NZ: Te Anau to Milford Sound to Mossburn

January 1, 2012

We fell asleep quite early on New Year's Eve, but around 9pm we were woken up by the park ranger.  Ryan had insisted that we could pay in the morning because no one would be checking, so he was the one who had to get up and pay the ranger.  After that we had a great night sleep and didn't get up until almost 9am.

We started our drive to Milford Sound, but quickly realized that in our food crisis the night before we had forgotten to get gas.  We only had 1/3 of a tank left.  The road to Milford Sound is one way in and out, and doesn't have any towns or connecting roads, so we made the reckless decision to continue on and hope that Milford Sound had a gas station.  We knew if we turned around we wouldn't backtrack again, so we would miss out on Milford Sound completely. 

One stop along the way was Mirror Lakes.

While we were there (probably 80km from Milford Sound) we saw a sign saying that there was no gas station in Milford Sound, so yet again we had to make a decision.  The car gage estimated that we could make it, but just to be sure we emptied the fuel from our stove and our jerry can into the tank (much to the amusement of onlookers).

For the rest of the trip there we cringed every time there was an uphill stretch or a slow car in front of us.

Despite our lack of confidence, we decided to stop at The Chasm.  It would appear I didn't actually take any pictures of it though.  I guess I was preoccupied with this:

I swear, he asks me to take these pictures.

Anyways, it wasn't that exciting except that I backed into a little girl by accident with my butt and got the WORST glare I've ever been given.  Also, Ryan took this opportunity to inform me that because he is a well-paid, working professional, he raises my social status.  Supposedly this is confirmed by the fact that if it were up to me we would be living in a van and travelling around Australia (Ryan: "You're welcome").  Hah!  Who's the one who tells him if his shirt is inside out?  Enough said.

Other than the stunning scenery, the last attraction on our way to Milford Sound was the tunnel through a mountain.  We should have recorded how long it was, but my guess is over two kilometres, and it's one way only.  There is a 15 minute wait while the other cars go through, and during that time we watched people get out of their cars to play in the snow on the side of the road.

Eventually we reached Milford Sound.  The only thing I can compare it to was our experience in Skagway, Alaska; the scenery was beautiful but there were only cruise ships, a tourist building, and hundreds of annoying tourists.  Needless to say we basically just used the bathrooms and left.  I'm sure the cruises were nice, but we had already been on an intimate kayak trip through the fiords and had no desire to ruin that memory.

We still hadn't had lunch, so we decided to stop next to a nice waterfall and have a picnic.

We both really wanted to get closer to the waterfall, so we walked a little ways up the side of a mountain to get to it.

My underwater camera paid for itself that day.  We took a few quick snap photo sequences (think action heroes in Germany), ending up with this little gem.  I think you can fill in the before and after, knowing us.

We both agreed that our waterfall picnic was for sure the highlight of the day, but also in the running for the highlight of the trip.  The water was freezing cold, but it was an amazing place.  I'm not sure how many park rules we were violating, but we prefer not to dwell on that.

The rest of the drive back to Te Anau was tense, since we still weren't sure if we had enough gas to make it.  Long story short, we did make it but based on our calculations at the gas station we only had 4 litres of gas left in the tank!  Phew!  Crisis averted!

We continued half an hour further to the Mossburn Country Park, which was our campsite for the night.  It also had a kitchen and showers, but more interestingly it also had lots of random animals wandering around (think peacocks, chickens, alpacas, etc.).  It still had some rustic charm, and best of all there were no flies!  We toasted to an excellent day and a happy New Year (wine: Sauvignon Blanc, Stonleigh, Marlborough, 2011 - yum!)

NZ: Manipouri to Te Anau

December 31, 2011

Our 5am wakeup call was actually a blessing in disguise because we go to see the beautiful morning mist over the lake and the mountains.

On our sleepy drive back to Manipouri we saw tons of eagles and rabbits (many were roadkill), and the sunrise.

Our kayak trip started at 7:20am, so we promptly met our guide Harlan (who was awesome) and boarded our first motor boat of the day.  We were offered tea and coffee as we sped across Lake Manipouri and took in the stunning views.

Once we reached the end of the lake and disembarked, we were instructed to put on our swimsuits, then a special sweater, then a wetsuit, and finally a horrible plastic shirt overtop of everything.  We were dressed for success!

Next, the group boarded a bus for a 40 minute mountain drive to get to Milford Sound (which is actually a fiord, not a sound).  The road was private and not accessible to the public, so the people who use it have permits and pay for all maintenance, making the trip very remote.

After all of that, we were finally able to get into some kayaks.  Coordinating 7 kayaks was quite chaotic, but we figured it out eventually and began our voyage.

Typically the area would be very wet and full of waterfalls and clouds since it's a rainforest, but we were actually there during a warm, dry spell, so it was incredibly sunny and hot without a cloud in the sky.  Since nothing particularly exciting happened I will mostly narrate the rest with picture - which unfortunately didn't turn out great.

Lunch was on the boat.  We packed our own food, but they also provided some hot chicken soup.  Since it was so warm, everyone stripped down to their bathing suits, but we had to leave on the plastic shirt.

By the end of the day we had kayaked 14km.  It didn't feel that far since the pace was nice and slow, but that's what the GPS said.  We only kayaked one way, then the motor boat came and picked us and the kayaks up.  With all of the kayaks safely aboard, we all cooled off with an amazing swim.  For me this was the highlight; I had been dying to get in the water all day!

After a sleepy boat/bus/boat ride back to Manipouri, we drove to Te Anau and had a panic about food.  We weren't sure if anything would be open on New Years Day so we stocked up on groceries.  We weren't happy with the campsite we had picked, so we drove back to our other option: Henry River at Lake Te Anau.  This site was next to the lake and even had a picnic table, so we feasted on pasta and wine.  Happy New Year!

NZ: Invercargill to Manipouri

December 30, 2011

Throughout the very early morning, both Ryan and I were awoken periodically by the sound of sheep and a very strange sounding bird.  We're not sure what it was, but we both had weird dreams about it.  Taking advantage of our gourmet kitchen (and the $38/night charge) we made grilled cheese and tea for breakfast, then used the internet.  This was where we first discovered that our money card actually couldn't be reloaded.

On our way to Manipouri in Fiordland we passed many New Zealand landmarks.  First was Riverton - a very pretty town, and also the oldest on the South Island.  If timing had worked out it would have been great to spend a morning there.  A bit later we saw a fat pig running around on the road.  This was weird in general, but even weirder because it was the only pig we saw all trip.  Next we made a brief stop at Orepuki beach. 

It is also known as gemstone beach, but we forgot to look for gems because Ryan was too busy telling me how a "giant tsunami" came thousands of years ago to bring this rotting wood ashore. 

I'm obviously oversimplifying his explanation, but I'm pretty sure it's a load of crap anyways.  Either way, first he got mad at me for not believing him, but then it became the running joke that everything we saw thereafter was formed by a giant tsunami (seriously, I'm laughing even as I'm writing this).  The other cool part about the beach was the little (dead) blue jellyfish that had washed ashore.  They made a funny popping noise when we stepped on them, tee hee!

Finally, we passed through Tutapere (the sausage capital of New Zealand) before arriving at our campsite on Lake Monowai (50 minutes outside of Manipouri).  The drive was down an 8km dirt road surrounded by streams, mountains, and sheep.  The site, although majorly bug infested, had our first picnic table.  After this a picnic table became a site requirement, since we were sick of eating on the ground. 

We were uncertain if we were supposed to drive to the site since there was a giant boulder in the way, but a bunch of camper vans had somehow managed so we gave it a go.  It's hard to see, but the side with the plants had an intimidating slope for our tiny car.

We quickly pitched our tent to claim our spot (there were only 5 total) and interestingly we saw a campervan from the previous night doing the same thing.  The next morning was our big kayak trip departing from Manipouri, so we wanted to do the drive and find the location ahead of time so nothing would go wrong.  Turns out we needed to factor "sheep crossing" into our travel time.

In Manipouri we got "lost" in the one road town while we were looking for the info centre, but it made us find a short trail we thought would lead to a lookout since it was on Lookout Road.  It didn't.  The trip was still worthwhile because we had an excellent lunch of fresh, local, pan fried blue cod and pizza with beautiful views of Lake Manipouri.  After a short walk on the stony beach we drove back to our campsite to prepare couscous, corn, and beef for dinner. (wine: Stoneleigh Reisling, Marlborough, 2008 - awesome!) 

After dinner we took a short walk down the trail by our campsite which was beautifully green and lush. 

We also saw this mossy thing that looked like a snail.

That night we slept terribly; I dreamt of giant snails and Ryan dreamt of vampires.  It didn't help that it was really cold and there was a gunshot at 3am.  None of this is good with a looming 5am wakeup call!

NZ: Stewart Island to Invercargill

December 29, 2011

After a much needed sleep we were reenergized for our trip to Ulva Island - a small island only a few kilometres away from Stewart Island.  It is federally protected and all land predators have been removed (like rats and possums), so bird life thrives.  The trip was awesome but there were two main highlights in my opinion.  The first was the water taxi experience.  When we showed up at the dock and paid for our trip, we were given hilarious tickets made out of leaves! 

Also, our captain was adorable in his rubber boots and ponytail. 

We forgot our little Ulva Island booklet that we had bought the day before, so we had to re-buy it - which was quite common, said the ticket lady.

The birds themselves were the second highlight, but more specifically the island is home to a MASSIVE breed of pigeon.  The picture doesn't do the size justice, but it was awesome to see. 

There were also some cute little robins that came right up to us.  If we scuffed our feet in the dirt they would come that close to get the bugs (a tip from our taxi driver). 

Of course the bird we were really looking for was the kiwi.  There is one species that isn't nocturnal, so at least we had that going for us, but they are quite rare and timid.  Also, much too late, we found out that Ulva Island only has about 30-40 kiwi birds total on it, whereas Stewart Island actually has about 30 000!  Oops!  We still enjoyed the nice walking trails through the rainforest, and we found a bunch of pine cones which seemed out of place.

We left Ulva Island by noon so we had enough time to pack up camp and eat some last fresh fish and chips before our ferry back to the main land at 3:30pm.

I didn't mention it before, but the ferry only took passengers, not cars.  This had two implications.  First, we had to pack our tent and gear in our backpacks to take over, and also that we had to leave our car in a private parking lot overnight.  When we parked it there the day before the attendant was kind enough to squeeze us in next to a shed.  It was really tight so we had to have her guide us in, and I couldn't open the driver door once we were parked.  In all of the chaos I failed to turn off the headlights, so of course the car was dead when we got back the next day.  Luckily the lady was prepared, and she had her boosting machine all ready for us when we got back.  That could have gone MUCH worse!  In the end it was only about a 20 minute delay.

That night we only drive a short way to where we ended up camping in a deluxe, fancy caravan park in Invercargill.  The brand was "Top 10" and it came equipped with a barbeque, kitchen, TV, internet, hair dryer...the list goes on.  The site itself was on a lawn next to a sheep pasture.  We now look back on this site fondly, though we didn't appreciate it at the time.  We played a board game in the lounge, then fell asleep literally to the sound of sheep. 

NZ: Curio Bay to Stewart Island

December 28, 2011

We were not expecting to have a horrible night sleep because of the wind, but sure enough we had to get up at 2am to tighten the tent and get earplugs from the car.  Things got better after that, but unfortunately we had a 6am wakeup because we had to catch a 9:30am ferry in Bluff, which was over an hour away.

By all measures the ferry to Stewart Island was very rough, but I have some new motion sickness pills that kept me feeling great through it all.  I might even go so far as to say I enjoyed it!  We saw a massive seabird related to the albatross, so that was pretty neat.

Stewart Island is just off the far south west coast of New Zealand and is known for abundant and protected bird life.  It has a small town, a few restaurants, and a grocery store, but that's about it.

The only place to camp was at a hostel (Stewart Island Backpackers), so that's what we did.  It worked out great because we got to use their facilities and we were close to everything we wanted to see.

Napping/reading on the grass at the hostel is what gave me my second sunburn of the trip.  It was also there that we had our first showers of the trip, which was quite exciting at the time.

For lunch we caved and had locally caught fish and chips.  The food was delicious, but when I asked for vinegar they put it right on the chips and when Ryan asked for a plastic fork they said that it cost extra.  So strange!

Since we couldn't just sit around doing nothing all afternoon, we went on a short walk through some beautiful forests to two beaches and the botanic gardens.  I wasn't feeling great so what should have been a short walk turned out to be long and tiresome.

We decided to relax for the rest of the afternoon and play board games in the hostel common room with a bottle of wine.  After dinner at the local hotel we went to the dock and looked for marine life, spotted only fish and coral, and then we went to bed quite early.

NZ: Omaru to Curio Bay

December 27, 2011

By 9am we were packed up, fed, and on the road again. 

We wanted to get to the Morecki Boulders before hoards of tourists showed up, and our 10am arrival time was perfect.  On the short walk to the beach we passed our first little "permanent" tent settlement, or "shanty town" as they will be referred to from now on.  As we later found out, these are the result of freedom camping and probably why it has become illegal in so many areas.

Anyways, the Morecki Boulders were pretty cool.  Ryan thought they were lame until the info board perplexed him.  He always assumes they're wrong, but maybe, just maybe this time they were right!

When the rocks crack open they looked like dinosaur eggs or geodes or something, then some of them made these neat tidal pools.

We had lunch in a cute café in the town of Dunedin, which was full of beautiful old buildings and great smelling restaurants.  This would have been where we saw albatross but we were pressed for time and decided to skip it.  We attempted to buy cheap Christmas chocolates at the Cadbury factory, but they wouldn't even let us in the store without a ticket!

We had heard good things about Nugget Point, our next stop, but no one had told us about the treacherous drive required to get there.  We had a tiny car, but meeting camper vans on a 6km, cliff hugging, dirt road was not fun.  The scenery was beautiful, but I'm not sure it was worth the drive because we only saw a few seals in the distance and no penguins.

At the base of this weird island, very far down from where we were, there were a few New Zealand Fur Seals.  Also, the white dots are a large, rare bird with a fluffy head called the spoonbill.

At this point I'd just like to say that our pictures didn't turn out as well as we had hoped on our entire trip, so most of them really don't do the place justice.  The lighthouse at Nugget point was quite ominous and felt like a scene from a scary movie, but of course we couldn't capture that mood.

I let Ryan take over the driving as we proceeded to Niagara Falls (the New Zealand version).  The pictures in this case are worth a thousand words.

Our resting point for that evening was Curio Bay - home of a petrified forest, yellow-eyed penguins, and Hector's Dolphins.  We were both quite hungry and grumpy, so we feasted on a delicious pasta creation and then headed to the beach. 

The petrified forest was overshadowed by the super cute penguins coming in for the night, and the super annoying tourists blocking their paths.

I debated even including this picture since it made us furious, but I thought you should see it how it was.  Some people were literally standing in a semi-circle around them so they couldn't pass.  That's why we decided to leave early to let the penguins come in peacefully.

Ryan overlooking the petrified forest.

I think I saw a dolphin in the distance too, so it was a great day filled with interesting wildlife.