The travel pace has slowed a little since the last place a we have stayed the last four nights at Te Anau - the gateway to Fjordland. We drove through yet more rain on the trip from oh so sunny Invercargill and arrived at our campsite to find that we had a cabin upgrade :-) which meant we had a TV, dining table and kitchen facilities all to ourselves! Not so luxuriously we had to go outside to the bathroom facilities - not pleasent in torrential downpours and gales!
We popped into the not too lively Te Anau town centre on Sunday afternoon and were soon suckered into paying for a coach/kayak trip on Milford Sound. So, we set our alarms on Monday morning to ensure we made the 7.45am minibus (painful when the sun doesnt rise till 8.15am and it is FREEZING!) It was nice not to drive the potentially icy, snowy road and to sit back and relax for once - especially as the Milford Road is reputed to be one of the most scenic in the world! Scenic it was! Particularly lovely were the aptly named Mirror Lakes which our drive made a photostop for.
As we arrived at the Sound any morning cloud there was, disappeared to reveal glorious blue skies - very luck for a place that gets 8m of rain a year! Changing into kayak gear was decidly chilly (Ruff wimped out at this point but did enjoying watching the Sound from the shore and chasing Keas), but once we were paddling we soon warmed up with the sun on our faces! The kayaking was glorious with stunning scenery and the odd seal to spot. Simply stunning. The day ended with the lovely return trip and plenty of photo stops with glorious waterfalls and towering peaks to be seen.
The next day we decided to head back out on the Milford Road as the road had been very driveable. We decided to tackle two walks - Key Summit (part of the Routeburn Great Walk) and Marian Lake. The first walk proved a tough one with a 400m ascent and snow and ice to contend with. We were, however, rewarded with marvellous views. The second wakl began with a stunning white water river. The walk was through difficult terrain but the forest was lovely - beautifully green with moss growing on all the trees. We didnt quite make it to the lake but he walk was lovely all the same and the weather was quickly clouding over. In view of the clouds we decided to head back to the Sound to see it in different weather. It was still beautiful but very different - moody and mysterious.
On Wednesday we awoke to torrential rain and thus abandoned our plan to walk part of the Keplar Track. In our 13th week we feel pretty chuffed to have only had to abandon our plan once - and tired from our previous days exertions we were happy enough to have a lazy day. On leaving today the weather was worsening and the Milford Road conditions becoming too difficult for our inexperience, once again our timing has been perfect. We hope there is no one doing our trip a few days behind us - they will be having a miserable time!
We have just arrived in Queenstown (a hugely popular ski/adventure resort) and it is certainly bustling and crowded - so a very different experience once again and we will update you shortly on the adventures we have had!
Laura, Niall & Ruff
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