1. Introduction

 

This documents a four-day trip around some of the attractions in the South Island of New Zealand in January 2008. Having travelled this area in the past, some of the destinations were more aimed at seeing the areas I'd missed before, and some to return to the familiar places to see what's changed.

The trip follows a loop out of Christchurch, south along the coast to Dunedin. From there I went inland to Queenstown and Wanaka, and across Haast pass to the west coast. After a walk on a glacier, I followed the west coast and then back across Arthur's Pass to return to Christchurch. It was a busy four days.

Contents:

• South From Christchurch
  Past the coastal town of Timaru.
• Oamaru
  Limestone History.
• Dunedin
  The Southern University City.
• Otago Peninsula
  Dunedin's Tourist Coast.
• Central Otago
  Rugged Mountains of the Interior.
• Wanaka
  The relaxed town of the interior.
• Haast Pass
  Crossing the mountains to the West Coast.
• West Coast Glaciers
  Climbing Franz Josef Glacier.
• Lake Matheson
  The Picture Postcard Location.
• West Coast: Hokitika
  Desolate beaches of the jade coast.
• Pancake Rocks
  The rocky west coast between Greymouth and Punakaiki.
• Arthur's Pass
  Through the Otira Gorge and alpine region.