Wide Open Skies
Big skies and turquoise lakes
6 destinationsCanterbury and the Mackenzie Basin are where New Zealand opens up and gives you room to breathe. The Mackenzie is a high flat basin ringed by mountains and filled with turquoise lakes that look like someone turned the colour up too far. At the top of it all is Aoraki Mt Cook, the highest mountain in the country, watching over everything from above.
Hooker Valley Track
The Hooker Valley walk ends at a lake full of floating ice chunks that have broken off the glacier above. You walk through three swing bridges with Aoraki Mt Cook towering above you the whole time. At the end you sit by the freezing blue water and realise you are right at the foot of the highest mountain in New Zealand.
Aoraki Mt Cook
Aoraki is the highest point in New Zealand at 3724 metres and one of the great mountains of the southern hemisphere. Getting to the summit is a serious technical climb that needs proper mountaineering skills and experience. Even just being at the base and looking straight up at it is an experience that stays with you.
Lake Tekapo
Lake Tekapo is famous for its brilliant turquoise water which gets its colour from fine rock particles ground up by glaciers far above. The Church of the Good Shepherd on the lakeshore is one of the most photographed buildings in New Zealand. At night the Mackenzie Basin is a dark sky reserve and the stars here are extraordinary.
Moeraki Boulders
These large perfectly round boulders sit right on the beach and look like someone placed them there on purpose. Some are cracked open and the insides have natural crystal formations that are pretty amazing up close. They are right off the main highway and make for a very unusual and easy stop.
Tunnel Beach
Someone carved a tunnel through sandstone cliffs to give their family access to a private beach and the result is one of the most dramatic little beaches in the South Island. The beach below has sea arches, caves, and huge rock formations unlike anything else nearby. Keep an eye on the tide before you head down because the track back up is steep.
Blue Pools
Two very deep pools of incredibly clear blue water sit in the middle of a mountain forest near Haast Pass. You reach them on a short walk through beech trees and over a swing bridge with the pools visible below you. The water comes straight off the mountains and is very cold, but plenty of people jump in anyway.
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