8 Best Sights in The Southern Alps and Fiordland, New Zealand

Aoraki/Mount Cook is New Zealand's highest peak at approximately 12,218 feet. There are 22 peaks over 10,000 feet in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park. According to Māori legend, Aoraki was one of three sons of Rakinui, the sky father. Their canoe caught on a reef and froze, forming the South Island. South Island's oldest name to local Māori is Te Waka O Aoraki (Aoraki's canoe) and the highest peak is their ancestor Aoraki, frozen by the south wind, and turned to stone. The officially recognized names of this mountain and the national park were changed to their original Māori names of Aoraki (Aorangi to North Island Māori) as part of a 1998 settlement between the government and the major South Island Māori tribe, Ngāi Tahu. The Māori and Anglo names are used interchangeably or together. The 273-square-mile national park surrounds tiny Aoraki/Mount Cook Village, which consists of a visitor center, an airfield, a pub, a little school, and a range of accommodation providers. Walking is always an option, and in winter there's heli-skiing. If the weather is clear, a scenic flight can be the highlight of your stay in New Zealand. Contact the Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park Visitor Centre or the Metservice weather website to check conditions before setting out on an unguided excursion. Hiking trails radiate from the visitor center, providing everything from easy walking paths to full-day challenges. Be sure to fill your car's gas tank and purchase essentials before leaving Twizel or Tekapo as services are very limited in the village. For a unique hands-on educational experience take a half-hour hike to the fast-growing 7-km (4.3-mile) Terminus Lake of the Tasman Glacier. Fed by the retreating glacier and the Murchison River, the lake was formed only in the past couple of decades. From Terminus Lake, you can examine up close the terminal face of the glacier, which is 3 km (2 miles) wide. A trip with Glacier Explorers takes you by boat to explore some of the large floating icebergs that have calved (fallen away) from the glacier. It's an eerie experience skimming across the milky-white water and closing in on icebergs. From the airfield at Mount Cook Village, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft make spectacular scenic flights across the Southern Alps. One of the most exciting is the one-hour trip aboard the ski planes that touch down on the Tasman Glacier after a gorgeous scenic flight. The 10-minute stop on the glacier doesn't allow time for much more than a snapshot, but the sensation is tremendous. The moving tongue of ice beneath your feet—one of the largest glaciers outside the Himalayas—is 27 km (17 miles) long and up to 2,000 feet thick in places. The intensity of light on the glacier can be dazzling, and sunglasses are a must.

Their first batch of 10-year old single malt whisky is now ready, but Cardrona Distillery has already built its loyal following from their three- and five-year-old batches, and lovely range of liqueurs, vodka, and gin. The setting, tucked away high in the Cardrona Valley, is beautiful and an idyllic spot for brunch and dinner. They offer 75-minute tours departing hourly 10–3 every day. They have also just opened their special "The Cardrona Family Reserve Tour," which is a three-plus hour dream for any whisky lover.  Book tours in advance if you're visiting during the holidays or long weekends.

If you're extremely lucky, you'll see the southern lights in this area. Even if you don't, you're still at one of the best stargazing sites in the world. Dark Sky Project operates from the Mt. John Observatory and studies the skies above Lake Tekapo. The glass-enclosed Astro Café at the summit has ham-off-the-bone sandwiches, telescopes, and dizzying views. Stargazing trips leave from the town office in the evening, and reservations are essential. Dark Sky Project also offers a shorter 75-minute tour of the Cowan's Observatory, which is more suitable for those with younger children. At the lake's edge their new visitor's center as has a daytime "Dark Sky Experience" that blends tatai aroraki (Māori astronomy) with science storytelling and an up-close look at a 125-year-old telescope. 

Encompassing more than 3 million acres of wilderness, Fiordland is the country's biggest national park. Nearly a million people visit each year to see playful dolphins and rainforest–coated mountains, but most converge on Milford and Doubtful sounds, the park's stars. Don't worry—the park is massive enough to easily absorb the crowds. The scenery actually quiets them, too: entire boatloads of visitors have been known to just hush out on the water. Sand flies and rain (along with your job, breaking news, and the rest of the world) will seem like tiny nuisances when you behold Milford Sound, with Mitre Peak rising along the coast and waterfalls tumbling into the sea. I see the falls, said one returning visitor, and everything just falls away.

The wine-making industry in Central Otago began with the vines that were first planted here. The best-known vineyard in Central Otago, Gibbston Valley Wines is a beautiful spot for lunch, wine tasting and shopping in a boutique deli. There are cheese platters and tasty sandwiches through to a full à la carte menu with wine recommendations. You can even taste wines in a cool, barrel-lined cave with cave tours on the hour. There is also an on-site spa if you need to unwind after exercising your tastebuds.

Don't leave Arrowtown without dropping in to this small but very cleverly constructed museum. It gives a great insight into the history of the area, with artifacts of the gold-rush days and even a whole streetscape underground, complete with Victorian schoolroom, bakery, and blacksmith. There's also an information center, small bookstore, and gallery. You can even rent a pan for NZ$3 and get gold-panning tips to try your luck in the nearby Arrow River. When your patience frays and your hands go icy, keep in mind that a hobby prospector found a 10-ounce nugget in this very river in 2006. (He sold it on eBay for NZ$15,000).

If there was nothing to see at the end of this road it would still be worth the journey. It's a spectacular route, on one of the highest highways in New Zealand, traveling through mossy beech forests, past waterfalls and grand sweeping valleys. The road is narrow and winding at times, so allow at least three hours. Stop for some great photo ops at Mirror Lakes, Knobs Flat, and Lake Gunn before reaching the Divide, a watershed between rivers flowing both east and west and the starting point for the Routeburn Track. When you reach the Homer Tunnel think of the unemployed workers who began building it as a relief project in 1935 using picks and shovels. Before making the trip, check the transit website or phone for avalanche warnings. Between May and November, come equipped with tire chains, which you can rent in any Te Anau service station. Take care and drive to the conditions, and if you're just not comfortable, you can always take a bus from Te Anau or Queenstown. There have been a number of accidents on this stretch of road caused by overseas drivers, who are unfamiliar with the conditions and are driving too fast or on the wrong side of the road.

This lovely ship is more than 100 years old, and one of the world's few coal-fired steamships still operating. It's in superb condition partly because it's only been on this lake and the water's so pure. T.S.S. (Twin Screw Steamer) Earnslaw runs across to Walter Peak and back on a 1½-hour cruise. You can do a stopover at Walter Peak High Country Farm and watch a sheep shearing and farm dog demonstration. But the best trip is to go to the Colonel's Homestead Restaurant for dinner (or lunch); it's an exceptional buffet—make sure you leave room for the sumptuous selection of desserts. The cruise back into Queenstown's particularly beautiful when the sun's going down.