We decided to go for a hike on the Kepler Track today and picnic on the trail. It was a beautiful track in the bush, lush with ferns, sounds of some birds and overlook views of the Wairau river. We hiked from Rainbow Reach to the Motorau Hut and had lunch. We crossed two swing bridges on route, but mostly the path was in the bush and flattish. Throughout the bush there are poison boxes aimed at killing stoat because they are killing the birds of New Zealand. The stoats were brought in to kill the rabbits, but we know what rabbits do, and the stoats were not very successful. The kiwis are trying to manage the situation by setting up these kill boxes to try and get a handle on numbers of animals they have in a region. They also have possum boxes but they get a much worse death. The locals tell us deer used to be a problem, until they had people in helicopters with guns and they would mass shoot about 300 deer from the sky and then sell their carcasses to China. Now a majority of red deer are in deer farms which they raise for meat and velvet on their antlers. The possum were brought in to establish a fur trade, but then they started destroying the forests, so they are being killed. Their fur is used with merino wool to make warm clothing, since the possum fiber is hollow and it traps heats. There are no other predators to take out the stoat or possum, so humans have to manage the situation.
Upon returning to town, we grabbed dinner quickly. John and Forrest had a combo lamb and chicken meal in which they presented it on a 450 degree slab of granite and it cooked on your table. They said the idea came from Australia Andy more restaurants are doing it. We then hopped on a boat and crossed Lake Te Anau to go in the caves and see the glow worms. The cave was most fascinating with a river tunnel cut through the mountain. We walked through the cave and then got on a boat in the pitch dark to float to see the glow worms. They are actually the larvae hitched to the roof of the cave shining brightly like stars in the sky. It was very interesting. They create these threads that dangle below them to catch sand flys or moths which provide them energy for 2- 7 days depending on the size of the insect. Mother Nature at its' strangest. Their life cycle is only about 11 months long.
We returned on the boat watching a beautiful sunset.
March 18
Today we got up early to catch our 7:30 am ride with Terry, our guide, to Milford Sound.
Terry was so knowledgeable and interesting. He had been part of a northern Alpine hiking club and had spent time in the bush, so he knew a lot about the mountains, plants, orienteering etc. We were fortunate because there were only 11 of us on the mid size bus. There were 3 Australians, both groups from the Brisbane area, two Swiss from a town in between Zurich and Lucerne, two Chinese from Beijing and the four of us from Minnesota. They were a great group to travel with, and we learned a lot from them as well.
We drove to the head of Lake Te Anau first as the clouds still covered the sky after last night's late shower and looked over the lake, before traveling the countryside by farmlands enroute to the Fjordlands National Park. The drive through the park to Milford Sound was gorgeous. The last 25 mikes are jaw dropping incredible! Milford only has sunshine about 60 days of the year and we hit it just right. As we went through Homer tunnel, the sun broke through and there was nothing but blue skies overhead.
After the view at Te Anau lake we stopped at Mirror lakes and walked through the paths in a beechwood forest and wetlands to look at these lakes with mirror images. We also stopped at the Chasm. The Chasm is where the Cleddau river literally turns on its side and knifes through rocks sculpturing them along the way. On the track there are two bridges one crosses and on the way back you can see where the river plunges down the ravine. It is like looking through a keyhole at the river.
In order to get over the mountain we had to go through it. Homer tunnel is a unique tunnel in that it was started in1935 during their depression years and only completed in1954! If a rock fell and damaged the entrance to the tunnel and in essence blocked the tunnel entrance all people in Milford would be stranded. And Milford Sound does not have the infrastructure to support people for weeks on end, and there is no real alternative that is quick in getting people out of there. Interesting thought. Thebes's tunnel is made primarily from the granite of the mountain and is almost a mile long. It is unique in hat it has an incline or descent, which was interesting. So as we approached Milford, we are descending in the tunnel to the other side.
We arrived just in time for our boat ride on the Milford Adventure. Normally it holds 140 people but there were only 39 on our boat, which was great. Right away we saw porpoises running alongside the boat and jumping in the air. They seemed to enjoy running and jumping by us. Then we saw the furry seals on the rocks who were laying around sunbathing and posing.
We also saw a rainbow colored waterfall among many waterfalls. The Sound is well protected from the Tasman Sea and you can understand how it remained elusive to many from the direction of the sea.
On the return we did a short hike to look at Marians Cascade, which is a beautiful waterfall descending from Lake Marion, which is a lake nestled under Mt Christina.
Note:The early Europeans named plants for how they tasted or smelled or they took the Maori name and translated it into English. There was a stinkweed plant, which really smelled like an outhouse and a pepper plant that the Maori used as an anesthetic by chewing the leaves. It was hot, spicy and numbing in the mouth.
Also on our trip the Chinese couple, Amber and Ryan, had travelled extensively to many places including Yellowstone. They said, "This is beautiful, but Yellowstone is Jesus Christ". They thought that was phoenomenal. They also kept a pet ferret and dressed it up. Other people have raccoons as pets.
March 17
We left our beautiful place in Queenstown and headed to Te Anau. The roads were winding but not too narrow. We stopped at several points to take pictures. Jane challenged us to a photo competition for the best sheep photo, so we looked for places that we could take a photo. Forrest enjoyed the three of us competing.
We stopped at Brackens for venison pie and salmon pie for lunch and then headed into town. Birch wood cottages is a couple blocks from the Main Street in Te Anau and close to the beach and Lake Te Anau ( pronounced tay ah no) Ray and Leonie are the owners of the Birchwood and he owns Fjordland journeys, which we booked for seeing Milford Sound. Ray used to be a sheep farmer and lived in the same house for 58 years until he divorced and decided the love of his life was a woman he had known for 40 years. The two of them married and run these businesses. The cottage has two bedrooms, a lounge and kitchen and a separate toilet and sink area. It also has an apple tree with ripe apples and picnic table in the backyard. Forrest has eaten the apples and said it's quite good.
We walked into town and around the lake toward the river for a couple hours, which was beautiful. Then we went to dinner at a local popular spot and enjoyed a great meal before heading back.
Note: many rooms and many homes rely on electric heat for when it gets cold. It warms up pretty well during the day, but night can be chilly. In he places we have stayed they have had portable heaters in the rooms or hung on the walls for cold weather use, but the homes aren't insulated like ours.
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