New Zealand: Otago; Bay of Islands; Lake Wakatipu; Hollyford Track
This quartet of excursions shows off New Zealand’s natural wonders and much more.
Otago Peninsula
The South Island’s craggy Otago Peninsula is just over 30km long but it packs-in the sights. Drive there from Dunedin, the Victorian-Edwardian gem founded by a missionary nephew of bawdy Scottish bard Robbie Burns, and you’re soon amid a landscape of huge, century-old cypress hedges and luxuriantly fleeced sheep. High on a ridge the parapets of Larnach Castle come into view. The tales you’ll hear there of its 19th-century founder and his ghost are spine tingling. Roll on to Taiaroa Head at the tip of the peninsula where royal albatross, the largest of all seabirds, make their only mainland-nesting site in the world. To see a fledgling testing its wings here is like witnessing the birth of flight. Head home at dusk via the private Penguin Place conservation reserve where rare yellow-eyed penguins pop from the ocean to shuffle ashore like tiny vagrant surfers in tuxedos.
Bay of Islands
In 1769 James Cook cruised the North Island’s northeast coast, exploring a cluster of 144 green and pleasant islands. He left them the reverse compliment of a ploddingly literal name, the Bay of Islands. A century later the region’s first township, Russell, became a roistering port of drunken whalers known as “the hellhole of the Pacific”. Today you’ll find a toy Nantucket-style village of cafes and boutiques plus a chapel that still bears bullet holes from the Maori Wars. Nearby Paihia is home to the historic Waitangi Treaty Grounds. Meanwhile, out on the bay, “thread the needle” at Cape Brett aboard a launch that charges through a 70m natural tunnel, the Hole in the Rock. Bottlenose dolphins often escort the cruise ferry out to Roberton Island, aka Motuarohia, renowned for its Twin Lagoons Bay. And look up – these are said to be the second bluest skies in the world after those of Rio de Janeiro.
Lake Wakatipu
The snow-slathered ramparts of Queenstown’s Remarkables mountain range overlook the equally remarkable Lake Wakatipu and its famous vessel, TSS Earnslaw. Built in 1912, the twin-screw steamship, the only remaining commercial coal-fired steamer in our hemisphere, chugs up the 80km-long lake each day carrying sightseers. Gothic, cinematic (a la Lord of the Rings) mountains soar on the horizon like mini Matterhorns above a foreground of merino sheep pastures, evergreen beech forests and waterfront hamlets such as Glenorchy. Onboard you can see the exposed workings of the steam engine and watch the stokers fuelling its boilers. The ship’s namesake, distant Mt Earnslaw, rises to 2820m while below its hull Lake Wakatipu plunges to 400m. It’s not so much a land of contrasts as of extremes, including beauty. The Earnslaw, known as the Lady of the Lake, cruises 11 months of the year and the scenery is stunning regardless of the season.
Hollyford Track
A thousand-year-old rimu tree stretches skywards, ferns shimmer in the morning light and there’s almost more fresh air than a city bloke can bear. This trail, the Hollyford Track on the west coast of the South Island, has an epic history. Originally a Maori pounamu, or greenstone, trading route, it is now one of New Zealand’s most beloved tramping paths. A three-day hike though its glacier-carved grandeur follows the Hollyford River to the sea. “This Fjordland region is sometimes called ‘the walking capital of the world’,” says our guide. It’s a fair boast. The trail is level and at major streams there’s a fixed or suspension bridge. At the end of the day we find excellent lodges with cold sundowners and hot showers, followed by chef-prepped meals. We reach the sea at Martins Bay; how to return? A helicopter drops in to do the honours.