Many queers planning a trip to New Zealand gravitate, rightly, toward the glitzy North Island city of Auckland. Thanks to the work of pioneering trans Maōri women, or takatāpui, Auckland has become a safe haven boasting the highest concentration of queer clubs in the country.
An Auckland-centric itinerary, however, will cause you to miss out on one of the most geographically and biologically diverse regions of the world: the South Island.
After all, in the 180 million years since New Zealand, known in the Māori language as Aotearoa, separated from the ancient Gondwana supercontinent, the island has had time to evolve independently from the rest of the planet. The end result is a multifaceted landscape with dramatic fiords, stately glaciers, glistening lakes, fierce rivers and black sand beaches. Every year, the South Island attracts hordes of landscape-loving tourists to its furrowed, jagged landscapes and primal coastlines. And with magnetic queer hotspots and its unflappably laid-back populace, it’s worth LGBTQ2S+ people making the trip here, too.
Queenstown: It’s all in the name
It’s probably pure coincidence that a city named Queenstown, with a population of about 16,000, has become a go-to destination for queens in the South Island. No one’s upset about it—during Pride season, the resort town’s logo features the rainbow flag colours. Long known as the backpacker and outdoor-adventurer capital of New Zealand, if not Oceania, Queenstown, though it has no dedicated LGBTQ+ venues, has a lively queer spirit partly due to the constant influx of horny, broke, fun-seeking, mountain-loving tourists. Think fit, bearded men who are up for anything. If you’re looking to combine a penchant for same-sex attraction with a skiing-filled weekend of wintry fun, each August/September Queenstown hosts the perennially fabulous Winter Pride Festival.
Any time of the year, Queenstown’s unique geography allows you to surround yourself with nature. Crash at the sophisticated the Rees Hotel & Luxury Apartments (377 Frankton Rd., Queenstown), which has unmatched views of Lake Wakatipu and supports an array of community causes and events including Winter Pride. Then pull yourself out of those comfy quarters and taste some tapas at the Bathhouse (38 Marine Parade, Queenstown), which is also lakeside, before hitting up LGBTQ+-friendly Rhino’s Ski Shack (Searle Lane, Queenstown) for a high-spirited night on the town.
Christchurch: Where nature, art and queerness coalesce
Of course the biggest city on the South Island (and the second biggest in New Zealand, with a population just shy of 400,000) would have a healthy queer nightlife.
But Christchurch, also called Ōtautahi Christchurch, has much more going on than its main (well, only) gay dance club, CRUZ (77 Victoria Street, Christchurch). Along with impressive Gothic Revival and contemporary architecture, Christchurch provides access to a natural wonderland, with mountain trails, unspoiled forests and diverse wildlife just beyond its downtown. Christchurch also has a strong undercurrent of Māori culture, which is something to be celebrated in a country where Pākehā (white people) historically subjugated the native Māori. If you’d like to experience Māori culture for yourself, you can paddle a Māori-style canoe through the city with Waka on Avon (794 Colombo Street, Christchurch) or learn some Māori language on a walking tour with Amiki Tours (Cathedral Square, Christchurch Central City).
For lovers of urban art, Christchurch offers a treasure trove of vibrant murals spread throughout the city, including the mural at Riverside Market (96 Oxford Terrace, Christchurch Central City), which pays homage to the buildings lost in the 2011 earthquake, and “Organic Matters” by artist Chimp on Lichfield Street. Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū (312 Montreal St., Christchurch Central City) has a collection worth seeing, housed in a landmark modern building, while Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre (2 Worcester Blvd., Christchurch) is a historic 19th-century school building that hosts exhibitions, concerts, festivals and the like.
To catch a bit of sleep, we might recommend the George (50 Park Terrace, Christchurch), a beloved five-star boutique spot that’s only a five-minute walk from CRUZ.
Getting out into the landscape
Perhaps the best way to see the South Island is to join a tour. It’s the most efficient way to hit all of the island’s big cities, like Queenstown and Christchurch, while relishing the vast, variegated countryside. With this tour from LGBTQ+-focused Out Adventures, there are lots of stops for mountain, lake and ocean views. From the coastal fjord of Milford Sound, which flows into the Tasman Sea, visitors can take a yacht cruise past imposing glaciers, where they might spot playful dolphins and even pods of whales. In the nearby resort town of Wānaka, visitors can choose between a scenic flight or a jet boat ride to see the sublime alpine forests of Mount Aspiring National Park. Or why not both? The Out Adventures itinerary even “werks” in a visit to Lake Tekapo, which has blossomed from a quaint, Instagrammable inland lakeside village into a hotspot for queer tourism. If you’re booking your own crash pad, try the beautifully situated Ranginui B&B (10 Rankin Rise, Lake Tekapo) and make sure to stop by the Dark Sky Project (1 Motuariki Lane, Lake Tekapo), which offers unrivaled stargazing tours from its observatory perched atop Mount John. You can grab dinner beforehand at the Dark Sky Diner (1 Motuariki Lane, Lake Tekapo), which serves huge steaks and spiked shakes.
Blaze your own trail
Maybe you’re in New Zealand for a self-guided tour of its Lord of the Rings filming locations. Or maybe you’re just here to see some of the country’s 80,000 endemic species, including the flightless kākāpō and the iconic kiwi. Either way, the South Island is the perfect place to set out on your own, get lost and live out your Reese Witherspoon-in-Wild fantasies. For instance, the stunning Mount Cook, New Zealand’s highest mountain, is here. Stewart Island, which might be as close as some of us get to Antarctica, is home to New Zealand’s most diverse bird population. There you’ll see kiwi, weka, albatross, sea kākā and even penguins as you hike the many beaches and rainforests.
You can also turn your South Island journey into a wine-soaked dream. In Central Otago, about a five-hour drive south of Christchurch, you can imbibe internationally recognized pinot noir amid gurgling streams and hills carpeted with tussock. In the distance, snow-capped mountains coax you into a stupor—okay, that’s the wine. In the North Otago city of Ōamaru, you can even pair a wine tour with a ticket to the Waitaki Victorian Fete, at which hundreds of entertainers dress up in steampunk-inspired costumes and ride unicycles. Yes, really.
The Waitaki Victorian Fete is a testament to not just New Zealand’s world-renowned quirkiness but also its “anything goes” mentality, which is what makes it so amenable to queer tourists. In a country where chubby, flightless birds are the national symbol, and top hat-wearing men on unicycles regularly parade through the streets, queerness fits right in.
