Day 12 Thursday - Back to Christchurch

Star gazing down at the lakeside last night was superb. We lay on our backs and admired a dark sky full of bright stars - this area is a dark sky reserve where light pollution is banned by law and it makes a big difference.   Whatever constilations we saw they were beautiful and abundant.

Our first visit today was at Mount John Observatory for which you take a steep road that reminded me of Corney Fell (Gary will get this reference 😉).

At the summit it appears a very futuristic landscape with buildings housing powerful telescopes.  The view is a marvelous 360 degree vista of mountains, Mackenzie country and Lake Tekapo and town below.

Next we set off towards Christchurch and much of the drive was through farming country - we took the scenic route which was very quiet and had us counting sheep.

It took about 3.5 hours to get to the city and we dropped our luggage at hotel then returned the hire car.  Close to the airport is the International Antarctic Centre so we visited this for the reminder of the afternoon - and after 2 weeks summer heat we cooled right down as we experienced a simulated Antarctic storm in the snow dome, met husky dogs and penguins, had a ride on an all terrain vehicle around an assault course and saw a cool 4D movie where we got sprayed with water and snowed on!

We had Cantonese for supper, then back to do laundry - need clean clothes for Oz ✈️

Day 11 Wednesday - Tekapo

This morning we headed off from Twizel on highway 8 - soon after leaving town the road hugs the edge of Lake Pukaki with its icy blue water framed by snow capped mountains. It's hard to keep your eyes ahead with such glorious views and we stopped, sat and admired.

The next part of the road was pretty straight and routine apart from a duck family crossing to a creek!

We got to Tekapo after a hour or so and had lunch then a look round town including the tiny Church of the Good Shepherd.

We checked in to our accommodation which is a cabin on the edge of the turquoise Lake Tekapo. It was very hot this afternoon so I decided on a swim... brave idea as it's fed by glaciers ❄️

It was freezing but invigorating! I wasn't the only one - we met Nancy and John from Canada and had good chat.

After showers we headed back to town to visit The Dark Sky Project. It's famous here for star gazing so we learnt about planets and stars and saw their huge telescope.

Tonight we're planning to walk down to the lake at around 11 pm and do some star gazing 💫

Day 10 Tuesday - Twizel

Excitement abounded when we discovered we were getting breakfast at The Hermitage 4 star hotel above the chalets, and we ate plenty with two hikes planned!  Our chalet was quirky and we're glad we spent one night in the national park.

The first tramp was to the Tasmin Glacier Lake and was only half an hour's climb but the heat takes it out of you. The view was rewarding with the icy blue lake surrounded by mountains and a just visible glacier, sadly in retreat.

Next we headed for the Hooker Valley track which is a 'must do'. It's a 10 km alpine walk crossing the Hooker River three times via suspension bridges.

There's views everywhere you look including Mueller Lake.

However as we went onwards the clouds came down with drizzle which cooled us nicely but sadly meant the view at the end of the walk of the iceberg speckled Hooker Lake with mount cook in the background was a bit disappointing compared with the postcards - but that's mountain weather for you!

It took an hour to walk back and we returned to the village for a lovely cuppa with a view before heading out of the national park. The sun came out again and there's panoramic views of lakes and mountains round every corner.

Tonight we're staying in Twizel by Lake Ruataniwha and we have sheep in our back 'garden'.

Day 9 Monday - Mount Cook

This morning we headed for the Diamond Lake conservation area which is 18 km out of Wanaka.  The first part of the walk takes you to dramatic Diamond Lake.

Then the path got much steeper as we headed for the Wanaka view point. It's worth the climb, with a birdseye view of Lake Wanaka, Glendhu Bay and the surrounding mountains.

We headed back through town and spent some time on the shores of the lake before driving to the nearby lavender farm. As well as fields of lavender there were beautiful gardens and a teashop where we had lavender tea and lavender cake - delicious.

The weather today is sunny and about 30 degrees so we were glad of the car's air-con as we started our drive to Twizel via the Lindis Pass - a very empty and scenic road. There's sheep farms and mountains and that's about all.

After around 140 km we reached Twizel and stopped for provisions then it was time to take the road to Mount Cook and we started to get the most incredible views up ahead.

The road to Mount Cook Village is another 64 km from Twizel and it's national park so no buildings, just majestic mountains and jaw dropping scenery.

Mount Cook Village is tiny, just a hotel and some lodges for tourists and hikers.

Our lodge is an A frame style and characterful and we got settled in - and started planning tomorrows tramps.

Day 8 Sunday - Wanaka

Back on the road this morning, and as we headed out of Te Anau we checked out the Vintage Machinery Museum - basically Bob has some sheds crammed full of old cars, bikes, tractors, tools etc. It's like a man cave on steroids - Gary would 💕 it.

There is also the old school house from the days when there were 10 pupils. Bob (who must be about 80) told us when he was a lad some kids who lived further out rode to school on their horses and left them tied up in the paddock!  Speaking of livestock , across the road from the museum we met some lamas.

We motored on to Queenstown where we got more fuel then headed 20 minutes out of town to Arrowtown which is a historic gold rush village - lots of vintage buildings from the 1890s including the ex gold miners cottage where we had lunch.

Next we headed towards Wanaka on the Crown Range Road which is NZ's highest main road at 1121 meters - the first part of the alpine drive is quite challenging and I was concentrating on the road not views, which were limited due to mist. Half way there's the famous Cardona Hotel also dating back to gold mining days.  Apparently in the old days the landlord would allow two drinks to men heading towards Wanaka but only one if travelling to Queenstown!

Indeed the next part of the road was easier and we reached Wanaka in the late afternoon. We were in town briefly on Day 4 but now we'll have more time to explore and we've already visited "That Wanaka Tree".

Day 7 Saturday - Doubtful Sound

When in Fiordland you must visit a fiord - and there's two local (ish) to Te Anau. Our original itinerary had us driving down the famous Milford road for about 3 hours to take a boat trip on Milford Sound. But in early Feb Fiordland had really torrential rain and this whole area, including Te Anau, was in a state of emergency. Tourists were trapped by floods and tree avalanches with one meter of rain in one day - state highway 94 to Milford Sound was washed away in places and is still shut two weeks on.  So plan B was Doubtful Sound, but this isn't a self drive option as it's much more inaccessible - read on...

From Te Anau the first leg is to the edge of nearby Lake Manapouri, about 20 minutes out of Te Anau. Boarding a boat, it's a 50 minute cruise across the lake to take you to the start of the Wilmot pass. This pass was built in the 1960s to service the lake's hydro electric plant and ended up costing 2 dollars per cm and it's 20 km long - the most expensive road in NZ. It crosses the southern alps - beech forest on one side changing to rain forest on the other with a wet, warm climate.  Luckily for us it was a dry day with only light cloud and as you descend the valley you get your first glimpse of Doubtful Sound.

We boarded the Patea Explorer and began our cruise down the 40 kilometre fiord. On either side the mountain have a Jurassic feel with dense tree ferns, moss and lichens and there's beautiful cascading waterfalls - it rains on 200 days a year!

The cruise was unforgettable - the highlight was seeing fur seals basking in the rocks but it was just an amazing place to be - a privilege to visit somewhere so unspoilt and ruggedly beautiful. 

We cruised to the end of the fiord where it meets the Tasmin sea, which can be rough but not today.  I will let the pictures speak for themselves - these were taken on my phone and Bethany will have better ones to do it proper justice.

At one point the engine was turned off and we had two minutes of silence.  Appropriate as it's sometimes called the Sound of Silence.

Big smiles from us - it was a very long day, reversing all the various legs to get back to town, but definitely not to be missed.

Day 6 Friday - Te Anau

After a wonderful Sherwood breakfast (scrambled egg on sourdough and waffles with crème brulé and berries) we headed out of Queenstown for the 100 mile drive to the Fiordland.  For several miles the road clings to the edge of the lake with dramatic mountains above - then it becomes green farmland with lambs scattered in lush countryside.  We also spotted some alpacas and a herd of deer.  After a bit of drizzle during the drive we arrived at Te Anau to blue sky and checked into our accommodation before taking a stroll round the lake.

We visited a bird sanctuary and then had some late lunch and down time before joining a cruise that took us across the lake to the glow worm caves.

The boat ride was lovely in the late afternoon sun and we landed at a wooded area and entered the caves in small groups - we ended up just us with a guide called Vedant and he was very enthusiastic telling us about the formation of caves and the life of glow worms. When it came to taking the boat through the cave, with only two passengers he said we could lie back on the benches and look up to the cave roof to see the tiny strings of light above. With just the lapping of the water against the boat and total darkness apart from the little clusters of light it was a very tranquil experience.  Back on the lake the sun was setting and we were ready to get back to town as tomorrow is going to be a big day.