Otago, Southland and Fiordland - South New Zealand

If you make it to just one part of New Zealand, the southern areas of Otago and Southland are probably the closest to unmissable. An unscientific survey suggests that about half of all New Zealand chocolate boxes feature scenery from these regions.

The alpine town of Queenstown sucks in most visitors. In twenty years, it’s gone from a cute little Swiss-style village around lake Wakatipu to a crowded uber-resort overflowing with tourist traffic. But as with elsewhere in New Zealand, you’re only ever a few minutes away from wild and empty landscape.

In the mid 1980s, local mad dog AJ Hackett took an obscure initiation ceremony practised by natives of Vanuatu and turned it into a commercial venture for thrill seekers. Thus, bungy jumping was first popularised on a canyon bridge above the Kawarau river near Queenstown. A whole industry has grown up around apparently dangerous but closely supervised activities. Jet boating, white water rafting, paragliding, and various other ‘adventure’ sports are easily accessible from Queenstown.

None of this is exactly cheap, and there may in fact be a conspiracy to keep tourists high on adrenaline for long enough to completely empty their wallets.

In winter this is the best place in the country to ski or snowboard. Skifields like Coronet Peak are half an hour away and cater from beginners through to experts. Queenstown is also a year-round party town. Given that most of travel in New Zealand is about getting dirty, bruised, wet, or sunburnt, you can be excused the indulgence of a few nights downing tequilas with other backpackers from around the world. Get in early to the competing happy hours before the bars revert to their normal prices.

Over the hill from Queenstown, the village of Wanaka sits in even more ludicrous chocolate-box beauty on the lake of the same name. It has its own tourist scene and nearby ski fields but is quieter and more amenable to chilling out.

New Zealand gets even steeper and wilder you head down to its southwestern tip. Beyond Queenstown are the big, deep lakes of Wakatipu and Manapouri, and then you’re into Fiordland. As its name suggests, this is a zone of precipitous Norwegian-style fiords, only on a typically exaggerated, New Zealand-style scale.

The Routeburn, Hollyford and Milford walking tracks are spectacular four-day journeys through the dramatic terrain. Their ‘world famous’ status means that they are prone to attracting Inca Trail-sized crowds of holidaying investment bankers with colourful bastons. During high season you have to reserve well in advance for the huts along the trail, and may end up paying more than you would for a double room in a hostel.

The south is one region where it’s hard to get tired of all the changes in landscape. Fiordland is one of the wettest places in the world, with some spots having around 10,000mm of annual rainfall. On the other side of the mountains, just 100 kilometres to the east, the valleys of Central Otago have a semi-arid climate perfect for growing pinot noir grapes. When you’re tired of all the adventure, and running out of money, you can hop from one vineyard to the next trying out the free tastings.

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