Te Anau – Wanaka

16 February – 21 February

Wednesday:

Leaving Invercargill we take the scenic route to Te Anau.  We stop to hunt for gems on gemstone beach, but give up when I realise that I wouldn’t know what a gem looked like if it wasn’t cut, polished and set in silver.

At Lake Manapouri we get settled with a picnic, then gobble it down at a rapid pace when the sandflies show up uninvited. 

Te Anau is going to be our base for exploring Milford Sound.  It’s a lovely little town set along the banks of the lake and it’s a gorgeous afternoon for a stroll by the water.  Later on I try to make up for my lack of running this week by going for one long run.  Bad idea, I spend the rest of the night trying (successfully) not to be sick or fall over.

Thursday:

We’ve booked to do a cruise around Milford sound today.  In an effort to beat the coach tours we’ve booked an early morning one, so we’re up and away at 6am to start the 2 hour drive there.  The scenery is gorgeous, with the sun not quite up yet and pockets of low cloud clinging to the valleys.  We stop at Mirror Lake just as the sun is catching the top of the mountains. 

Milford Sound is renowned for it’s rain but we’ve got lucky: it’s a bright, clear day.   It’s chilly though, with the sun struggling to clear the high cliffs. 

Our early start is well worth it: we’re the first boat on the water, with not more than 20 people on board.  The scenery is breathtaking

deep, calm water surrounded by mountains and sheer cliffs dotted with waterfalls.

We see a couple of fjordland penguins and some cheeky seals, and even get the chance to drink fresh water from one of the falls. 

Back on dry land we drive back the way we’ve come a bit then stop for the thigh-busting climb up Key Summit for spectacular views over the surrounding valleys.

It’s been a good day: tired but happy we head back to our cabin.

Friday:

It only takes a couple of hours to drive to Queenstown and we arrive about midday.  We get checked into our hostel, which has pretty good views:

  

We spend the afternoon walking around the town with a brief detour below water level to check out the fish (and deep diving ducks!):

After a few (too many) glasses of wine we grab a pizza and head to bed.

Saturday:

A little poke around on facebook this morning reveals more exciting baby news: John & Lou are now proud parents of Archie and Maisie.   I’m so excited I could squeak (and do).

Apart from that, the day is a bit of a write off.  We realised yesterday (when it started to rain) that our waterproofs were missing.  With a bit of mental backtracking we work out we’ve left them in Invercargill.  We’ve got 2 options: shell out for some new ones or do the 5 hour return trip to pick them up.  We opt for the drive, and that’s pretty much our day.  Luckily it’s a pretty miserable day weather wise, so we don’t feel like we’re missing too much. 

Sunday:

Freshly kitted out with our rescued waterproofs (although with the sun finally shining we don’t need them), we’re ready to tackle some of the great outdoors that Queenstown is known for.  We’re climbing Ben Lomond.  It’s a hard two hour walk just to get to the saddle, then an hour’s climb up this boy:

It’s a killer, but well worth it when we finally drag ourselves to the top.  We drink in the views and inhale our lunch, then start the walk down. 

It takes us 5 hours to cover the 11km return trip and our legs are feeling it.  Nevertheless, after a shower and a cup of tea we’re ready to head out into town again.  What started as a brief trip to do some shopping and make some phone calls leads to beer and, yes – again, pizza.

Monday:

We’ve had our one-day’s grace weather wise and it’s grey and rainy again.  We’ve planned to do the Rob Roy glacier walk near Wanaka today.  It’s about an hour’s drive over a dramatic mountain pass, then 30km or so of dirt roads.  Once we’re most of the way there we realise it’s not happening: the rain is getting worse and visibility is poor.  We’re disappointed, but our aching calves are not. 

We head back into Wanaka for a look round town, then head to our cabin where we use the extra time to try and do a bit of forward planning.

Janet adds: our new favourite lunch-time treat: cream of tomato soup warmed up on the gas stove.  How rock ‘n roll is that.  And yes, sigh, this is summer.