Queenstown to Dunedin

Sunday 29th January

We were slightly disappointed to be leaving our Queenstown accommodation, as we were pretty sure we wouldn't be staying in anywhere as good for the remainder of the trip. On top of that it was raining outside and we needed to pop in to Queenstown to take a couple of photos that we'd neglected to take the previous day. We wandered down past Queenstown Gardens and along the promenade, stopping to admire a rainbow and the departing steamboat that was tooting its horn. From there we continued along the promenade, before turning and getting a snap of Fergburger. It would have been rude not to visit the bakers for breakfast, so we did just that, picking up a Boston cream doughnut for myself, a croissant and jam for my dad and an apple crumble slice for my mum. It was all delicious and was quickly gobbled up before returning to the motel. The car was already packed and ready to go, so we all bundled in and drove out to Lake Hayes, which is a large lake in the suburbs of Queenstown. There was a walk at the lake that circumnavigated the lake shore, so we decided that it would be a good way to burn of the significant amount of calories we had just consumed. The walk took us 2 hours overall and offered beat views of the ranges around. The day had cleared up somewhat, so, despite a chilly breeze, it was a pleasant dry walk. From the lake, we paid another visit to nearby Arrowtown, to use their facilities, have a coffee/beer and grab some lunch from yet another bakery, piling the calories back on that we had just worked off. It was the third or fourth time Charlotte and I had visited the bakery in Arrowtown and we had been appalled by the customer service every time, so if you're ever visiting, do yourself a favour and avoid it. The pies aren't even that good either! We departed Arrowtown well stocked and started the relatively short drive down to the lakeside town of Te Anau ( pronounced arno (something my mum just couldn't get her head round, preferring to repeatedly pronounce it arnoo)). Apart from a stretch of road past Lake Wakatipu called the Devil’s Staircase, the drive was pretty uninspiring and everyone but Charlotte (the driver) dropped off at one point or another. The drive took us about 2 and a half hours and upon arrival, we checked in to our accommodation at the Lakeview Kiwi Holiday Park. Normally, the view from a Hosie hotel room is of an air conditioning unit or a grimy backstreet, so to have one looking straight across a lake towards towering mountains was a nice change. It was inside that was the strange feature of this one though. In order to get to the bathroom, one had to walk past whoever was sleeping in the second bedroom, which incidentally, didn't have a door on it. We just had to wait to see how we got on. In preparation for a busy day to come, we drove in to town and reckoned my mum and dad were in desperate need for a hat to keep the relentless Southern Hemisphere sun off theirs heads. We found a couple in the first shop we entered, which was a relief, so we paid a quick visit to the supermarket to stock up on snacks and headed home. We had leftover chilli for dinner, which, having been frozen, seemed to taste even better than the batch we'd had the day before. We all tried our best to get an early night, as we were due an early start, but for a couple of reasons, it was a struggle. The room was incredibly hot and uncomfortable. The walls were paper thin and we could hear the Chinese people next door shouting at one another in conversation. Finally, we had Darth Vader staying in our room, by which I mean my mum’s snoring, sounds like Darth Vader. It caused some hilarity but we eventually dropped off.

Monday 30th January

Our alarms went off at 5:30, so we did our best to make as much noise early in the morning, as our Chinese neighbours had late the previous night. We fuelled up on some breakfast and were on the road just after our intended departure time of 6:30. We were driving out to Milford Sound, which is a sound on the west coast in Fjordland National Park. Word on the street is it is the most visited tourist attraction in all of New Zealand. Seeing as there is only one road in and out of the sound, the high tourist numbers means it can be a busy road and the sound can get incredibly congested in the summer. On top of this, it's a windy, narrow road and notorious for accidents. To counter all of this, we had booked an early trip on the sound, to avoid the coaches and coaches of Asian tourists that arrive on coaches (believe it or not!) at around midday having driven all the way from Queenstown, around 4 and a half hours away. There were stops we could have made along the route but seeing as we were on a time limit, we drove straight there. We arrived at about half 8, with the start time being 9. We parked up in a car park that was pretty full and contained other kayak companies that were heading out on to the sound. We loitered for a few minutes but quickly decided it was smart to keep moving, as the sandflies were out in force. We'd been told to meet by a large red tractor but 9 o'clock came and went and the tractor was unmanned. We wandered and eventually the guide we were going with found Dad and then we found them. Whilst we waited for 1 more person to join our group of 7, we signed our lives away on the waiver form. Once our group was full, we could start to get dressed into the kit that would keep us warm out on the Milford Sound. This seemed slightly weird to us, seeing as we'd managed to pick one of the very few clear days that Milford Sound has during the year. We went along with it though and donned some incredibly stylish leggings, of which mine seemed to be  absolutely hilarious to some people. After the leggings and thermal top, we popped on out spray skirts, which would secure us to the kayak and keep the sandflies and water from getting in the kayak. After the spray skirt, we put on a waterproof jacket and finally a life jacket. Looking like ducks out for a stroll, it was time to be taught how to kayak. At the risk of sounding slightly big headed, this was a bit unnecessary for Charlotte and myself but it was a good feature for my mum and dad, as they'd never been kayaking before. It was pretty easy and once we were ready, we each had a sit in a kayak so we could get to grips with fitting and removing the spray skirt. Again, it was easy work, so we were ready to board the boat and head out on to the sound. For the trip we'd booked, we were being driven out about 15 km on to the sound by a boat, so we could be dropped off and then we could paddle back to base at our own leisure. Initially, we all sat down in the boat but once we were off and skimming over the water, we all got up, stood out on the deck and took in the views. About halfway along the sound we were treated to a wildlife spectacular that would get David Attenborough excited, when a pod of dolphins were spotted. Apparently, they like following a boats wake, so the boat we were on turned and slowly cruised along the water, creating a small wake, which the Dolphins swam in. Well, they didn't only swim, they were leaping and breaching and giving us and the couple of tourist boats that were on the water a fantastic treat. Charlotte and mum even managed to get a couple of fantastic photos of the dolphins leaping from the water. There's not many times that I let out a spontaneous “WOW!” but the Dolphins were one. When we'd had our fill, we turned back the original way we'd been heading and were dropped off at the spot we were starting from. To save any huge arguments, I went in a boat with Charlotte and mum and dad were together. We paddled around until the guide was ready and then we were given a brief overview of what to expect. As I'd said, Charlotte and I had been kayaking before but only on lakes. This was a different beast, being sea, so the water was more choppier and the currents were stronger. We were shown how to make a “raft” by bringing the kayaks together and holding on to one another's and then we were ready to paddle. 

We had 2 options. The first was paddle down the northern side of the sound, which was in the shade and take in the large Stirling Falls or, we could paddle down the sunny southern side of the sound and admire the numerous temporary waterfalls that had formed after the heavy rain that had occurred the night before. The sunny southern side emerged victorious after a unanimous vote. We all started paddling to the opposite side of the sound and started the slow trip back to the shore. The way we'd seated ourselves in the kayaks meant that I was steering in ours and dad was steering in theirs and it didn't take long to cause issues. Charlotte and I could hear “LEFT, LEFT, LEFT”, followed by”I am turning left”. It was going to be a long morning. We passed a set of waterfalls called the four sisters, named because there is four of them when it's been raining and when we got to the last one, we all went for a paddle underneath it to cool down. Kayaking is hard work and we were all pretty toasty in our winter clothing. About half way back, we all stopped in a sheltered cove so we could shed a few layers and eat some of the food that we'd brought with us. This wasn't exactly easy in kayaks but we all managed to get it done without falling in. Falling in was something that did play in our minds a tiny bit. Thanks to the spray skirts, we were sort of attached to the kayak, so if the kayak flipped over, we would rotate with it and be upside down under the murky water. However, attached to the spray skirts was a pull chord that would release the skirt incase we were unlucky enough to end upside down. We weren't exactly worried about drowning, it was just panicking if it happened. Just incase anyone is reading this and keeping their fingers crossed for the hilarity of the photos of one of our boats capsizing, I'll spoil your fun and tell you now that we both made it back without getting wet. As the morning wore on, we could see the wind picking up in the more exposed areas of the sounds. The breeze was coming from the sea and making ripples and would mean that our journey back would be made slightly easier, as we were going with the wind. This was a bonus as mum and dad were both starting to get a bit tired from the constant paddling, which was understandable on such a long kayak, as even Charlotte and I were starting to feel the effects. Being on the sound gives such a different perspective to just standing back on the shores near the townships. We could appreciate views of huge glaciers that fed a couple of the permanent waterfalls on the sounds and could only stare in awe at the sheer cliffs rising out of the deep, dark waters. Mitre Peak, which is the mountain that features in so many photos of the sound, thanks to it sharp point when viewed at a particular angle, is the second highest peak in the work that rises straight out of the sea, behind only Mauna Kea in Hawaii. From a different angle on the sound, it doesn't have the same conical shape but is still pretty impressive. As we neared the shore, the wind was doing more of the work than our paddles and with the tide high, we manoeuvred ourselves through some submerged grasses and tree trunks before plonking ourselves back on the shore and reacquainting ourselves with dry land. After some grumpy comments out on the water mum and dad seemed pretty happy with their experience and did say they enjoyed themselves, so we were happy too. We peeled ourselves out of all our clothing, covered up for the sandflies and headed in to the township for a coffee. Being Milford, it was slightly more expensive than usual but after 3 hours of sea kayaking, we had no complaints. Freshly stocked up on caffeine, we went for a stroll around the Milford Sound shoreline to appreciate the cliché views and take some photos. The car park we'd taken 20 minutes to park in was rammed full but despite that, the pathways around the sound were quiet and peaceful. Once we were content we'd seen enough, we returned to the car and started off on the road back to Te Anau. We made a couple of stops along the way, the first being a stop called the Chasm. The Chasm was a rock formation that has been eroded over the years by the gushing river running through it. It was good but not as impressive as the entertaining Kea that we bumped in to in the car park. It was looking for some food from any tourist that would give it any, although there were signs saying do not feed them. By the time we returned to the car there was a group of three flying from car to car pestering the tourists but they were a funny bunch. Our second stop was at a place called the mirror lakes. When the lakes are still, they perfectly reflect the mountain range high above them. When we arrived there was a slight breeze, which distorted the mirror image. The lakes were still teeming with bird life though, which made it worth the stop. From the mirror lakes, we steamed home and flopped out after a long, busy day. Rather than eat out, we made do with what he had in (and some bacon we picked up on the way home) and had a delicious fry up. After dinner, we continued with our card game before crashing out.

Tuesday 31st January

We didn't rush out of bed, with more than a couple of us feeling slightly sore from the day before. On top of that, it was pouring with rain. Charlotte and I were particularly excited about breakfast though, as we'd been waiting about 6 months to give it a try. It was a slightly unconventional breakfast at the local pie shop. When Charlotte and I had visited Te Anau back in July, we'd been throughly disappointed to find the local pie shop, Miles’ Better Pies closed for winter. This time round though, it was most certainly open. We packed the car up and headed in to town for what was to be a great feast. We were all starving, so me and my dad had our eyes on 2 pies each and Charlotte could easily have her arm twisted. The order was substantial. Venison, Thai Green Curry, Chicken Bacon and Mushroom, Steak and Pepper, Chicken and Mushroom, Creamy Chicken and 2 apple and blueberry. We found a seat in the back of the shop and got down to business. We had so many pies, there was a couple laughing at us. Although we were laughing at them too because they were sharing one between them, weirdos! Probably tourists! Anyway, by the time we were done eating our $50 worth of pies, we were stuffed to the brim, fit to burst but incredibly satisfied. So satisfied in fact, that, so we had one each, we picked up 2 more apple and blueberry on the way out to have for lunch.

We had a long and, unfortunately, fairly uneventful drive ahead of us round to Dunedin. Normally, the drive to Dunedin would take about 3 hours but we were taking the “scenic route” via Invercargill and Bluff, right at the bottom of the South Island, it would be taking us about 6 hours. We arrived in the dead end town of Bluff at around lunch time and were ready to tuck in to our fruit pies, or at least Charlotte and I were. Bluff is New Zealand’s answer to Land’s End, just less commercialised. There is a sign, paid for by the AA that tell you how far various cities are from the point and that is about it. We posed for some photographs and then headed north to the slightly less dead end town of Invercargill. It's still pretty bleak but just not as bleak as Bluff. There wasn't anything to see in Invercargill but we stopped off at a café for a coffee. As we departed Invercargill, the heavens opened and we drove pretty much the rest of the way to Dunedin in the pouring rain. We checked in to our accommodation at Dunedin Holiday Park and were in agreement that we just couldn't be bothered to face cooking dinner or visiting a restaurant. As a compromise, my mum and myself ventured out in to the rather grotty Dunedin suburb of St.Kilda to find the local takeaway curry shop. We found it and placed our order and were home within an hour of leaving. After the significant pie intake earlier in the day, after the curry we were absolute crammed and I had to have a lie down in order to digest more comfortably. When I felt it was safe to stand we managed to play a few rounds of cards before getting to bed.

James and Charlotte