Landscapes of the South Island and the Stewart Island
“Every person, when he or she is young, dreams of finding some enchanted place, of beautiful mountains and breath-taking coastline and clear lakes and amazing wildlife, and most people give up on it because they never get to New Zealand.”
US President Bill Clinton in 1999
The South Island / Te Waipounamu is the larger of the two main islands and is separated from the North Island by the Cook Strait, 12 miles wide at its narrowest point. When travelling by ferry from the North Island to the South Island you actually travel west as the top of the South Island is further north than the bottom of the North Island. The South Island has spectacular mountains and fjords, large beech forests, beautiful beaches and large glaciers.
The Marlborough Sounds are an extensive network of sea-drowned valleys at the northern end of the South Island. Covering 1,500 square miles of sounds, islands and peninsulas, the coastline has one fifth of the length of New Zealand’s coasts. The steep, wooded hills and small quiet bays of the sounds are sparsely populated and many of the houses are only accessible by boat. Queen Charlotte Sound is the easternmost of the Marlborough Sounds and joins the Cook Strait.
The journey along the east coast between Picton down to Christchurch, either by road or by the Coastal Pacific train journey, is absolutely stunning. I was lucky to be able to do the journey in both directions, the first time by coach travelling down from Blenheim and the second time later during my tiki tour travelling on the Coastal Pacific from Christchurch to Picton, just a couple of weeks after the Coastal Pacific had resumed service 2 years after the Kaikoura earthquake in 2016. The route cuts a lonely course alongside the sea, with sheer cliffs on one side and gentle waves lapping on the other. The huge peaks of the Kaikoura ranges descend dramatically into the sea.
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island and lies on the east coast just north of Banks Peninsula. The Avon River flows through the centre of the city, with an urban park located along its banks. Christchurch is around 6 metres below sea level. The large number of public parks and well developed residential gardens with many trees has given Christchurch the name of the Garden City. Christchurch lies on the Canterbury Plains, the largest stretch of flat land in New Zealand and one of its most important agricultural areas. The plains were built up over millions of years from silt carried by rivers from the Southern Alps. The Banks Peninsula forms the most prominent volcanic feature of the South Island.
The TranzAlpine is a passenger train which runs coast to coast traversing the Southern Alps from the Pacific Ocean to the Tasman Sea. It starts out in Christchurch and end at Greymouth.
The west coast of the South Island is also known as wet coast or the wild west coast. The weather is typically wetter and the scenery more green and vibrant than on the east coast. The region is one of the more remote and most sparsely populated ares of the country. Much of the land is rugged, with a coastal plain where much of the population resides.
The Southern Alps is a mountain range extending along much of the length of the South island, stretching over approximately 300 miles. The mountain ranges are bisected by glacial valleys, many of which are infilled with glacial lakes on the eastern side. They lie along a geological plate boundary, part of the Pacific ring of fire. The Southern Alps separates the drier eastern regions from the humid and lush west coast. Its tallest peak is Aoraki / Mount Cook, the highest point in New Zealand at 3,724 metres. The settlement of Mount Cook Village is a tourist centre and base camp for the mountain.
Queenstown has grown from a sleepy lakeside town into a sophisticated all year tourist attraction, known as the adventure capital of the world. With a radius of only a few miles, the ingenuity and mechanical wizardry of New Zealand have combined with the stunning landscape to provide an unrivalled range of high adrenaline activities. Queenstown lies on the shore of Lake Wakatipu, New Zealand’s longest lake.
Nicknamed Edinburgh of the South, Dunedin is the old Gaelic name for Edinburgh. Locals claim that Dunedin is hillier, smaller and closer to the sea. It is the second largest city on the South Island and is located on the south eastern coast. It is the farthest city in the world from London. The harbour and hills around Dunedin are the remnants of an extinct volcano. The city clings to the walls of this natural amphitheatre. Set between rolling hills and rugged coastline, Dunedin is know for its pioneering gold-mining history, rugged scenary, and fertile orchards and vineyards. The Otago Peninsula is a long, hilly-indented finger of land that forms the easternmost part of Dunedin. Volcanic in origin, it forms one wall of the eroded valley that now forms Otago Harbour. The peninsula used to be an island but it is silted up now. It runs parallel to the mainland for 12 miles and has a maximum width of 6 miles. The majority of the land is sparsely populated and occupied by steep open pasture. At the entrance to the harbour the peninsula rises to Taiaroa Head, home to the only mainland albatross colony.
Stewart Island / Rakiura is the third largest island of New Zealand, with an area of 674 square miles and lies 19 miles south of the South Island across the Forveaux Strait. It is 40 miles long, 25 miles across at its widest point, with a 435 mile coastline, but only 12 miles of road and a population of around 400 people. The terrain is hilly and the highest peak, Mount Anglem, at 980 metres is similar in height to England’s largest mountain, Scarfell Pike at 978 metres. Paterson Inlet cuts the island almost in half. Lying within this inlet is Ulva Island, just 2 miles long and an area of 660 acres. Named after an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, it’s relative isolation, but easy access from Stewart Island has allowed it to become an important natural resource area. The island is possibly the closest to pristine of any area of New Zealand open to the public. It is a sanctuary for both birds and plants. Many native birds have been reintroduced to the island, including the saddleback, yellowhead and southern brown kiwi.
