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On 14 July we headed to Te Anau. This is a small town on a 65 Km long lake. Apparently the lake has the largest volume of water in Australasia (or so Doug the tour guide said). It is the last town before Milford Sound and so survives due to tourism. We woke on the morning of the 15th and thought we would just look around and take a few walks, but a check of the weather over the next few days made us bring our Milford Sound trip forward...so at short notice we took off. Jane wanted me to stop for photos on the 120 km trip (which takes 2 hrs), but given our late start I didn’t want to stop. There was was prediction of snowfall to 700 metres from late afternoon and as the highest point of the Pass is just under 1000 metres above sea level, I didn’t want to be caught. The plan was to get there quick, have a boat ride up the Sound, take some photos then get in the car and get home ASAP. At the highest point of the pass you have to go through a tunnel. It goes straight through the Mountain and is 1.2 kms long and allows traffic only one way. We arrived at Milford just before 1:30pm and booked on a boat for a 1pm departure (all going to plan so far). We had a relaxing 2 hour cruise up the Sound and looked out onto the Tasman Sea...yelled hello to Australia somewhere across the Ditch and then cruised back to the dock. Milford Sound is really a Fiord (not a Sound) carved out by Glaciers and has sheer cliffs all around. There were literally dozens of waterfalls and the scenery was spectacular. We got back to the car at just after 3pm and got to the tunnel as snow started falling. The lights were red and so we had to wait for traffic coming from the opposite direction. We had been told that Kea’s (alpine Parrots) frequent the Pass at these stopping points looking for food (we’d been warned not to feed them). They are reported to have the intelligence of a 5 year old child and work out ways to dismantle things. They love ripping things to bits, including car aerials and pulling the valves out of your tyres. There is a high incidence of lead poisoning in the Kea population as they like eating the bits of lead off the tyre rims used for for balancing the wheel. We’d seen one sitting on the side of the road as we were going into Milford, but none while we waited to go through the tunnel on the way back (maybe they didn’t like snow). My meticulous timing and planning paid off...got there and back, had a ride up the Sound and a avoided the snow. Only downside (for Jane) was no photo opportunities on the way...or back
We had booked to go to Doubtful Sound the following day (Tuesday (16th July). Doubtful is not accessible by private vehicle so you have to go on a organised tour. This means a 20 minute bus ride to Manapouri, then get on a boat and take a 45 min ride across Lake Manapouri, then get on another bus and travel 50 minutes to the Sound through forest on an old Hydro track. The boat trip up the Sound was 3 hrs, so most of the day is travel time getting there and back again. I noted that all the bus drivers are of retirement age and have an ability to give running commentary and spin a yarn. This got me thinking that with my impeccable driving, my ability to talk (a lot) and having perfected the art of embellishment, I too could be bus driver/tour guide. The only flaw in that plan is that I’m not keen on people and I have a tendency to get sleepy when driving.
The trip through the forest to Doubtful Sound provided great scenery. Once again we got told about our Australian Brush Tailed Possum destroying the habitat for native birds by stealing their nesting hollows and chowing down on the same food supplies. One tour guide referred to them as speed bumps. Apart from the odd rabbit the only road kill you see is possums (bit like Tasmania). There was very little commentary from the drivers on the way back (I think they only have enough stories and lame “dad jokes” for one leg of the journey). The main highlight was someone farted on the bus (I think an Italian kid in front of us). it was thick and chewy.
Well folks as the title of this blog says, this will be my last for this trip. Today 18 July we drove back to Queenstown as we will fly back to Tassie tomorrow (Queenstown, Melbourne then Hobart). Wanting something close to airport and affordable in Queenstown for one night I booked a room in what turned out to be run by greenies, hippies or combination of both. While the room is clean and comfortable, it has no TV and many of the features are recycled eg. The room brochure says the curtains are made from ex army blankets. Outside corridors have carpet tiles made from recycled nylon fishing nets and rubber flooring from used car tyres. In the room we have what I describe as mystic art ie. wall hanging made from an old stick and bits of sheep’s wool hanging off it (above bed) and another stick with a feather, a bead and a small copper washer hanging from it. I assume the latter is a poor handmade version of a dream catcher. On our table there a 3 crystals. The room information says, and I quote “We like good vibes so we thought it is a great idea to add some crystals to your room. The usual selection in your room will be amethyst, white quartz and pyrite, a neat selection to purify the mind”. Well with all that, and the yoga lessons on offer, followed by a sauna and massage, I’m sure to sleep well tonight! I’ve added some photos so you know I’m not lying.
Until I next travel, aroha ahah ki a Koe my faithful blog followers.
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