South Island, New Zealand Travel Log 3

Kia Ora friends! Welcome to my third travel log featuring my adventures visiting the South Island (Māori: Te Waipounamu) of New Zealand. 

A quick recap, if you haven't been following along...I just returned from traveling to New Zealand with my momma and second dad for an adventure-filled few weeks. We arrived in Christchurch a few days before meeting up with our tour group to hike the South Island for a couple weeks. There were eleven of us, plus one guide. We traveled daily in a Sprinter van to grand locations throughout the South Island and experienced some incredible trails, scenery and excursions.

Next up - one of the hikes I enjoyed the most - the Lake Matheson Circuit. Lake Matheson has views of Aoraki/Mount Cook and Mount Tasman and is nestled in forest. The views were breathtaking...and even with a little rain on our hike, it was memorable. After the hike we sipped coffee surrounded by the incredible views at the Matheson Café. We then drove to Ship Creek and enjoyed lunch and a short hike. We had to cancel our afternoon hike on the Blue Pools Track due to rain (visibility would not have been good)...so we headed to our next destination, the Edgewater Resort on Lake Wananka. After getting settled in, I decided to walk the Lake Edge Walking Track for several miles. I just had to visit one of the most photographed trees in the world (The Wanake Tree) and it did not disappoint - I took some wonderful photos (I even went back the following morning at sunrise to capture it again)! After my walk, it was time for dinner at the hotel.

The following day, I was awake super early to walk along the lake at sunrise - I *had to* photograph the Wanaka Tree a few more times. After breakfast at the hotel, we made our way to the marina to take a 35-minute Lake Wanaka boat cruise to hike Mou Waho Island wildlife reserve. This island was truly incredible...we hiked a very scenic track (with an extremely knowledgeable ecologist) that climbed to the top of Tyrwhitt Peak where we gazed upon Arethusa Pool (a small lake on the island, with more islands in it) and enjoyed "high" tea. At the top was a lovely view of Lake Matheson and all the surrounding mountains. We also got to meet the two native Weka (the Māori hen or woodhen - a flightless bird species of the rail family, endemic to New Zealand) named Sally and Wilson - who were quite friendly and photogenic. After our hike, our tour group planted a native tree on the island, before heading back to Wanaka for a fabulous lunch at Francesca's Italian Kitchen. We had a little extra time to explore the shops of Wanaka before driving to our next stop - Queenstown. Once in Queenstown, we checked into our next hotel before heading to dinner at Public Kitchen down on the waterfront. After dinner, I opted to walk back to the hotel on my own along the waterfront and through the Queenstown Gardens.

Again, I hope you are enjoying my photo journey of the South Island...I'm working to get it completed in a timely fashion, so we can get back to the creativity posts. I will be back very soon with my next travel log. Thank you for visiting!