(This is part of a trip report to NZ/AU where I flew business class on Qantas using 125,000 AA miles and costing $131! My return was on Hawaiian Air, with a stop in Honolulu).

The Southern Scenic Route (SSR) on the South Island of New Zealand was my very favorite! It’s just SO beautifully scenic, with such variety! We took three days, with lots of stops along the way, and very good maps. We left Milford Sound, going through Te Anau to Invercargill, where we stayed the night. These ferns are all over NZ!

We stopped for short hikes along the way. The SSR has wonderful maps, with scenic spots and walks well marked.

Clifden Suspension Bridge, built in 1898!

Many of the trees are bent and shaped like this along the coast because of the wind…

And finally, the sea…

Monkey Island, you can actually walk out to it depending on the tides.

 

The teacher in me had to take this photo in Colac Bay, where across the street was the BEST store for yarns! I’ve already made two scarves from NZ wool/silk. Wouldn’t you love to live here?!

The Water Tower in Invercargill, built in 1889 with 300,000 bricks, is no longer open to the public.

We stopped and asked a farmer how many sheep he had…the answer ~ 8,000!

Notice the sheep by the seaside on the far left…

Slope Point…

 

More lupines…

Curio Bay, an ancient fossil forest, formed 180 million years ago! Yellow eyed penguins live here, but we didn’t see them.

Purakaunui Falls…on this walk, we met some Kiwis who had traveled to Wisconsin!

This is part of the railway station in Dunedin.

Our hotel in Dunedin was very typical of NZ hotels: family-owned, fairly inexpensive, clean, and with a kitchen!

 

 

 

The Moeraki Boulders are large, spherical concrete looking boulders that have been eroded by the waves, and are 60 million years old! Very unusual…

 

 

A lavender field…

This is the Banks Peninsula, about an hour from Christchurch.

 

Our last night in NZ was spent in the little village of Akaroa, a charming small town.

A friend told me the man who attends this lighthouse is open to giving tours, but he was gone when we there.

I hope these unfiltered and unedited photos explain why I loved the Southern Scenic Route! Next, Tasmania, Australia!