21 Photos to Inspire you to visit New Zealand’s South Island
Discover the natural beauty of New Zealand’s South Island.
From our travels over the past ten years, we’ve experienced a few road trips from France to our honeymoon in Australia. Our first road trip in a campervan was on New Zealand’s South Island – don’t you just love being able to stop wherever and whenever you want to to catch those hidden gems. That is the essence of road tripping!
You can’t escape the pure natural beauty of New Zealand’s South Island. The South Island is a larger and less populated island compared to the North Island. New Zealand’s South Island has mouth dropping mountains, Fiords, lakes, glaciers and wildlife. A stop off at the adventure town Queenstown is a must. For the adventurers and adrenaline junkies, choose from several activities from bungy jumping, sky diving to white water rafting and skiing in the Winter season. Did we do anything crazy in Queenstown? Of course we did. We opted for the the Nevis Arc Swing … the biggest swing in the world!
Here’s a few reasons to visit the South Island:
- Experience the adrenaline rush at Queenstown
- Hike on the glaciers at Fox Glacier and Frans Josef Glacier
- Spot the penguins at Oamaru
- Waking up to the stunning views of Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka
- Discover Milford Sound by boat
- Visit the wineries in Central Otago and sample their famous Pinot Noir
There’s so much to see and do and we only scratched the surface. We would love to return to this amazing place one day and explore the sights which we missed out on our first visit.
Let’s show you our favourites moments during our road trip around the island:
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- Skippers Canyon shot over river
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- Spot the seals at Milford Sound
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- Stunning view of Milford Sound
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- Mountain views
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- Lake Te Anau
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- Pancake rocks at Punakaiki
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- Queenstown
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- Marlborough vineyards
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- Lake Hawea
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- Nevis arc swing at Queenstown
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- Lake Wakatipu
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- The penguins at Oamaru
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- Lake Wanaka
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- Mount Cook
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- Buller Gorge
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- Shot over river
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- Beautiful landscape
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- Epic Waterfall Milford Sound
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- White water rafting
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- Beach at Kaikoura
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- Moeraki
Have you visited the South Island? Where are your favourite spots?
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Monidipa Dutta 09/05/2018 (20:52)
Must say lovely clicks….
Ian 09/05/2018 (21:06)
Thank you so much but the beauty of New Zealand helps a lot too 😉
Juhi 25/04/2018 (05:25)
Refreshing photos.
Ian 25/04/2018 (14:09)
We think so too 😉 Thanks for commenting.
Isabella 23/04/2018 (17:59)
I’ve heard New Zealand is the most beautiful place on Earth and these photos bear that out! Stunning!
Ian 23/04/2018 (18:46)
Thank you Isabella… New Zealand is indeed a beautiful place to see…
Medha Verma 28/03/2018 (11:35)
Oh you have made me want to look through my own album of New Zealand’s South Island. It’s such a beautiful place, isn’t it? Every part of New Zealand and specifically the South Island is gorgeous. I love your collection too.
Ian 28/03/2018 (14:28)
Looking back at these photos, makes us want to visit the South Island again! South Island is very beautiful 🙂
Teja 26/03/2018 (04:30)
I don’t know what my favourite was! Was it the freshwater icebergs? Was it the fjords with water pouring down the cliff sides ? Was it the beach penguins? South Island is very very beautiful!
Ian 26/03/2018 (08:54)
We definitely have to agree it is hard when there is so much beauty in NZ!
Nathan 22/03/2018 (13:42)
I absolutely enjoyed my time in the South Island of New Zealand much more than in the North Island as the scenery was absolutely breath-taking there. I remembered visiting the Franz Josef Glacier, Queenstown and plenty other sights in the South – and everything was so beautiful, especially Milford Sound with the mountains set against the turquoise waters and azure blue sky. Spectacular!
Ian 22/03/2018 (15:58)
The landscape and scenery on The South Island is outstanding. We actually wanted to take a helicopter to the glacier, however the weather wasn’t great and missed out on this. Would love to go back and visit Franz Josef Glacier. 🙂
Iulia 21/03/2018 (16:41)
Such lovely photos! I have been wanting to visit New Zealand for a while now, since I love their wines… Your piece and photos made me want to do that even more 😁😁
Ian 21/03/2018 (17:14)
A visit is a must then so you can indulge yourself! Thank you for commenting Iulia.
Supriya Bhardwaj 20/03/2018 (12:14)
Wow! Stunning landscapes. I totally agree this place is rich in natural beauty and I would love to visit New Zealand. I want to ask one thing…Which part of it is used in shooting for ‘Lord of the Ring’? If you may know
Ian 20/03/2018 (12:26)
You’re a Lord of the Rings fan too! We visited Hobbiton and hiked the Tongariro Crossing for Mount Doom – both are in the North Island. A few sites were used in the South Island, but I’m not sure where though. Thanks for the comment 😉
Jem 20/03/2018 (11:06)
Ah, my lovely homeland! I am a little ashamed to admit I haven’t ventured down South since I was little, but am hoping to rectify that this year. Your photos have furthered my need to explore this part of the country
Ian 20/03/2018 (11:21)
NZ is such a beautiful country. We did spend more time exploring the South Island compared to the North. We will be returning one day 🙂
Hannah Vu 18/03/2018 (16:58)
OMG those pictures are capturing my soul. South New Zealand is definitely on my to-go list. Thanks for sharing!
Ian 18/03/2018 (17:50)
We highly recommend hiring a camper van to explore the south island. Thank you for commenting.
Alex Trembath 18/03/2018 (05:42)
Stunning pictures! We did a South Island roadtrip four months ago – mostly covered the Fjordlands and the west coast. Milford Sound is one of my favourite places in the world.
Ian 18/03/2018 (10:19)
It is so beautiful around that area we definitely want to go back and see more! Thank you for commenting.
Ajay 17/03/2018 (15:14)
These snaps do inspire ! Such beautiful and amazing sights !! I have always heard from my friends on how beautiful New Zealand is and this proves everything they said ! Thanks for sharing
Ian 17/03/2018 (15:19)
I’m glad that they’ve inspired you to visit NZ! We would love to road trip in a campervan around NZ again! 😉
Aleksandr Popkov 17/03/2018 (12:43)
I would love to go there! Reminds me of Norway a lot. It has quite similar landscapes and atmosphere. The one I really lke.
Ian 17/03/2018 (13:23)
Norway is beautiful and is high on our bucket list 🙂
Alice 17/03/2018 (11:32)
These photos are amazing! New Zealand is one of my dream destination, the nature and the adventure!!
Ian 17/03/2018 (11:40)
Thank you so much Alice! The landscape and scenery are truly stunning in NZ 🙂
Jen 15/03/2018 (17:05)
How soooo peaceful, just the sight of those pictures. Never been. Should definitely put it on my travel list.
Ian 15/03/2018 (20:27)
Yes you should as it is a wonderful country to visit!
Evelyn, PathofPresence 14/03/2018 (23:07)
These photos are LOVELY – they belong in a magazine! Wow – the landscape is absolutely magnificent. I’ve never been and I’d love to go. I’ve also never been river rafting … your pic is calling to me =). xo, Evelyn
Ian 14/03/2018 (23:22)
Awwww … thank you so much for those lovely words! I hope you get to visit NZ and experience the beauty as we both have 🙂
Patti 10/03/2018 (21:59)
Such beautiful photos! Would love to visit New Zealand and try some fun adventures in Queenstown.
Ian 10/03/2018 (22:31)
Hey Patti thank you for commenting and I’m sure you’ll get to visit NZ and have some great adventures like we did.
Martina 10/03/2018 (18:44)
what a wonderful landscape, you pics are amazing!! New zealand must be so beautiful – hopefully I can make it one day…
Ian 10/03/2018 (19:30)
Thank you for the lovely comment. We hope you can make it there some day too!
Aleksandr Popkov 09/03/2018 (18:35)
Lovely landscapes! Picture of the boat going through the fjord is the best one. I would love to visit it, reminds me of Norway.
Ian 09/03/2018 (19:37)
Thank you so much. We have partially planned a road trip through Norway so can’t wait!
Christy 07/03/2018 (16:55)
Every single one of those photos is phenomenal and would make me want to visit. The whole package looks amazing. New Zealand was already on my travel wishlist, but now South Island is definitely going on there.
Ian 07/03/2018 (19:54)
Thank you so much. You should try and make it over there as there are so many amazing sights and the people are so friendly too.
Joanne Mallon 07/03/2018 (15:32)
Wow, what amazing photos. It looks truly spectacular. New Zealand is one place I would really love to visit.
Ian 07/03/2018 (16:52)
If you do manage to get there you’ll definitely love it as it is so diverse.
Laura 06/03/2018 (22:46)
The photos are so beautiful!! South New Zealand is definitely on the bucket list!!!
Ian 06/03/2018 (22:54)
It definitely is and there is so much to see and do. So make sure you have plenty of time to catch all the wondrous sights 🙂