Day 25, Christchurch

Our last full day in NZ dawned and the realization that our long awaited trip was coming to an end. We had breakfast and headed over to the International Antarctic Centre that is located next to the airport. Ch Ch is the center for almost all flights to and from Antarctica and the Kiwi’s Italians and the USA have a massive facility here. We book a combo tour ticket and had a 15 minute ride on a Swedish made all terrain vehicle named a Haggalund that is used in the Antarctic for transporting both equipment and people around in the inhospitable environment. We then took a look around the interpretive centre and watched as groups of Kiwi’s went into a room where there is snow and the temperature is kept at –15 degrees constantly. It was a grim reminder of what was in store for us back home in Canada within 48 hours! To get back into downtown Ch Ch we had to travel by our motel so decided to stop and pick up fish and chips for our lunch and eat in our unit. We left the car and walked downtown in about 20 minutes to Cathedral Square. We spent about 1-1/2 hours in the square finding a telecom wireless hotspot and uploading pictures and items to the blog. We walked along the river Avon that meanders through town and is flanked on the north by the Cambridge Terrace and the south by the Oxford Terrace. You can rent a punt on the river (large stream) and can be poled along for several hundred meters under bridges and through parkland. It is an idyllic site in a bustling modern city. We decided on a small Italian restaurant near our motel for our final dinner in NZ and had a wonderful meal while we reminisced about our last 4 weeks away from home. As much as we have enjoyed it we both felt it was time to get back and start working to pay for all this fun we have had. We said goodnight before the last sleep in NZ.

Day 24 Oamaru to ChristChurch

We were on the road by 9:15, as we had no great plans for the day other than to drive to Christ Church that was some 275 kms to the north. The roads on the South Island are for the most part much better than the North Island. While all the road surfaces are excellent the roads in the south tend to be straighter and you can travel quicker. In our almost 4 weeks in NZ I think we have seen 2 or 3 police cars cruising the “highways”. Traffic enforcement does not seem to be a high priority. On our drive north towards Ch Ch we stopped at Moeraki to see the boulders. The boulders are spherical and litter the beach and are left behind as the beachfront cliffs erode. The Maori legend is that there are food baskets left behind from an ancient shipwreck. We continued north along a very boring highway # 1 through the Canterbury Plain. Ch Ch appeared and we were able to navigate the myriad of one-way streets downtown to find our motel in a trendy area called Merivale. I should point out that I cannot remember one city or town where the main highway we were traveling one actually bypassed the city. Everyone go directly through town so some of the streets are quite congested. I also do not remember being on any motorways on the South Island every major road has been a two-lane highway no divided highways. The other interesting fact is that other than Auckland we have not seen very many shopping malls. Without exception the vast majority of stores are small shops scattered along the main streets. We have seen a scattering of big box stores but they appear to be mostly grocery or home improvement stores with not a Wal-Mart to be seen. For our afternoon in Ch Ch we did a self-drive tour over the port hills driving along the shores of the Avon River estuary before driving over the peninsula hills to Lyttleton via the summit road a twisty narrow and very steep track that is called a road. The views were incredible and we finally headed back to town around 5:30. We decided to pick up pizza for dinner and found a trendy Italian restaurant and ordered our take away from a waitress who was from Sudbury. She had been in NZ for 5 years but had finally decided it was not for her and was making plans to return to the cold white north. After dinner we went for a walk and found a small café had our flat white coffee and returned to a good nights sleep.

Day 23, Dunedin to Oamaru

We had booked a tour of the Royal Albatross Colony the day before and arrived at 8:45 for the first tour of the day. Our guide was new to the job and we were only her second group and she was very nervous and did not have a lot of confidence and was not into making small talk. We took the tour but got more out of the displays rather than the guides description of the Royal Albatrosses. They are the largest sea birds often staying sea for up to 5 years before returning to the rookery on the mainland of Otago to bred and rear there young. They are massive birds that can glide with the wind at speeds of up to 140 Kph and have a wingspan of up to 3.3 meters. From the colony we headed back toward Dunedin to tour Lanarch Castle and its beautiful gardens. The Barker Family purchased the derelict castle and lands and continues to this day upgrading and maintaining the castle. The self-guided tour was outstanding with the sad story of the Lanark family and how they shaped this land. We returned to downtown Dunedin to make motel reservations in Christ Church as this is the height of the tourist season and accommodations have been getting more difficult to find lately as we have arrived in the larger cities on the South Island. We found a place in Christ Church and stopped to have lunch at a small French restaurant that served an excellent onion soup. We were in the car and on our way to Oamaru a small town filled with lime stone buildings right on the Pacific Ocean. We made reservations at a small restaurant and had a delightful St Valentines Day dinner.

Day 22, Te Anau to Dunedin

We had a great nights sleep in Te Anau and awoke slowly to an overcast day. A quick breakfast was in order and then we packed up and jumped in the car for the 4-hour drive to Dunedin. We arrived in this delightful city around 1:00 pm and went directly to the I-site in the central park of downtown called the Octagon. We were able to find accommodations in a motel out on the Otago Peninsula. At first we thought it was in the middle of nowhere however it worked out to be a wonderful location. It was literally 5 minutes from the Royal Albatross Colony sanctuary and about 3 minutes to the Yellow Eyed Penguin Sanctuary and less than 20 minutes from The Lanark Castle the only castle in NZ. We went up to the Albatross Sanctuary to have a look around, made reservations for a tour tomorrow and then had dinner at the café. After dinner we went to the Blue Penguin colony that is on a private farm and is run by donations and revenues from the offered tours. The tours were great with a 10 minute bus ride over the very hilly terrain to the beach on the opposite side of the peninsula and a short walk down to the beach area where we were able to watch the small penguins emerge from the water and stand on the beach for about 10 minutes while hey gathered there strength from the 12 to 14 hours spent at sea fishing for themselves and their chicks waiting patiently all day for their return. We were able to get very close to the chicks and adults by using a series of blinds and trenches to move about the area. We left the Yellow Eyed Penguin to return to the head of the Peninsula to and to Pilot Beach where Blue Penguins return from a day at sea at dusk. We were able to see about 8 birds swim in through the surf and waddle up the beach and into the undergrowth to enter their burrows for the night before they return to the sea at dawn. Back to the motel and little catch up on the blog and then to bed we

Day 21 Milford Sound. The good ship Milford Wanderer

After the ferry boat ride to the main dock we dropped our gear at the charter bus and grab our overnight clothes and made our way to the small cruise vessel Milford Wanderer that would be our home overnight on the sound. We boarded at 4 pm and headed out onto the sound washed in beautiful sunshine to soak p the views that have to be some of the most stunning in the world. Miter Peak dominates the skyline from the dock as it rises some 1675 meters directly out of the water in an impressive display of shear rock faces. Every one of the 50 odd people on board the ship was ecstatic, however the trampers were the most as we queued up to get into the scalding hot showers onboard. After 4 days of sweaty tramping it was unbelievably wonderful standing in the hot water scrubbing your self clean. We went up onto the main deck into the lounge and had the most wonderful meal that contained none of the freeze-dried fare that we had over the last few days. The beer and wine flowed freely as we watched the Sound drift by and sailed out onto the Tasman Sea for an hour or so before returning to our safe anchorage in the sound for our overnight stay. The accommodations on board the Wanderer are a little cramped with 4 people to a bunk bed stateroom and the sounds of very tired trampers quickly engulfed us all. The bunks are a little cramped as my head and feet touched opposite ends. It was not the best sleep I had on the trip and Mary echoed my sentiments. We rose at about 6:15 and had another exquisite hot shower before going upstairs to have an enormous breakfast. We pulled anchor and cruised down to the sea once again before turning toward the harbour some 20 kms towards the mountains. The sun was streaming down on us but had yet to fully engulf all the sound, as the walls are so steep that the sun does not reach all the sections until about 9:00 am. The skipper took us close to the vertical rock walls that towered over us in one place by 900 meters while the depth of the Sound was 392 meters under us. This occurred when we were actually less than 2 meters from the rock face and the bow of the boat was actually in a waterfall, totally awesome! We cruised slowly into Freshwater Basin and realized that this pivotal portion of our trip was over and climbed aboard the bus for Te Anau 1:30 down the road. About 20 minutes from our departure we entered the Homer tunnel that is one lane wide and 900 meters long. The traffic is controlled by lights and at the height of the tourist season you can wait for up to 25 minutes for the lights to change. On a busy day Milford will receive up to 175 full sized tourist busses. We arrived in Te Anau about 12:15 and we said our goodbyes to our new tramping friends and shouldered our backpacks for one last time to walk the kilometer or so back to the motel where we had left our rental car while we were away hiking. We picked up the car and checked in and then quickly went to the local supermarket to purchase two steaks, salad and a nice bottle of wine for dinner as the motel had an outdoor BBQ that guests were able to use. We had a wonderful meal and tumbled into bed early to finally get good nights sleep with none snoring but me.

Day 4 on the Milford Track

Once again we awoke very early, as we were required to be on the track by 7:30 am, as we had to be at the Arthur Dock to meet the ferryboat that would take us to Milford by 2 pm. It was some 18 kms distant and unsure of our legs after the previous days pounding we started off on the track. The trail today was generally very good with a few sections that we rocky and uneven. We came across a section that contained graffiti carved into the rock face. Just so you understand this graffiti was carved by an early worker on the trail and is inscribed “Stenhouse May 2, 1898”. We walked through thick bush and finally by Lake Ada watching all the wildlife as we passed by. (My good friend Drew Mitchell would have enjoyed this walk, but he would have filled 10 sketchbooks to complete the track). We reached Giant Gate Falls for lunch with our fellow trampers and pushed on as the track became wider and flatter the closer we got to our goal. At 1:20 pm we rounded the corner and saw the trail end. It was a very emotional experience for all of us and one person said that it was their Everest; upon reflection I think I can honestly say the same for me. I have dreamed of this tramp for so long that it is hard to believe that Mary and I have accomplished it safely and met a great group of people along the way and we cant wait to tackle the next hiking challenge. I will concur with the thousands that have gone before us the The Milford Track is clearly one of the “Finest Walks in the World”.

Day 3 on the Milford Track

We arose to the cries of a group of Kea’s that are the mountain parrots that inhabit this area of Fiordland. They appear with the first light of the day and are noisy in your face birds. They are a little bit like a Labrador Retriever; if you don’t entertain them they will entertain themselves! If you leave anything on the ground and move a few meters away they will swoop in and peck at it or try to carry it away. They have been seen flying away with digital cameras and ripping the linings out of hiking boots. The short answer to the Kea problem is to put everything left outside on the hooks and clotheslines provided or loose it. We were on the trail by 8:15 am and were wearing only tee shirts and shorts, as the temperature was around 15 degrees. For the first kilometer the trail was smooth and fairly flat so we made good time. We turned a corner, crossed a swing bridge and immediately started to climb and I mean climb. The track narrowed to less than a meter wide and there was loose rock that was both wet and unstable. This was to continue for the next 2 hours of hard climbing. The cloud layer was low overhead and we all quietly hoped it would clear by the time we reached the summit of McKinnon Pass. With sweat poring down our faces and stinging our eyes as it mixed with the ever present “Bushman’s” bug repellant that we applied several times a day we laboured on and upward. We climbed from native bush to thin sub alpine growth with the temperature dropping constantly as the winds continued to pick up in speed. Finally we were above the tree line and climbing back and forth on the switchback trails. We were now walking in thick clouds as we approached the summit and the winds increased constantly to an estimated velocity of around 60 -70 kms per hour. As we reached the summit of the pass the memorial cairn came into view and nothing else. No great vistas of mountains and valleys just freezing cold temperatures of 3 degrees and high winds. We made time for a quick picture at the summit and put on our polar fleece jackets and rain gear to cut the wind and made our way as quickly as possible to the summit hut for a boil up of tea and cuppa soup. It tasted wonderful. We had about 25 trampers in the hut with two gas cookers going to heat water and the hut quickly became warm and steamy. We rested for about 20 – 30 minutes and got our packs back on and stepped out into the icy air to be blasted once again by the wind. All I could think about was my knees and the 975-meter descent that was coming toward me. We descended about 100 meters vertically and I noticed through the thinning cloud that the wind had diminished and I thought I could see the outline of a mountain across the valley. Within 5 minutes the skies had virtually cleared of clouds overhead and we stared in awe at the scenery that surrounded us. Clear blue skies, mountain waterfalls collecting into raging streams, thick green bush and glaciers and snow capped mountains in a 360-degree panorama. It was breathtaking! Mary and I stood for a few minutes to take pictures and slowly began the grinding walk down toward Dumpling hut about 7 kms away. We stopped every few minutes to soak in the views that just took your breath away. After about 30 minutes we re-entered the bush and had to catch glimpses if the mountains through the trees and when we crossed the dozens of streams that cross the pathway. We finally arrived at the independent walkers day hut and had a boil up lunch of cheese and salami sandwiches as well as tea and soup. We quickly dropped our packs and headed for Sunderland Falls which is the highest water falls in NZ and the 6th highest in the world. It is a 1-1/2 hour return side trail that is well worth the effort it takes. The over 600 meter high waterfall is spectacular as the roar of the water and the mist reaches you long before you arrive. It is a hard scramble over the rocks as you approach, as they are uneven and covered in slippery moss. You are constantly smashed by water that falls over 200 meters in the last leap and can make your way through the waterfall by hugging the wall and grabbing hold of the moss that grows thickly. Yours boots quickly become waterlogged and as we returned to our packs a few kms back along the trail they started to feel like lead weights. Down, down and down we walked until we finally came to Dumpling hut our final nights destination. Everyone had a tremendous feeling of accomplishment and we all pitched in with dinner and sorted out our gear being careful to hang up everything that was left outside so the Kea’s would not carry them away or rip it apart. Ranger Ann gave us our briefing on what to see on the trail the next day and we were all in bed before lights out at 10 pm.