It’s been a bit of a challenge to get our blog entries posted, mostly due to the fact we’ve been driving around the South Island and our internet access has not been as consistent as I‘d hoped…….anyway, here’s a quick recap of where we’ve been: We flew into Queenstown on the South Island from Auckland and were so impressed with the view as we came in. The South Island is very “alpine” in appearance, with gorgeous mountains, lakes and trees everywhere. Of course, it’s Autumn down here in the southern hemisphere so the air is crisp and clean, and the countryside is dotted with beautiful trees blazing with fall color. Really a strange experience for us to see in April!! After picking up our car at the Queenstown airport, we drove straight away to one of the “must do” activities in the area, a high speed boat trip along the river. Shotover Jets were the original jet boat tour operators in the area and they have a really great reputation, so we went with them. Wow, what an experience!!! We all piled up in the back seat of the boat, and off we went. Talk about an adrenaline rush…..man, we shot up and down that river like nobody’s business!! The whole trip took about a half an hour and was worth every penny. We also really lucked out (or, as we were corrected by a local we should be saying “got lucky with”, since to them, to say you lucked out means you didn’t have any luck at all) with our accomodations in Queenstown. We rented a HUGE two bedroom apartment that was absolutely gorgeous with an exceptional view of the lake. This was one time we really wished we were staying longer than one night in one place! Ah, but the itinerary called, so we packed up the next morning and headed to Te Anau, a town just a couple of hours down the road where we would be embarking on our overnight cruise on Milford Sound, as well as visit the Te Anau Glow Worm Caves. The town itself is small and cute, situated on the shores of Lake Te Anau. We stayed at the Lakeside Motel and the plan was to stay there the first night and the third night, with the second night being our overnight cruise on the Sound. The managers of the Lakeside Motel were nice enough to allow us to leave our car there the second night, which helped a lot! Both the Glow Worm excursion and the overnight cruise on Milford Sound were operated by a company called “Real Journeys”, which is a pretty large tour operator in New Zealand. I have to say, they run a really nice program and were impressed with every part of both excursions we went on. The Glow Worm caves were really cool……to visit them, we took a catamaran boat across the lake to a way station on the other side that leads to the entrance of the cave. After a short orientation, you walk down a short trail to the cave entrance and once inside, you walk along an elevated walkway along an underground river which leads to the cavern where the glow worms are. The walkway is lit up in just the right places so you get a really nice view of the inside of the caves - kind of reminded me of Carlsbad Caverns, but with a river rushing by below you!! At the end of the walkway, you get into a small boat with the guide, who pulls the boat along a rope - in the dark, mind you - to the cavern. Once there, you look up and begin to pick out hundreds of what appear to be blue pinpoints of light on the ceiling, kind of like small led lights. From what we were told, the glow worms are actually the larval stage of a small fly that only lives for a few days. The worms live on the top of the cave and spin out mucous strings that have a bioluminescent chemical in them to attract bugs which the worms eat. So basically, they look like hundreds of pale blue lights hanging from the room of the cave - pretty cool!! The next day the Real Journeys bus picked us up around noon for a three hour drive up to the wharf on Milford Sound, where we would catch our boat for the overnight tour. The drive up there was truly spectacular and probably some of the most magnificent scenery we’ve ever seen. It’s one of those experiences which I’m sure lots of you have had where you’re driving through gorgeous scenery thinking the views can’t get any better and they just do!! After the bus dropped us off at the terminal, we boarded the Milford Mariner for our overnight cruise. There were probably about 45 passengers on board, which is a kind of a low number (good for us!) due to the fact it’s getting late in the season. We had a great little cabin with two single beds (drag) and a small bathroom. After leaving the dock, we visited a beautiful waterfall and then anchored where we had the option of doing some kayaking or go out on a smaller boat for a guided nature tour. Of course, Jim and I jumped at the chance to get in the kayaks, which is one of our favorite things to do! It was such a peaceful and calm bay to paddle around on and I’d guess we were out there for 45 minutes or so before the sun started to dip below the mountains. Only later did I find out that they have seen sharks in this bay before - YIKES!!! Anyway……we had a really tasty dinner on the ship followed by an informative talk by the naturalist on board about what we could expect the next day when the ship headed out to the Tasman Sea. We were warned that with the weather being fairly changeable, it could either be a nice calm day or pretty darn windy and stormy……hmmm……than goodness neither of us are prone to seasickness!
Good fortune won out, though, and the next morning broke clear and sunny. We sailed out to the Tasman Sea and were rewarded with breathtaking views out over the open ocean and the opening to Milford Sound. It really is hard to find the right adjectives to describe how lovely the fiord lands are, as they call it, but just picture immense, sheer mountains plunging into emerald green water and you start to get the idea. It was definitely an experience we’ll never forget.
So that brings us up to the present for the most part. After returning from the cruise, we spent another night in Te Anau and then left this morning to continue our drive down the coast. We stopped for lunch in Bluff, a small fishing town on a peninsula that is renowned for the oysters and blue cod that is harvested in the area, so we enjoyed a little of both. Jim was really the only one in the group who is a connoisseur of oysters and he said they were some of the best he’s ever had. Sharon, Tina and I each tried one but were not very turned on by the taste or texture. Oh well…..at least we enjoyed the fish & chips! Tonight we’re staying in a cabin in a town called Waikava, a very remote stretch of coastline known as the Catlins. It’s been on and off windy and rainy today but we’re keeping our fingers crossed that the weather will improve tomorrow for some serious beachcombing!!!
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