South Island
— mountains for one coast, ocean for the other.
Not only on a wall.
“The larger of New Zealand's two main islands, about 150,000 square kilometres of Southern Alps, glacial lakes, fjords, and farmland between the Tasman Sea and the Pacific. Aoraki / Mount Cook holds the high point at 3,724 metres. Christchurch is the largest city; Queenstown anchors the lakes; Milford Sound cuts in from the west under near-vertical walls. The west coast averages over five metres of rain a year, the east less than a tenth of that.
South Island, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
The South Island, Te Waipounamu in Māori, is the larger of New Zealand's two main islands at roughly 150,437 square kilometres, slightly larger than England. It is divided lengthways by the Southern Alps, which rise to 3,724 metres at Aoraki / Mount Cook. Christchurch on the east coast is the largest city, with about 390,000 people in its urban area; Queenstown, Dunedin, Nelson, and Invercargill are the next-largest centres. The southwest is held within Fiordland National Park, part of the Te Wāhipounamu World Heritage Area.
Rainfall on the west coast averages over five metres a year, fed by Tasman Sea fronts hitting the Southern Alps and dropping their weight before crossing the divide. The runoff carves Fiordland's fourteen named fjords; Milford Sound, the most visited, sits beneath Mitre Peak, which rises 1,692 metres almost directly from the water. East of the divide, the Mackenzie Basin holds the gem-coloured glacial lakes Pukaki, Tekapo, and Ohau, fed by the same alps from the other side.
The South Island has two main international gateways, Christchurch and Queenstown, with onward domestic flights to Dunedin, Nelson, and Invercargill. State Highway 1 runs the length of the east coast; State Highway 6 crosses to the west and follows it south. The TranzAlpine train between Christchurch and Greymouth crosses Arthur's Pass in about five hours. Most national parks, including Aoraki / Mount Cook, Fiordland, Westland Tai Poutini, and Mount Aspiring, are managed by the Department of Conservation, which publishes current track and hut information.