Te Anau is the base for those who want to see, in the main, Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound. The former is on everyone's to do  list and the latter has a devoted and growing following. Now that the world economy has been kind of ok for a few years, that most price elastic of services, travel, is benefiting. It is also school holidays. That all translates to people and pressure on the availability of accommodation and tables in the restaurants and cafes.

Last night we thought a bowl of spaghetti would go down well, so we identified the local Italian joint and on arrival find a queue out the door. We are not good at queues so we drive a short distance to the centre of the shopping strip and walk. We found another place that advertised pizza and went in. Well, at least the queue was inside the premises. One of the reasons there was a queue is the habit of backpackers to order and pay individually. But it all worked out and we ordered and eventually received our meals, which were quite acceptable. Although, like food everywhere in the Shaky Isles, it was not at all cheap. The two young waitresses happened to be German so Liz had a little chat to them about this and that. Like Australia, New Zealand's hospitality industry would collapse if it was not for international backpackers on working holidays.

Come the morning we hit the road, heading for Arrowtown. It wasn't far, about 180 kms, so we were looking forward to the opportunity to stop and look at things. However, it soon became apparent that away from the east coast, villages and towns are far apart; and aside from another pretty mountain and more waterfalls than you can poke a stick at, there is not much to see or do, unless you are into adventure sports, which includes hiking. But like, three day hikes! So we just did our driving and decided to go straight to Arrowtown, check in and have lunch before driving back the 20 odd kms to have a look at Queenstown.

We were delight with our accommodation. It is very quaint, very pretty and very period, but refurbished to a good modern standard. We then drive the two minutes to the town centre and are once again delighted by the picturesque main street. This is an old gold mining town, which also has a Chinese village built at the time of the rush in the 1860's. The street is now a tourist trap, but quite a classy one. We also had lunch in one of the cafes and were quite content with the experience.

Ok, off to Queenstown. This place has a huge reputation and so is also on everyone's list. Well, perhaps the youngsters like it. The lake and waterfront are pretty, but the rest of the town is, in my eyes, pretty ordinary. It is a tourist trap without class, although there are some shops that definitely cater only to the well-heeled. We walked up and down the shopping streets, going in here and there and I think we came away empty handed. Perhaps because we had made our purchases in Arrowtown; but then again, we didn't see the same attractive merchandise in the Queenstown shops.

Feeling a little let down we retraced our path to Arrowtown where we relaxed for a while before walking back to the main street for dinner. That was a rather disappointing affair on all counts. Finding a decent meal in New Zealand at a decent price is very difficult; and we also discovered that on a public holiday there is a 15% surcharge. In Australia, if they charge it, it is only 10%.

Well rugged up against the evening chill, we walked back to Settlers Cottages and agreed that all considered, Arrowtown is still a rather pleasant place, with its period features and position nestled between the mountains.

Something I have not really mentioned is the autumn colours. They are quite spectacular and we will take some photos tomorrow.

The drive to Milford takes a bit under two hours and is a foretaste of what is to come. The road passes between high mountains of beauty and spectacle, with quite a number of waterfalls. Some of these are fed by snow, others by the recent rains. An interesting feature of the drive is the rather rustic tunnel that pierces through the solid rock, and the switch back descent the other side. 

We had a snack for lunch at the Blue Duck, the only noshery in 120 kms. They know how to charge.

Once on the boat we were awed by the scenery. Sheer cliffs plunging into the water and a myriad of waterfalls lacing their silver ways down the sides of these structures which reared towards the blue sky with white clouds. We also got to see some seals but were disappointed not to see dolphins.

The cruise was two hours and fifteen minutes and was worth it.

We stopped a number of times on the way back to Te Anau to take photos but the light was already dimming at 4.00pm. At 45 degrees South this was not surprising.

A long day, but a spectacular one.

Tomorrow we drive to Queenstown. We are told it gets even better!!

 The morning got off to a leisurely start, cruising the Main Street of Invercargill looking for a place to have breakfast. The Global Byte Cafe was open and it looked attractive, so in we went. Again, like Dunedin, a tasty breakfast at a good price. Satisfied and content, we asked the waitress where Hayes Hardware was, as that is the home of the Burt Munro Museum. Happily, it was right next door!

Hayes Hardware is a store to gladden the heart of any real man and, even better, it has a collection of old bikes - in various stages of repair and restoration - plus a few classic cars, that are the icing on the cake. Pride of place, however, is reserved for The World's Fastest Indian, the 1920's machine made famous in the movie of the same name. It was owned and ridden by Burt Munro (Herbert James to his parents)  who held many motorcycle speed records on that bike, and some others, notably Velocettes. It is a story laden with inspiration and not a little emotion. To a sensitive biker like me, I actually felt swells of emotion as I looked over the various exhibits. 

I lashed out the nearly $50 for the book of Munro's life and we then decided to shoot up the road (at a legal 50kph - man I can walk faster than that) to the Southland Art Gallery, where there is also a Burt Munro exhibition. It is tiny, but we were able to get right up to his 'practice' Indian. Just wonderful to see how he put it all together. It looks like a load of nuts and bolts, but under all that it was/is a thoroughbred speed machine. An enjoyable start to our day.


Time to head for Te Anau, which would be our base for two nights. Again we decided upon the scenic route, which took us roughly along the coast, where we stopped here and and there for photos. Looming up were great, craggy mountains, the kind of for which we had been hanging out, those which to our mind epitomise the South Island. No snow, which seemed a little odd, given the mountains on the east coast were snow-capped. Still, we snaked our way through, with the Getz at times labouring along at about 45kph. Fortunately there was no traffic behind to embarrass us!


We stopped in Tuatapere for lunch, a tasty cheese sandwich; and then continued our path between the mountains to Te Anau, arriving there at about 2.30pm We were quite keen to do something New Zealand-ish, so decided to walk a short part of Kepler's Track, as far as Dock Bay. A short drive to the parking lot and over the sluice gates, we were into a forest. Dank, impossibly green with ferns, moss and lichen. Old trees had fallen over everywhere and rotted in situ, with fungus and other mushrooms sprouting from them. It was positively primeval. Liz said it was spooky. I assured her that there were no trolls and no snakes, but she did not seem reassured!


A little over 35 minutes later we were on the beach at Dock Bay. We sat on the sand to rest and absorb the view and the silence; and then a boat came and beached a short distance away. The folk sorted themselves out while we pondered what it was they were up to. As it turned out, water skiing! We watched several of the girls - for girls they were - doing proficient water starts and enjoyed this unexpected entertainment.


We then trekked back up the trail and returned to our unit, quite satisfied with our little hiking excursion.


Dinner was rump steak, preceded by delicious French Onion soup, all helped down with a reasonable bottle of New Zealand Cab/Merlot. All in all a good day. 


Tomorrow we are going to Milford Sound and hoping that the booking for our cruise has gone through. Should be good!




 

After a great dinner and a good sleep we greeted the morning with enthusiasm, albeit only after 9 am! We walked down the road to Nova Café. Lovely food, good service and reasonably priced. The day is off to a good start.

Checking out, we were very soon heading out of town - on a freeway! We were surprised, but, when it ended a short while later at Mosgiel, we concluded that Mosgiel must be a dormitory town for Dunedin. Although back to single lane, the countryside was much more attractive, with loads of sheep and quite a few cows as well. Without time pressure on us, we started taking turns as the whim took us, and we decided to visit the Parukanui Falls. These are a short walk off the road, through dense rain forest. The light was obscured in many places by the dense tree canopy and then pleasantly dappled here and there with sunlight. Liz slipped on a wet stair edge but was ok. OK, she was annoyed!  The falls are not high but are pretty. On the way back, we were quite taken with a hollowed out tree which was still growing out the top; and some birds that were calling strongly to each other.

Back at the car we decided to proceed along the road to wherever it took us. Good move. We found ourselves traveling along the coast where we took the opportunities to stop and take photos of the rather spectacular views. A lady chatted to us at one place and her New Zealand accent was so broad I had to really concentrate to understand some of her words!

We stopped at McLeans Falls for a pleasant lunch and proceeding down the road took another left turn. We should have turned right. Still, the drive to Curio Bay took us past the very pretty Waikawa Inlet and another wedding!

We retraced our path some twenty kilometres and then drove the remaining hour to Invercargill through the undulating countryside as the sky became darker. 

Invercargill is a small town. Five kilometres out from our motel we were still in the rural areas. The streets are very wide and, perhaps being Sunday, very little traffic was about. In regional New Zealand shops are closed on Sundays, as are many restaurants. There is not much choice here and we found a Thai place with unremarkable fare at a dear price. It would seem that food and petrol are very costly here, compared to Australia. 

Invercargill has one famous son. They made a very good movie about him, and he is why we have come to the southernmost city in New Zealand. Tomorrow we will visit his museum and see a replica of that Indian. After that Te Anau and Milford Sound.

To bed, struggling with the Nexus tablet more than I did in America. Liz has offered her iPad so I will try that this evening

hat could be worse than arriving at one's destination in a foreign country on time at 23h55 on a Friday night? It would be arriving two hours later than that. Thanks not one iota, Virgin Australia, your excellent imitation of Qantas was infuriating. It was cold comfort that we were advised in good time so we waited at home rather than at the airport. 

Then, adding insult to injury, on arrival in Christchurch, our car rental company closed before we got there, notwithstanding we had called ahead before we left Melbourne. So a taxi was engaged to take us the few kilometres to our hotel, the Airport Gateway. Even at 02h30 in the morning they were polite an efficient, showing us to a new, spacious, comfortable and well thought out room. We slept well and breakfast was OK but with room for improvement.

I shuttled back to the airport to collect the car and let them share my disappointment at having to make a return trip to the airport. They calmed me down with the waiver of the $40 airport levy! Out to the carpark to find we have a little, and I mean little, Hyundai Getz. It has a most unflattering Registration plate: DUH68. I am late already and as I am renting the car and not buying it, I just keep on going back to the hotel.

The two suitcases just fit into the back and we get directions to the nearest shopping mall. Yours truly has forgotten the GPS at home. $150 later that oversight is sorted (I will sell it on eBay) and we are finally on our way.

The drive through Christchurch is fairly humdrum, being in the suburbs. We are very interested to see the city centre when we get back, as much of it was destroyed in the great earthquake of 2011.

It was slow going, as the general speed limit in built up areas is 50 kph and the weekend traffic was out in force. Also, there are no freeways on the South Island. Once clear of the suburbs, we noticed just how many small towns there are along the road to Dunedin. There may be things to see and do but no major tourist draw cards are in evidence. It is fairly flat and the roads straight, but at a point you drive parallel to the mountains in the distance. They are snow-capped and attractive, but I was comparing them, unfairly of course, to the Grand Tetons and the Rockies. 

We stopped for lunch in Ashburton. We should not have. Second mealtime in New Zealand and, considering the prices, this is pretty poor dining.

It was about four and a half hours driving to Dunedin and with the late night and earlyish morning I was not fully alert and too late noticed Mr Plod on the side of the road. He greeted my advance with a display of his lights and he very politely gave me a ticket for $30. It was also the first day of our USA trip when I was pulled over in Washington State. He of course let me go!

Soon after that my accelerator leg cramped. Not the greatest start, but approaching Dunedin the scenery improved dramatically. The city of Dunedin is situated on hills surrounding the harbour. The buildings and houses are handsome and in good repair, many of them Victorian. There are many very grand public buildings and churches and it is altogether a very attractive place.

After a short rest at the hotel we walked around the corner to our selected restaurant to find what might have been every fire engine in the city outside, with hundreds of people in the street. The fire alarm was going and all restaurants in the complex, the Savoy Building, had been evacuated.  We decided to try our luck elsewhere and as we walked around the corner we came across a bride, her groom and all the guests from their reception on the footpath. The fire engine there made a good prop for some wedding photos!

That part of Dunedin has many hostelries and we landed up in Bacchus, apparently the oldest noshery in town. Possibly the most expensive, too, but it was first class!

We enjoyed the short walk back to the hotel, passing the Anglican cathedral and city hall, both remarking that Dunedin is a very pleasant place.

Next stop: Invercargill.