Our Qantas experience at Sydney Airport was rather bizarre as it was virtually staff-free, such that we checked ourselves in, stuck on our own destination luggage labels (ZQN) and even did our own bag-drop to send our belongings down the conveyor belt, hopefully to be loaded on to the correct aeroplane. It appears that staffing down under is focused more rigorously on security and immigration, both in Oz and NZ, with a number of sniffer dogs and a real interest in food and soil on your footwear. There was a very nice spaniel who thought Steve's rucksack needed a thorough investigation, but this was because he had carried bananas in it earlier which we had since eaten! The dog was rewarded with a pat and a doggie-treat for his astuteness and we were permitted to proceed so it was all good.
We descended through the clouds, and accompanied bouncy turbulence, to be greeted with sweeping views of a valley ahead as we glided down between mountains on either side to our destination, Queenstown; all very dramatic. This is Fiordland, packed full of lakes, mountains, fiords, glaciers, valleys, etc, and contains one of the wettest areas in the world providing up to 6 or 7 metres of rainfall
per annum (hence my new Berghaus waterproofs for Christmas). Our drive to the small lakeside town of Te Anau where we were to spend our first few nights in New Zealand was picturesque and peaceful as we hardly saw another car on the road, travelling through a stunning lakeside landscape.
Hurricane Ola has been wending her way down the pacific and causing some weather problems of late and we arrived here today (finding it a little chilly) to be informed that summer had turned into winter overnight and after 6 wonderful weeks of fine weather this area had suddenly deteriorated and instead of mid 20's the temperature was now about 10 degrees; just our luck. Even the locals were surprised to see snow on the surrounding mountains in summer. During the night it was raining 'kiwis and dogs' on our motel roof.
Oh how it rained today, and so pleased we were to be encased in waterproof trousers, jackets and warm boots. Milford Sound is a large fiord on the south-western coast of South Island reached by a stunningly scenic 2 hour drive and it was to there we were headed on a cold, wet day. Our route took us winding through forests, past lakes and climbing upwards until we reached a tunnel almost a mile long through a mountain. There was a lot of snow on top and we had to be led through by a snow plough to clear the steep road and hairpin bends on the other side. This was Lord of the Rings country.
Waterfalls were cascading all around us, rivers charging downhill and yet the vegetation looked lush and tropical. We stopped for a walk to a small lake and waterfall where we came upon a kea.
This large and flightless member of the parrot family is only found in NZ and it scuttled out of the bushes at a car park to munch on our discarded apple cores. Apparently they can be quite aggressive.
Our boat set sail on to the fiord late afternoon and although we were disappointed about the weather we were reassured by the guide books and the boat crew that trips in the rain are better due to the number and actual volume of waterfalls and the ethereal atmosphere along the whole excursion.
The landscape was incredible and brought all of my glaciation geography lessons to life. Steep sided mountains on either side of us, Mitre Peak rising a mile high from sea level alongside and waterfalls a hundred metres tall.
My photographs were all looking black and white but that added more impact in a way. We saw fur seals, lying down as a group on a separate rock, and sailed out of the fiord briefly on to the Tasman Sea.
Then the captain steered us very close to the cliffs so that we could experience one of the waterfalls, if we wished, and get fully immersed in the spray. I was out on deck getting nicely soaked and laughing at a wacky Chinese lady who kept running along side of the boat in and out of the wall of spray and squealing with delight.
Once again on our return we had the road to ourselves and half way home the rain stopped, the sunshine returned and we were able to pull over at a selection of view points to enjoy the spectacular vistas on all sides.
It was quite late by the time we got back and set out for supper so we called in at the 'Moose Bar and Restaurant' just round the corner from our motel and at the edge of Lake Te Anau. After a tasty steak and glass of local NZ pinot noir we settled down on one of the sofas in front of a roaring open fire to listen to a visiting Johnny Cash tribute singer who was pretty darn good. He even dedicated and sang 'Ring of Fire' for us both as a request, as it used to be the ringtone on my phone if Steve was calling. Such fun!
Leaving the snowy mountains behind us we journeyed on through vast open countryside with sheep, cows and deer herds dotted around and wide, fast flowing meandering rivers. The landscape continued to change and soon we were in wild tussocky hillsides with bursts of pine trees, tropical-looking cactus style plants and pampas grass along the roadside. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and we were the only car on the road (as we would seem to be for the next few days;bliss) despite the fact that it was a National Holiday weekend. We were to be following the Southern Scenic Route along the south of South Island, going from west to east, to a kind of National Park area called The Catlins. Our lunch stop at Waipapa Point had a lighthouse, which was erected after over 100 shipwrecks had first occurred, and was a windy promontary with great views. The sea was pretty wild today and the waves high.
On the beach we were thrilled to find a sleeping sea lion and as we stood only metres away he was flipping his flipper in his sleep.
We were a little unlucky with our afternoon sightings though. The sea was too rough for the dolphins to come in to the bay, the penguins had gone out fishing all day to collect food for their chicks and the 180 million year old Jurassic petrified forest could only be seen at low tide which we found out by chatting to Judith the volunteer ranger at Porpoise Bay. Such a pity, but we did have a super walk up on the cliffs to find a a rocky outcrop where we could watch the waves crashing up and over creating dramatic spray.
Our accomodation for the next couple of nights was a beautifully quiet and isolated hilltop house with views out across Papatowai Bay which we shared for the first night with four lovely young 'noodles' from China, Taiwan and Malaysia; it was like being young and youth hosteling again.
From here we were very close to many of the interesting features of the Catlins so spent the day exploring locally. First stop was Cathedral Cave which is an amazing 200m long sea cave reached by walking for about 20 minutes downhill through the ancient coastal rainforest, containing 1000 year old trees amonst tropical vegetation. The cave can only be entered at low tide and even then you have to time it right to dodge the incoming waves and clamber over the entrance rocks.
We had so much fun we went round twice, each time just narrowly avoiding a soaking. The Catlin coastline is just wonderful with enormous sweeping bays and expansive sandy beaches with no one on them, only the wind blowing the sand seaward.
We had our lunch down on one beach and were totally surprised to see a pony and trap come racing past us.
We walked round a strange lake with lots of unusual vegetation that we don't see back home, climbed up to a hillside waterfall through forests and ended up on our local beach at Papatowai which is also a wide river estuary. We wandered along the beach to a spot called Picnic Point and lay down on the huge sone slabs to take a rest and soak up some long overdue warm sunshine and watch the variable oyster catchers.
I had a fright this morning when I opened the car door and a small bird flew out straight past me; oops, I had left the window slightly open. Fortunately there was not too much poop on the upholstery! This morning the scenery changed from looking like green and hilly Austria/Switzerland to open wide river valleys as we continued eastwards to Nugget Point. This was a picture-postcard headland complete with lighthouse, wildlife and a lovely walk.
We climbed to the top to find royal spoonbills nesting on a rocky ledge, and lots of fur seals below us in the sea, basking on the rocks or playing in rockpools left by the tide. We have really loved this part of New Zealand and don't relish getting back on to busy roads or crowded streets. There was just one more peaceful picnic lunch to be had - albeit with a patient seagull in attendance - plus it was very hot and sunny, before we reached Dunedin.
