to dangle round for sundown to get the very best gentle.
4. Lake Matheson
A brief stroll round this small lake leads you to among the best views of New Zealand’s highest peak, Mt Cook dinner. The lake is understood for offering an ideal reflection of the mountains, so long as the water remains to be. Early morning often offers the very best situations right here.
5. That Wanaka Tree
New Zealand’s most well-known and most photographed tree earned its personal hashtag for a very good cause. A lone willow tree protruding of lake Wanaka proper within the township itself makes for an incredible {photograph}. Attempt a lengthy publicity right here to make the water look silky easy.
6. Roy’s Peak
This traditional New Zealand view requires a little bit of a hike, however it’s nicely definitely worth the effort. Place your topic on the level, and they’ll look tiny on this epic panorama. It might get crowded right here with everybody wanting the identical shot, however the hike supplies loads of related viewpoints.
7. Milford Sound
In all probability essentially the most recognizable New Zealand view comes from Milford Sound. Deep darkish water and large steep mountains rising from the deep make it straightforward to get superb panorama photographs right here. A ship or kayak journey is a good way to get a distinctive perspective, and you might even be fortunate sufficient to identify dolphins.
8. Moeraki Boulders
One other peculiar rock formation, this time on the east coast. The superbly spherical ‘boulders’ are finest photographed at sundown with lengthy publicity to assist them stand out from the seashore.
9. Mt Cook dinner village
The drive as much as Mt. Cook dinner village could have you stopping each 2 minutes with a brand new view to {photograph}. On a transparent day, among the best photographs is alongside the coast of Lake Pukaki, with a protracted lens to make the mountain bigger in your body.
10. Arthurs Go
This needs to be one among New Zealand’s most scenic drives. Greatest photographed in Winter or Autumn when the peaks are snow-covered, there are numerous alternatives for photographs of epic highways and bridges amongst the wilderness.
11. Kaikoura
Kaikoura is the capital of whale watching in New Zealand and likewise has resident seals which you can get near. Take a ship journey and take a look at for a shot of a whale or dolphins with the mountain peaks within the background.
When must you go?
The South Island can present superb images in all seasons, however for my part, winter/autumn is the very best time to go to when the mountains are lined in snow. Fringe seasons can be barely cheaper by way of lodging, and the roads are filled with camper vans and tour buses in the summertime.
How a lot time do you want?
For journey pictures, you have to to be versatile with occasions because the climate is notoriously unpredictable right here. Permit your self additional days to attend out the wet days once you need that good view. I’d recommend a minimal of two weeks to get round the entire island comfortably and to present you time for unplanned facet journeys.
Aspect journeys are a should right here…
Driving the principle highways, you’ll nearly continuously come throughout indicators promising waterfalls and viewpoints, and you must completely comply with a few of them. The most effective highway journeys embody getting a bit misplaced and following gravel roads simply to see what’s on the finish. Simply be warned; New Zealand is riddled with gravel roads that appear to go on ceaselessly!
How a lot will it value?
Hiring a camper van is the very best and commonest method of getting round. This lets you cease wherever you need, and a very good community of campsites in nearly each city supplies bogs and kitchen amenities for a small cost. High 10 Vacation Parks has many campsites all through the Island. When you’ve got the funds, you may simply drive between bigger cities every day for higher accommodations, however these can get costly in vacationer scorching spots reminiscent of Wanaka.
For the funds aware, make the most of the nations ‘freedom tenting websites. This can be a community of parking areas which can be out there freed from cost for ‘self-contained’ automobiles solely (that means it’s a must to have a rest room onboard). Some freedom campers have given the follow a foul title by littering the areas, and this has rubbed locals the mistaken method, so be certain to take all of your garbage away with you!
Tenting
It’s a massive no-no to camp in an undesignated spot in New Zealand attributable to littering and the big numbers of vacationers that go to every year.
In the event you pitch a tent illegally, you may count on to get up to a ticket slapped in your tent or worse, be woken in the midst of the evening and informed to maneuver on. As an alternative, make use of DOC campsites which often have a rest room on-site; you should buy a move that’s legitimate in any respect South Island campsites, excluding the busy huts in vacationer scorching spots at www.doc.govt.nz
New Zealand South Island Street Journey | Conclusion
The most effective recommendation I may give you is to be versatile. The climate will thwart your plans, and you might discover a facet journey that you just wish to spend a day exploring. That is all a part of the enjoyable! You by no means know what you might discover in New Zealand’s South Island.
