NZ: Deep South

From Queenstown, I hopped back on Stray last Saturday to tour the deep south, including Milford Sound, Stewart Island and Dunedin. I had the same bus driver, and many of the same passengers, as I did on the West Coast tour. The great thing about Queenstown is that everyone meets up there as a hub, and you run into people walking around town that you met a few cities before, or even on the North Island. We were on a large bus this time that holds 45, although we weren’t to full capacity.

The larger bus

View from my hostel in Queenstown

Milford Sound was beautiful and I am glad I went but I don’t thing it is quite worth the hype that everyone makes it out to be. I was disappointed to not see any dolphins that day, but we were graced with beautiful weather that encouraged me to take lots of unnecessary photos.

Former glacier at Milford Sound

Stewart Island was a fun side trip. It is the third largest island in NZ, but that isn’t saying too much, as it is really pretty small. We took a morning ferry out there, hiked during the day, partied at night and took the morning ferry back the following day. I usually have problems with sea sickness, but both days the water on the Foveux Straits was unusually calm.

One of many photos on the Stewart Island hike

Returning to the South Island, we spend a day driving through the Catlins up to Dunedin, stopping by at several beaches along the way. The scenery was beautiful and again we had perfect weather.

We only had one night in Dunedin, but that was long enough to do a Speight’s Brewery tour and to have "St. Practice Day," gearing up with face paint and pints of Guinness to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on Tuesday.