New Zealand Adventure: Between Tramps South Island 2011

O.K. so due to my...er forgetfulness, Scott and I had an extra day to spend in Queenstown before we were due to drive the 4-5 hours to Milford Sound. Our first thoughts when we settled in at the backpackers was to figure out what we wanted to do with this shiny free day. Sadly, the wine tasting that we decided on was not possible because it would be Easter Friday and in NZ you cannot sell alcohol on Easter Friday. Our next choice was to do some adventure activity such as hang gliding, parasailing, or sky diving (having already gone bungy jumping on a previous trip to Queenstown). Unfortunately, these activities ran well into the hundreds of dollars and we were on kind of a tight budget, so we went for our third choice which was visiting nearby Lake Wanaka.

Lovely scenic lookout over a valley with autumn colours on the way to Lake Wanaka.

We did not actually go the "scenic route" because it was steep, winding up and down switchbacks and the van started to smell like smoke after we reached the lookout, so we went back down to the normal route.

Which was still pretty scenic.

This is the Kawarau Bridge that we bungy jumped off of 4 years ago!

Wine territory.

Lake Dunstan.

We started with a scenic drive, then had an awesome lunch at a cafe in Lake Wanaka. We had actually also already been to Lake Wanaka on our honeymoon NZ driving tour, and had had a fun time at their premiere attraction, Puzzling World. Puzzling World is a bit like NZ's version of a Mystery Spot, with optical illusions, a two story maze, puzzles and the like. It also has a really cool psychic's challenge where any would-be psychic can pay $1000 dollars for the opportunity to psychically locate two pieces of a $100,000 note hidden somewhere within 500m of the challenge sign and win the $100,000 prize. The note halves must be located within 10 minutes of the beginning of the challenge. To date only 7 people have attempted the challenge and none have come close. This time we wanted to revisit the maze at Puzzling World and then check out Have a Shot.
Have a Shot is basically a shooting gallery with a few other activities as well. They had .22 bolt action rifle shooting, shotgun clay pigeon shooting, an archery area, a golf driving range, an area called the Battlezone where people shot balls at each other, mini golf, and finally cropool. What the heck is cropool you say? It is a mixture of croquet and pool that has one standing on a giant pool table and knocking croquette balls into the pockets with a mallet. It was fun, but took forever for Scott and me to finish our game because cropool is actually quite difficult. I scratched on the 8 ball, but Scott still conceded the game since he still had about half his balls on the table. We also played a hotly contested game of mini golf which Scott won 79 to 81. We also tried our hand at target shooting with the .22 rifles which was loads of fun. We each had 25 bullets and 3 targets. Scott also scored more points in the rifle range (all 25's and 50's), but I was pretty stoked to hit the target with all of my shots (and only one 10).

View of the lake from the upstairs area of the cafe we ate lunch at in Lake Wanaka.

Scott had some awesome risotto and I had delicious wood fired pizza with chorizo and a hot lemon, honey and ginger drink. Mmmmmm!

The upstairs area was really cool and I was surprised it was not nearly as crowded as downstairs.

It was also apparently the home of a local radio station and although no one was there on the holiday, the prerecorded music was a really cool eclectic mix of jazzy pop.

Targets from Have a Shot rifle range. Scott's are on the left and mine are on the right.
Scott's percentage of bullseyes was in the 70s and mine was in the 60s I think.

Me playing cropool with the battlefield in the background.

Scott was blue and I was red. The yellow ball was the cue and the black the 8-ball.

Then it was back to Queenstown to the backpackers to cook some steaks for dinner in the communal kitchen. The steaks were seared to perfection by Scott and accompanied by a huge plate of zucchini, onions, and tomatoes as well as some tortellini. On the way back into town, I had noticed that some of the outdoor diners at the restaurants appeared to have alcoholic beverages, so after dinner at the hostel we headed into town for a nightcap.
We ended up wandering over to "The Bunker" which is a well known upscale restaurant that is fashioned as a WWII bunker I think and is extremely small and cozy with about 8 tables. We had tried to eat there on our honeymoon trip, but it was booked up. This time we noticed that they had added an upstairs bar area and function room which appeared to be open. We sidled up the stairs and tentatively ordered some drinks (a Manhattan for Scott and a Hemingway Daiquiri for me). The bartender subtly suggested that we also take a look at the bar food menu since it was the holiday, so we took his hint and later ordered some bread and dips so the restaurant would not get into trouble. We snagged a table for two outside, but quickly had to move to some couches under the awning when it began to sprinkle. Then some people left and we moved to the premiere seats at a table with a gas fire in the middle! It was at this table that we had our bread and a second round of fantastic drinks (a Tom Collins for Scott and an Aviator for me). After the second round we called it a night and headed back to the hostel knowing that we had a bit of a long drive ahead of us the next day.

On the way back to Queenstown we stopped at a scenic creek called "Roaring Meg". There used to be a natural stone bridge that got you a short leap away from crossing it.

Now it is a small hydroelectric plant.

Automaton Scott.

Laid back Scott.

Scott has gotten really good at taking photos of the two of us together. We call them "Long Arms McGee" photos because we are strange and my arms are not long enough to take them.

Scott enjoying his Manhattan at the fire pit table. There was also fantastic jazz playing in the background.

Me with my Hemingway Daiquiri.

An example of the interior art at the Southern Laughter Backpackers Hostel.

The following morning we were up an out of Queenstown by about 9:30am with a quick stop at the local Alpine Grocery to pick up some provisions for dinner (risotto with chorizo) at the holiday park lodge in Milford Sound. Now as the crow flies, Queenstown is not that far from Milford Sound, but road wise it is about a 4-5 hour drive via Te Anau.

The drive along Lake Wakatipu was beautiful as this glacial lake (that Queenstown is on) is nestled in the mountains. Then you pass the tip of the lake and are in farmland with mountains in the background until you reach Te Anau on Lake Te Anau at the edge of the Fiordlands and more rugged mountains.

One lane bridge out of Queenstown.

Lake Wakatipu.

Windfarm on a ridge.

We stopped for a bite at "The Moose" which is one of Te Anau's iconic bar and grills that highlights the near Bigfootesque legend of the Fiordland moose. The story goes that moose (as well as deer and rabbits) were brought into the Fiordland by the Europeans for hunting back in the day. There are still wild deer about, but it is generally held that the moose were hunted to extinction in the Fiordlands. Even so, there are moose believers that still feel that there are moose in the Fiordlands and go on expeditions to bring back proof the moose are still around. They are currently working on some DNA technology to try to prove if fur found in the Fiordlands is moose fur. I am a believer since the Fiordlands are vast and extremely rugged. There have been numerous planes lost in the Fiordlands without a trace because the trees are so thick and the ravines so deep and the location so remote. If planes can be lost in the Fiordlands, I have little doubt that a few smart moose can hide from humans in it. Scott, however, is a skeptic in the moose department.
Anyways, in addition to grabbing a bite, we also visited the local DOC office which did in fact have our lost toiletry and medication bag, hurrah! Thank you to the kind individual who brought that out of McKellar Hut for us! Then it was back on the road for Milford Sound. Now again, we had previously been to Milford Sound on our honeymoon trip, but had missed out on going on a cruise of the sound which was what we had planned for the next day. Having not been to Milford Sound in 4 years, I recalled very little traffic on the road so foolishly bet Scott that we would pass no more than 20 cars on the way there. Scott thought that the number would be closer to 35. Well, long story short, I stopped counting at 100 cars. Apparently, Milford Sound is a bit more popular 4 years later.

This is a tasty non-alcoholic green apple cider found in NZ. I particularly like the bit about cat anatomy in the description.

Lake Te Anau.

"The Moose"

More Lake Te Anau. We did not know it at the time, but we would be scaling the wee triangular peak in the middle (Mt. Luxmore) on our Kepler Track tramp.

On our way to Milford Sound.

Can you spot the other Juicy camper van in line for the tunnel (it has a 15 minute traffic signal cycle)? We also discovered on this leg of the journey that it is customary to wave at other Juicy vans you pass them on the roadway.

I do have to comment that the road to Milford Sound is one of the most fantastic stretches of road that I have ever been on complete with campsites with amazing views, fantastic side hikes, and a tunnel, not to mention a bunch of one lane bridges. Since the weather was a bit marginal, so we opted out of the side trips this time and headed straight to the Milford Lodge.
The Milford Lodge is the ONLY accommodation for non-residents in Milford Sound (and by residents I mean seasonal workers, as I am almost positive there are no permanent residents). It is not actually on the Sound proper, but about 5 minutes up the road. There are camper van sites, self-contained cabins, hostel rooms, and swanky chalets. The campers, cabiners, and hostel lodgers all share a common lounge, kitchen, dining room, bathroom facilities and laundry facilities.
We arrived, checked it (thank goodness we had a booking because they were nearly booked up for the night), parked in our site a stone's throw from the lodge, were enjoying the view and then got set upon by sandflies and had to flee inside the lodge. Back inside we noted that they had board games for loan and I convinced Scott to play Scrabble with me. It was a very close game and I think that he was winning until I was able to play "squeegeed". Afterwards it was about time for dinner, so Scott headed into the kitchen and I read my book. Then we feasted on enormous quantities of delicious risotto and were going to hang out a bit longer in the common room until the children found the piano. It did not take too much cacophony for us to decide to retire to the camper van. This was made slightly more attractive by the fact that we actually had a DVD player in our little van and they had movies for rent at the front desk. We chose "Madagascar" which neither of us had seen before and which turned out to be quite a cute movie, albeit slightly uncomfortable to watch in the back of the van.

The Milford Lodge.

Our "campsite".

The common room.

Hallway to kitchen and dining room. Teeny communal kitchen is on the right.

After returning the movie in the morning, we packed up again and headed the 5 minutes down the road to Milford Sound proper. We had a little time before our cruise, so we wandered down a waterside trail and then had a Lemon Lime and Bitters at the Blue Duck Cafe (the only place to eat in Milford Sound and not to be confused with the Fat Duck Cafe which is a very expensive restaurant in Te Anau) before strolling over to the docks. There we obtained our boarding passes and our pre-purchased tickets for the Underwater Encounter. As we boarded the boat, my easygoing and anticipatory mood was somewhat tainted when they forced us to pose for a picture. Now I have to give some context to this. Scott and I mainly abhor forced photographs and very rarely purchase them. This dislike is to the extent that we almost got in trouble with security at the Sears Tower once when we bypassed the photo in front of the tower backdrop before you get on the elevator. Anyways, knowing that we were NOT going to purchase this photograph, I gave Scott bunny ears...and the photographer basically flipped out on me. First she told me to put my hand down, which I completely ignored, then she told me that we looked like idiots! I did not feel that this was a very good strategy to get us to buy the photograph. I mean, maybe it was our "thing" to give each other bunny ears in photographs at special places! Grumble! Next time I will politely decline the photograph and tell them that it is my deep spiritual belief that the camera will steal my soul. Hopefully that will be less of a hassle!

Milford Sound at low tide.

The docks.

The cruise vessel.

Fortunately, the crabbiness of the photographer was soon forgotten as we headed out into the absolutely spectacular Milford Sound. Amazing, beautiful, incredible, breath-taking, these words are really not enough, and really the photos do it sadly little justice. If you have not been, go. To compliment the wonderful sights was a tour guide with a very dry sense of humor that Scott and I really appreciated. At one point he said that the bow of the boat was about to go under the waterfall, and the people in the bow would likely get wet, but not to worry because the doors to the bow had been locked to that no one else would get drenched. The people in the bow already were kind of like "Haha, wait, what?" He also said things like the top viewing deck could get quite blustery and blow small items overboard like hats, scarves, and small children. With that he was only sort of joking as it did in fact get very windy up top!

Photos from inside were lame! So we finally wised up and went up to the viewing deck.

If the Sound appears rather narrow, that is because it is! It is surprisingly deep however, and the boat could get right close to the "shore" because the steep mountain sides continue below the water at the same angle. That is the awesomeness of a fiord (which is what Milford Sound really is), although even more awesome in Norway where they are fjords.