I have not travelled a lot until more recently in life, and in most cases, it was precipitated through work. In most cases, with the time and budgetary constraints which are typical of a growing family, it is hard to justify international travel. However, when I am required to attend a destination for work I will often try and make the most of the opportunity and with the understanding of my wife, I can often extend my trip slightly.

New Zealand was one such example, although being so close to Australia I had never visited any part of the Country. In March of 2017 my company kindly sent its staff to New Zealand's Queenstown for three days (including travel). With part of the trip already determined, I decided to take the opportunity to explore as much of the South Island of New Zealand as was possible in a short timeframe. Given at the time my family consisted of my wife, a three-year-old, a toddler and two cats I felt it would be a push to continue for more than an extra four days.

Of the trip, three days were work related with us heading to Queenstown on Monday, participating in activities on Monday, Tuesday and part of Wednesday. On the afternoon of the Wednesday, my father flew across to Queenstown and we continued on a four-day boys trip across the South Island. Overall the trip included an approximate 800kms of driving across the south island.

Above is an image of the rough path we followed during the trip. Although there were many things I would have loved to have seen during the trip because I was very keen to see the Fox or Franz Josef glaciers we diverted towards the West Coast of the South Island. That said our main itinerary during the journey was; 

1. Queenstown (Arrive)
2. Lake Hawea
3. Franz Josef Glacier
4. Lake Brunner
5. Christchurch (Depart)

In addition to the specific stops (above) that we made during the journey, there were also a number of tourist related stops we wanted to make on the trip. These are listed below, but note in some cases (e.g. Milford Sound) due to the significant distance we were unable to drive to these locations and instead opted for other transport options. Some of the stops along the way included;

• Fly – Cruise – Fly over Milford Sound
• Arrowtown
• Wanaka
• The Blue Pools outside of Wanaka
• Arthurs Pass

Overall the trip was a wonderful experience of a lovely place. We were very lucky that it only rained towards the last day of our trip (at Arthur's Pass and into Christchurch), otherwise we were treated to fairly nice weather. Over time I will link to some articles of the specific places we visited so check back on a regular basis or subscribe to the Newsletter to keep up to date.