The South Island of New Zealand

Our trip in New Zealand continued down the east coast through the university town of Dunedin until eventually we headed back into the interior stopping at Gore overnight. Gore was a quaint little town and it was here that we used the internet in the library. We were trying to secure accommodation on Gili Air but the guesthouse wanted us to pay a deposit either through paypal or an online international transfer. Unfortunately it is impossible to do online transfers to Indonesia from Canada (apparently Australia as well). Not sure why, some Aussies I met later said they thought it was because of corruption - it was too risky.

Long story short, we ended up trying to set up a paypal account but it ended up taking too long for the place we wanted to stay on Gili. So now we had to secure a new place, which involved sending photocopies of my passport and my visa. After being in Asia for months now, we were used to doing things like this.

Our stop in Gore was pleasant and we were able to get some laundry done at the campvan place. The host was a lovely older lady free with lots of suggestions and advice.

The next day was lovely with the sun out and a rainbow.

We were headed to Manapouri to book a cruise in Doubtful Sound. Doubtful Sound is a fjord in the southwest of the island accessible only by boat. It has three large arms of water off the main channel and several tall islands and waterfalls. It rains 200 days a year so the area is quite green and very misty.

Many tourists do a cruise through Milford Sound but our guide from our first night assured us this was better. It would involve a boat ride across the lake, a bus and then the cruise finishing with a trip to the power plant. The cruise wasn’t cheap but the girl at the desk said it would be worth it.  

We had a good chunk of the day before us so we headed 20 minutes north to Te Anau for some grocery shopping and secured a night at a holiday park there. The view from our campervan park -

The next morning we packed a lunch, dressed warmly and headed to our boat -

 The boat was a good size with a fair number of tourists but we had plenty of room. As we set out, the sun was out and the sky blue. Despite being very cold, we were in good spirits.

The boat arrived at our first stop and we loaded off to wait for the bus. Our bus driver turned out to be very funny with a dry sense of humour so he kept us highly entertained with commentary during the drive to the channel. We made a few stops for some photos – love the trees and moss here.

Along the route our driver pointed out the many waterfalls as the sun disappeared and the mist rolled in.

It really was lovely once we got on the boat making our way through the channel to the sea. We saw a small seal and some albatross along the way and hit some rain. Once we reached the Tasman Sea, we turned around and headed back.

At one point, we stopped the engines and stood outside to listen to – well, nothing. It was almost silent except for the water rushing down the sides of the hills. Everywhere we looked, the scenery was beautiful.

A magical place.

We alternated between running outside to snap some photos to going inside to get warm. It was chilly!

Eventually our boat docked and we were back on the bus for a visit to the Manapouri Hydro Station, the largest in New Zealand.

The station is located 200 metres below the surface with a road just barely wide enough for our bus to drive through. The plant took 8 years and 1800 workers to complete and was finished in 1972.

Our trip complete, the boat headed back across the lake to the dock and I have to say that despite the rain and the chill, the trip was well worth the expensive tickets.

The campervan was sitting in the lot where we had left it and as it was quite late, we wasted no time getting back on the road. It was long before we pulled into a ‘farm stay’ camper park where we were the only guests on the site.

Before heading out the next day, we stopped to feed the alpacas the pellets the owner had given us the night before. Clearly these animals were used to being hand fed.  

 Queenstown was north and our journey there was as usual, stunning.

 Mountains, lakes, and mountains…..

 I don’t think I stopped smiling the entire time I was in NZ. It was just so gorgeous. 

The town itself sits on in an inlet in Queenstown Bay on Lake Wakatipu with spectacular views of the mountains. In front of us was this lovely view -

Adventure tourism seems popular (skiing, bungy jumping, white water rafting) with many stores catering to these sports. We found a place to park and moseyed along the pedestrian friendly pathways. A fellow Torontonian was working in Billabongs so we chatted to her for awhile. She’d just arrived a few weeks previous for the skiing.

Reluctantly we headed out of the town north with a brief stop in Wanaka on Lake Wanaka.

 I could see living here, I really could.

Lake Hawea Holiday Park was our destination and what a lovely site it was. The gentleman who took care of us was quite friendly giving us loads of advice for our next day’s adventures. In the meantime, he set us up at with a lovely spot close to the lake.

  

We filled our hot water bottle and turned on the heat for a good night's rest.