The upper blue line is the overnight trip into Doubtful Sound. We had a great time. It is a real experience to be on a smallish ship in a fiord - a narrow waterway with steep mountains on either side. Some pictures and commentary on this overnight are here.
The lower blue line is the ferry ride to Stewart Island. We spent 3 nights there (Feb 7-9), walking trails through the native forests (although most have been cut over and are regenerating) and on Ulva Island. Ulva Island has been cleared of introduced mammals (stoats, possum, rats) and the native plants and animals are recovering. A Stewart Island page will appear soon.
The green line is a train ride from Dunedin through the Taieri Gorge toward the Rail Trail - a railroad converted to a cycling/hiking trail. We cycled the rail trail to Alexandra.
To get to the west coast and the glaciers, we had to cross our back trail at Wanaka on Feb 18. The internet cafe there mangled the pictures. We cycled north to Makarora then took a bus to Fox Glacier, indicated by the yellow line, avoiding a wet and windy day. We cycled to Franz Josef glacier but rain got us back onto the bus to Greymouth. From there the weather gradually improved as we headed north along the coast to Westport, then east across to Nelson. At the last minute we decided to zig up to the Farewell Spit area - a wetland of international importance according to the guide books.
After Farewell Spit, we took a water taxi around the big hill then continued on through Nelson to Picton and the ferry to the North Island - the final blue line on the South Island map - on Mar 4.
