Wanaka, Hooker Valley Track, & Christchurch | South Island, New Zealand
This is the second part of many in my journey through New Zealand and Australia. We pick up on Day 3 of our time in South Island, and the beautiful scenery continues. After lunch in Queenstown, we drove up to Wanaka (rhymes with Hannukah), where we would stay that night.
We opted for a short but strenuous hike up Mt. Iron just before sundown.
It definitely took some doing, but we made it to the top!
And we were rewarded by incredible views over Lake Wanaka.
Back down in the town of Wanaka that night, the view from the lake, just across the street from where we had dinner.
On day four, we packed up and continued northward toward Mt. Cook, the highest peak in New Zealand. We were headed for the Hooker Valley Track. (Track = hike).
Jon the explorer!
The people in New Zealand were all very warm and welcoming. The plants, not so much. Very prickly!
I spy Pei the explorer. She’s scoping out the suspension bridge. Did I mention she’s afraid of heights?
Super easy hike on this nicely maintained boardwalk!
Back at our lodge at Lake Tekapo (TEE-kuh-poh) for the night, we threw ourselves a little tea party on the deck.
One of the things Lake Tekapo is known for: astrophotography. Specifically at this one church, the Church of the Good Shepherd, which was completely surrounded by people at night.
It looks completely different by day!
On day 5, we packed up our things and made our way to Christchurch, from where we’d fly out that evening. We made a brief visit to Mount Saint John Observatory for breakfast. The observatory does offer night viewings of the sky, but they are pricey, and I’m pretty happy with our own experience of the Milky Way just photographing the church at night.
Bye bye, Lake Tekapo!
Just one more animal encounter before we could leave: a herd of cattle taking up half the road. At least this one was visible with plenty of warning, and everyone had slowed down. Unlike our sheep encounter from the first day of the trip.
En route to Christchurch, we made a little pink rock collection and turned it into a mini cairns.
Christchurch is the largest city in South Island, but it was recently devastated by a large earthquake in 2011, so much of the city has been rebuilding. Our first stop was a visit to Supreme Supreme coffee shop. Super cute and hipster.
Next, we visited the Re:Start Mall, which is an indoor/outdoor mall built of temporary shipping containers.
Lots of street art in Christchurch. And a totally different feel from the rest of our time in South Island.
Then we visited the Cardboard Cathedral, which is a temporary church made mostly from industrial cardboard after the original church at that site had been destroyed by the earthquake.
These big tubes are industrial cardboard. The chairs are made of cardboard too.
Shipping containers abound in Christchurch and have been repurposed as all sorts of temporary building materials.
A very interesting cap to our time in South Island. At the end of all of this, we all looked at each other and decided, if this was our entire trip and we were flying home right then, we would’ve been totally happy with that. The pacing, the variety of scenery/cities/towns we saw, and all of our accommodations were perfect, thanks to Jon and Pei’s planning, of course. But the craziest thing was, we continued on for two more weeks of adventuring around New Zealand and Australia after this. And it was all so wonderful.
Visit Wanaka, the Hooker Valley Track, Lake Tekapo, & Christchurch, in South Island, New Zealand
- Here is our itinerary for the second half of our South Island trip:
- Day 3: Continuing after lunch in Queenstown, we drive to our new airbnb in Wanaka. Hike up Mount Iron (lots of elevation gain, but a beautiful view at the top). Dinner in Wanaka by the lake. Call it a day.
- Day 4: Drive toward Mt. Cook for a hike at the Hooker Valley track. Backtrack to Lake Tekapo where we stay the night. Visit the Church of the Good Shepherd at night if you want to try your hand at astrophotography, but beware the crowds.
- Day 5: Visit the Observatory of Mount Saint John in the morning for breakfast. It’s a little counter-intuitive to visit during the day (visit at night if you want to do their night viewing tours), but it’s still nice to grab some food from their cafe and overlook Lake Tekapo. Drive 3+ hours to Christchurch. Visit Supreme Supreme for coffee (and great tea). Check out the Re:Start Mall and the Cardboard Cathedral and get a sense of how this city has rebuilt after the 2011 earthquake. Then head to the airport. It’s time to fly to North Island!
- South Island is not known for its food. We ate a lot of basic meat pies, which were fine, but not great. Iced coffee in NZ means a blended frappuchino-like concoction. Ask for coffee over ice instead. Cold brew isn’t really a thing. Oh well. We’re not here for the food anyway, right? A couple of things they are known for: venison (you’ll see deer farms on the side of the road, which take some getting used to); salmon at Wanaka; some local wines from the Otago region; and Manuka honey, which you’ll see at every gift shop.
- Astrophotography tips: if you’d like to plan ahead you can use apps that tell you about the moon luminosity/rise/fall and the location of the Milky Way in order to time your arrival perfectly. Or if you’re like me, you can just show up and hope for the best. In the dark reserves of the world, you really can just see the Milky Way with your bare eyes. At the Church of the Good Shepherd in particular, it’s probably best to back away from the crowds and not try to fight for a place right next to the church. Bring a tripod. We only had our mini tripods, so we were stuck shooting pretty close to the ground, but it was ok. Use a trigger or a timer delay so you aren’t disturbing the camera with your hands. I’d use a wide lens, a very long shutter, and not too high of an ISO. Don’t forget to just look with your eyes and appreciate your surroundings too. Good luck!
Anna Wu is a wedding and portrait photographer based in San Francisco but often traveling and working around the world. She creates beautiful, soft, and timeless imagery while capturing the most fleeting of moments. View her work at annawu.com, follow her daily adventures on instagram, or contact her to book your own session today.
Part 1: The Road to Milford Sound | South Island, New Zealand
Part 2: Wanaka, Hooker Valley Track, & Christchurch | South Island, New Zealand
Part 3: Auckland & Waitomo | North Island, New Zealand
Part 4: Hobbiton | North Island, New Zealand
Part 5: Hamilton Island, Australia
Part 6: Sydney, Australia
Part 7: Bondi Beach & Sydney, Australia
Part 8: Melbourne, Australia