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Published: April 12th 2012
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With the sights and the exploration for exotic sea creatures behind us we head from the coastal Southland to the mysterious mountains of the Fiordland. The road from Invercargill as with so many of the other routes is lovely and the scenery is breathtaking.
We stop off at the Clifden suspension bridge for lunch and a well needed toilet break. It looks very much like the Clifton suspension bridge in Bristol only smaller, no traffic goes over it any more as it now acts as a war memorial. Back on the road we get to the lake country of the Fiordland, you travel through the mountainous region with the mirror images from the lakes. On our visit in 2006 we did visit this region but only briefly on a day trip from Queenstown.
Our stop for a few days was Te Anau a small tourist stop off on the way to Milford Sound (the scene of our visit in 2006). We decided against going there again and instead we were going to explore Te Anau and the lake. We had already planned to spend the nights in the nearly free DOC (department of conservation) camp-sites of which there are
many in the south island. We headed for Henry Creek to camp up.
When we got there we paid our $10 for the night and parked up a stone's throw from the beautiful lake. After tea and a bit of skimming stones on the lake we took in the superb views that were ahead of us. These lakes are unlike anything you have seen in size they just go on and on. We weren't sure how many people were going to camp at these DOC sites so we were on the look out for fellow campers. As the evening drew in site was nearly full with around 12 other campers. With no lights just the moonlight it was a prefect evening. Elaine made a friend, in a bird one we later found out was called a Tomtit. He was very friendly and tame. After the previous hitch hiker (mouse) we were cautious not to get too friendly with the bird.
After a peaceful night's sleep we were going to head into Te Anau to explore the lake. Just as we were about to leave a car load of Japanese tourist came to see the lake. Lucky for us
they did as when we tried to start up Scrappy he didn't seem to want to move. Elaine was about to give it a good push to jump start him when the Japanese tourists offered to give a helping hand. With the four of them and Elaine it took no time for Scrappy to get going.
We breakfasted on the banks of the lake in Te Anau with the friendly ducks, watching the trampers (walkers) head off to the other side of the lake on the lake water taxi. After a quick wash and clean in the toilets with hot water we were ready for the day ahead. We headed just south of Te Anau and camped at Queen's Reach which is supposedly a more basic camp than Henry Creek but was similar really and was free! We settled in as the morning mists cleared to reveal a beautiful, hot day with indescribable vistas on all sides. We took an avo hike back down to the control lakes across the lake near town where a lot of the walking tracks start and had lunch overlooking the valley below. We loved it around there and hope to do more explorations
in the future particularly on the big walking tracks up past Milford Sound.
The next day we were in need of a good shower and went to the public one in Te Anau where the nice bloke running it only charged us $5 for the two of us (should be have been ten!). All spick and span it was time to head westwards to pick up the main road to Queenstown where we were going to spend Easter. It was the busiest route so far as it is the only way to get from Invercargill to Queenstown because of all the mountains and national parks in the middle. It was nice to go back to where we had spent some of our 1
st trip to NZ on honeymoon (all those years ago!) and fantastic to be able to drive past and view the start of Lake Wakatipu which is the main lake in Queenstown and runs for all of 64km. We followed the windy lake road around and finally came back to the Remarkables but this time that were denuded of the snow mantle that was so familiar the last time we were here. Queenstown was packed and many
a dollar was being made as we saw countless paragliders coming down Queenstown Hill and everyone getting kitted up for the jet boat trips. We headed west of town to our next DOC stop off at 12 Mile Delta where we stayed for four nights and enjoyed brilliant walks and the convenience to drop into town whenever we wanted.
The job hunt continued at the library and afterwards we tried our hand at Frisbee Golf in the gardens which was very difficult but good fun. Anna, of course, won as she was an old hand at it (having played once before!) but I have to keep the driver in good spirits don't I?! On the Saturday we strolled back down memory lane by going up Queenstown Hill again. It was so different this time in warm sunshine and blooming trees that I almost didn't recognise how to get up to the summit. This time Anna came too as there was no ice and we were able to take the whole landscape in together after visiting the dream basin which is the awesome art structure up there.
As Kate & Pete were holidaying in nearby Wanaka we met up
with them in Arrowtown which is an old gold mining settlement once inhabited by Chinese miners. We had fun seeing Pete trying to dry out the 4x4 he'd hired for off-roading as he had submerged it whilst going over 12 of the 22 rivers on the route (Kate was not impressed!). It was lovely to see them and the kids; as were also heading to Wanaka we were able to see Kate again on Easter Monday for lunch at Diamond Lake after Scrappy had done an awesome drive over the Cardrona mountain range to get us to Wanaka on the Sunday. We stayed in a normal camp-site for much needed stocking up, cleaning and general charging of electrical items! From there we have headed to Glacier Country and more adventures to be had.......
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