South Island travels IV: Dunedin and Moeraki Boulders

The last leg of our journey before coming back to Christchurch was Dunedin. This is the second biggest town on the South Island and I really enjoyed seeing it because it had a cool downtown area with an urban feel and it’s what I imagine Christchurch was like before the earthquakes. We enjoyed some great food and seeing the sights before taking off for the nearby Otago Peninsula and then heading back north.

New Zealand pretending to be British

The one obligatory stop on the way back to Christchurch is the iconic Moeraki Boulders. This is a collection of a few dozen large boulders on the beach and no one really has figured out how they formed or why they’re on this beach. It’s a big tourist spot but really fun to climb around on!

Pretty shells!

It was great to finally see the south end of the island and have my mom here to see some of New Zealand’s most beautiful sights with me. Now I’m having a day of rest and hanging out in Christchurch and then I’m off to the North Island for the first time – hello, Wellington!

South Island travels III: The Catlins

From Milford we drove through Te Anau and Invercargill to an area of the southeast coast called the Catlins. I didn’t know much about this area and we basically planned to do the scenic drive to break up our long day of driving so it was a great surprise when it turned out to be an amazing and pretty area. One thing I love about New Zealand that continues to astound me is how much variety there is in such a small area – on this trip we went from mountains to fiords to rolling hills to beaches. Once again, captured better in pictures!

Classic NZ

Waipapa Point

Sea lions!

Porpoise Bay (no dolphins though :( )

Purakaunui Falls

Nugget Point

South Island travels II: Milford Sound

The second leg of our trip took us to the iconic Milford Sound. This is a fiord in the remote southwest end of New Zealand where the ocean comes into a narrow valley that’s 10k long. This is one place that is even more beautiful in the rain, so we weren’t too upset when our good luck with the weather ended after our hike. We got our classic pictures of Mitre Peak and then headed out on an awesome three hour cruise through the fiord. This is one experience that is much better told in pictures!