New Zealand: The Southern Alps & Fiordland

Milford Sound

Milford Sound, in Fiordland National Park, is a glacier-carved fiord where sheer cliffs rise more than a kilometer straight from dark water. Among the wettest inhabited places on Earth, its frequent rain feeds hundreds of temporary waterfalls that pour from the cliffs.

Despite its name, Milford Sound is technically a fiord, gouged by glaciers and flooded by the sea. Mitre Peak, rising 1,692 meters almost directly from the water, is its defining landmark, named by early surveyors for its likeness to a bishop's mitre. The fiord lies within Te Wahipounamu, a UNESCO World Heritage area, and is reached by a single road from Te Anau that itself passes alpine valleys, the Mirror Lakes and the Homer Tunnel.

Rainfall here exceeds six meters a year, and the rain is part of the spectacle: after a downpour, the cliffs run with hundreds of cascades. Permanent falls such as Stirling and Bowen drop directly into the fiord. Boat cruises and kayaks reach the open sea, where fur seals, dolphins and penguins are sometimes seen, and morning often brings still water and mist clinging to the peaks.

Where to take photos

• Mitre Peak — the 1,692-meter spire rising sheer from the fiord, mirrored in calm water on still mornings
• Stirling Falls — a permanent 155-meter waterfall plunging straight into the fiord, reachable by cruise boat
• The Homer Tunnel approach — a glacial valley of waterfalls and scree on the road in, thunderous after rain
• Mirror Lakes — roadside tarns on the Milford road that reflect the Earl Mountains on windless days

Wanaka

Wanaka is a lakeside town on the shore of Lake Wanaka, surrounded by the peaks of Mount Aspiring National Park. Quieter than nearby Queenstown, it is a base for alpine walks and home to a single lone willow tree standing in the lake.

The town sits at the southern end of Lake Wanaka, with the snow-capped mountains of Mount Aspiring National Park rising beyond. Its most celebrated landmark is #ThatWanakaTree, a lone crack willow growing in the shallows, its bare winter branches especially memorable when sunrise or sunset lights the lake behind it.

Above the town, the Roys Peak track climbs steeply to a ridge with a sweeping view over the lake and its islands, a walk that draws hikers up in the dark to reach the top by dawn. The surrounding region is dry and golden in summer, snow-covered in winter, and the clear interior air keeps distant detail sharp. The drive over the Crown Range to Queenstown is among the highest sealed roads in the country.

Where to take photos

• #ThatWanakaTree — the lone willow standing in the lake, set against the mountains at sunrise and sunset
• Roys Peak — a steep ridge track with a panoramic lookout over Lake Wanaka and its islands
• Mount Aspiring National Park — glaciated peaks and valleys rising beyond the far shore of the lake
• Lake Wanaka shoreline — golden grasses and clear water reflecting the Southern Alps on calm days

Glenorchy

Glenorchy is a small settlement at the head of Lake Wakatipu, about 45 minutes from Queenstown along a scenic lakeside road. Surrounded by mountains and braided rivers, it serves as a gateway to remote valleys used as filming locations for major fantasy productions.

The drive from Queenstown to Glenorchy hugs the shore of Lake Wakatipu beneath the Remarkables and other ranges, regularly cited as one of New Zealand's most scenic roads. At the lake's head, a small red boatshed and a wooden wharf stand before a wall of snow-capped peaks, the settlement's best-loved scene, particularly at sunrise when the water lies mirror-still.

Beyond the village, gravel roads lead into the Dart and Rees river valleys and toward Paradise, areas of beech forest, braided rivers and mountains that featured in The Lord of the Rings and other films. These valleys mark the start of major hiking routes including the Routeburn Track, and the wide, treeless flats give an unusual sense of scale to the surrounding alps.

Where to take photos

• Glenorchy wharf and boatshed — the red shed and wooden jetty before the peaks, mirrored at dawn
• Lake Wakatipu road — the lakeside drive from Queenstown beneath the Remarkables
• Paradise and the Dart Valley — braided rivers and beech forest used as fantasy-film locations
• Routeburn Track start — beech forest and alpine views at the gateway to one of the Great Walks

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city on the South Island and its main gateway, set on the Canterbury Plains between the Pacific and the Southern Alps. Rebuilt extensively after major earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, it blends restored heritage with bold new architecture and street art.

Often called the Garden City, Christchurch is laid out around the Avon River, which winds through central Hagley Park and the Botanic Gardens. The earthquakes of 2010-11 destroyed much of the historic center, and the rebuild has produced a distinctive mix: the damaged ChristChurch Cathedral under restoration, the Transitional Cathedral built partly of cardboard tubes, and a thriving program of large-scale murals across the inner city.

The city is the principal arrival point for travelers exploring the South Island, with the TranzAlpine railway crossing the Alps to the West Coast from here. The nearby Banks Peninsula, formed by ancient volcanoes, offers harbor scenery at Akaroa, while the flat Canterbury Plains stretch inland to the foothills of the Alps.

Where to take photos

• Botanic Gardens — riverside gardens and mature trees along the Avon in central Hagley Park
• Cardboard Cathedral — the Transitional Cathedral built from cardboard tubes after the earthquakes
• Christchurch street art — large murals across the rebuilt inner city
• Banks Peninsula — volcanic harbors and the French-influenced town of Akaroa nearby

Lake Pukaki

Lake Pukaki is a glacier-fed lake in the Mackenzie Basin whose intense turquoise color comes from finely ground rock flour suspended in its meltwater. At its head rises Aoraki / Mount Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand.

The lake's milky turquoise is the work of glacial flour — rock ground to powder by glaciers and carried down in meltwater, which scatters light to produce the unusual color. Fed by the Tasman and other glaciers, Lake Pukaki points directly at Aoraki / Mount Cook, which at 3,724 meters is the country's tallest peak, framed cleanly from the lake's northern shore.

The surrounding Mackenzie Basin is part of an International Dark Sky Reserve, one of the largest in the world, and on a clear night the sky over the lake and nearby Lake Tekapo fills with stars from horizon to horizon. The road up the western shore leads to Aoraki / Mount Cook Village and the Hooker Valley Track, which approaches the mountain past glacier-fed rivers and a terminal lake dotted with icebergs.

Where to take photos

• Lake Pukaki shoreline — turquoise glacial water drawing the eye to Aoraki / Mount Cook at the lake's head
• Aoraki / Mount Cook — at 3,724 meters the country's highest peak, snow-capped above the valley
• Hooker Valley Track — a level walk to a glacial lake with floating icebergs beneath Mount Cook
• Mackenzie Dark Sky Reserve — some of the clearest night skies in the world, brilliant with stars after dark

Fox Glacier

Fox Glacier is one of two glaciers on the West Coast that descend through temperate rainforest to near sea level, an unusual combination of ice and lush green valley. The small township of the same name sits below it, close to a mirror-like reflective lake.

Fox Glacier and the nearby Franz Josef Glacier flow down from the Southern Alps within Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Area, reaching unusually low altitudes for glaciers at this latitude. Heavy West Coast rainfall feeds the snowfields that sustain them, and the valleys they have carved are framed by dense rainforest, giving the rare sight of ice set against subtropical greenery. The glaciers have retreated significantly in recent decades.

A short distance from the township, Lake Matheson is famous for its still, tannin-stained water that on calm mornings reflects Aoraki / Mount Cook and Mount Tasman, the two highest peaks in the country. The lake is ringed by a walking track through native forest, and the reflection viewpoints are best reached before dawn, when the surface is most likely to be mirror-still.

Where to take photos

• Lake Matheson — a reflective forest lake mirroring Mount Cook and Mount Tasman on calm mornings
• Fox Glacier valley — a river of ice descending toward rainforest, seen from the valley walk
• Te Wahipounamu rainforest — moss-draped native forest framing the glacial valleys
• Gillespies Beach — a remote West Coast black-sand beach near the township with mountain views

More guides to explore

Oceania

Oceania: vast skies, ancient coasts, and alpine fjords

Arthur's Pass, New Zealand

Arthur's Pass Travel Guide: Alpine Village in the Southern Alps

Ulm, Germany

Ulm Travel Guide: The World's Tallest Church Spire