In the last parts of our series we saw several places in the northern island of New Zealand. Now we start exploring the southern one which is larger, wilder, and there are more mountains. It is dominated by the summits of the South Alps especially Mt. Cook, the highest mountain in the country – 3 754 m.
CookStrait splits the north and south island of new Zealand. 26 kilmoeters wide straight is best crossed by ferry from Wellington on the north to Picton town in the south. However, I choosed to fly instead - Sound Air company can get you over the strait for a fair price moreover you will enjoy beautiful vista over the strait from a small airplane.
There are many perfectly blue lakes on the southern island. Also, you will see glaciers, beautiful nature on the west coast, and fjords in the very south. Our series will take you to the town of Nelson, the geographic center of New Zealand, Christchurch which has been always damaged by constant earthquakes or Queenstown, a tourist center, or to beautiful nature, of course.
The south island is home to many summer and winter sport activities. People fly mostly from Australia to Queenstown and Wanaka resorts for skiing. Also local wild rivers are great for rafting as well as other water sports. Should you be interested in hikes, then you will love the Southern Alps. There are many, dozens of treks to take. Some may take you a day, some over a week for you will get deep into wild nature.
Should you like to explore wild nature, pay a visit to Steward Island in the very south as well. It is populated by shy 500 people. 80 % of its area covers a national park. Here you may observe albatross, kaka parrots, or the endangered yellow-eyed penguin.
If you are from Europe, New Zealand is one of the most remote places in the world. In the very distant past New Zealand separated from other continents. Today it is situated alone 2000 kilometers from the closest continent – Australia. In the following weeks we are going to discover and explore many beautiful places in Zealand. Let's start by introducing you to the lesser and more "civilized" part of the country. The Northern Island.
On New Zealand's northern islend, there is a narrow land projection adorned by beautiful cliffs, sand dunes, and the longest beach in the country. It is also one of the most sought after points of interest for tourists. Let's go there and spend there a while.
New Zealand is fascinating for its diversity and extremes. Tongariro national park is no exception. Beautiful, pleasant landscape surrounding Taupo lake changes to volcanic desert. Tongariro Alpine Crossing is a 20 kilometer trail which is one of the most popular in the country. Infoglobe brings you closer to this amazing experience.
Are you traveling to the north of New Zealand? Be sure to stop behind Whangarei town with 16 kilometer wide Bay of Island. Nature there is great as well as waterfalls and trips to see dolphins, whales and amazing beaches.
In the very heart of New Zealand's norhter island there is the most active volcanic area in the country. There is high geothermal activity around hte town of Rotorua. You may smell sulphur all around and sulphur steam springs out of the ground on many places. Also you may see bubbling mud lakes, hot springs, and other interesting natural phenomena.
At the heart of the Southern Alps, on the shore of Wakatipu lake, there is the town Queenstown. It is home to summer and winter sports, an ideal base to set out to treks.
Nelson town is one of the oldest in New Zealand. It was the very first town on New Zealand's southern island. Sights, however, are not what is interesting the most about this town. It is the place with most sunny days on the Southern Island. Moreover, it is surrounded by amazing nature. Among the most popular activities are trips to the Abel Tasman national park.
Deep fjords, beautiful mountain vallesy, waterfalls, glacier lakes, and wild nature. Fiordland could be shortly described by that. You can find it in the south of New Zealand. There, two popular tourist destinations are situated there – Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound.
Both the Hobbit and the Lord of the Ring trilogies were shot on New Zealand. The movies inspired many tourists to come to the country. Many fly in solely to see the film sets. The most famous one is Hobbiton. Today, we make a short trip to introduce it to you.
A mere hour and half southeast from Auckland, there is the paradise for people who love nature and the place which is, according to me, one of the most beautiful of norhtern island's – the Coromandel Peninsula. The peninsula is largely covered with tropical rain forest and beautiful mountains. Let's see it for ourselves.
The largest city of New Zealand's southern island was badly damaged during heavy earthquakes between 2010 and 2012. Still, it has been developing quite fast since. It is worth visiting to see, how a restoration of such a place might look like.
Have you ever heard of gannets? These blue-eyed sea birds who come unbelievably fast head down right into the ocean to catch their food. I have been always fascinated by them when I saw them in nature documentaries. I managed to get a close look at them on Cape Kidnappers, New Zealand.