Day 1
Queenstown to Wanaka
Distance 74km - Driving Time 1 hour
For the first part of my trip I had my friend Meghan with me. We had decided we wanted to stick to the Queenstown and Wanaka area, and visit some places that neither of us had been to and photographed before. On our first day we visited a local waterfall, and shot sunset at the lagoon at Jacks Point. The next morning we saw the sun rise from Bob’s Cove.
Day 2
Wanaka to Milford Sound
Distance 340km - Driving Time 4 hours
On our second day, we were treated to a return scenic flight to Milford Sound. The 45-minute flight each way takes you over two different flight paths, and we had perfect weather to see this region from the air. We flew over locations such as Skippers Canyon, Lakes Wakatipu and Te Anau, Lake Quill and Sutherland Falls, the Routeburn, Hollyford and Milford tracks, Lake Erskine, Eglington Valley and Mount Tutoko. This was honestly the best scenic flight I have done in my life. Such phenomenal scenery and so many places I saw that I wish I could get to via feet or car!
Day 3
Wanaka
Over our five days in the area, we also visited Glenorchy, Wanaka and its famous tree, Rob Roy Glacier, Glendhu Bay and Lake Alta up on the Remarkables ski field. We actually were a little bit early for the best of the autumn colours, but it didn’t matter as we had such lovely weather.
Day 4
Wanaka to Te Anau
Distance 227km - Driving Time 3 hours
Midway through my break, Meghan went home and I picked up my friend Kristin. On our first night, we climbed a huge hill behind Moke Lake for sunset. We planned to head into Milford and explore some new areas, driving to Te Anau the night Kris arrived and then continuing on to Milford Sound the next day. We had a lovely four days in the area – hanging out with some friendly kea, photographing beautiful rivers and waterfalls, hiking to Lake Marian.
We also had an absolutely beautiful sunset in Milford Sound itself. One of my trip highlights was climbing Gertrude Saddle and taking in the absolutely epic views – a tough hike but an amazing reward.
Day 5
Te Anau to Queenstown
Distance 173km - Driving Time 2 hours 30 mins
Before we headed home to Queenstown, we spent a lovely morning just relaxing in the sunshine at Lake Gunn. Our legs were pretty tired after so much walking in the area, so it was really nice to just hang out for a while. Then it was sadly time to head home to Queenstown. We had one last sunrise at Moke Lake before the trip came to an end.