Sarah Baxter takes to the open road on the other side of the globe
Our Skoda wasn’t glamorous (or very good at hills), and we only had a $3 rap-pop Christmas party tape for music, but even these crippling impediments couldn’t ruin a road trip around New Zealand’s South Island.
The joy is in driving on traffic-free roads, where the only things slowing you down are the suicidal birds darting in front of the car; that and the handy road signs alerting you to the severity of the upcoming bend – expect a lot of ‘take this at seven km/h’ warnings.
But, of course, the main draw is the island itself – a landscape so striking it should be charged with causing dangerous driving, such is its power to draw your gaze away from the road and over to the beautiful vistas outside the window. But try to keep your eyes on the road long enough to complete this great journey...
Unless you ferry over from North Island, this is likely to be your starting point. If you’re not into azaleas (the city boasts glorious Botanic Gardens) or the Antarctic (the International Antarctic Museum launches many South Pole missions), hit the road.
Take the Rangitata turn and follow the road up-river along the mountainside, avoiding the sheep and the podocarp trees. At the base of Mount Peel expert guides – ours was Meryl Streep’s body double in The River Wild – will steer you down the grade V rapids of the Rangitata River, some of the best in the country.
Say ‘och aye’ to Robbie Burns’ statue in this hark-back to bonnie Scotland. Otherwise, take a swig in Speight’s Brewery and spend a feisty 80 minutes at Carisbrook Stadium – the ‘home of New Zealand rugby’. For something more sedate, drive out to the Otago Peninsula for glimpses of albatross, sea lion and yellow-eyed penguin.
Perched on the lakeside amid the mountains, this tiny town was a scenic surprise. Investigate the nearby Glowworm Caves, a warren of waterfalls, pools and larvae-lit grottos, or – in good weather – try the Kepler Track, a four-day hike into the surrounding hills.
If you like your roads bendy and beautiful (we did, the Skoda didn’t), the route from Te Anau is just the ticket – 120km of beech forest, mirror lakes and snowy mountains line the drive to Milford Sound. Dominated by the imposing cone of Mitre Peak, this fjord’s sheer walls are caressed by waterfalls and populated by seal and penguin: explore by boat or kayak – the ideal way to appreciate the Sound’s scale. For a glimpse of even more intimate areas, fly here from Te Anau – you’ll be peering down on valleys, cirques and forests untrodden by human feet.
If Milford’s millions are off-putting, try the less-lauded – and less-tourist-infested – expanses of Doubtful Sound. Also reached from Te Anau (by a drive and a ferry ride), this rugged waterway holds pods of dusky dolphin, fur seal and intriguing black coral for a distinctly different diving experience.
To bungy or not to bungy? That is the question. Or it would be if there weren’t so many other high-adrenalin high jinks on offer. Try skiing in winter, hiking in summer, jetting down one of the nearby rivers or throwing yourself out of a plane. Even if you’re a scaredy cat/sensible soul (depending on your outlook), the location on Lake Wakatipu makes a sublime spot for waterside slobbing.
If all the Queenstown commotion seems a bit much, decamp north to Wanaka. Idling by it’s own lake and mountains, Wanaka is like Queenstown’s similarly good-looking but laidback twin. Book your white-knuckle shenanigans here, or try the strenuous day-hike up nearby Mount Roy for rewarding views of Mount Aspiring.
Over on the west coast these two mighty ice rivers virtually race down towards the sea, their great white tongues advancing at up to five metres a day. For the best face-to-ice-face introduction, fix on your crampons and chopper onto the higher reaches for helihikes through caves and over crevasses.
Steering north from the glaciers, the wave-battered west coast foams to the left, while mountains loom inland. Stop at Hokitika for greenstone carvings, pan for gold at Greymouth’s kitschy Shantytown and watch the waves perform around Punakaiki’s unique Pancake Rocks.
The 51km track that winds along the sandy-coved, azure-watered edge of this park is a mild-mannered contrast to the shingley west coast. Walk and camp along the whole route or do a day section – start hiking, then get a water taxi to pick you up and bring you back again. Even better, don a kayak ‘skirt’ and paddle among the park’s granite boulders, perfect beaches and energetic seals.
Here’s where the car becomes a problem. It either sits dormant while you hike around the dramatic inlets and waterways of the Marlborough Sounds – try the three- to four-day Queen Charlotte Track – or it hinders your ability to swig and swill in the country’s finest wine-producing region – around 50 vineyards dot the Wairau Valley.
Compact Kaikoura sits on a rugged, mountain-backed peninsula jutting out into the Pacific Ocean. You can spot sperm whale, swim with dolphin, snorkel with fur seal or even cage-dive with shark, but for something a bit different, get above it all on an introductory flying lesson – 30 minutes towards your professional pilot’s licence, and great views to boot.
