Location: Fiordland, South Island, New Zealand

Visited: April 17 – 24, 2015

Site Type: Natural

Inscribed: 1990

Background and Opinion:

Te Wahipounamu includes the four national parks of Fiordland (home of Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound), Mt. Cook, Mt. Aspiring, and Westland. Spanning 26,000 square kilometers, it is 1/10th the size of New Zealand, or roughly the size of Vermont. Calling it ‘massive’ is a bit of an understatement, and declaring it to be ‘impressive’ does not even begin to describe what a National Geographesque spectacle it is to your unprepared eyes. Call it the Angkor or Machu Picchu of nature. Yes, it is THAT good… and I never thought I’d say it… maybe even better. Read more →

It’s been quiet for a while here, so let me start by saying hello to everyone… again! I missed blogging but man, it really is hard to get back on the wagon once you stop. I am applying for grad school and finally went on a longish trip (which is what this post is about) here in New Zealand, so sorry for my absence.

So, from April 8th – 25th, I went around both the North and the South Islands of New Zealand with Sid and Sarah. Lots of laughs ensued. I did manage to hit up 2 out of the 3 UNESCO sites in the country (the 3rd is, unfortunately, an almost inaccessible cluster of sub-Antarctic islands). For now though, I just wanted to take you guys on a short (okay, long-winded) overview what we did day by day. Let’s get this started…

Travel World Heritage

Milford Sound

Te Wahipounamu

Itinerary – Three Weeks Across New Zealand

North Island

April 8th (Day 0)