Anchorage Motel - Golden Chain

Roadtrip - South Island New Zealand

by pedroswift

"ITINERARY OF TWO WEEK ROAD TRIP OF SOUTH ISLAND"

Often asked on Forum: What to do in how many days? Here is our itinerary with worthwhile eateries and wines consumed - highlights in bold type:
(We had toured Northern part of South Island during a prior 1 week winery tour by bus)

Day 1 Arrive Christchurch in pm.
Day 2 Christchurch. City walk. Buskers.
Day 3 Trans Alpine Railway to Greymouth collect hire car. Drive to Punakaiki Pancake Rocks – brilliant.
o/night Aachan Motel. Dined “Trawlers” rest. V.Good Seafood. Lawson’s Dry Hills Sauv Blanc
Day 4. Hokitika. Beach sculptures check wool & possum products..
Did Sentinel Rock Franz Joseph Glacier walk to view Franz Joseph Glacier. Drive to Fox Glacier. Did walk to view Glacier. Drove to vantage point but blowing dust obscured view. o/night Sunset Motel. Dined at pub in town
Day 5 drove to northern car park and walked to tongue of Glacier (just over 1hour return). Took Hughes 500 chopper flight to view Glacier and Mts.
Drove to Haast. Lunch. Haast Pass, Lake Hawea & Lake Wanaka . o/night Wanaka Manuka Motel. Very hot.
Day 6. Warplanes of Wanaka Museum.
Mt Difficulty Winery for lunch & tasting. Very interesting landforms (badlands). Wine top notch. Felton road Winery Hot 32C.
o/night Arrowtown Viking Motel. Saffron restaurant. Excellent. 9/10, Carrick Pinot Noir.
Day 7. Arrowtown walk (old town facades).
Drive to Queenstown. Gondola to Mt & Buffet lunch. o/night Blue Peaks Motel. Pm walk around town. Dined at Catz on boardwalk . Italian. Pasta.

Day 8. Drove to Cromwell. Big Picture Wine Centre . very good. Virtual visit to 5 wineries with tastings. Walked Cromwell old buildings.
Visit Peregrine Wines. Pinot Noir. Vg. Lunch Gibbston Valley Winery. Visit Chard Farm. Very Hot. Ate in at Blue Peaks.
Day 9. Drove to Te Anu via Kingston, Athol, Three Rivers, Mossburn, Manapouri.
o/night Anchorage Motel te Anau. Dine Kepler’s Restaurant. 6/10. Te Mata Hawkes Bay SauvBlanc.
Day 10. Drive to Milford. Did “Milford Mariner” half day trip. Spectacular. "The Chasms" stop on way back to te Anau. Dined Moose Hotel - spectacular sunset.
Day 11. Drove east through Mossburn, Lumsden, Riversdale to Otago Penninsula. Lunch Portobello Hotel. Visited Albatros Reserve. Did 1 hour boat cruise around point to see Albatrosses in flight, penguins, seals, shearwaters. o/night Dunedin Cable court Motel
Day 12 Visit Dunedin Railway stn Royal Dalton floor tiles etc. Walk around town centre. Severe thunder storm in pm severe flooding in town. Ate in at motel.
Day 13. Taieri Railway trip to Taieri Gorge and back.
Oamaru then o/night Timaru Al Casa Motel. Dine Zanzibar Rest. At Caridine Bay. Ok. Te Mania Pinot good
Day 14 Drove Temuka, Ashburton, Canterbury plains. Rolleston. Banks Penninsula Little River and Hilltop Tavern for lunch spectacular views. Akaroa. Criterion Motel. Top floor with view. Dined at absolute water front eatery. Sunset views. Food OK.
Day 15. 2 hour harbour cruise. Very good. Hector’s Dolphins, small penguins, seals. Spectacular cliff scenery. Shopping for blue pearl.
Dined at C’est la Vie Restaurant. 9/10 great atmosphere (book early -it's small. Expect to share table with other patrons). Mt Difficulty Pinot n V/good.
Day 16. Drove to Christchurch and down coastal to Governer’s Bay. Coffee at “She”. Back via the pass. Returned car and headed to Airport & home.

Morepork

by grets

Ninox novaeseelandiae.

The Morepork is a nocturnal native New Zealand owl about 30cm in size and 175g in weight

The morepork usually eats moths and beetles caught on the wing as well as small animals such as mice, baby rats, lizards and smaller birds.

The name come from its distinctive call"more-pork".

MIRROR LAKE

by balhannah

Located close to the Milford Sound road, is Mirror lake. It is only a short, 5 min walk.

It was very disappointing when we were there, as they had allowed too many high Trees and shrubbery to grow, so the good reflections that I had seen from other people's visits were not there!

I do hope they clear it a little, as you should get outstanding reflective views of the Earl Mountains.
Waterfowl and wetland plants can be seen against a backdrop of beech forest.

LAKESIDE TE ANAU

by balhannah

The peaceful lakeside town of Te Anau is the gateway to Fiordland

National Park and Milford and Doubtful Sounds.

The setting of Te Anau is beautiful, it lies nestled on the edge of the

beautiful lake, with a spectacular backdrop of Mt Luxmore and the

Murchison mountains.

The Town is widely known as ‘The Walking Capital of New Zealand’ with

famous walking tracks of the Milford, Hollyford, Routeburn, Greenstone,

Caples, Kepler, Dusky and Dart-Rees can all being accessed from Te Anau.

Te Anau provides a full range of services to visitors, and is the closest

service base to Milford Sound, with a scenic 2 1⁄2 hour drive from Te Anau

to Milford.

Services include........ ATM facilities, two major banks, service stations

(offering fuel and workshop facilities), and Rental cars.

Regular scheduled coach services link Fiordland to the West Coast,

Queenstown, Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill

A MUST VISIT

Te Anau

by grets

The town of Te Anau and its namesake lake are near the bottom of South Island. This is probably the furthst south we are ever likely to go - that is if we don't get to Antactica (which we later have).

Lake Te Anau is New Zealand's second largest lake at 53km long and 10km wide. The name means cave of rushing water and comes from some caves on the west side of the lake.