After an idyllic time in Lake Tekapo
area where we managed to see Mt Cook in all its glory and walk part
of the Hooker trail over two suspension bridges and scary railings
anchored to a cliff, we left to go to Queenstown – the “Adventure
Capital of New Zealand”. We were travelling on Waitangi day which
is the NZ national day and a major public holiday. We were a little
concerned that the road might be more busy but it was incredibly
quiet. The journey took us only about three hours and we arrived
earlier than we expected.
Because of the early arrival I stopped
at A.J. Hackett's World of Bungy, allegedly the first place at which
lunatics threw themselves off a bridge tied to an elastic band. Sue
thought about trying it (only kidding), so we went in. We did see one
person jumping (or was he pushed?) off the bridge. At least I saw
him, Sue could not even bear to watch. Strange how some people get
their pleasure.
At first sight our hotel was a bit of a
disappointment as it was about 2km outside of the town. This soon
dissipated when we saw the view from our room – direct onto the
lake and the Remarkables (a mountain chain). A bed so large we had to
use a loud hailer to communicate and super plush bathroom were
bonuses. In the afternoon we went on a scenic cruise round the lake
during which Sue chatted to a man from Montana who spends half the
year in NZ as he got sick of shovelling snow. The town was very busy
with lots of young people fuelling up for the evening with boxes of
beer in the park. It wasn't at all threatening but it was clear that
the evening would be rowdy. In case it hasn't twigged with you yet,
Queenstown is where the English Rugby team disgraced themselves
recently. All of a sudden an out of town hotel had its attractions.
If we were thirty years younger though..........
As it was the following morning saw us
heading south towards Te Anau which is as far south as we will go.
Another lovely drive through mountains, lakes and fruit growing
valleys and we arrived at Te Anau ANOTHER lake side town. Where
Queenstown is brash and lively, Te Anau is sleepy and low key. After
booking in to the B&B we sauntered down to the lake and the
temperature soared through the afternoon up to 28 degrees. Smugly I
emailed Sian and Thomas telling them this and pointing out the
contrast with UK weather. Comeuppance was rapid with the first deluge
of the holiday, complete with thunder (no visible lightning). It
continued like this throughout the night.
We were a bit concerned about this as
today was a full day out to Doubtful Sound, and involved two boats
and a coach trip over a gravel road. Luckily the weather had sorted
itself out and we had calm sea (and Sound), no wind and no rain. The
latter was surprising as it rains most days here and the annual
rainfall is between 5 & 8 metres (although a recent year saw 12
metres!). Apparently it has been quite dry for the last few days so
the downside was that the waterfalls were not in full spate. Doubtful
Sound is a fiord created during the last ice age and it is
spectacular. The whole of this area (and I mean virtually the whole
of the Fiordland area is a World Heritage Site and is virgin
rainforest wilderness. During a three hour trip we saw three other
boats and at one point the captain shut down all of the engines and
let the boat drift in total silence, all that could be heard was the
wind and the call of a few birds in the distance. Magical. As the
weather was so calm the captain took us out of the Sound into the
Tasman Sea, apparently these conditions happen only 4 to 5 times per
year, so we were able to see the entrance to the Sound from the
seaward side – Just as James Cook would have done in the 1770s. Not
all was rosy, though, as from time to time those hardy souls on the
upper deck had to wrap up against sea breezes, not a pretty sight!
Tomorrow we are going to drive over to
Milford which has been described as one of the great car journeys in
the world. Whether we go out on Milford Sound will be dependent on
the weather.
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