After New Years, I headed back to the South Island to check out a few places I’d missed during my previous time there.


I made stops in Picton, Nelson Lakes National Park, Lake Tekapo, and Mount Cook/Aoraki
At each of these stops, I basically just had plans to hike around and check out the landscape.

Picton is at the north end of the South Island, and the port where the ferry coming from Wellington (on the North Island) lands.


 

The place I stayed had this picture posted on the wall…I guess this is why they’re adamant that you bring tie downs for your bike.

Next stop was Nelson Lakes National Park
Near here is Lake Rotoiti, which is a great place to check out sunsets and do some eel watching


The hikes here had some fantastic views of the St. Arnaud Range


 




 

After Nelson Lakes was Lake Tekapo, home of some of the bluest water I’ve ever seen (it’s vivid like Crater Lake, in Oregon, but a slightly different shade of blue)

And finally, Mt. Cook, or Aoraki, as it was called before Whitey showed up.


 

 

 

In town, there was also a small museum with loads of info on the history of tourism around Mt. Cook, and Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay’s first ascent of Mount Everest. It’s definitely worth checking out if you’re there.