New Zealand

Darfield to Twizel - South Island Road Trip

Susan Neil

29 Mar 2024 — 4 min read

Koru, New Life, Beginnings and Strength

We left Darfield mid morning in the campervan.

Before we left I took some photos.

The swimming pool at Chloe and Tim’s new house is finally completed and is now full of water. I took this photo of the now full pool with the snow capped Southern Alps in the background. It is a bit cold now for swimming but I do think that this pool may be heated to some extent.

Swimming pool at the new house, Darfield, South Island, New Zealand — Swimming Pool at the new house

I also went to take some photos of the central pivot irrigation system that was going over one of the farm houses. I am fascinated by these … how they go over obstacles. Canterbury does not get much rainfall and therefore irrigation is needed to make the land profitable.

Irrigation system going over the farm house, Darfield, South Island, New Zealand — Irrigation system going over the farm house

We head off towards Twizel on the inland scenic route and start to get our first views of the mountains. I am so happy that there has been snow overnight.

Mount Hut and the Southern Alps, South Island, New Zealand

Our next stop is Rakaia Gorge and the beautiful braided Rakaia River.

Rakaia River with Toi Toi, South Island, New Zealand — Rakaia River with Toi Toi

With Grandchildren at Rakaia Gorge, South Island, New Zealand — With Grandchildren at Rakaia Gorge

Rakaia Gorge and Braided River, South Island, New Zealand — Rakaia Gorge and Braided River

The river is such a gorgeous colour. This colour is due to glacier rock, sometimes called flour, a sediment that is finely ground up by the glaciers and is suspended in the water. It makes the lakes and rivers look so pretty.

I have videos of this and other areas on both TikTok and Instagram if you want to see more … featheredescapades.

We stopped at Mayfield for lunch and I took this photo of Koru made from recycled chain. There was a few of them in the hotel garden … very neat. The Koru symbolises an uncurling fern frond and means new life, beginnings and strength. I love this beautiful symbol.

Recycled Chain Koru, Mayfield, South Island, New Zealand — Recycled Chain Koru

Next we stopped to take some photos overlooking the Mackenzie Basin. This area is called the Mackenzie Country and was named after a local farmer come wrongly accused thief who was a local legend. The Mackenzie Country has New Zealand’s highest mountains.

Mackenzie Country, South Island, New Zealand — Mackenzie Country

Chloe and Tim with the Campervan, Road Tripping, South Island, New Zealand — Chloe and Tim with the Campervan

Not too far down the road we get a great rural view of the Southern Alps. Sadly, it is an overcast day and Aoraki Mount Cook, New Zealand‘s highest mountain, is hidden by cloud. I still love the photo though.

Southern Alps, New Zealand — Southern Alps

The next stop on our road trip was Lake Tekapo. The lake is known for its gorgeous blue colouring but I did not think it was as blue today as I had previously seen it.

Church of The Good Shepherd, Lake Tekapo, New Zealand — Church of The Good Shepherd

The Church of The Good Shepherd is the only church in Tekapo and was built on the banks of Lake Tekapo in 1935.

Being the Easter long weekend there were many tourists around and it was hard to get photos without them … it is hard to complain when we are tourists too.

If you look at the sky colour in the two previous photographs … the lake as been a similar colour to this when I have seen it before.