From Great Walks and day trips to remote and beautiful beaches and Must-Do Stewart Island, check out a local's picks for the Southern part of New Zealand.
1. Visit Porpoise/Curio bays
Hector’s dolphins. Beanbags shaped like sea lions, and sometimes also the real thing. A petrified forest stretch of coast. Beautiful sandy beach. Fun waves. What more could you ask for? Stay a day, a week, a month. There are plenty of accommodation options and an ambiance that will make you not want to leave.
2. Walk to Key Summit
This is a track from The Divide on the highway between Te Anau and Milford Sound. Also the first part of the Routeburn Track, a one to two-hour gentle uphill walk on a well-formed trail leads to spectacular views of the Darran Mountains as well as over Hollyford Valley stretching out to Martins Bay on the West Coast.
3. Travel to Stewart Island
By air or sea, it doesn’t matter. Just go.
It surprises me how many Kiwis wonder about our third largest island but never make the effort to see it for themselves.
There is heaps to do, but make sure you visit Ulva Island to experience how the birdlife used to be before all of the introduced predators took over.
4. Hike one of the Great Walks
It doesn’t matter which one as they are all incredible. There are four to choose from in Southland: Milford, Kepler, Routeburn and Rakiura. You will need to book the huts beforehand and, during peak season, some of them can get rather busy. But they are busy for a very good reason.