Its been a long time since I updated my blog, so instead of making a mega-post I'll just gloss over the details of the last two weeks:
After Lake Tekapo we headed back south to Queensland - the self styled "Adventure Capital of the World". This amazing little town sits on the edge of lake Wakatipu and at the foot of some incredible mountains. In between the snow of the peaks and the waters of the lake you can get up to all sorts of fascinating, enthralling, adrenaline pumping sports: skydiving, paragliding, hang gliding, skiing, snowboarding, luging, rock climbing, mountain climbing, tramping, rafting, canoeing, kayaking, jetboating, fishing and swimming, and many more that I'm sure I've missed out on mentioning. Besides all the adrenaline pumping you get some amazing scenery.
The drive into Queenstown is breathtaking to say the least, with scenery ranging from vineyards nestled under cliffs to steep sided gorges and flowing rivers with snowcapped mountains in the distance. Just when you think you've seen the best views yet, you come round a bend and the superlatives keep on piling up as you struggle to describe the beauty before you.
Our adventures in Queenstown took us for an easy stroll along lake Wakatipu towards Frankton where we found some nice plums growing by the side of the road. On our second day in Queenstown we took the easy 500m climb to the summit of 900m Queenstown Hill that offers some great views of the town and surrounding mountains, especially the imposing Ben Lomond (a hard, 8 hour trek to the summit).
Te AnauA two hour bus ride south of Queenstown lies Te Anau, a very small town sitting on the edge of the lake of the same name. Te Anau in and of itself is not much of a destination - people go through Te Anau to get to Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound, and the Kepler Great Walk. There isn't much going on in Te Anau save some nature walks along the banks of the river but due to the torrential rain we didn't have much opportunity to enjoy the vistas, and besides we were really looking forward to our Milford Sound cruise the following day!
Milford Sound
The Milford Sound is quite a misnomer, as this is an actual fjord, as are all the other "sounds" that are to be found in Fjordland National Park - the southwest corner of the South Island and part of the Piopiotahi national park area that extends to cover most of the West Coast of New Zealand.
Our day started at 8:15 am when we were met by our bus driver Simon at the accommodation. As we got out of town and made our way to Milford Simon was full on informative nuggets and could answer all our questions with authority - before taking up his job as a day tour driver he spent 20-odd years working for the DOC in Fjordland, so he knows the national park better than most. The 120km road from Te Anau to Milford is described as one of the best Alpine Drives in the world as it takes you from a Mountain Lake up to the snowline, through the mountains, then past more glaciers and down down down a winding valley to sea level, but not before going through an amazing variety of forests depending on the altitude.
Attractions along the way include the Mirror Lakes and plenty of gorges with waterfalls, but the true purpose of the road trip is to get you onto a boat that takes you around the stunning environs of Milford Sound.
This steep sided Fjord was missed on several occasions by Captain Cook as its mouth is so narrow - it was only discovered by Europeans when a whaler took shelter in the "cove" and discovered that it went on, and on, and on for about 15km! Though a sunny day would have made the views better, the rain we were experiencing while on the water helped to turn on the waterworks: there are only two permanent waterfalls in Milford Sound, the rest are all temporary cascades created by the rainfall, so the more it pours, the more you can admire.
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