Courtesy of the New Zealand Tourism Board
From the South Island coastline of New Zealand to its Southern Alps is a day’s drive, but you’ll want to add these activities to your itinerary.
3 5
Island visit: Eco Wanaka Adventures takes me across Lake Wanaka for sunrise on Mou Waho Island and a peek at a very curious creature—the buff weka, a fl ightless bird the size of a grouse. Right on cue, the fi rst weka strolls out of the bush and starts nosing around the rocks at our feet.
4
Waterfalls: Milford Sound lies at the end of a dead-end road, which takes me through deep Yosemite- like valleys with dense forests of native trees. A boat trip on Milford Sound aboard JUCY Cruize takes me to a mist-shrouded seascape, idling alongside waterfalls cascading off sheer mountainsides. Middle-earth, indeed.
6
Kiwi encounter: Stewart Island, a mere speck in the ocean compared to the two main islands, is the best place to encounter kiwis (the birds) in the wild. Bravo Adventure Cruises takes me to a remote area of the island. Tying up to a small dock in the twilight, we follow guide Phillip Smith along a muddy trail leading to Ocean Beach. All fl ashlights except his are shut off, and we traipse down the beach in a light mist. We’re going kiwi-spotting. Within two minutes of stepping onto the sand, we fi nd our fi rst kiwi. Looking like a feathered bowling ball balanced on chopstick legs, it probes piles of kelp and picks off plump crustaceans with a long slender beak. By evening’s end, we spot four more kiwis along the dark shoreline.
Grand fi nale: My last night is in Akaroa. In the morning, I board a tour boat and scan the water for Hector’s Dolphin, a small cetacean found only in New Zealand. When several appear starboard, we zip up our thick wetsuits and slide into the water. Four dolphins leap, dive, and swim under and around us. Touching them is off limits, but for 40 minutes, we fl oat among several groups, often within inches. It’s an enchanting fi nish to New Zealand.
Eric Lindberg (
www.ericlindberg.com) is a freelance writer and photographer based in Lakewood, Colo. He is the 2011 Travel Photographer of the Year, Society of American Travel Writers.
EnCompass May/June 2012 43
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