Blogs from Te Anau, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania
A day inside Crowded House and then on to Wanaka
Published: May 19th 2012Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Te Anau
May 18th 2012
Yesterday we cruised on Milford Sound and had a fantastic day, rounded off with a great scenic drive back to Te Anau in our "Go Milford" bus. Even as we drove into the Top 10 Holiday Park the weather was starting to take a turn for the worst and looking distinctly gloomy. We have had a good run, 11 sunny days straight since on the road. It is now Sunday 29th April. We are huddled in Crowded House deciding what to do for the day. Last night after getting back from our day of beautiful autumn weather we heard on the radio and saw the TV weather that there was a storm coming thru the central Alps area and that's where we were supposed to be going next. Even got an email from a bloke we ... read more
May 15th 2012
As we had hoped, the day of our trip to Milford Sound dawned fine but very cold. During the night it had rained a little and almost snowed on the mountain across the lake but when we peeped out the curtains of Crowded House before dawn I could see stars and felt quite excited. The "Go Milford" mini bus turned up on time out the front of the Top 10 and we tore ourselves away from the fire in the reception office and jumped on board. Our driver, Rhys (or Reece?) is a veteran of 17 years driving from Te Anau to Milford Sound and soon had us relaxed and enjoying the drive. The drive begins at 200m above sea level in Te Anau town and climbs up to 940m at the Homer Tunnel where you ... read more
April 10th 2012
10th April contd – On to Te Anau We then back tracked to Queenstown and then carried on to Te Anau. Again we followed a winding valley alongside a beautiful lake with yet more mountains. A couple of hours later and we arrived at our motel. Then it was the usual trot around the ‘town’ and down to the lake, while checking out the eating places. Again it is all lovely but food wise expensive so we ended up with a Chinese takeaway – just when you think you have escaped rice! We are staying here for 2 nights as tomorrow we are going to Milford Sound which is another 75 miles up the road but too expensive to stay in. We are actually splashing out on a boat trip on Milford Sound as it is ... read more
April 8th 2012
Fri 6 Apr --------- Happy Easter everybody! Off to Te Anau today for two nights and to Fiordland. The usual lovely journey with beautiful weather. Upon arriving about 12:30pm we got ourselves booked on a trip to the Glowworm Caves (apparently a "must do"). So before this we went to the local cinema (52 seats) to watch a 30 minute film which had also been recommended by the hotel reception. The film was taken by a local helicopter pilot of all the scenery and wildlife and it was very good. Next there was a little bird sanctuary nearby in which they had a very rare New Zealand bird called a Takahe. There are only about 200 left and at the sanctuary they have managed to raise a chick which is doing well. They were thought to ... read more
January 21st 2012
Headed off on the Doubtful Sound trip: bus,boat,bus,boat there and back. Never been on so many boats! Hit our first major snag - went to take a photo of the boat and discovered the camera was missing! Cue: panic. Couldn't find it anywhere. Rae saved the day to a certain extent by buying a disposable one (that they sold on board). But it means there won't be any pics of Doubtful Sound for you to see. The story ended well insofar as the bus driver who had taken us on the first leg found it down the side of my seat - doh!! We got it back on our return to Lake Manapouri wharf. Apparently we saw Fiordland and Doubtful Sound as it should be seen: cloudy,misty,rainy. This'll sound terrible but..............overall I was underwhelmed. It was ... read more
January 20th 2012
Took a couple of pics of Dunedin before leaving this morning. Had a good run to Te Anau,stopping off at Gore for breakfast and at a scenic reserve just outside of Gore called Dolamore Park where we did an hour's bush walk to a viewpoint 300 or so metres up. Bit boring actually after some of the other panoramas we've had EXCEPT for being accosted by a couple of fantails (little birds,a bit like sparrows but with an amazing fan tail - must be the same length as the body). They fluttered around us on the path coming within 2 or 3 feet. I could become a twitcher! Then on to our digs in Te Anau...............an old convent that had been moved (literally) from its location 60 or so miles away. Looks fantastic - Trailfinders have ... read more
January 15th 2012
We left Akaroa on 02/01/2012 but not before we experienced 16 earth tremours in the night. 6 of which rocked the van, the largest being 5.6. No damage in the area fortunately. Headed for Mount Cook and camped near the village almost in the great mountains shadow. Weather was good so we had great views of the snow capped summit. Went on a few walks in the area, to the Hunter glacier and Mueller glacier, the first one was a bit of a hike in 26C heat and a stoney dusty track, great views though. Saw a couple of small avalannches high up. Next we explored Dunedin and the Otago peninsula and hunted fruitlessly for yellow eyed penguins. Next stop was a few days touring round the Catlins, Kaka point Curio bay, Nugget point. It was ... read more
December 17th 2011
17.12.2011 Da Peter einen Great Walk machen wollte, fuhren wir nach Te Anau. Da unser Stadtrundgang schon nach 10min vorbei war (Stadt ist so normal groß), gingen wir auf den Campingplatz am Lake Te Anau. 18.12.2011 Hier trennten sich nun unsere Wege für 4 Tage. Peter versuchte sich (erfolgreich) am Kepler Dreck und Jonas erkundete die Umgebung und frischte den Filmvorrat auf. Ein Fehler von uns war nämlich keine Filme mitzunehmen. 21.12.2011 Die nächsten zwei Tage verbrachten wir in ruhiger, besinnlicher, vorweihnachtlicher Stimmung. Peter verarbeitete seine Eindrücke der Wanderung und Jonas unterstützte ihn mental dabei. 23.12.2011 Wir tätigten die letzten Weihnachtseinkäufe und schmückten unser Tagebuch mit vielen Informationen aus. Außerdem lieferten wir neue Bauelemente für unsern Christbaum. 24.... read more
December 6th 2011
Southbound from Queenstown, we made our way to Te Anau - the gateway to Milford Sound, and Fjordland (or, as the Kiwis spell it, Fiordland - pronunciation of the English language is not the only thing they butcher). Every kilometre of the way is stunningly beautiful. One thing I've discovered is that in NZ, the journey is much better than the destination. That's not to say that the destination isn't amazing, but rather, the trip there is even better. Whatever. I'm just a babbling idiot. Pass the wine.... read more
November 21st 2011
The trip on the steamship Earnslaw included a tour of the Walter Peak High Country Farm – which was very interesting - feeding the lambs, sheep, deer and Alpaca (although they were very aloof and did not seem to want to be friendly to the tourists). There were two lambs that were just the opposite – putting on the cute faces and following people looking for goodies. It may seem a bit too touristy but it was well worth it – there was a sheep shearing demonstration and the shepherd rounding up the sheep with his dog – who was being trained and so added some enjoyment as the shepherd tried to make him do all the right things for the audience. We would recommend this for all ages especially if it is a wet day ... read more
