New Zealand 16 Days Self Drive Holiday 2019 – 610km Southern Scenic Route!

 We planned the driving very ambitiously especially on the Christchurch/ Dunedin/ Invercargill sector, the 1st leg of our driving trip, we would like to cover many smaller townships and local attractions as what had been speculated in the Southern Scenic Route.

Southern Scenic Route - Source: Wikipedia


The domestic Jetstar from Auckland to Christchurch delayed on the 2nd day, coupled with the Whakaari/ White Island eruption the day before, and the usual Canterbury flash flood had held us back at least 3 hours. 

Canterbury farmland


We made various diversions on few Canterbury farmlands before headed on higher ground towards Dunedin. At least this was initially planned for, the Canterbury Plains, lowland terrain with lesser winding route, to warm up the 16 days typical NZ diverse landscape ahead! We reached Dunedin almost 10pm!

Highway 01 on Canterbury Plains, south of Christchurch



Heading south, from Dunedin


Brighton, Dunedin



Dunedin/ Invercargill stretch

Invercargill was added last minute after watching the TV series on the Chinese Nine Percent vocal group on NZ trip; we wanted to visit Bluff, the southern tip that was 5000km from South Pole!

Bluff,  southern tip

Scenery from Invercargill to Te Anau was incredible along the Highway 99! The stretch of Southern Scenic Route had fewer cars also as it was quite remote.


Farmland on Highway 99




Merino on Highway 99


One of the most challenging driving stretch was Te Anau/ Milford Sound; the place was stunning, we drove along waterfalls overall surrounding us in arm length distance! Route was winding & wet, forest was dense & damp, and weather was cold & humid, it just smelled like in the Lord of the Rings! We passed through the famous single lane Homer Tunnel, with traffic light, before arriving at Milford Sound, where we took an unforgettable cruise ride on the fjords.


Milford Sound, Highway 94




Raining, waterfalls as seen from inside the car - Milford Sound



Returning trip - Milford Sound/ Te Anau, Highway 94




Homer Tunnel



Cruise jetty at Milford Sound


That was the most tense & enjoyable driving 2 hours I had along this 120km scenic route, we started 5am early so as to catch up the earlier cruise so as to move on to Queensland on the same day.


Overnite at Te Anau for next morning cruise ride



Misty Mountains of the Lord of the Rings


Highway 94 Mildford Sound/ Te Anau


We had loosened up a bit on the returning trip to Te Anau, after leaving the Misty Mountains of the Lord of the Rings! As we moved along the last sector of the Southern Scenic Route towards Queenstown, many rental cars, campervans, motorhomes, coaches rarely, passed both ways of the route, as Queenstown/ Te Anau must be the hottest tourist attractions then!

Driving from Te Anau to Queenstown was relaxing. Along Highway 6, the edge of Lake Wakatipu, this was one of the most scenic highland routes in NZ; as with Highway 6, the 46km lake-edge drive from Queenstown to Glenorchy, the ‘Middle Earth’, was both scenic and tremblingly windy! This should sum up the Southern Scenic Route before heading to Mt Cook!


Highway 94, Te Anau/ Queenstown



Highway 6, 86km to Queenstown north


Edge of Wakatipu Lake, Highway 6, towards Queenstown



Edge of Wakatipu - Glenorchy/ Queenstown





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