20 February 2015 Glenorchy to Te Anau, New Zealand
We packed our stuff into the car again and went back to Queenstown, where we signed up for a jet boat trip. I was a little unsure about paying £65 each to go on a boat, no matter how fast, but it was brilliant fun. These jet boats take fourteen people and, with 700hp of engine power, blast through the narrow Shotover Canyon, sliding sideways in water only inches deep, just inches from rock faces, with the occasional 360 degree spin thrown in. The whole thing lasted 30 minutes or so and was well worth the money.
Having had our adrenaline rush, we drove for a couple of hours to The Village Inn, Te Anau ready to go sea kayaking in Milford Sound tomorrow. The motel is very pleasant and has an interesting façade above all the rooms, which mimics an old gold mining town.
21 February 2015 Te Anau, New Zealand
I must admit to groaning when the alarm clock went off at 0515. The kayaking company picked us up at 0550 and we had a two hour trip to Milford Sound – mostly in the dark. We were soon kitted out with wicking long johns, shirts, fleeces and spray jackets. Getting dressed was challenging with clouds of the infamous Western Sand-flies swirling around us, searching with their malevolent eyes for an unprotected bit of skin to pounce on. My insect repellent spray was used liberally.
We had a minor bit of instruction on how to paddle and how get out of the kayak if capsized, then we were sent out onto the water. The weather was much better than we’d expected and, while it was very overcast, it didn't rain until the last 30 minutes of the four hour tour. Milford Sound is impressive with steep sided granite hills coming down to the water, but it looked very gloomy with the low cloud.
We were lucky enough to spot a pair of Fiordland Crested Penguins. The current population is only between 2500 and 3000 breeding pairs and has been in decline since the 1950s. We also saw quite a few New Zealand Fur Seals, which were nearly driven to extinction until they were protected in the 1970s. Before the arrival of humans a population of about 2 million Fur Seals inhabited New Zealand. They were taken as food by Maori, and the onset of European sealing for meat and pelts in the 1700s and 1800s nearly wiped them out. There are now over 200,000 in Australia and New Zealand.
By the end of the four hour paddle, our legs had seized up and it took a few minutes to get life back into them. Getting changed out of our wet clothes was again challenging with even more clouds of the damn sand-flies.
On the way back to Te Anau, the guide stopped off at some interesting places and at one car park we finally got to see a Kea. This is a large species of parrot found in the forested and alpine regions of the South Island. About 48 cm long, it’s mostly olive-green with a brilliant orange under its wings and has a large, curved, grey-brown upper beak. The Kea is the world's only alpine parrot. They are very curious and have become used to humans, visiting tourist car parks and begging for food. In some places they actually cause damage to cars by peeling off rubber from around windscreens.
22 February 2015 Te Anau to Dunedin, New Zealand
We spent most of the day driving 300 kilometres from Te Anau to Dunedin. We stopped off in the town centre, which was crowded with tourists. A large cruise ship was in the harbour and had discharged 2000 people onto the streets. Dunedin was originally settled by people from Scotland and much of the culture has a Scottish flavour – there was a Scottish pipe band competition in progress in the main town square.
After wandering around a while, then picking up some groceries, we drove onto the Otago Penisula to our bach (holiday home). It’s a very nice place with a stunning view over the bay out of a picture window.
23 February 2015 Dunedin, New Zealand
The weather was overcast with drizzle in the morning, so we chilled out reading and staring out of the picture window across the bay – it was nice to have a rest day.
In the afternoon, we went to the Royal Albatross Centre where there are about one hundred Royal Albatrosses in residence – twenty couples are currently raising chicks and the rest are juveniles looking for mates. It was exciting to see Albatrosses flying overhead and the compulsory £20 tour was very informative, but I was very disappointed that the only view of the nesting Albatrosses was from a totally enclosed glass windowed hide – a long way from the nests. Not quite the close experience that we had in the Galapagos.
24 February 2015 Dunedin, New Zealand
It was a nice day, so we went visiting a few beaches, where we were hoping to see some wildlife a bit closer than yesterday. Our first stop was at the Okia Reserve. The one kilometre walk to Victory Beach was pleasant – we climbed a small hill called the Pyramid and then followed a pretty track through wet lands.
We were very lucky because we walked 100 metres along the beach and came across a Yellow Eyed Penguin resting on its trek to the sea from its nest somewhere in the sand dunes. These penguins are one of the rarest penguins, with only 2,000 breeding pairs in the world. Most are found further south in sub-Antarctic Auckland and Campbell Islands, however around 500 pairs breed on New Zealand's South Island. The one that we saw had an injured leg, so I hope that it survives.
Further along Victory Beach, we came across a few groups of Hooker Sea Lions, which are another endangered species. They are very large and, at the moment, it’s the breeding season so the males are a little tetchy, so we kept well clear of them – apparently they run very fast over short distances.
After a couple of hours wandering around this area, we drove to Allan’s Beach, where there was some very photogenic Kelp swirling in the water. As I was scrambling over the slippery rocks, I very nearly stood on a Sea Lion hidden amongst the sea weed, which could have been interesting…
25 February 2015 Dunedin, New Zealand
We were out of the door at seven o’clock, driving 90 kilometres up to Middlemarch to cycle one section of the Otago Central Rail Trail. Our bikes were hired from Trail Journeys who were very efficient, issuing us with a pair of good quality mountain bikes and transporting us up to Waipiata. The drive up to the drop off point seemed to be a long way and it was with more than a little trepidation that we started the 52 kilometre ride back to Middlemarch.
Following the success of the Otago gold rushes in the 1860s, the Central Otago railroad was built to help farmers get their stock and produce to market in Dunedin. However, it took 42 years before New Zealand’s longest branch railway line reached its final destination at Cromwell in 1921. The railway became uneconomic as road transport became more efficient and the rail track was ripped up in the 1980s and 152 km was converted to a bike track in the 1990s.
The first half of our trip from Waipiata to Hyde was very nice, passing through gorges, over bridges and through a long tunnel. It was slightly downhill for the most part, but at times, it was tough going on hard packed gravel.
The second half from Hyde to Middlemarch was horrific because we had a 25 knot wind, gusting 35 knots directly against us. The route follows the bottom of a wide glacial valley and there are some very, very long straight sections. The damn wind was so strong that some gusts were blowing us sideways and our speed dropped to a crawl – it was literally faster to walk (which we did quite a bit.)
The last ten kilometres in particular was arrow straight and totally demoralising. We had a few group screaming sessions, slipping into the vernacular and telling the wind to “go away” - we were very, very lucky to get to the end of it without a divorce. After 5½ hours of hard slog, I think that we’ve learned that a 52 km bike ride on a gravel track is a little bit too much for us.
26 February 2015 Dunedin to Kurow, New Zealand
Yesterday took its toll on us, but we managed to drag ourselves out of bed , pack and leave the bach by ten o’clock. To leave the peninsula, we drove along High Cliff Road, which is a brilliant, twisty road with some great views down both sides of the Peninsula.
After a couple of hours drive north, we stopped off at the Meraki Boulders which are an interesting bit of geology. They’re large, two metre spherical rocks, which are formed over millions of years by a process called concretion, which is similar to the way that a pearl is formed, with a small nucleus. The rocks in Meraki are not unique, but they are unusually large and it is rare to find so many together in one place. They look like some giant’s marbles cast across the beach.
We arrived at Macgregor Farm Stay in the late afternoon. This is a working sheep farm with over 2,000 animals, but they also do B&B. We stayed in their old sheep shearers’ quarters, which were basic, but fine for one night. Despite have had a power cut for most of the day, the landlady produced a marvellous meal of venison, beef and vegetables for over fifteen people.
27 February 2015 Kurow to Twizle, New Zealand
After a huge breakfast at the farm stay, we went horse riding. The owner, Peter only has four horses, so there was just Glenys, me and Anna who is working at the Farm Stay. It was an interesting horse ride along river beds climbing high into the surrounding hills.
It was very hard work for the horses, stumbling among the big rocks and boulders, so we only had a couple of canters. Nevertheless, it was challenging just staying in the saddle while the horses climbed up and down the steep river banks.
We were totally knackered after three hours riding, but it only took an hour to drive to Twizle, where we have rented a bach for four nights. It’s a large house with three bedrooms and we’re renting it for only £65 per day – not bad.
28 February 2015 Twizle, New Zealand
We had a very late start and didn’t get out of the house until half past ten. It took us 45 minutes to drive to the Mount Cook National Park, where we were hoping to do a hike, but the weather in the mountains was horrible – overcast with rain and high winds. Instead, we went to the visitor centre where they have some interesting exhibits about the history of mountaineering in the area.
Mount Cook is only 3,800 metres high, but the very changeable weather & technical routes make it very difficult and not a mountain to be taken lightly – nearly 200 people have died while climbing it. We decided not to try and went home to read a book and chill out.
David and Katrina from “Laragh” arrived in Twizle this afternoon and are staying with us for a couple of nights – we polished off a few bottles of wine catching up on our respective adventures.
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