Although it’s the larger of the two islands, the South Island is much less populated. The largest city is Christchurch, at only 330,000 inhabitants. Dunedin is a college town and is smaller yet.
The Southern Alps run down almost the entire spine of the South Island, providing the island with spectacular variety of hiking, with over 200 named peaks topping 7,000 feet. The island seems to have dual personality, with dry, non-forested land on one side of the mountain range, and lush, rainy, forested lake area on the west side. Parts of the island are coursing with water, in the form lakes, riers, inlets, bays and fiords.
