As the title states, I am back on the road.
I left Invercargill the week before Easter in the general direction of Dunedin.
But of course, I visited Bluff and Sterling Point before leaving.
Sterling Point is often called the southernmost point of the South Island, but that is only partially true. It is correct, that it is the southernmost point of the State Highway 1, but Slope Point, which is in the Catlins, is even further south. Not to mention the fact, that there are several islands off the coast of Southland.
As I couldn’t visit Southland and not visit the southernmost point, I plotted my route through the Catlins Forest Park.
A very rugged coastline with lots of wind made the trees grow in funny shapes.
And the wildlife was lovely as well. Heaps of birds as well as some seals just chilling at the beach.
Afterwards, I left the Catlins behind and drove to Dunedin on a very rainy Wednesday.
And the rain didn’t stop until I left Dunedin on Good Friday.
Luckily I had to spend only one night at a campground, as I got an invitation from a lady, I met in a church service.
Of course, after I left Dunedin, the rain stopped. But I had already set my eyes on my next destination, Queenstown.
But first I had to get there. Along the way, I stopped at the Moeraki Boulders. It is a popular tourist location with huge round rocks on the beach.
To be honest, I found them quite unimpressive, and the only good thing about them is the location along the highway.
Way more impressive were the Elephant Rocks. They are more inland and away from major roads, so there weren’t as many tourists there as well.
The scale of the rocks doesn’t come across very well in the pictures, but the big one is at least 5 times my height.
Afterwards, I crossed a small mountain range via Danseys Pass. I didn’t have the best weather, but the driving was lots of fun.
On Easter Monday, I finally arrived in Queenstown. I wanted to hike up to Mt. Rosa, but the weather didn’t agree with me, so I turned around at noon.
Of course, the weather changed, as soon as I got to my car. So I made the drive up to the Remarkables Skifield. It was very interesting to see ski slopes in the summertime.
But the view over Lake Wakatipu and the surrounding areas was amazing as well.
The next day, the weather looked way better, so I went up to Ben Lomond. Amazing views all around again.
I stayed for quite a while at the top and enjoyed the sun.
This led to far better light on the way down, as the sun was already quite low.
I spent some more time at the gondola station before I took the lazy way down with the gondola.
The next day, I started the drive towards Glenorchy after I slept in. It is often regarded as one of the most scenic drives worldwide, but I found it to be rather lacking.
The clouds could have played a part in that, but the drive towards Mt. Cook is way better. At least in my opinion.
Anyway, today I am back in Queenstown. But not for long, as I will make my way towards Haast Pass and Brewster Hut.
But more on that in the next blog post.
Until then,
Cheers!
Max Abbe 