We had no destination in mind today and just decided to drive as far as we felt like and stop when we found a nice place to stay which is right here in Murchison.
We did stop at two or three places along the road where we found nice vistas
Punakaiki Pancake Rocks
We are maintaining our consistency about leaving things behind. Yesterday I left our floor mat, which I just cleaned in the caravan park and didn’t realise it until we were several hours up the road. Today Keiran left his undies in the bathroom and also didn’t realise it until too late.
A short drive to Okarito, where we decided to do the walk up the hill to the trig station. From the bottom it didn’t look like much of a hill at all but we were wrong. But it was a beautiful walk and at the top we were greeted with an amazing view and exhaustion.
Along the road we stopped here for the view
Hokitika Gorge
Dinner: lamb shanks and seafood chowder. Guess who ate what
Here’s a warning – DON’T BUY JADE IN HOKITIKA unless you want to be hugely ripped off. We found similar pieces at a market in Picton for about one tenth of the price 😟☹️
Fuel is getting ever more expensive our fill this morning cost $2.45 per litre for 91.
Haast River Bridge, very long and only one lane wide but with three stopping bays to let oncoming traffic pass
Knights Point Lookout
We began walking to Fox Glacier but after talking to a couple who we met returning from their walk, we decided to move on to Franz Josef Glacier and walk there instead. And what an amazing walk it was
In the 10 years since 2009 the glacier has retreated about half a kilometre
By the time we had finished our shopping and left Queenstown the rain has stopped and the sun was out. A rather winding road up the Crown Ranges Pass.
At the top we went for a walk and then it’s snowed
Bradrona (for breast cancer)
Lake Hawea
Lake Wanaka
Blue Pools
Fantail Falls
Thunder Creek Falls
Haast
The intention today was to do some of the walks around The Anau but the weather has other plans. So apart from a short walk around the lake shore, no more walking today.
Sadly it’s been pouring all day and apart from our lunch stop at Lake Wakatipo we spent today sitting in the van.
I took advantage of a brief break in the weather to take a short walk in Queenstown, but still got caught in the rain
Equipped with the paper map from our campsite and having no agenda other than to reach Milford Sound we set off around 8:30 this morning.
Upon departing we didn’t really know what to expect besides this was one of the ‘most scenic drives on the planet’. What we discovered blew our minds: a multi kilometre long traffic jam due to the roads being snowed in.
After waiting in this traffic jam for well over 90 minutes the road to Milford Sound was open. What greeted us on the other side was more than I can put into words; literally one of the most beautiful views I’ve ever seen and more snow than any Aussie knows what to do with.
To get from the Te Anau side to Milford Sound you had to go through a 1.2 km long tunnel that was bored through solid rock in the mid 1950s. This tunnel also has a 1 in 10 gradient taking you from just over 900 metres down to almost 780 metres – once you emerge out the other side of this tunnel, winding roads take you all the way down to sea level why you meet Milford Sound.
Shortly after descending part way down the mountain, we stopped at a roadside lookout along with half of the population of Europe and Asia to take in some of the most breathtaking snowy mountain views we have ever seen:
We were like children in a playground. I will let the photos speak for themselves:
After soaking up the mountain views we turned around and headed back towards town – on the way we checked out some very scenic lookouts and other locations.
Up early this morning as we had to check in for our cruise at 7:30 even though it was after 8:00 before they allowed us to embark. Getting to Doubtful Sound is not a simple boat ride as there is no access by water from Lake Manapouri to Doubtful Sound. First we took a lovely boat ride across the lake:
Once we were accross the lake it was time to take a bus ride to Doubtbful Sound:
After the bus ride, we boarded a second boat for the Doubtful Sound cruise, which was spectacular.
The weather gods have decided they don’t like us, the result being rain and cold wind. So our first priority this morning was to find a shop selling umbrellas.
Only stop along the way was the Cliften suspension bridge.
There really wasn’t much to see upon arriving at Manapouri apart from rain and cloud covered hills around the lake. We checked in to our caravan park and as it was still raining, decided to drive down to the lake and have lunch in the van. After lunch we drove back to the caravan park and Keiran did some more horizontal practice as he felt that the weather was not conducive to being anywhere but indoors.
Feeling more optimistic about the weather I chose to go walking and was rewarded by sunshine after a couple more showers. Keiran joined me down at the lake a little later and we both took the opportunity to do some photography.
Slope Point is the most southerly Point on the South Island of New Zealand and Cape York is the most northerly part of the Australian mainland. As the crow flies they are 4,710 km apart and last year Keiran and I we’re at Cape York. As the distance from Slope Point to the South Pole is 4,803 km we were standing almost equidistant between Cape York and the South Pole today. In fact taking the wind chill into account we felt much much closer to the South Pole then we did to Cape York.
We set off this morning with the intention I’ve driving to Invercargill however because once again we took the road less traveled we didn’t make it and instead here we are tonight at Curio Bay.
We took the long and winding road along the coast to Nugget Point Lighthouse with our first stop at Tirohanga
Nugget Point
Matai and Horseshoe Falls
Curio Bay where we waited a very long time in the wind, the cold and the drizzle for the penguins to emerge from the ocean but all we saw was this
Zig-Zag New Zealand