Do you Dare to Travel the South?
New Zealand is a tourist’s country. Therefore it has many “routes” for tourists. Basically it means that some of the county roads (actually many of them) are combined into touring routes and marked accordingly. If you decide that you want to travel on a certain touring route, you just have to follow the road-signs with the logo of that specific touring route. For example there is a “Thermal Explorer Highway”, which takes you through many places with various thermal phenomena like Rotorua, Waiotapu and Taupo. There are also “Twin Coast Discovery Highway” and “Pacific Coast Highway” each having its own logo and direction. The routes above are located on the North Island of New Zealand, but in this article I would like to focus on a Southern Scenic Route, which goes through the southern end of the South Island.
The route, of course, can be done in both directions. It starts/ends at Te Anau. From there you can go north to visit the famous Milford Sound and then come back the same way to continue on the Southern Scenic Route to the south from Te Anau.
Road To Milford Sound photo by Daniel Kelpe
Milford Sound photo by missbossy
From Te Anau the route goes through Manapouri, Clifden, Tuatapere, and Orepuki to Invercargill. Access to the famous Kepler track is from Te Anau, and from Manapouri you can access the feared Dusky Track. There are many more attractions on this section of the route, which I didn’t describe here.
Lake Manapouri photo by kiwi-wings
At Invercargill you can either go south to the small town of Bluff, which is the gateway to Stewart Island, or continue to Fortrose and Tokanui. Near Tokanui lies Curio Bay which is one of the world’s most extensive and least disturbed examples of a 180 millions years old Jurassic fossilized forest, which is best viewed during the low tide. Slope Point is also nearby. It is the southernmost point of the South Island. Keep in mind that access to Slope Point is closed during the lambing season (September/October).
Spring at Invercargill photo by PhillipC
From Tokanui the route continues north-east to Papatowai, Owaka, and Balclutha, and finishes at Dunedin. During the whole route you can find many places of interest, short walks, waterfalls and more.
One thing I especially remembered is the wind blown trees that I saw while driving between Orepuki and Invercargill. I also saw such trees later on the route but not as “blown”.
Looking back at Bluff photo by Will Ellis
The whole Southern Scenic Route goes through very beautiful places whether it is sea views or farm lands, or lakes, and by the way, it is the first touring route in New Zealand!
For more information visit Southern Scenic Route Website
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