NZ: Rakaia to Twizel

· campsite · exploring · food · map · RV · travel · New Zealand 2025

We traveled from Rakaia to Twizel. A very scenic drive.

Here’s an interactive map of our route, with some of the stops marked:

Morning snack:

Morning snack

An art:

An art

Southern Alps:

Southern Alps

Lake Tekapo lupins:

Lake Tekapo lupins
Lupins
Selfie

The iconic Church of the Good Shepherd at Lake Tekapo:

Church of the Good Shepherd
Church of the Good Shepherd
Church of the Good Shepherd

Scenic lunch in the van:

Scenic lunch in the van

Looking at Aoraki / Mount Cook across the lake:

Aoraki / Mount Cook
Aoraki / Mount Cook and lupins

Bumblebee:

Bumble bee

We arrived at Twizel Holiday Park to check in before they closed:

Arriving at Twizel Holiday Park

,,,but the office had closed early, so we just grabbed the map to our site:

Campground map

Then we headed to Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park:

Road to Mount Cook
Mount Cook
Road to Mount Cook
Snow

Fuel stop in the park:

Fuel stop in the park

Park map:

Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park map

Park visitor center:

Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park visitor center
Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park visitor center
Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park visitor center

Relief map:

Relief map

Predator free NZ:

Predator free NZ

We walked partway along the famous Hooker Valley Track:

Hooker Valley Track

There are three swing bridges along the track, but the second one was damaged, so the track was closed at that point (which was fine, since it was further than we wanted to walk anyway):

Buiding a new bridge

The first swing bridge:

First swing bridge
First swing bridge

A monument:

Monument
Selfie

Aoraki / Mount Cook viewpoint:

Aoraki / Mount Cook viewpoint

Pizza for dinner in Twizel:

Pizza for dinner
Pizza for dinner

Jelly Tip ice cream for dessert back at our site:

Jelly Tip ice cream for dessert
Our site

A very scenic day. But not the last!