17-Day New Zealand South Island Road Trip Itinerary (part 2): The Catlins to Lake Tekapo
After three nights in Te Anau, we continued east along the Southern Scenic Route, a 610-kilometer journey connecting Queenstown, Fiordland, Southland and the Catlins Coast.
This part of our New Zealand road trip took us through waterfalls, forests and rugged coastlines before turning north toward Twizel, Aoraki/Mount Cook and Lake Tekapo.
The weather remained unpredictable, but this stretch gave us some of the most memorable photography moments of the entire trip: our only sunrise opportunity in the Catlins, the Milky Way above our accommodation, several encounters with the Southern Lights (although not dramatic) and one of the most beautiful sunset drives of the journey.
In Part 1, I shared our route through Arrowtown, Wānaka, Queenstown, Glenorchy, Te Anau and Milford Sound. This second part covers the Southern Scenic Route, Kaka Point, the Catlins, Twizel, Aoraki/Mount Cook and Lake Tekapo.
Southern Scenic Route: Slope Point, Florence Hill Lookout
We left Te Anau and continued east along the Southern Scenic Route, passing through quiet farmland and increasingly windswept coastal scenery on our way toward the Catlins.
After a lunch stop at Howl at the Moon restaurant in Gore, we headed straight down to Slope Point, the southernmost point of New Zealand’s South Island, where strong winds and an open horizon made the landscape feel especially remote and exposed.
We hiked on a “private” farm to the shore, and enjoyed the fresh green rolling hills.
We also stopped at Florence Hill Lookout, where the elevated viewpoint opened across the sweeping curve of Tautuku Bay and the surrounding forested coastline. It was a quick roadside stop, but one of the best places along the Southern Scenic Route to appreciate the scale and shape of the Catlins coast.
Koropuku Falls
Although waterfall photography wasn’t a main goal for this trip, I made a stop at Koropuku Falls on the Southern Scenic Route. It was drizzling, so my family stayed in the car while I hiked in alone.
The forest was very dark, and the trail was much more slippery than I expected. The waterfall itself was not especially dramatic, but the short walk offered a quiet moment alone in the rainforest.
I was glad we crossed it off our list on the way through, rather than having to drive back after settling into Kaka Point.
Kaka Point
We stayed for three nights near Kaka Point in a home overlooking the water.
The accommodation itself became one of my favorite photography locations from the trip. It gave us coastal views, changing weather and access to the night sky without needing to drive after dark.
One evening, the clouds finally moved aside long enough for the Milky Way to appear above the house.
After watching the forecast for days, I was grateful that all I had to do was step outside with my camera.
Travel accommodations are usually selected for location, comfort and logistics. On this trip, I also looked for open views and potential foregrounds for night photography. The best location is often the one that allows you to respond quickly when conditions change.
The above milky way shot was a composite of two images of the foreground chair light painted and a separate milky way shot. 99.9999% of my photos are from one click and not stacked, as it gave me flexibility to create without the overwhelm, special conditions like this were the exceptions.
Nugget Point
Nugget Point was my main reason to choose our accommodation at Kaka Point. It was only 15-minute drive away. Knowing I had plans to photograph it during sunrise, I wanted to keep the distance realistic.
In fact we walked the Nugget Point Lighthouse track twice. The first visit was a quick reconnaissance after a long drive from Te Anau. Knowing any landscape photography during sunrise typically required arriving at the vantage point in darkness, we wanted to understand the trail, identify possible compositions and prepare for the following morning.
We barely made to Nugget Point before it turned completely dark. The parking lot was almost empty and the scouting got some surprises. We saw a few dark creatures running in the bushes - not sure if they were dogs or bear.
But we kept going, and kept our plan the second morning, again, trekking in darkness.
Out of the three nights we spent on the Catlins Coast, this was the only sunrise opportunity the weather gave us.
Fortunately, the light did not disappoint.
The lighthouse, rocky islets and changing color over the ocean made this one of the most memorable mornings of our New Zealand trip.
And we finally saw the dark creatures on our way out after the sunrise. Mountain goats!
Traveling in unpredictable weather changes the way you think about time. When a break in the clouds appears, you go. When the light shows up, you do not wait. There is no guarantee that you will have the same opportunity tomorrow—or ever return to the same place again.
Purakaunui Falls
We went back to the waterfalls during our stay at Kaka Point. Purakaunui Falls was considerably closer to our accommodation, and felt more open and visually impressive.
Its wide, tiered cascade surrounded by native forest made it one of the most rewarding waterfall stops of our Catlins journey.
I photographed from several positions, paying attention to the shape and direction of the water rather than simply using the longest possible exposure. A slower shutter speed softened the cascade while preserving enough texture to keep the water looking natural.
For a more waterfall rich trip, check out our 2024 Iceland trip, where I photographed 20 waterfalls.
Twizel - Southern Lights
From Kaka Point, we turned north and continued toward Twizel.
We chose this area partly for its proximity to Aoraki/Mount Cook and partly for its open southern skies. Seeing and photographing the Aurora Australis was one of the main reasons we traveled to New Zealand in early winter.
The Southern Lights proved far more elusive than I had expected.
Rain, cloud cover and quiet geomagnetic conditions followed us through much of the trip. Nevertheless, I made several late-night attempts and was fortunate enough to photograph the aurora on three nights.
None of the displays looked like the dramatic dancing belts often seen in photographs. Some color was much more visible to the camera than to the naked eye.
But travel has taught me to show up and appreciate whatever nature chooses to share.
These may not have been the Southern Lights I imagined before the trip, but they were the ones I experienced.
Our Twizel Accommodation
Our accommodation outside Twizel was surrounded by open land and mountain views.
The boys were immediately drawn to the trampoline.
One morning, sunlight moved through the house while they bounced against the mountain backdrop. I had come to this region thinking primarily about landscapes and night skies, but the simple family moments became just as memorable.
Some of my favorite travel photographs happen when a beautiful location becomes part of everyday life rather than the entire subject of the photograph.
Aoraki/Mount Cook
We used Twizel as our base for a day trip to Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park.
The drive followed the vivid blue water of Lake Pukaki toward snow-covered mountains. Conditions changed throughout the day, with cloud moving around Aoraki and revealing the peak only intermittently.
We explored the Mount Cook area and several nearby viewpoints rather than committing the entire day to one long hike.
The scale of this landscape can be difficult to communicate in a single wide photograph. Including a road, person, building or other recognizable element helped give the mountains context.
Peter’s Lookout
We stopped at Peter’s Lookout on the way back from Mount Cook.
By then, the light had begun to change, illuminating the road, lake and mountains differently from what we had seen earlier in the day.
This became one of my favorite stops in the Mount Cook region.
It was also a reminder that a viewpoint does not need to be photographed only during its most commonly recommended time. Sometimes the conditions you encounter on the return journey become more interesting than the scene you planned in advance.
Lake Alexandrina
From Twizel, we continued to Lake Tekapo.
Near Tekapo, we explored Lake Alexandrina, a smaller and much quieter lake away from the busiest viewpoints.
After photographing several iconic New Zealand locations, the stillness here felt refreshing. There were no famous compositions I felt obligated to create. We could simply walk, observe and photograph the landscape as we found it.
The quieter locations often give me more freedom to respond to the scene rather than comparing it with photographs I have already seen.
Lake Tekapo
Lake Tekapo welcomed us with some of the most beautiful sunset color of the entire trip.
At almost the same time, we learned that our home had been broken into back in the United States.
The days that followed became a blur of calls, messages and decisions from the other side of the world.
I normally process my travel photographs on the same day I take them, but it took me much longer to return to the images from Lake Tekapo. The experience had become connected to something I would rather forget.
Eventually, I went through them again and rediscovered the beauty that had been unfolding around us that evening.
Sometimes photographs preserve more than the visible scene. They also hold the emotions and circumstances surrounding the moment they were made.
Church of the Good Shepherd
The Church of the Good Shepherd is one of the most recognizable landmarks in Lake Tekapo.
During our visit, part of the church was covered in scaffolding.
That was not the view I had imagined when planning to photograph the Milky Way here, but travel rarely presents a perfectly prepared scene.
I returned after dark and worked with the conditions rather than abandoning the idea completely.
The scaffolding may not have belonged in the classic photograph, but it became part of our version of Lake Tekapo—the place as it actually looked when we were there.
Photographing the Trip We Actually Had
This section of our South Island road trip was built around ambitious photography plans: waterfalls, coastlines, sunrise, the Milky Way and the Southern Lights.
Some plans worked beautifully. Others were changed by rain, clouds, scaffolding or personal circumstances unfolding thousands of miles away.
Yet those imperfections did not make the journey less meaningful.
Nugget Point gave us one unforgettable sunrise. The Milky Way appeared above our Kaka Point accommodation. The Southern Lights showed themselves quietly over Twizel. The boys bounced on a trampoline beneath the mountains. And Lake Tekapo remained beautiful even during one of the most difficult moments of our trip.
Travel photography is not about documenting the journey exactly as it was imagined.
It is about noticing and preserving the journey that actually happened.
From Lake Tekapo, we continued to Christchurch, where I attempted a little street photography at the Lyttelton Farmers’ Market. We then made a six-hour round-trip drive to Kaikōura for one of the most extraordinary whale-watching experiences of our lives.
If you haven’t yet, check out part 1 of our New Zealand South Island road trip.
The final part of this New Zealand series will continue through Christchurch, Lyttelton, Kaikōura, Auckland, Waiheke Island and Rangitoto Island.
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From the windswept coast of the Catlins to the Southern Lights near Twizel, this part of our New Zealand road trip brought some of the most memorable moments of the journey—including waterfalls, Nugget Point at sunrise, the Milky Way, Aoraki/Mount Cook, Peter’s Lookout and Lake Tekapo.