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Published: October 26th 2011
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It was time to leave the ‘Edinburgh of the South’ to head across to the west coast. This was quite a drive and the weather was horrendous, the whole way Mr Haka was battered by lashing rain and blown around by gale-force winds – but despite this only one thing was on our mind and that was getting to our destination Te Anau so we could get a shower!! Shamefully, it had been nearly a week and getting to the point where you could fry an egg on Tina’s head.
Once we reached Te Anau we washed up and stocked up on some food – salad, it has become our new meal on wheels (it’s about the cheapest thing we can buy out here!). Our plan was to drive to Milford Sound the next day – it is described as the ‘top road trip for sheer scenic wonder’ so we were praying we would wake up to some better weather.
The next morning we woke up in our campsite, or a damp muddy puddle out in the sticks, to sunshine and blue skies – hallelujah!! We set off pretty excited to see if the scenery would stand up to
its billing. Truth be told it was better than we could have expected, and we can definitely say it was some of the best natural sights we’d seen. A lot of Lord of the Rings had been filmed here and you could see why, looking out our camper window we kept expecting to see Gandalf charging past on his horse! As always we have lots of photos that probably don’t do it justice but around every corner were waterfalls pouring from incredible snowy mountains, amazing valleys with the bluest lakes and at the end of the drive you were rewarded with Milford Sound itself which was stunning – an enormous lake with sheer rocky cliffs rising out of the water. Not bad we thought, so we decided it was worthy of a glass of cider in the sun!!
The following day our next stop was Queenstown – the extreme sports capital of the world. On the way up we felt sorry for 3 lost souls at the side of the road with their thumbs up so we decided to pull over and let them hitch their way with us. We were just doing our best to keep our karma
in check as we had become a couple of hitchers back in Denmark. Not sure if this was worth it though because we ended up having to drive around with the windows rolled down for half an hour after they’d got out – some backpackers are pretty smelly!
There are two types of people who come to Queenstown – those who throw themselves off a bridge attached to a bit of elastic and those who come to sample the famous Fergburger. We fell into the second category! We’re not lying when we are saying the highlight of our time here was trying the burger – it was humongous, a letter on the wall from a doctor warned of a previous guy who had dislocated his jaw from munching one! Tina gave it her best shot but she crumbled before the end, meaning ‘burger-boy’ Barnes was only too happy to polish off! We can see now why it’s a rite of passage for travellers to try this burger, who needs a bungy!!
After a couple of days in Queenstown, we made the short drive north to Wanaka. The town is known for being Queenstown’s little brother but all in
all we actually preferred it. We were quite lucky as the ‘Wanakafest’ was on the weekend we arrived so there was lively buzz in the town and it was an absolute scorcher. Even though it’s a laid back small town it had loads to offer – we treated ourselves to a couple of cinema tickets but this wasn’t just your average cinema, it was decked out in couches and a 60’s style car in the corner. We also checked out ‘Puzzling World’, a funky little building filled with illusions which were enough to keep our small brains amused for ages! On top of all this it was also the weekend of the Rugby World Cup Final – the atmosphere in the pub was brilliant as the All Blacks lifted the trophy.
Reluctantly our time had to come to an end in Wanaka – but we decided to take a quick trek up Mount Iron before leaving and enjoy the great view over Wanaka. Anything to try work off the Fergburger from a few days before!! Our timing to leave couldn’t have been better as the weather turned horrendous as we drove back up north. We stopped off to see
the famous Fox Glacier, well what we could actually see! The weather was so bad and had rained for the best part of 24 hours that the glacier was shrouded in a massive mist. It was still pretty impressive though just to see the enormous valley that the glacier had created.
It’s now time to hit the road back up to the North Island, as Mr Haka is due to be handed back in a week’s time …
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Dave Barnes
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Paul the burger king
Guys, it just get's better and better. I know I'm repeating myself but the scenery is absolutely stunning, so much volcanic activity going on by the look of your great photo's. New Zealand is definitely a country I would love to visit. Btw Tina, Betty and I had can attest to Paul's burger eating prowess as we watched awe struck as he demolished a good sized one during his last visit to the States. This was when we were back in Cedar Park, Texas at Chili's Bar and Grill. Most people cut the burger's in half as it's more manageable but not our Paul,,,, it was a matter of pride to eat his "as is". It was scary to watch. Well Tina and Paul, it's Oct 27th and I guess you'll be thinking about hitting the west coast of the States on Nov 1st eh? Long flight from New Zealand but it will be worth it guys. We just can't wait to see the 2 of you in a few weeks time. Take care and stay safe Dad.