|
We woke up at 6 a.m. and gathered our stuff by torch and candlelight. We ate muesli, kiwi, and yoghurt for breakfast. We did the dishes and said goodbye to Andrea and her pug. On the way to Milford Sound we pulled over and took a short walk to see The Chasm. It was a beautiful gorge with a raging river.
We got to the kayak put-in at Milford Sound at 8:15. The easterly winds were high and the water was choppy. We were told that we could still kayak if we wanted to, but they recommended against it due to the weather conditions. We decided to take a boat tour instead, and signed up for the Mitre Peak Cruises Exploratory Cruise to the Tasman Sea and lighthouse, which would depart at 9:55. We then walked up a nice boardwalk to see the Lady Bowen Falls. It was a spectacular waterfall, and the walk took about 15 minutes. We then walked over to the Milford Cafe. Craig and I got hot chocolate (served with small fruity marshmallows) and Stan got a latte. We sat down and enjoyed our drinks before heading back to the wharf and boarding the 60-person capacity Mitre Peak Cruise boat. Once aboard, we helped ourselves to the complimentary coffee and tea. The weather was windy but "partly fine", so we had a good view of the mountains, including Mitre Peak (so-named because it resembles a bishop's hat). It is arguably the highest sea cliff in the world which rises straight from the ocean floor, at 1,692 meters. We sat on the upper deck in the open air. It was chilly and at times so windy that we were nearly blown across the deck. We saw gorgeous waterfalls and a hanging valley. The waves were breaking hard on the rocks, and there were even some small waterspouts starting to form because of the wind. We cruised out to a lighthouse in the Tasman Sea. The views were spectacular in all directions. On the way back into the sound the wind was unbelievable. We donned lots of layers, and had to literally hold on to our hats. It was intense and fun. At one point Stan was standing at a 45-degree angle with the wind holding him up. We saw some NZ fur seals on the rocks approaching Lady Bowen Falls. After we docked, we went back tot he van and hit the road. We parked right before the 1 km Homer Tunnel for lunch. It was so windy and raw at this point that we prepared our food and ate inside the van (propane stove and all). We had leftover curry (great for warming us up) and sandwiches (ham, salami, cheddar, hummus, lettuce, tomato, and piccalilli). We drank tea, cleaned up, and were back on the road by 2:00. By now we had really started to bond with Stan. He is great guy, very kind with a great sense of humor. We stopped to view the Lake Marion hike that we did yesterday at around 2:20. We could see the hanging valley which the lake is behind (visibility was much better today, and we could see down to the river). We stopped in Te Anau to do a couple of errands. We stopped into the Post Office and found some Lord of the Rings stamps and first day covers. All of the other post offices had seemed to be out of them. We then visited the automated loo. It was surreal. You press a button and the door slides open, like you're on the Starship Enterprise or something. Once you're inside, everything is wet. Had it rained in there? No, come to find out that every so often it automatically washes itself down by spraying water. There are signs that point out that in the event of an emergency, the doors can be manually opened, and that there is a loitering policy - after 10 minutes in the bathroom an alarm goes off and the door opens automatically. That could be embarrassing! Even the toilet paper was automated, you press a red button and it dispenses three squares at a time. Bizarre! We then got some ice cream (I got chocolate and Craig and Stan got cookies and cream). Then we got back on the road. There were some beautiful rays of late afternoon sunlight beaming down onto Lake Te Anau. We drove further and saw even more beautiful sunbeams descending on Lake Manapouri. We arrived at Lake Monowai at around 5:30. Stan took us to a great site for camping with a nice fire pit, etc. But after a few minutes we realized it was getting dark and cold, and we had yet to make dinner as well as organize our gear for our first overnight hike, so we left the campsite and opted for the Borland Lodge instead. We chose cabin 20, which consisted of two bedrooms, and then we brought all of our stuff into the separate lounge/kitchen building. Stan started a fire in the wood stove and it was instantly cozy. We made dinner (nachos and salsa for starters, followed by spaghetti Bolognese) using their appliances and dishes. When we were done, an older man and a teenager (both hunters) came in, deposited their food, and left. We realized we hadn't put anything in cabin 20, and of course that was the cabin the hunters claimed. Oh well. At this point we needed to prepare for tomorrow. Stan told us what gear we would need and the best way to pack it (within our pack liner to make sure nothing would get wet). We got the necessary food together. After everything was organized, we relaxed in front of the fire, eating cookies and discussing the challenging day ahead. We wrapped everything up at around 9:30. It was hard to leave the fire to go into a small, cold cabin, and we toyed with the idea of setting up our sleeping bags in front of the wood stove and spending the night there. But we had visions of the hunters coming in for breakfast at 4 a.m., and decided we should retire to the cabin. There were mattresses on frames of chicken wire, and at Stan's suggestion we placed the mattresses directly on the floor, set up our sleeping bags, and went to sleep. |
 Lady Bowen Falls, Milford Sound  Mitre Peak  Stan and Craig on Mitre Peak Cruise boat  Borland Lodge  Craig and Stan eating dinner at the Borland Cabins 
|
|
 |
|
 |
