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Published: November 13th 2011
Wednesday 9th November
Awoke to another grey day which meant that any stunning scenery there may have been was hidden by the low cloud! Anyway, the countryside started off with rolling hills a bit like Scotland and then the road became a bit more hilly, like Cornwall and then flattened out across the agricultural plain like Spain and then became a bit more wild as we got nearer Te Anau. Occasionally we caught sight of snow on the mountain tops but the sun didn’t really start to break the clouds up until late afternoon. We reached Te Anau about 1.30am ( 330 kms & 5hrs drive) and booked into the campsite in town (Kiwi) before going to book our trip to Milford Sound (Trips and Tramps) tomorrow, and the Glow worm Caves (Real Journeys) for today.
Had a 2hr tramp along the lake and back, stopping to have a look at the wildlife centre which houses injured birds and also the very rare Takahe. There were only 50 or so birds living in fjiordland when they were rediscovered in 1948 (previously thought to be extinct), rising to 200 birds in total left in the world in 1999. Also saw a pair
of Tui feeding on the nectar of the yellow flowering tree.
Got the catamaran at 5.45pm for our boat trip to the Glow worm caves, across Lake Te Anau and fiordland and took some dramatic photos as the cloud was breaking up and the sun coming through! Only a half hour trip before we landed, disembarked and were divided into smaller groups of 12 and led through a narrow walkway into the cave passageway, crouching to get through the first bit. The grilled walkway into the caves was above a raging torrent of water, crashing down through the cave, creating a waterfall and whirlpools of water. The noise was deafening so we just followed our guide in silence as he pointed out the various points of interest including the glow worms!
We then reached a point where we boarded another small boat, and all the lights in the cave were turned off as we made our way to the main glow worm cave. It was like looking at a starry night only all the stars were green! Definitely worth seeing! Our steps were retraced for the return journey and we were treated to a free tea/coffee before a presentation about
the takahe and glow- worms, and then a nature walk around the moss beech forest and onto the small beach before getting the boat back to Te Anau by 8.00pm. (330kms)
Thursday 10th November
When Chris said it was a clear blue sky I didn’t believe him...until I went across to the showers and saw frost on the cars! Walked down to the lake and marvelled at the snow capped mountains and the lake before meeting our guide and mini-bus at 8.00am. He was also acting as postman to the houses up in Milford Sound so we had a few slight detours but stopped at Lake Gunn to take pictures of the mirrored mountains and the rainbow trout. Beautiful drive, through beech trees and sometimes following a turquoise blue river, across Knobs flat, which is where the glacier passed through creating round mounds, and then onto the tunnel! The tunnel is one way but is not lit very well and at the other end you have to drive down a Pass for a couple for kilometres, which is quite twisty with no barriers!!
Reached Milford Sound in time to catch the 10.30am boat for the two and a half
hour nature cruise. Milford Sound is totally awesome! Created by glaciers, granite mountains, partially covered in trees rise at 90 degrees out of the water, with waterfalls cascading down all around as the snow melts. We were immediately greeted by a pod of about 25 bottle-nose dolphins who raced over to the boat and swam alongside for a while, leaping and riding the bow wave! Totally amazing! We also saw loads of penguins (crested ones I think?) swimming and diving and one on the rocks. We cruised out to the Tasman Sea to the lighthouse at St Annes Point before turning back and cruising the other side of the Sound (which is actually a fiord – and I still don’t know the difference!!) Spotted a whole bunch of fur seals sunbathing and hanging around on a rock.
Off the boat at about 1.00pm ish, and our guide drove us back through the tunnel, where we stopped for 10 minutes or so to see recent avalanche snow, where there were also a pair of Kea (NZ mountain parrots). Then on to the start of our 2 ½ hour hike to Key Summit at 918 metres high. It started off quite gently,
but after the waterfall it became a little bit steeper and the last part was a series of zig zags which took us, in about 1 hour, to the summit. Excellent 360 degree views of the snow topped mountains (snow melting fast!!) and a view down into the rainforest valley. This is the only place in the world where you can see the start of the valleys of 3 rivers which flow in 3 directions to 3 different coasts (East,South,West) of a single country. There was also a short nature walk at the top which took you across peat bogs and old beech trees covered in lichen. Very pretty.
Filled our water bottles from the spring water that was running off the mountain, and made our way back down to meet the guide. Cup of tea and biscuits were waiting for us before we set off on the return journey. Back to Te Anau about 5.30pm ish, fish and chips for tea and a quick phone call to Sue in Auckland, before heading off to Manapouri (20km) to see the lake and catch the sunset! (48km)
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Laura
non-member comment
Scenery is simply stunning and the glow worms sound gorgeous!