Mirror Lakes

These are one of the most photographed lakes in NZ. During calm moments of the day the lake is perfectly still and the mountains above are reflected beautifully in the water. The water wasn't the best when we were there, but it was still beautiful.

Fiordland

This was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen - its been named a world heritage park in order to protect it.

Christchurch Central

This was much easier on the eye than the Auckland CBD. The cathedrale was cool to look at, the tram was fun to ride on and it dropped me off outside the hostel were I was staying, an added bonus. I also liked the cute little shops that the tram took us past, pity I hadn’t realized they all closed at lunchtime on a Saturday.

Lake Tekapo

On the plane on the way to the South Island, I was reading a magazine article about the south island, a place called Lake Tekapo. I’d never heard of it before, and I had no idea that I would very shortly be coming into contact with it.

The bus from Christchurch to Queenstown was an extremely long journey – about 8 hrs all up, but halfway through the trip, my patience was rewarded with a lunch break at this beautiful place. Unfortunately my camera was not so good at capturing the glorious aqua blue colour in the water, but I tried my best. It was stunning. So peaceful and lovely. I’d love to go back there and have a proper look around.

I was sitting on a park bench admiring the water when an English couple came and sat next to me. We got chatting, and turns out they’d come down for a holiday to NZ and he’d proposed just the day before, at Lake Tekapo. Which makes it a special place for them, they said they’d love to come back and get married in the little stone chapel there just next to the water, if they can convince all their family to come down with them.

On the way back from Queenstown a couple of days later I had a chance to stop there again and take more photos. I’m not sure if you would actually want to swim there, It looks awesome, but all the rivers and lakes in the south island are glacier fed and so are liable to be freezing cold at the best of times.

Linden Pass

This is apparently one of the most painted scenes around NZ, especially in winter, when the road becomes almost impassable and the hills are wrapped up in snow. I’m guessing that artists like the yellow colour of the hills, and the way that nature has folded them up into aesthetically pleasing curves.

My photos of the place are only so so, it was hard to capture anything out the side of a moving bus.

Milford Sound

I loved Milford Sound. It was so beautiful. The trip up there and the scenery and the ride was totally the highlight of my whole holiday. I’d love to take my family there. You can actually camp in the park itself, and it was so beautiful, who wouldn’t want to spend more time there!

Queenstown

I shouldn’t really judge the place because I only spent a miniscule amount of time there (but that was enough for me). I don’t think I could spend any longer there. Its an expensive, cold, tourist trap. The only reason I went there was so that I could be close enough to go for a trip to Milford Sound (which was totally awesome, and probably the highlight of the whole ten days down there).

All my family were telling me not to go there because the week before my holiday the news was reporting that it was close to being flooded. And when I got there I saw lots of sand bags everywhere. But the water had a way to go before it was going to break over the edge of the lake, thankfully.

Wanaka & Puzzling World

I only spent one night in wanaka, which wasn’t that much time to have a proper look around. One thing I liked down by the Lake front was this huge meandering path they put together with stones commemorating every year in between 0AD and 2000AD with historic milestones inscribed on certain years. I can’t remember any of them but I tried to take photos of a lot of them. I think I got as far as about 1300 when it started raining and I had to make a run for it.

The only thing I did there of any interest was visit Puzzling World, a scenic attraction 2kms out. Theres a maze, which didn’t take that long to complete, but trying to get back out (completely reversing your steps) took forever. You have to go to each corner first – yellow, red, green and blue and then find your way back out to the entrance.

They had a shrinking room, interesting murals in the toilets, an angled clock to pose with, a tilted room where everything goes against gravity (or appears to), a kaleidoscope mirror ceiling, and puzzles to keep you entertained if you’re waiting for someone to finish one of the activities.

The owner of the place has also launched a psychic challenge for someone to locate two pieces of a treasure map within a short distance of the building. Its worth quite a bit of money, and has been running for a few years but nobody has been able to figure out where it is.