Southern New Zealand – Backpackneymoon

By July 21, 2012July 7th, 2017New Zealand

Dunedin was the turning point for our Backpackneymoon. It was a time when the weather was most foul and our spirits drained. Oh yes they were dark days indeed. But out of the soul-sapping weather came a renewed determination to head south have fun. Actually, the sun started shining and that made everything better rather than anything to do with our determination. So it was that we started exploring southern New Zealand.

Just another New Zealand waterfall :)

Just another New Zealand waterfall πŸ™‚

When you go far south on the South Island of New Zealand, it gets cold. Very cold. Even by the coast the temerature overnight drops below -4C or so — inland much colder. Every single day during our southern expedition we saw snow. Moreover, we probably drove past snow everyday as well and could have played in it if we chose. But it was too cold. So we just stayed in the van.

Penguins

The first of the highlights of southern New Zealand was our very lucky encounter with wild penguins. We were driving along looking for a spot to camp for the night when we arrived at a nice beach carpark. We hadn’t seen another traveller all day, but here was this remote carpark with about 4 other travellers’ cars in it. We had to investigate. As it turns out, all the travellers were down on the rocks next to the ocean just sitting around. After reading a few of the nearby signs, we realised that penguins often come out of the ocean at around sunset and head up into the bushes. Of course we hung around to see what all the fuss was about. About 30 minutes later about 7 penguins started making their way very slowly from the ocean, across the rocks past us and up into the bushes. They were massive, cute and definitely a highlight. Curio Bay was the name of the location if you want to see free penguins in the wild one day yourself.

Cute yellow-eyed penguin at Curio Bay

Cute yellow-eyed penguin at Curio Bay

Milford Sound

Milford Sound was without a doubt the highlight of our time in New Zealand. Not only Milford Sound itself, but also the road that leads to Milford Sound. We arrived halfway down the road to Milford Sound at night and quickly found a spot in the snow to park the van and cook dinner. Although my memory is a bit hazy, I’m pretty sure I stood out in the snow at night flipping burgers for dinner. A fantastic experience and not another soul around.

The road to Milford Sound in winter is covered in snow and it is regularly cleared by big trucks. This means that the surrounding fields and mountains are all covered in a thick blanket of snow. It is truly magical.

Good morning from snowy Milford Road -- it's cold out there!

Good morning from snowy Milford Road — it’s cold out there!

The best way to experience Milford Sound is by taking a cruise and there are plenty of companies offering them. With Jucy Campervans, there is a special deal where you can get 2 tickets for the price of 1. That is, it only cost us NZ$65 for 2 tickets on the 90 minute cruise which included unlimited tea and coffee and a muffin each. You beauty! We took the first cruise of the day as the later cruises have more passengers with the 1pm cruises especially full with people who have come on tours from Queenstown. There were probably only 10 people on our boat, but in summer, some boats carry hundreds of people. Not very peaceful I’d imagine.

Milford Sound in winter is awe-inspiring

Milford Sound in winter is awe-inspiring

Anyway, the cruise up and down Milford Sound is stunning. Big mountains, waterfalls and a few seals. You’ve got to go there.

Queenstown

People go to Queenstown for different reasons. Some go to ski, some go for adventure sports, some go for hiking and others go to relax. We went to relax primarily because we were tired of living in the van over the past couple of weeks. We stayed in a hotel and just bummed around for a few days, but the highlight for us was a visit to the Routeburn Track trailhead. The Routeburn Track is a big walk from somewhere near Milford Sound through the mountains to about 50km from Queenstown. We drove up there to check out the scenery and it was amazing. The road to the trailhead isn’t ploughed, so the road was icy and covered in snow most of the way. The van struggled a bit through some sections and it was a bit slippery. But once we arrived, it was magnificent. The views were great and the snow was just like you imagine it. Fully formed snowflakes were all over the ground and you could pick them up in big handfulls and throw them in the air. They weren’t wet, icy or easy to make into a snowball. They were more like a really fragile packet of chips.

These are real life snowflakes, close up

These are real life snowflakes, close up

Everyone loves to play in the snow!

Everyone loves to play in the snow!

So there you have it. Southern New Zealand in winter is all about snow and the wonderful views it creates. It truly is a spectacular part of the world and everyone should see it at least once. Want to know more? Let us know in the comments.

If you want to see how much it costs to rent a campervan like we did, check the prices here on thisΒ price comparison website.

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