In a country full of scenic roads, the road to Mount Cook stands out as one of the most spectacular. The Southern Alps, including Mount Cook, are on full view as you skirt the bright blue waters of Lake Pukaki. Thinking of driving the scenic road to Mount Cook? Keep

So, you want to see Milford Sound but don’t want to shell out for a cruise? You should definitely consider the cruise option, but you can get some great views of Milford Sound from close to the car park. The Milford Sound Foreshore Track runs along the, ah, foreshore and

This pair of side-by-side lakes sit right next to the main road through the Hakatere Conservation Park and are well worth a look when driving through this stunning area. Lake Clearwater and Lake Camp are two of the many “Ashburton Lakes” and are surrounded by mountains. Lake Clearwater is the

Located a few kilometres north of the famous Pancake Rocks, the Truman Track is a nice little walk to a couple of viewpoints and then down to one of the best beaches on the West Coast. It’s not the reason you’ll visit Punakaiki but it’s good dessert after the main

Having done most of the popular hikes on the road to Milford Sound we found ourselves searching for this area’s more hidden gems. That led us to the Tutoko Valley Track, which starts a short distance from Milford Sound. It isn’t one of my favourite hikes (in fact, it’s one

The Cape Foulwind Walkway is one of the best coastal hikes on the South Island’s West Coast and is reason enough to venture north from Punakaiki (something that a lot of tourists don’t end up doing). It’s only an hour north of the famous Pancake Rocks — hopefully this post

If there’s one place in New Zealand that entices you to visit with its name alone it’s Paradise, a tiny town (OK, not really a town) close to Glenorchy, which is itself close to Queenstown. What is a trip to Paradise like? Well, there’s a scenic drive, an incredibly underrated

Punakaiki, with its world-famous Pancake Rocks, is one of the best spots to spend a day or two on the West Coast. The coastline is pretty special, but head inland a little and you’ll see one of New Zealand’s most spectacular stretches of river. It’s quite unlike anything else I’ve

New Zealand has glaciers, but they aren’t quite what you may be expecting. Instead of the crisp blue slabs of ice seen elsewhere in the world the glaciers in New Zealand tend to be small, far away and covered in a layer of grey sediment. The walks to see these

If you like awesome coastal views and rocks stacked like pancakes, you’d better add Punakaiki to your New Zealand itinerary. This small town on the West Coast is home to the surreal Pancake Rocks, a group of weathered rocks sitting by (and sometimes in) the Tasman Sea. It’s a unique