Unexpected Wonderfulness

This past weekend was Labour Day here, so we had Monday off. As some of you know, we had been planning a backpacking trip to Stewart Island to take advantage of the extra time. However, plans changed on Thursday with an evening spent in the ER. It all began with a small surfing-related rib injury two weeks ago. Still annoying me Wednesday night, I decided to pull out the big guns and asked my wonderful and loving expert physiotherapist partner to "fix me." So, Craig determined that I had a wacky rib and performed some fancy maneuvers to fix it. All is well in the N-Zizzle at this point. However, that turned into all is very very unwell at about 6am the following morning when I awoke, unable to breathe, with horrible rib, chest, back, and shoulder pains. 800 mg's of Ibuprofen, some quick research online about the NZ healthcare system, and one long hour later, both Craig and I were able to fall asleep for a few minutes. Craig went to work and called in sick for me, and I spent the day trying to find comfortable positions. When nothing had improved by the time Craig got home from work, he made the executive decision to head to the ER. Once there, long story short, I was stabbed a few times by the "trainee intern" who ended up ordering a chest xray and every blood test imaginable, and then found nothing. So, it was deemed a "strain, sprain, or virus" and I was sent home with some tylenol and codeine. As a result, we cancelled our backpacking trip but ended up having our best weekend yet. Read on.....
Since we had booked a hotel in Invercargill for Friday night to kick off our backpacking trip and couldn't cancel it, we drove down and stayed. The hotel was surprisingly nice for a town with so little to offer. Saturday morning, after a 15 minute walk around town, we quickly decided to move on and began driving northwest to Te Anau. On the way, we stopped at any cool looking place we saw, including a suspension bridge, Lake Manapouri, Riverton Rocks Beach, and Cosy Nook (a small little fishing town of about 4 houses with amazing ocean views).



Riverton Rocks


Craig at Riverton Rocks


Cozy Nook


Cozy Nook


A few hours later, we arrived in Te Anau, a great, slightly touristy little town on a pretty lake. We had planned to tent camp all weekend but when the weather forecast called for snow, we found a place with little "cabins" instead. These cabins were basically just rooms with bunk beds, a table, and a heater (that's all I cared about). But, it ended up being the biggest hook-up! It turned out there was a full kitchen to use, bathrooms, and showers. It even came complete with a herd of sheep and baby sheep (also known as lambs) which were so cute. Good thing we found that place too because it did get very cold and snowy after dinner. After checking in, we went back into town and decided we had time to do some hiking on the Kepler Track. This track is one of the "Great Walks" in NZ, and takes 3-4 days to complete the entire thing. We chose a 3 hour hike and set out, only to be stopped a half hour later by increasing winds, decreasing temps, and hail. That was the end of that and we headed back to camp. We tried to take advantage of the kitchen facilities for dinner but upon inspection of the directions for cooking our soup, we saw it was supposed to boil for an hour and a half. We were not willing to wait so we headed into town for some Chinese food and then to "The Ranch" for some beer and rugby. The Air New Zealand Cup Final, which is like the Superbowl of Union Rugby in New Zealand, was on TV and we got to see a player with the top of his ear torn off and hanging! It was a fun (and warm) night. Although, in the middle of the night, I woke up to a sound that I thought was Craig either suffocating or snoring very strangely. After a few rounds of the noise, I realized it was actually a sheep baa-ing outside. And the next day, one of them actually said "Moo!"


Cute Little Lambs

In the morning, we went back to the Kepler Track to try again and had better luck. Sunshine and mild temps perfect for hiking. We completed the 3-hour hike to Broad Bay and back, and then decided to do another one in the opposite direction. Both hikes were through some mossy beech forest with Lake Te Anau one way and a river the other. Craig convinced me there was an elusive baby Kiwi bird on the trail ahead and I was very excited until I realized he was pointing to a sparrow. Brat. We hiked for about 5 hours and then hopped in the car for our drive to Milford.


Creek along Kepler Track


Katie Holding her Own and then Some


Beech Forest


Typical Kepler Track Views

The road from Te Anau to Milford Sound through Fiordland National Park is 2 hours of the most beautiful and awesome scenery either of us had ever seen. There are huge, towering mountains all around, with numerous waterfalls seen from the road. There are lakes, forests, and tumbling creeks. There are so many natural wonders to stop and see that we will have to return just to see the stuff along the road. My favorite thing was a good size waterfall (Falls Creek) literally right next to the road, ending in a bright turquoise pool under the bridge we drove over.


Roadside Waterfall

Toward the end of the road, we went through Homer Tunnel. It is a single lane tunnel through the mountain, and the direction of traffic flow is ruled by a traffic signal which changes every 15 minutes. When waiting for a green light, native birds called Kea provide entertainment by landing on the cars, looking for food. They look like giant parrots and are quite demanding. Craig had the window down to take pictures and I thought the Kea was coming in the car! It landed on the roof instead and bent down to stick its beak inside.


Kea

Once through the tunnel, a series of tight hairpin turns led us down the mountain to the only lodge in town, Milford Lodge. The lodge is a great place, completely self-contained, nestled in a little cubby in the mountains on a creek. We checked into a similar "cabin" with 2 single beds and a heater (yay!) and headed down the road toward the sound. We quickly found out people were not exaggerating when they told us there was nothing there but the visitor center and docks. There literally was nothing else there, and that's where the road ends. So, back to the lodge for some spaghetti, a shower, and an early night.

The next morning (Monday), we had a Milford Sound Cruise booked. We walked over to the docks and boarded our boat for the best cruise I have ever been on. The misty rain and low clouds provided an ominous look to the 90 minute tour of Milford Sound. Neither my words or the pictures can do this place justice, but look anyway. The whole time we were on the boat, Craig and I could not stop saying, "This is awesome. This is so cool." All I can say is it was amazing and beautiful. There were probably hundreds of waterfalls tumbling from these gigantic monster mountains rising straight of the water. No foothills here. One waterfall we got to see up close, Stirling Falls, was 146 metres high (about 500 feet and 3 times the height of Niagara Falls). And, at the beginning/end of the tour is Bowen Falls, 160 metres high. We also saw some penguins swimming in the ocean and some seals lying on the rocks. It was the topper of our great weekend and it alone made our time here in New Zealand well worth it.

Legend of Milford Sound Formation


Our Cruise Ship


Stirling Falls on Milford Sound


Fiord Wall


Ominous Milford Scene


Katie in Front of Bowen Falls

A lot more pictures!