The more I travel, the more in awe with the beauty of the land and sea I become.  When I think I’ve seen the best landscape ever, there is something new to blow my mind.  Nature’s filters of sun, rain, clouds, shadows, etc. make each landscape unique and each photo special for me (and explains why I can’t delete photos as I find something in each one to love).  With the theme of “landscapes” on FriFotos this week, I immediately thought of how special South Island, New Zealand would be to share.   Traveling in New Zealand was one stunning landscape after another – sensory overload for my eyes!  I spent the majority of my time on the South Island traveling solo by train, plane and bus with my old point and shoot camera (I need a photo do-over!)  I hope you enjoy the gorgeous landscapes of the South Island and my itinerary:

New Zealand 10 Day Itinerary:

North Island – Wellington

Ferry from Wellington to Picton

Coastal Pacific Train Picton to Christchurch

Trans-Alpine Travel Christchurch to Greymouth

Kiwi Bus (formerly Magic Bus) Greymouth to Franz Josef

Franz Josef to Queenstown

Queenstown to Te Anu (for Doubtful Sound)

Te Anu to Milford Sound

Fly back to Queenstown

Queenstown to Caitlin Coastal Tour

Dunedin

Fly Dunedin to Auckland to Sydney

The New Zealand Photos from the New Zealand itinerary

On the Coastal Pacific train from Picton to Christchurch – this was one of many scenes along the five hour journey

 

On the TranzAlpine train, Christchurch to Greymouth – this journey goes past farms, along the river, over the gorge (not to Grandmother’s house), through the Southern Alps with a stop in Arthurs’ Pass.  The various change in landscapes gives you a deeper appreciation for nature on the South Island and why it is so popular with folks who want a sense of adventure on their holiday.

 

Franz Josef Glacier – the view of the glacier from the town was clear on the morning of my glacier hike.  We flew up in a helicopter (great perspective of the sheer size of the glacier), put our gear on and treked about the glacier until the weather suddenly changed and we had to leave early.

 

Lake Matheson – a mirror lake.  It’s one of those times when you are thinking “are we there yet?” as you walk through the woods and see nothing but rocks, dirt path and trees.  When you get to the lake, you realize you’ve made it to your reward for the hike.  Nice reward in my opinion.

 

Queenstown – epicenter of fun and adventure!  With so many adreneline filled activities to pursue in Queenstown, I opted for a bit of low key luge fun on the top of the mountain.  Taking the ski cable car up with my track luge car was exciting as was flying down the mountain.  The go kart fun brought me back to being a kid again.

 

The Milford Sound or Doubtful Sound Quandary – With both Milford (more popular) and Doubtful Sound options to explore and no one to tell me which was better, I did them both with Real Journeys.  Both required commitment – Milford (5-6  hour bus ride from Queenstown for the boat ride with many, many other boats) and Doubtful (1/2 hour bus ride from Te Anau to a boat to another bus to the final boat for a 3 hour private tour of the Sound).  My bonus was that I flew back from Milford and stayed overnight in Te Anau for Doubtful Sound. Milford is more accessible (hence the influx of tourists and plethora of boats) while Doubtful is ten times larger than Milford and a bit more difficult to get to which is why it is the more untouched area with few tourists.   While the pictures are both pretty, the journeys behind the photos added layers to my memories of these landscapes.

 

 

And no visit to South Island, New Zealand is complete without the adorable landscape adornments – the New Zealand sheep.