Milford Sound

It's got to be done if you are in this part of the world and it is arguable that it's just got to be done anyway. There are some days when you just need to shut up and take in the world around you. This was one of them and all it leaves me to do is disappear and let you look at some of the images that barely do the place justice.

Content

Taking it Easy

Up this morning rather reluctant to leave Queenstown, we were very impressed with the situation and scenery, but it was goodbye to the wonderful lake and even more wonderful mountains.

Shaking off the mist of the night

Last view of the Remarkables

A shorter drive today over to Te Anau gave us the opportunity to take it easy and stroll by the Lake and get out the paints.

Mt. Titiroa over Lake Te Anau

Mt. Titiroa - watercolour sketch

Last light over Lake Te Anau

In Transit

Another travel day, this time we drive from the rain of Franz Joseph, down the coast, across the Haast Pass to Wanaka then over the Crown Range to a sunny Queenstown.

Last glimpse of Franz Joseph Glacier

The coast varies between flat and uninteresting and spectacular with the odd idiosyncrasy thrown in. Bruce’s Bay was an obvious place to stop in the hope that it might bring the Boys a little luck. Generations of passers by have created a unique sculpture park of small cairns and various pieces of jetsam.

Bruce's Bay 1

Bruce's Bay 2

Having eaten well again the previous evening we had made the decision to breakfast on the way and our chosen venue was South Westland Salmon Farm where the portions of Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict were another strategic error. The length of the journey made it impossible to take the required sleep after the food.

On to the spectacular Knight’s Point, where between avoiding the sand flies we managed to get a few shots to record the visit.

Knight's Point

Mountains various in cloud

Haast Pass is the route that takes one from the coast through the Mount Aspiring National Park over to Wanaka. Visibility varied on the way but tantalising glimpses of crags and peaks through the cloud cover convince that clear weather here must be spectacular.

In this shot Mts. Solution, Ward and Trent are wreathed in the low-lying cloud of the day.

Thunder Falls

Thunder Falls, one of a number of beautiful falls that are to be found as we weave our way through the hanging valleys and gorges that line the route.

Must have liked the look of this it deserves a repeat

Over Haast Pass

Lake Hawea the Lads

Lakes Hawea and Wanaka lie at the end of this leg and by the time we reach there the weather is clearing and visibility improving, they provide lots of jogs to the memory about previous trips to the Rockies and at times it would be easy to imagine that you were travelling along Wastwater.

A pit stop in Wanaka prefaced the journey up the next mountain pass, over the Crown Range, through Cardrona with its very old shack-like hotel and bar and over the top to a view down into Otago and the towns of Arrowtown and Queenstown.

Lake Wanaka

From the top of Crown Range

Central Otago stretches before us

Queenstown, standing on Lake Wakatipu, was to be our home for the night is something to see, gorgeous lake and stunning mountains, one set of which is appropriately named the Remarkables. It was with real delight that we found our accommodation and took in the views that were there for free from the motel site.

View from front gate of Motel

Back along the road
Lake side Queenstown

Strategic Errors

Sometimes we fail to learn the lessons from our slip-ups or mistakes. We’ve consistently failed to learn one lesson on this trip and that is to do with the ordering of food. Invariably as we peruse menus we convince ourselves that it’s okay to add a side or this time try a starter. Foolish us, just as invariably we end up with far too much on the plate. This is a country where food portions are never less than generous and the side order is often the size of a family meal. Chips are a case in point, we’ve yet to see a side order of chips completely eaten anywhere that we have stopped to eat.

Wildfoods are Us

Ostensibly our first stop of the day, at Hokitika, was to try the famed whitebait fritters of the West Coast. Sheila is clearly a faster learner than I am as she declined a plate of food and declared that she would nibble round the edges of mine. Wise woman, a huge plate of food arrived and even with two of us at it food was sent back. Our ‘clean plate’ upbringings are giving us real conscience issues. Interestingly enough, Hokitika calls itself the Wildfood Festival Town and we were to discover more about this later in our trip.

A few miles along the road we arrived in the metropolis of Pukekura (population 2) where there are two buildings, the Bushman’s Centre and the Wild Foods Restaurant. A scrutiny of the menus certainly clarified our thinking as to what constituted wild foods in this part of the world and also the fact that political correctness is yet to permeate this corner of the South Island.

You kill 'em, we grill 'em

The rest of today’s travel was through heavy rain as we made our way to the small village of Franz Joseph. Regardless of the weather that had not yet reached Franz Joseph we were keen to take a walk and view the glacier but as you can guess we had not long been into our stride when the heavens opened. The worst of this was that it limited our view and consequently our photographs are not as clear as we would have liked. We carried on with our walk till we reached a swing bridge that crossed the torrent emerging from the glacier. This provided us with one of the highlights of our trip. Those of you who know Sheila are aware of the fact that various injuries have affected her balance and consequently her confidence when her footing is not perfectly secure but you will also know that she is fighter and she decided after watching me on the swaying swing bridge that she would like to give it a try and off she went. A huge step in restoring confidence out in the countryside.

Glacial run off

Franz Joseph Glacier in distance

Franz Joseph Glacier

Final view before the cloud came all the way down

Sheila steps out

Who's a clever girl then?

Come back, all is forgiven

The celebratory dinner had us back where we started, ordering a starter, garlic bread, we thought just enough to get the juices running and we just ordered the one to share. A more careful investigation might have had us ready for the arrival of one day’s output from Warburton’s, cut through and doused in delicious garlic butter. A further Strategic Error to add to the list.

In Transit

Up early and a half hour Skyping the family got us up to date with the news and ready to move on.

Toady was a travelling day, leaving the vines behind and heading across country to a very different landscape. Our route took us alongside first of all the Wairau then the Buller emerging on the west coast, and then following it down to Greymouth. We had a mixed day as far as weather was concerned, some sun and cloud followed by overcast conditions and rain.

An infestation that turns Beech Trees Black and White!!!

Lake Rotoiti

Our first stop off en route was St. Arnaud to view Lake Rotoiti, reminiscent of our own Lake District.

Buller Gorge

A further stop at Murchison for a coffee and we entered the wonderful scenery that follows the rivers over to the coast, stunning gorges and heavy river flow over gravel beds, perfect for salmonids and what a delight it would be to spend a holiday pitting one’s wits against the large brown trout that lurk in the deep pools that link the current races and rapids.

West Coast 1

Arriving at the west coast our first sight of the sea and the coastal topography occurred a little south of Westport, (not a jig or reel to be heard). The next 100 kilometres were difficult to drive because of the number of occasions that a corner was turned and the view took one’s attention form the job in hand. For those familiar with the road along Big Sur in California you have a good idea of what this is like, artist’s dream. Our only disappointment was the quality of light, by the time we got there the cloud was well down and the rain about to start sprinkling. Consequently the shots here, not having been doctored, are a little lacklustre.

West Coast 2

Our final stop was Punakaiki where the Pancake Rocks and Blow Holes are the attraction. A well-organised pathway takes the walker around the top of the cliffs that show dramatic stratification and erosion, another visual treat heightened by our first view of the penguins that populate this part of the world and the pod of dolphins working close in added an extra frisson to the stop.

Punakaiki 1

Punakaiki 2

Punakaiki 3

Punakaiki 4

More short stops to marvel at the coastal stacks slowed our progress down to our resting place for the evening.

West Coast North of Greymouth

Rest and Recuperation

After yesterday’s exertions in the name of oenological enlightenment, today was a day for less strenuous pursuits. So without any defined plan we headed for the Farmer’s Market that is held every Sunday in town. We were slightly intrigued as the previous day had been Waitangi Day and in these parts that coincided with a local party day called Blues, Booze and BBQs. On our travels we had passed the site at lunchtime and it would be fair to say that the place was really cooking, the best cameo was a couple of guys heading for the site pushing their settee with their provisions on top. I’d loved to have seen them this morning.

Flowers at the Market

The Farmer’s Market was a real social occasion, families out for a few hours, lots of stalls with some very fine produce and speciality items like fruit flavoured olive oils and interesting pies. We acquired a couple of Lamb and Mint pies to have for supper and having just eaten them can testify to their quality and flavour. This is a land full of the finest ingredients and they take their food very seriously.

Clara entertains the Market

We then went for a short drive in search of potential painting locations, there were in fact great locations on every turn in the road, but we found ourselves almost inevitably drawn back to the wineries that are the main feature of the local valley. A couple of spitting stops in the name of location searching and then a short stop with the watercolours to attempt to capture a feel of the buildings at Highfield Estates and Sheila had the very fine notion that we should stop off for lunch at one of the wineries, a short discussion had the car heading for Wither Hills, where we were well catered for.

Road in to the Withers

From Villa Maria Winery

Wither Hills

Highfield Estates

Highfield Estates - watercolour sketch

Our leisurely lunch over we declared the jollies of the day over as we had to prepare for the next stage of our journey in the morning.