Foggy all the way - Te Anau to Dunedin.

03rd May 2006 AD

We got up early and the brisk morning hit us. The windows had all fogged up so for the first half hour of the drive I did my best to not run into anything!

However, for the next five hours we would find ourselves driving in pretty thick fog. It was amazing. I’ve never quite seen anything like it. And not only that – by around 12pm the sun was still in a ‘10am’ position. It was a pity I was unable to capture some photos of the fog as it made for some great scenic moments when the sun broke through and the land showed off its greenery.

Dunedin prides itself on being one of the largest cities in the world – not for population but for sheer size. As we drove along we passed a sign which heralded the outer city limits – we were still a good 45 minute drive into the city itself. The sign seemed to suggest that Dunedin had faked its way into the record books.

The city was a lot more yuppy than I had expected. We checked into our five start motel (which, for a motel, was very nice!) and then headed into town for a walk. The city landscape and architecture seemed very interesting and if we had more time it would have been well worth it just to have a walk around for a bit more.

Another Anglican Cathedral in the heart of the city...

Notice the random button underneath the bathroom sink. We had no idea what this did so we flicked it on and left the room. When we got back the floors in the bathroom area were warm! What a nifty idea for the cold winters in Dunedin!

We stopped by the ‘Hungry Frenchman’ for lunch. And whilst the serving sizes were relatively small, the atmosphere of the place was quite nice.

My fish - I love the fish in New Zealand! So fresh and tasty!

Shte1's prawns...very nice! If only they had more...

After our nice seafood lunch we headed over to the Dunedin Cadbury Chocolate factory. There was lots to see and tonnes of interesting facts:

• The Dunedin Cadbury factory is the only factory in the world which boasts a one tonne ‘chocolate-fall’. In one of the three silos you make your way to the top and get to see one tonne of chocolate cascade before your eyes. Takes about 30seconds in all and smells great – though I wouldn’t stick my finger out to lick it as the chocolate’s only use is the waterfall and only get’s replaced two to three times a year!
• A Cadbury ‘Moro’ bar is eaten every thirty seconds in New Zealand.
• The Dunedin factory starts production on Easter eggs 5-6 months in advance of the season. And in three weeks NZ consumes about 10 million Easter eggs alone…no eggs are exported.

These are the fossilised remains of the first person (who appears of Asian descent) to discover chocolate beans. As you can see, the people were much shorter in those times. Scientists have directly attributed the increase of human height over the last 4000 years to chocolate... (j/k)

What's that? You're excited about seeing Chocolate? Me too!!!

After picking up plenty of samples we then headed off to Baldwin street – famously known as the most steepest street in the world. And hey, with all those freebies we figured that we should at least try to burn calories off. So off we went.

It was hard.

But we got a certificate for completing the climb.

Allow us to demonstrate appropriate stretching procedure - first the calf muscles...

Then the thigh-thingy muscle...

How steep is that again?

Oh...that steep...

Dinner that evening was at a local Japanese restaurant. I thought I had ordered a bento lunch box for us to share, but a hotpot style dish came out instead. Was still nice though :)

Noice!

04th May 2006 AD

Today was going to be our adventure day. We headed out to Otago peninsula for a wildlife trek on 8 Wheel All Terrain Vehicles. Though windy and cold we were able to see some sea lions up close. The baby sea lions seemed un-phased by our presence and actually seemed to enjoy the attention – a few of them made a short little climb near our hill and waded around in a muddy pool whilst all the tourists with us ‘Oooh’d and ‘Ahhh’d. We were also able to get even closer under a man made cement enclosure which had little holes to allow us to look through.

Our guides then took us to an isolated beach to try and glimpse one of the world’s rarest penguins – the Yellow Eyed Penguin. We stayed for about 20 minutes with not much luck – it was well past the breeding season for the penguins and we were not allowed to go onto the beach to actually look around either since the penguins were incredibly shy. The Yellow Eyed Penguin was as elusive as it's current endangered species rating...

Up close and personal with this baby seal - don't try this with the adults as they'll charge at you! We got this close thanks to the zoom on the camera and the little cement shelter we entered to look out of...

Spot the seals in the mass of seaweed...

Shh! Be vewy vewy quiet...we're hunting for Yellow-Eyed Penguins...

After the cold had pretty much frozen our appendages we ventured down to the Albatross viewing area and had lunch at the café. My goodness…NZ food is so good! I had a relatively simple smoked Salmon toasted sandwich but Shte1’s home made Venison Pie with Mango Chutney was to die for!

Smoked salmon grilled panini...yum...!

Home-made Venison pie with Mango chutney...oh my goodness!

After lunch we headed off to our final tourist location – Larnarch Castle. We found out on the guided tour that it’s not technically a castle, but just a really big mansion. The main tower does resemble a castle’s turrets, but that was more of a fashion statement rather than an attempt to be an actual castle.

The history of the home was a sad one. Mr Larnarch was a well to do accountant who moved his family here from England. The castle was the family’s holiday home, but the death of his first two wives, the affair of his third wife, and finally his business going bankrupt ended with Mr Larnarch committing suicide. The home itself is quite opulent and has been restored much to its former glory. There was an air of sadness to the place, but it was quite majestic at the same time.

After having a bit of fun in the surrounding gardens we succumbed to the cold wind and headed home to warm up.

Larnarch Castle

Another view

It was blisteringly cold when this photo was taken. We didn't stay long in the
wind - our faces were beginning to feel numb...

This hall adjoins the main home. It was built in celebration of Mr Larnarch's
daughter turning 21...what a present!

Hmm...these ducks give me an idea for dinner...

After having a bit of fun in the surrounding gardens we succumbed to the blisteringly cold wind and headed home to warm up.

Our final dinner in NZ was also going to be a treat. We didn’t really know where to go so asked some advice from the concierge. We then trotted down to the French Café restaurant and treated ourselves to a two course meal. Shte1 started with a duck entrée and had Pork for main. I had Curried Scallops on green tea noodles along with some fish. The meal did not disappoint and the atmosphere of the place was very charming.

I’m really liking NZ!

In some ways it was a pity not to be able to spend more time in this great country. There were many places we were unable to go to because of time constraints, but I pray that one day we’ll be able to return.

Green Tea Noodles with Curried Scallops

Duck Confit on a potato stack

Pork on Mashed Potato Boat

My fish...

Dunedin Town Hall...lovely in the sunset

05th May 2006 AD

We drove back to Christchurch from Dunedin. This drive was probably the most boring as the landscape was now pretty much all flat. Hardly any sheep in sight as the land was more agricultural. It was a four hour drive, but it also felt the longest. When we finally reached Christchurch the odometer read close to 1500km. It had been a great holiday, but at the same time we were looking forward to being home again. For those reading this – New Zealand is beautiful. It’s certainly a wonderful testimony to God’s goodness in his creation. Head there for some time out – but don’t stay too long… As beautiful as it may be, it is not heaven.

Most of the luggage belongs to Shte1...no really!

Fare thee well New Zealand! We hope to see you soon again...

Sounds like…‘Milford’ – Queenstown to Te Anau & Milford Sound

01st May 2006 AD

The misty rain started pouring again this morning as we looked out onto our final day in Queenstown. We had decided the evening before to check out early and head to the town to do our last minute shopping for presents. ‘Flick’ greeted us and off we went into town.

First problem was finding a car park – there is barely any free parking available in Queenstown and the rest is all metered. We drove around for quite some time in shock and amazement at how difficult it was and in the end parked a good 15 minutes walk away from the town – which in the grand scheme of things wasn’t all that far at all!

Ducking in and out again through all the various stores we had been through the day before we picked up a couple of items for friends and relatives back home. I hungered for fish and chips so we got some at a local booth (about the size of a garden shed – wish I took a photo of it!) Pretty decent serving as well! We couldn’t finish the chips, so fed them to the ducks – who were smart enough to know the difference between a yummy chip and a sour slice of lemon :P

We headed off soon afterwards – the rain had pretty much cleared, but the cloud was still threatening – and it would rain in a couple more spots as we proceeded towards Te Anau.

The scenery this time did not change too much – plenty of farming properties. More sheep and the occasional deer farm as well. A mostly uneventful drive and pretty straight forward – though it took a lot longer than I thought it would. We did pull over with enough time to capture a brilliant photo of a rainbow – a marvellous reminder of God’s goodness and mercy to His rebellious creation.

Wow...

Arrival at Te Anau came without fanfare. A small little town, we check into our motel and proceeded to ‘check out’ the town. We found a couple of stores and purchased a ‘Windbreaker’ beanie for Shte1’s brother. The ‘windbreaker’ brand uses Possum fur/wool (Possums are a big pest in NZ since their introduction and there is a thriving industry for their wool and hides) and the major benefits are that it’s a light and durable fabric – so material made from the fabric will keep people warm in winter and cool in summer, yet the material also breathes very well and thus will not stink you up after prolonged use :P

We decided to purchase lunch for the boat trip to Milford Sound (which we booked a little earlier that afternoon) instead of buying it onboard, and went to the local 4 Corner supermarket to pick it up. At the checkout I accidentally dropped a jar of corn relish which we were charged for because I was not carrying a basket! Lesson #145: always carry a basket when shopping in a small independent supermarket…

The dropped corn relish put a bit of a dampener on the rest of the night, however we did still manage to go out for dinner at a local restaurant. On second thoughts we should have tried a different venue, but oh well. The seafood entrée was nice, but the roast chicken salad and minted lamb was quite average.

To bed early for a long day ahead.

02nd May 2006 AD

Another crisp morning. We rugged up, got packed, and walked over to the pick up area. Shortly thereafter our bus arrived to take us on the 1.5 hour drive to Milford Sound.

We opted for a coach for the fact that there was a lot to see on the way to Milford Sound, but the road was also quite windy and driving it would be an involving exercise. I opted to take a coach also for the fact that I wouldn’t have to do any driving!

A road to nowhere...

The ride up was split along the way with a couple of stops at various locations – namely ‘the Chasm’ and the ‘mirror lakes’. The chasm had been carved out over thousands of years of water running in and through the rock – leaving some spectacular looking gorges. The mirror lakes, on the other hand, had such crystal clear water that during the early morning and late evening, when the water was still, one could see a perfect reflection of the scenery. Very beautiful, even at 10am in the morning.

We stopped a few other times to take photos. This is where
I was able to capture a slice of infinity...

A bit further ahead we passed through a massively long tunnel cut through the mountain side heading towards the Sound. One way traffic meant going through the tunnel was an eerie driving experience – I attempted to take a number of photos but none turned out. Need a DSLR!!

Through the other side we wound steadily towards our destination. Upon arrival we found ourselves aboard ‘The Pride Of Milford Sound’ – a large ferry with three decks. As we set off from shore Shte1 and I settled down to munch on lunch.

The 'Pride of Milford' is the larger boat behind the 'Lady of the Sound'

The Sound itself was incredibly beautiful. Sheer rock cliffs hugging a still body of water – the Sound really did feel like Middle Earth. I had the chance to snap some photos – but there was not much wildlife to be seen. The wind on the deck was freezing, but the overall experience was great in itself. It was a relatively easy boat ride of a couple of hours, but it was worth the experience to immerse yourself in the splendour of God’s creation.

Leaving shore...

These two got in the way of a good photo... :P

A very 'Lord of the Rings' shot

Searching for Australia...

Misty mountains

Shte1 in front of a waterfall

Another piece of God's glory

Before too long we were back on the harbour and getting back on the coach for the ride home. I slept for most of the way and woke up pretty much as we rolled into town. We decided to do some quick grocery shopping for breakfast tomorrow and the drive to Dunedin.

Vowing never again to go to the 4 Corners we found that there was a ‘Countdown’! Larger shopping centre! Yes! We stocked up on supplies and brought some takeaway Chinese food (Chinese people in Te Anau…what a novelty!) at the local restaurant. Whilst waiting for the food to arrive I picked up a leaflet on some herbal medicine and noted that whilst there may have been Chinese people in Te Anau, Engrish had also travelled with it. I quote:

Royal Jelly is a remarkably complete substabce that offers in trace amounts virtually every nutritional element needed for a healthy diet. Altogether, 16 vitamins, 16 minerals, 18 enzymes, 18 proteins and amino acids and 28 assorted additional elements such as fructose and glucose have been isolated. Royal Jelly contains the 10 essential amino acids the body requires from. an outside soure, and without it cannot synthesize new tissue. It contains vitamins A, D, E, K, C and the complete vitamin B complex. Also estrogen and androgen, the biological catalysts of nature, and rutin, which strengthens the walls of the body’s capillaries.

It was a good thing that the food was better! A filling meal and off to bed. I took a quick glance at the map for the next day and looked forward to the long drive to Dunedin.

- - - -


Next: Dunedin, wildlife spotting, Lanarch castle and the last leg of our journey :)