Backpacking New Zealand : South Island

Arriving into NZ & settling in Christchurch

Crossing the International Date Line from the Cook Islands to New Zealand meant leaping forward in time and losing an entire day. A four‑hour flight somehow took twenty hours. I felt sorry for the guy next to me – it was his birthday, and this year it lasted about three hours.

Christchurch, the South Island’s largest city, became my base for the next month. I stayed with a lovely couple who usually hosted exchange students but were willing to risk taking in a stinky backpacker. They were incredible hosts – so welcoming that I ended up staying far longer than planned.

Christchurch itself was a joy: beautiful, laid‑back, and very English in feel. Hagley Park and the Botanical Gardens were perfect for lazy afternoons, and the city had a calm charm that made it easy to settle in.

One highlight was the Antarctic Centre near the airport. A few new friends and I spent the day pretending to be polar explorers, including a mini snowball fight in the Storm Room – a giant fan blasting us with a wind chill of –18°C while we stood surrounded by ice. Ridiculous, but brilliant fun.

Banks Peninsula & Akaroa

Just a short drive from Christchurch, the Banks Peninsula juts dramatically into the Southern Ocean. The road winds through rolling hills and farmland before dropping into Akaroa, a tiny French‑influenced village with French-named streets, croissants, baguettes and dolphin‑watching trips. Located at the far end of the peninsula, it feels like the end of the world, but with such laid-back feel and such stunning scenery, it was hard to peel myself away back to Christchurch.

Milford Sound: The Jewel of the South

I hired a car with a couple of mates and headed south. The highlight was Milford Sound, one of the South Island’s crown jewels – a fjordland of towering peaks rising above calm, silk‑like water. The drive was mammoth, but the cruise made it worth every kilometre.

Waterfalls cascaded down sheer cliffs, tiny blue penguins shuffled along ledges, and dolphins decided to escort our boat. After heavy rain the day before, we were rewarded with perfect blue skies. It was an unforgettable experience.

Road Tripping the South Island

Back in Christchurch, I made more friends at a hostel so we hired a car and headed off on a road trip around the South Island – eventually continuing onto the North.

Dunedin was our first major stop. Billy Connolly has a brilliant joke about how the Scots arrived in New Zealand, hated the warm weather up north, and kept moving south until they found Dunedin – rainy, grey, and just like home. He wasn’t wrong from the time we had there.

But the city is pretty, and the drive out to the Otago Peninsula is stunning: dramatic coast, sheep everywhere, and views that make your jaw drop at every turn, as the road hugs the coastline.

Back in town, I couldn’t resist driving down Baldwin Street, allegedly the world’s steepest street. The car wasn’t impressed.

The Catlins & Slope Point

Further south, the Catlins felt completely wild – remote bushland, tiny communities, and endless wind. I trudged across a muddy field past confused sheep to reach Slope Point, the southernmost point of New Zealand. Nothing dramatic – just a sign and wind strong enough to rearrange your face. Box ticked.

Invercargill greeted us with horizontal rain and a general sense of “please leave.” I’m sure it’s lovely on a sunny day, but that day wasn’t it.

Queenstown: Adrenaline Capital

Queenstown was the antidote – the South Island’s adrenaline capital. Back then, the British Pound was strong, so what is usually astronomically expensive was merely very expensive.

I bumped into people I’d met in the Cook Islands and others from around NZ, and we partied hard.

Despite Queenstown’s endless adrenaline menu, the best I managed was a gondola ride for stunning views and the luge – essentially a big‑kid go‑kart track.

The West Coast & Abel Tasman

The drive to the West Coast was jaw‑dropping – dramatic scenery, empty roads, and a sense of being very small in a very big landscape.

We stopped at Franz Josef Glacier for a short hike to the ice wall, then continued north to Nelson.

Just beyond Nelson lies Abel Tasman National Park, one of New Zealand’s most beautiful coastal parks. Golden beaches, ridiculously clear water, and lush forest. We only managed a day trek and a speedboat taxi back to the car, but it was enough to make me promise myself I’d return one day for the full three‑day walk.

Kaikōura & Shark Diving

After racing back to Christchurch for farewells, a few of us headed north to Kaikōura, a gorgeous coastal town famous for marine life. We signed up for shark diving – in a cage.

Blue sharks and makos were the stars of the day.

I can’t say the breathing apparatus was enjoyable, and I didn’t stay underwater long. Plenty of dolphins came to inspect the nervous tourist in the cage, but sadly no sharks for me.

Next Stop: The North Island

And with that, the South Island chapter wrapped up – full of fjords, glaciers, beaches, adrenaline, and more sheep than any human needs to see in a lifetime.

Next stop: New Zealand’s North Island…