Catch Up Post: Te Anau, Milford Sound, and Wanaka 16-20 Feb 2014.

So, I'm never ever going to get caught up at this rate. It's time to merge some of our short term stays into a single too-long post.

Te Anau

After a few days of rain and generally dreary weather in the Catlins, it was terribly exciting to finally find summer in Te Anau. Bill and I agreed that Te Anau is much like Banff -- a little touristy, but definitely catering to the outdoorsy crowd. There were little cafés, outfitters, tour companies, and sports shops throughout the town which centred on the beautiful Lake Te Anau. Flight and boat tours were available everywhere. We didn't do either!

Instead, we laced our hiking boots and completed the first leg of the Kepler Track, one of NZ's "Great Walks". The Great Walks are multi-day hikes throughout the most beautiful and remote parts of the country. They have huts set up along the hikes at which you can stay. Needless to say, with two kids in tow and zero desire to don a 40 pound pack, we weren't about to complete any of the Great Walks! We did have the opportunity, however, to do parts of them.

The first part of the Kepler Track took us along the shore of Lake Te Anau to Brod Bay. The walk was long, but fairly flat. We were a little disappointed to hear the constant roar of boat motors hauling water skiers and tubers around the lake. And of course, we had two complainers along the way, but the reward was a swim in the lake once we arrived. Two mistakes were made: we didn't bring enough water and snacks, a rooky mistake; and, we weren't prepared for sand flies.

 

Sand flies are black flies. I'm assuming they're the same thing. The end result is the same. Hundreds of itchy, bloody bites all over any exposed skin. They ruled the beach at Brod Bay, the devils! Needless to say, our visit was short, much to the boys' chagrin. The path through the woods was much more pleasant, and I couldn't get back to the car fast enough!

We spent the night at an immaculate Holiday Park where we shared a picnic dinner table with a young Dutch family. We compared notes on where we had been and where we were going. They asked what we knew of Holland and assured us they knew all about our mayor, Rob Ford and Justin Bieber. (I knew that would be a problem when we told people we were from Toronto. Kiwis feel we should be quite embarrassed. Nice.)

The next morning we packed up and headed to Fiordland.

Milford Sound

We left Te Anau in the dark the following morning and began the drive to Milford Sound. Milford Sound is the most popular of the fjords in Fiordland. We had booked the Lodge, really the only accommodation, for two nights and had planned to do the boat tour one day and some of yet another Great Walk the next day. Mother Nature had other plans for us.

As the sun came up, shortly after we departed, we realized we were leaving summer behind in Te Anau. Though we didn't have fog, the sky was overcast and was threatening rain. We were still able to appreciate the beautiful scenery and the challenge of yet another ridiculously nerve-wracking NZ drive, but the mood was more threatening than inviting. One highlight was when a kea came to visit the car while we were waiting for passage through a tunnel. You'll see him in the video below. I felt quite privileged to see one of these rare alpine pests/parrots.

We were able to book our Milford Sound tour as soon as we arrived and left almost immediately. Our Dutch friends had advised us to get there before 10 AM to beat the tour buses, and we did. We paid a little extra for a tour with a nature guide, who was very informative. We learned about the plant and animal life while she explained everything we saw, and she roamed around the smallish boat answering questions.

 

The downside was the weather. It began to rain almost immediately. And it was crazy-windy too. Hopefully the video will do it justice. Just imagine sailing in a wind-tunnel -- that was us. Once we hit the Tasman sea, all but a very few of us (Jack and me) retreated inside. The waves were big and powerful and fun. I got a face full of salt water a couple times, and kept my ipad down the front of my pants under layers of sweaters and jackets. I have to admit, it was my favourite part of the trip!

 

After the tour, we went to Milford Lodge to check in (after dodging a bizillion sand flies) and make our lunch -- hot soup! We spent the rest of the long day in the lounge with dozens of disappointed international kayakers and hikers whose plans had been foiled by the weather. They say we received 120mm! At least I got some laundry done! After dinner, we decided to take a 30% loss and get a partial refund on our stay for the next night because the weather wasn't expected to improve. It was worthwhile! We then spent a couple hours playing Pictionary with a couple from Seattle. They were taking a year to travel, and had begun by riding their bikes from Seattle to Florida. Can you say butt blisters?!

So while Milford wasn't all we hoped it would be, the day was an adventure!

Queenstown, Arrowtown, and Wanaka

We found summer again in Queenstown!

 

If you don't know, Queenstown is the adventure capital of NZ. It is where you can bungy (the home of), skydive, jetboat, and participate in virtually any other adrenalin pumping activity humans dare to undertake. The city itself is gorgeous, though very touristy. We decided to have our adventure and find accommodation elsewhere for the night. After being in the country and wilderness for so long, the busy city felt almost claustrophobic. Jack had his heart set on luging, so as quick as we could we found our way to the gondola up the mountain, at the top of which we caught the chairlift to the top of the luge track.

Brody decided he would prefer to ride with me rather than go on his own. We were able to complete the "scenic" route a few times, and attempted the advanced track once. It was so much fun! Again, the ipad didn't take the trip, so I don't have video, but ther e is a quick glimpse of the track in the video below. We all had a great time.

One last thing, we ran into that Dutch family again at the luge track. Just remember that.

When we were done, he jumped back in the car and headed off to Arrowtown for the night.

Arrowtown is an old gold town. Our holiday park was set up like a gold-miners village -- pretty cute. If Queenstown is Niagara Falls (but waaay nicer), Arrowtown is Niagara-on-the-lake. Bill worked the next morning while the boys and I explored the town. I've been reading a book set in NZ during the gold rush (The Luminaries), so I especially enjoyed seeing the Chinese Settlement, the panning lesson, and the sign for the original Pritchard's Pharmacy. Pritchard was the name of the laudanum/opium supplier in my book. Seeing the sign convinced me that the author, Eleanor Catton, based old Hokitika on Arrowtown. (I was especially convinced after we saw the real Hokitika a few days later -- so disappointing!)

So I enjoyed the literary connection and the boys found gold, and it was another great day!

Our next stop was Wanaka. Wanaka is a really cute town on a gorgeous Blue lake surrounded by mountains. We checked in to our holiday park as soon as we arrived, and guess who was there: the Dutch family! Yes, it was getting weird. I remembered that I told them I had done a lot of research when making our plans and booking our accommodations, so they asked a lot of questions and decided to ride on our coat tails, I guess. Whatever.

The boys were happy to see both a trampoline and a swimming pool at this park, so they kept themselves busy while Bill and I worked on dinner. It was nice to let them go off on their own for a bit. We all needed a little space after so much car time!

 

The next day I took the boys to Puzzling World. What a hoot! I've never seen a maze quite like the one there. It was massive and made of wooden panels with towers on each of the four corners. There was a second level consisting of stairways and bridges. The signs said there was 1.5 km of path, but most people walked around 5 km in completing the maze. We decided to take the challenge route and find the four towers in a specific order. Brody and I teamed up and completed it in about 1.5 hours ( in the blazing hot sun)! It was surprisingly fun!

Later, we picked up Bill and went to the beach. It was glorious to cool off in the clear blue water. Ahhhh... Nice. Then, I hit my head by walking into a tree and got a bloody forehead. A sign of future mishaps.

We had another night in Wanaka, but I would have gladly stayed longer. It was a really friendly, easy to navigate town.

After packing up and a quick return trip to the beach, we set off again for Fox Glacier.

But that's another story!