Blogs from Te Anau, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 19

HI EVERYBODY HOPE YOU ARE ALL WELL, SORRY I HAVE BEEN LATE IN SENDING AN UPDATE OF MY BLOG ITS BEEN REALY BUSY DOWN HERE, HARD WORK ENJOYING YOURSELF! WHILE IN TE ANAU FOR MY SECOND TIME ME AND BEN HAVE BEEN WALKING ALMOST EVERYDAY, WEL IT SEEMED LIKE IT. bEEN DOING LOTS OF DAY WALKS ALONGSIDE SOME OF THE MAJOR AND VERY FAMOUS HIKES SOME LASTING 3 TO 4 DAYS. THE ROUTEBURN WAS A HIKE WHICH LASTED THREE DAYS A TWO NIGHTS CAMPING. THE WEATHER WAS A MAJOR FACTOR WITH THIS ONE. THE FIRST DAY WAS AN ABSOULUTE WASHOUT! IT RAINED MOST OF THE DAY, THE VIEWS WERE CRAP TO SAY THE LEAST, HOWEVER EARLAND WATERFALL WAS PUMPING HAD TO ALMOST WALK UNDER IT.(CHECK OUT PIC) THE SECOND AND THIRD DAY WERE GREAT ONLY ... read more

Awoke and opened the curtains to find the surrounding mountain peaks covered in a layer of very picturesque snow. We attempted to do a lakeside walk around some of Lake Te Anau but the rain forced us to go only as far as the bird park which features some caged local birds such as kea (mischievous alpine parrots) and more impressively Takahe which are weird looking birds that emit a sad noise in keeping with their threat of extinction. Lazed away the afternoon before bumping into the Canadian couple at a local bar for an amiable chat (luckily hitting on happy hour). ... read more

Hello from the Westcoast... actually we're already on the eastcoast, but when you travel every day it's really hard to update the travelblog regularly. So I hope you don't mind that we publish maybe 3 topics in a row. So we went to Manapouri, just 20km south of Te Anau. There is also a lake called Lake Manapouri, which we crossed on the way to Doubtful Sound. Most people go to the probably more popular Milford Sound, but we thought we go to more beautiful one (that's what locals told us). We arrived in Manapouri in the late afternoon - and looked at the content of our food bag and seeing the seemingly lack of a supermarket, worried us a little bit. We found a pretty run down gas station with a kind of (Tante Emma ... read more

Took there morning trip to Mavora Lakes about 80km out from Te Anau. It was cold at first but heated up fast enough, the guide Gunthar commented on how calm it was, but no frost :)... The lakes were super smooth! Then we went in to the Von Valley. Really cool glacial carved valley that looked kinda like some places in the States, just soo flat on the valley floor. Got to see Hawks gliding around looking for lunch...! Then we went across a farm to Princher Hut and the Takitimu Mtns. Lots of cool mosses on the ground that where really deep, like 10cm+ deep!! The place was soo green! Then back to Te Anau... ... read more

When you're traveling abroad, in backpacker type of trip, you are often on the move. Either we are hiking or driving to our next destination. Even on a rest day, you often find yourself trying to get a little bit of sightseeing. That is probably what made laundry day so weird. Suddenly we were in one place, Te-Anau it was, with only one objective - doing our laundry. Apart from that no short walks, no attractions, no nothing. Just eating and sleeping. We had so much time, we even baked some bread. Maybe it's not so extraordinary, but in our intense way of traveling, it was a blessed change of pace, before once again going out kayaking, cruising or hiking. In retrospect, an important day. Otherwise, I would have probably run out of underwear. ... read more