On a Backroads Tour of New Zealand’s South Island

After 10 days on the North Island of New Zealand, my husband, Adam, and I flew to Christchurch to start our Backroads hiking and walking tour of the South Island. You could see how beautiful the city must have been before the 2011 earthquake, which destroyed around 80 percent of the buildings downtown. I can’t think of another place where I’ve wished so badly that I could go back in time.

The riverfront part of downtown is lovely, particularly if you’re enjoying a traditional New Zealand steak pie from the Butcher’s Pie Shop. (We also had a worthwhile dinner at Odeon.) I tried walking the pie off, but a Lime scooter beckoned.

We were meeting up with the Backroads group in the morning at The George hotel, but we stayed at a nicer property called The Mayfair. Signage and other accommodations for Chinese visitors were visible throughout New Zealand; at the Mayfair, the elevators pretend that there’s no fourth floor because, as per Wikipedia, “the way it is pronounced in the Cantonese dialect is nearly homophonous to the word ‘death.'”

We know a lot of people who have taken Backroads trips and loved them, and now I understand why: the company makes travel so incredibly easy. Just choose your destination, arrange transportation to and from there, and pack. Once the trip starts, the guides take complete care of you, and you never have to make a significant decision or move your bag farther than out to the hall. And the guides are fantastic—smart, charming, and capable.

At each morning’s “route rap,” the guides explain in detail what the day holds in store. Backroads also has a helpful app with the itinerary and some extras, if, like me, you grow weary of listening.

The nine-day tour starts in Christchurch and winds its way west and then south, ending outside Queenstown. (I can email the detailed itinerary to anyone who wants it.) There were typically hiking or walking excursions in the morning and afternoon, often with an hour or two of driving, for the trip covers a fair amount of ground. Our group had 20 travelers, two guides, and one support staffer, spread out into three 11-person vans. Three of the travelers were prone to carsickness and got to ride shotgun; the more cynical among us wondered whether they also wanted the better view.

The company is nicknamed Snackroads, because you’re never far from something to eat or drink. One hike ended with a spread of fresh fruit, including ruby red kiwis, which were much tastier than any kiwi I’ve ever eaten.

The itinerary warns you that the hotels are “down-to-earth, without a lot of bells and whistles, and may not offer the level of customer service that you might be used to.” Indeed, six of the eight nights are spent in the lowest “casual” category of hotel. At the two sister Wilderness Lodge properties, the homespun charm, remote settings, and friendly staff compensated for the rough patches.

We could really see the stars. And at the Lake Moeraki Wilderness Lodge, a guide fed the freshwater eels that live in the lake. (Anyone who likes this video should read The Book of Eels.)

But one of the so-called “premiere” hotels—the Te Waonui Forest Retreat—was worse than the casual ones. (It has since been downgraded to a new “deluxe” category, which doesn’t address the problem that the Te Waonui was disappointing in nearly every way.) The best hotel was the last one, Millbrook Resort in Arrowtown (below), even if the WCs were sinkless rooms separate from the bathroom.

But we were there for the nature, not the hotels. The hikes were anywhere from an hour to four hours, and the longer ones were out-and-back, so people could turn around whenever they liked. Some things were constant, like moss, ferns, and fern trees.

We crossed several narrow bridges, often swinging ones.

And there were stunning lakes and mountains. As you can see, we were blessed with perfect weather most of the time.

I hadn’t expected kill traps everywhere. In an effort to protect native species, New Zealand is on a mission to eradicate invasive rats, stoats, possums, and feral cats.

Sometimes the excursions were walks, not hikes, like the one along the shore of Lake Hawea that passes by a stick library for dogs.

Three of the hikes were standouts—another way of saying they’re the ones I’ll remember. We started on a high note, exploring the monoliths of the Kura Tawhiti Conservation Area on the first morning.

The second special hike was the Beasley Spur Track, which I did most of alone because (a) I hike fast, and (b) the rain got heavy and everyone else turned back. It has been a long time since I hiked in the rain, and maybe never like that: my glasses kept steaming up, and my pants weren’t very wide, so the water ran down my legs and into my boots. By the time I got to the payoff view, from a ridge between two dramatic valleys, I was soaked to the bone. As soon as I would think that I couldn’t possibly get any wetter, I’d feel the cold finger of wetness probing somewhere new. On the way down, when I caught up to fellow hikers, the trail turned into a stream, and we walked right in the water. Thank goodness that most of the hotels have laundry facilities—and that the Backroads app has a location feature, or I might still be up there.

The trail passes a hut where hikers can spend the night. New Zealand is known for its backcountry huts, which I love the idea of but I think are too rustic for me.

The third memorable hike was on Rob Roy Track, where we experienced four seasons in one day. The morning started out with clouds and light rain but then the skies cleared. And the many waterfalls near the glacier were our reward for enduring the rain a few days prior.

The itinerary includes two add-ons for an extra cost. We skipped the helicopter flight to see Franz Josef Glacier, but we did do the flight to Milford Sound, which we then explored via boat. The flights took different routes coming and going, and they were mesmerizing. You arrive at Milford Sound by flying down the length of it, flanked by the steep mountains.

The bird’s-eye view helped illustrate the massive amount of development underway in Wanaka, which we had also noticed in other places (Kinloch, Arrowtown), although not at this scale.

The boat was big and roomy, so you could move around inside and out at your leisure. The views are great, although having explored many fjords in Norway, I think I got a bit less out of the experience than other people.

You don’t have to do everything on the itinerary, but if you do, you’re kept rather busy. The only significant free time was in Wanaka, which feels like a ski town, and it was hopping. The 40-minute walk from the hotel was a pleasant lakeside stroll (passing rows of poplars and a famous island tree), and Adam and I had fun at Verve wine bar and an excellent dinner—with vegetables!—at Kika.

Another town I liked, when I took an early morning walk there on our last day, was Arrowtown. I’m glad it has gentrified enough to have a terrific coffee shop, Wolf Coffee Roasters, but I wish I could’ve been there 20 years ago. The construction of contemporary-style houses that we saw in Wanaka and Kinloch was also prevalent there. How will New Zealand, which loves its small-town energy and two-lane roads, cope with more people? If the traffic in Queenstown is any indication, it could be rough.

I am a very lucky man to get to do trips like this, and yet it wasn’t a perfect fit for us. Friends who love Backroads have subsequently explained that our trip was an outlier compared to ones in, say, Europe: nine days versus the normal six, in less-than-stellar accommodations and with weaker food, and much more van time. I understand why the trip is designed the way it is, but if any of those three variables could be improved, the other two would be less nettlesome.

The trails are well-marked, we don’t mind driving ourselves, and there are better hotels (that may not want to take on 20-person groups)—all of which is to say we could’ve, and probably should’ve, done the South Island on our own. Not because of the other people—they were great, not an asshole in the bunch (or was it me?), and delightful company even on day 9. (One of my favorite moments was when, while on an exposed stretch of hillside, I asked a fellow hiker what we should do if a thunderstorm approached. “Avoid the people with the poles,” she said.) But it struck me as weird how we were spending so much time with a bunch of strangers, and yet there are so many friends with whom we’ll never travel. I was reminded of a three-day wedding: getting to know people is interesting, and then once you realize you’re not going to become better friends (if only because you don’t live nearby), what’s the point?

Bonus events like a wine tasting and a talk by an Everest explorer were added to the itinerary here and there, but solitude sounded better. Nearly every meal was communal; for logistical reasons, our hotel rooms were always clumped together, so you’d hear the others through the walls or in the halls. Days after the trip ended, their voices kept popping up in my head. I’ll say it again, just in case any of them read this: it wasn’t remotely personal. I enjoyed everyone’s company! I just didn’t need that much of it.

And, while I would do a Backroads trip again if friends wanted to, I’m ultimately happier as an independent traveler. With group travel, everything is foretold and explained. I missed the magic of discovery, the thrill of having my own adventure (which may be why I did that hike in the rain when no one else would). When we passed through the minuscule town of Arthur’s Pass, I looked longingly out the window at the general store I’ll never visit.

Lastly, I was hoping for longer, harder hikes. The scenery was gorgeous, but my guess is that we were limited to hikes that are no more than two hours one-way, and accessible from a parking spot. My husband and I are undoubtedly spoiled, but we found the hiking in Patagonia much more dazzling. (Our guides suggested that next time we focus on trips with a higher difficulty rating.)

If I were exploring New Zealand, knowing what I know now, I’d cherrypick destinations and fly between them. Which leads me to a long postscript: after the Backroads tour, we spent two nights at Blanket Bay, an absolutely sublime lodge about an hour’s drive northwest of Queenstown.

After we had booked the trip and were already in New Zealand, we learned that our new neighbors back home are related to the folks who founded the lodge, which may be why we ended up in a nicer room—part of a villa behind the main lodge—than we had reserved.

We did leave the premises to check out the nearby town of Glenorchy, where there’s an adorable general store with good coffee, and to hike to the remnants of a scheelite mining operation.

But mostly we stayed put, having lunch and dinner in one of the prettiest spots I have ever seen.

The service was practically perfect, and the only thing that spoils the mood is the local airstrip next door, so helicopter takeoffs and landings are not uncommon. Still, I would recommend Blanket Bay wholeheartedly. We went on several walks exploring the 60,000-acre grounds, and I kept saying, over and over and over, “This is such an amazing place.”

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Previous travel coverage:
••• Navigating the North Island of New Zealand
••• Don’t Be So Quick to Write Off Phoenix
••• The Most Magical City in the World
••• One and Done in Sedona
••• A Proper Visit to Santa Monica
••• A Quickie in San Francisco
••• Dipping a Toe Into Southern Corsica
••• The Exquisite Luxury of Taking Paris for Granted
••• Santa Rosa Island in One Day
••• Soaking Up History at Castle Hot Springs
••• Driving Through the Heart of Hokkaido
••• Tokyo Is a World Unto Itself
••• Paso Robles, Pinnacles National Park, and Beyond
••• A Review of the Inn at Mattei’s Tavern
••• Another Quickie in L.A.
••• Sitting Pretty at the One & Only Mandarina
↓↓↓ The Mysteries of Istanbul
••• Palm Springs: Midweek at the Oasis
••• Exploring the Sea Caves of Santa Cruz Island
••• A Summer Swing Through the Northeast
••• Why Is Everyone Going to Portugal?
••• Patagonia Made Easy
••• A Quickie in L.A.
••• From Penthouse to Pavement in Mexico City
••• Do Greek Islands Live Up to the Fantasy?
••• Splendid Isolation at Utah’s Lodge at Blue Sky
••• Three Reasons to Visit Paso Robles Now

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