annhig

just found this pthomas, and enjoying it very much.

We did a not dissimilar trip albeit with some of Oz thrown in about 18 months ago, and I'm afraid that you have put me to shame as my TR hit the buffers somewhere between Oz and NZ!

keep it coming!

ElendilPickle

Annhig, there's still time to finish it.... ;-)

Lee Ann

pthomas156

THURSDAY 3/26: FROM CHRISTCHURCH TO MOUNT COOK

We had breakfast with a young Swiss couple who were traveling around NZ for 8 weeks, the first 3 by rental car and the next by camper van. They said it was a good deal at the end of the season to drive a camper van up from the South Island (Queenstown) back to Auckland. Who knew? We also met a young Irish lad, a plasterer, who had arrived in town with a two-year visa to work rebuilding Christchurch. He needed to find a job but we suspected that wouldn't be hard. We said we were surprised by how much work there still is to do four years after the quakes, and Chet said it has been taking a long time to get insurance payments. He had just recently received a payment from one of the claims he had placed.

After we packed up we said goodbye to Chet and promised good reviews. He gave us pears from his tree. Then we were off to drive thru the eastern section of Christchurch along the river where 5,000 houses had been condemned and demolished. Chet had told us about it, and the Dutch couples said they had been driven thru on the quake bus tour. It was a weird sight: all you see are driveways on overgrown lots-- no houses anymore. The government won't let the lots be rebuilt on because the ground is too soggy underneath and liquefaction would just occur once again in another quake. The ground, which had been filled-in wetlands, turned to mush and destabilized the homes. Sobering.

By 11:30 we were looking for our way out of town and onto Route 1 to begin our trip to Mt Cook. The plains of Canterbury were easy to drive thru, stopping for coffee and an awesome chocolate chip and caramel bar, plus flat whites of course, at a Robert Harris Cafe. By 2 pm we were at Geraldine, a quaint touristy town that is kind of the gateway to inland Mt Cook. While Chris filled up on gas, I was waylaid by a small shop called Curds and Whey (I think). It turns out they make Talbot Forest Cheese in the back portion of the store; through the windows of the back are white wheels of Brie and thick chunks of everything else. They've won plenty of awards too, so I picked up a gold-medal blue and a vintage cheddar along with some pork and venison salami. Their ice cream flavors were unusual, such as nectarine and muscavado and fig, but I went with plum and creme fraiche when the salesperson said it reminds her of her grandfather's backyard plum trees. By 2:30 pm we had passed Fairlie, and the green mountains were closer to the road and sheep covered the fields. We stopped at one particularly crowded pasture where by now I had learned I had to sneak out of the car and up to the sheep with my camera so they wouldn't bolt.

The landscape grew hillier and more dramatic. When we got to Lake Tekapo, we stopped to see the little stone Church of the Good Shepherd and the sun began to break through. We brought out cheese and bread and sat at a picnic table near the statue that is a tribute to farm collies everywhere (which of course looked just like my old English Shepherd Angel). The sun just kept getting brighter. We stopped in town for gas and flat whites, and I picked up a Wild Kiwi fleece ($20 NZ) at the info center. A woman came in to ask where to see the lake at its best blue vantage point, and the worker said to go up to the nearby Mt John University Observatory and look down.

That sounded intriguing so we took the observatory road as well, which was just a couple of miles away. For four kilometers we wound through lovely golden hillsides with beautiful views of the lake and an especially great vista with hay wheels in front. At the top was the promised 360-degree panorama in gorgeous golden light with big puffy clouds. Just stunning. The Astro Cafe at the top was described by Lonely Planet as the best place ever for a cafe--so right! Took pix and we were off again. The light held all the way to the giant Lake Pukaki where the snow-capped mountain range was in view all the way to Mt. Cook. We kept stopping to take pix in case the clouds descended but they never did. We couldn't tell if one of the peaks was Mt Cook or whether it was behind the few clouds at Mt Cook village.

By 7 pm we arrived at the village, the last guests to check in to the Akira Court Motel. They say it's a four-hour drive if you go straight from Christchurch to Mt Cook, but who ever doesn't make stops in NZ? It took us 7, tho our stops were not long. The motel gave us a spacious room with an extra single bed, a kitchenette, and a nice view up the mountains. We dashed over to the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Center at the fancy Hermitage Hotel and for $20 saw the last movie of the day, a spine-tingling one about soaring over and around Mt Cook in 3-d. Browsed thru the museum devoted to Hilary's exploits and Mt. Cook while waiting for movie to start. The center's only other option for the night was the star-gazing program, which for $62 we thought we didn't need. After the movie we went up to the Snowline bar at the Hermitage and got a couple of beers on tap for our intrepid driver along with a bag of crisps for me. Chatted with bartender about bourbon; he said he likes to drink his with lemonade! Yikes! Back at the motel, we had a snack of sausage and cheeses with our half bottle of Chenin blanc from Esk Valley. By 11 we crashed.

FRIDAY 3/27: PICTURE PERFECT DAY IN MT COOK

At 7 am I woke up and got a shock: the sky looked clear. The weather report had said clouds and rain. We hustled around to get our Hooker Valley tramp underway while the weather was still good. By 8 we were looking for the Old Mountaineers Cafe which the guide book had said had " breakfast all day." Maybe so, but it doesn't open til 10! But in the meantime we realized we could see Mount Cook! Victory! Most tourists come and don't see it out of the clouds. The Hermitage of course has a perfect view of it. We went to the Hermitage and prepared to pay the big bucks for the breakfast buffet. They had continental for $20 and full for $39. We opted for continental which appeared to have cheese and very good ham, tho we weren't absolutely sure we were supposed to have that protein option. Nevertheless we filled up while gazing through a giant picture window at Mt Cook, and our waitress, a girl from South Africa, confirmed how lucky we were to have a day like this. We then visited the Activities center and determined that the Hooker Valley trail at 3-4 hours was perfect for us tho there were several shorter options. By 10:40 we had driven to the car park and were on the trail.

It winds through a scenic combination of flora and mountains and is almost flat with just a small ascent. Perfect for my stupid hip bursitis. In some spots stairs have even been added. Hence this is the most popular trail and plenty of folks, both young and our age, were doing it. Everyone was thrilled with the clarity of the snow-capped mountains all around. Still, even in clouds it would have been interesting because the mountains are so close. The first dramatic point came at a swing bridge across the pale blue boulder-strewn river far below. It moves like crazy when anyone at all is on it but at least it was held up by metal wires (as opposed to the rope and wood ones I remember from Peru) and it had some side wires too so you couldn't fall down and slip off. We kept expecting Mt Cook to slip behind a cloud, but it remained majestically in evidence. The second swing bridge looked just as strong, tho it was even higher. The scariest part was Chris giving me his iPhone from up there to take a picture. If I dropped it, it was a goner in the river down below. The flora was a bit different as we went higher, with some wild flowers appearing here and there. Some of the mountains had a ton of gravel that had poured down a side, somewhat mysterious. Giant boulders were scattered everywhere. The glacier right in front of us looked a bit blue, and part of it was covered with dust. We wondered whether anyone walked on it; we couldn't see anyone. Two helicopters buzzed overhead. One seemed to be flight seeing but the other was ferrying things from the other side of mt cook back to somewhere in the valley. One time it was a giant tube. By the third swing bridge I knew the walk must be close to the end. Shortly we came to a lake that had formed from the melting glacier above and it had icebergs! Nice ending. They dotted the pale green lake like ice cubes in a drink. It was so still that we could see Mt Cook's reflection in the water.

It had taken us about the predicted amount of time to get there: 1 hour 35 minutes. We hung out at the lake for about a half hour, eating a peach from breakfast and walking down to inspect the icebergs. Then we headed back, stopping at the Alpine Memorial to all the mountaineers who had lost their lives in this area. Very moving, and appropriately a bit hard to scramble up to. It took about the same amount of time to return tho the descent was easier! The sun came out in full force about halfway back and we were hot. We found our car and rewarded ourselves with a beer and a coke in the Hermitage's cafe, where we saw sir Edmund Hilary's statue on the terrace. He looks right at Mount Cook which was still gleaming away in the sunshine. What a day! Great walk, everything we could have wanted. We made a quick trip to the activity center for a few souvenirs then were off around 4, heading for Oamaru. We realized as we drove away down the side of Lake Pukaka that Mt Cook had been right in front of us the whole drive the day before, but it was in the clouds. We didn't even know it was there!

I had changed our hotel reservations so we would stay in Oamaru instead of Dunedin on Friday night. I figured it was too much driving after a long hike, and Oamaru is at least 90 minutes closer to Mt Cook. That's when I discovered Expedia's Achilles heel. If you want to modify an existing reservation, such as changing our 3-day Dunedin reservation to two days, you have to cancel the whole thing and rebook. I had booked the three nights some weeks ago at $139 a night. The hotel was now (on Tuesday, five nights before we would arrive) at $207 a night for Saturday and Sunday. In addition, I had to call the us Expedia to find this out, because expedia.co.nz said they were not the ones who had the reservation. This was at $2 a minute. Very annoying. If I had known it worked like that, I would have made 3 separate one-day reservations and then I could have cancelled whatever part I wanted. So I found another Dunedin Hotel in Fodors, the Farry Motel in a good location in the city and booked that for $150 NZ, which was less than the Expedia hotel per night. And I cancelled the Expedia booking online. Take that!!

We stopped for flat whites at 5 at Oamarata, a crossroads with some good venues, including an historic hotel and cafe, a sheep shearing cafe and another place selling milkshakes and ice cream; we had just passed a busy salmon fishing lake that was stocked. We took our coffees outside in the sunshine and watched the passing parade, one road going west to Queenstown and the other east to Oamara. The guidebook described state highway 83 as little traveled but passing thru stunning scenery and that was so true. A series of dams were between the big bluest lakes imaginable and there was nobody there. And no services around. Mountains, big golden hills coming right down to the water, lots of sheep. No people. It was like that all the way to the coast. As we got closer we drove into clouds and by the time we got there at about 7, it was cold and gloomy.

We found our hotel in an amazing section of Oamaru -- a well-preserved few blocks of Victorian architecture. In the late 1800s, the town was booming and all kinds of elegant buildings were going up. Eventually it hit the skids, but nobody was ever interested enough in Oamaru to knock the buildings down and start over. So it's all still there. Hotel Criterion is on a prominent corner and was recently renovated. The rooms are all upstairs and decorated in Victorian style, lots of burgundy. We had an ensuite for $120 NZ. There's a nice pub downstairs and when I called for a reservation I was told that they have live music on Fridays til 12 and it can be heard all over the hotel. Band hadn't started but the pub was jumping with local folks from both a private function and other events.

The person in charge took our credit card, gave us a menu when we asked about dinner and sent us upstairs to settle in. But when we came back down at 8, they said it would be at least 40 minutes until we could eat. So they sent us over to the Star and Garter whose kitchen just closed. They then sent us to Cucina 1871, which was happily full of diners. We settled in there and had the best dinner in NZ so far. A nice waitress and the owner took care of us. We started with Bluffton oysters on the half shell, which we have seen advertised and have been dying to try. In some places they were quite expensive but here a half dozen was $18. They were big and very tasty. We almost wanted more! The owner said we'd never have a better steak than there, and it came perfectly cooked and on a pile of veggies with sauce. I had the forest mushroom risotto and it was marvelous. The owner's biz partner was going to NYC for the first time so we gave her some advice. Very nice folks who have owned the place not terribly long. After dinner we went back to the hotel and collapsed at about 11.

tripplanner001

The scenery seems to get better and better, in my head at least. Still enjoying your report...

pthomas156

Sorry it is taking so long!

pthomas156

SATURDAY 3/28: DUNEDIN AND THE WILD OTAGO PENINSULA

Breakfast was disorganized. Had to hunt around in the little guest kitchen/breakfast room to find everything. Not sure if the food in the fridge is for us or belongs to other people. No napkins that we could find. Very odd. Seems like it wouldn't take much effort just to set it up well for guests. Managed to have some toast and coffee and checked out. Walked around town, lots of interesting shops in interesting spaces in the old Victorian buildings. Tons of art. Especially liked Lazy Cat with all NZ artists. Funky playground with swings hanging from a giant penny farthing right on harbor. Got flat whites at cool rusted metal cafe on the harbor. Got on board a big penny farthing on one of the streets that helpfully had a step stool to get you up there. On way out of town spotted Whitestone Cheese Factory and we couldn't resist. Turned out this is who made the 5 Forks sheep and cow cheese we loved on the first day in SI. We tasted a few things and got a lesson in mutton vs lamb from the lovely ladies working there. Apparently mutton is more flavorful and more expensive. Also said NZ is more cattle- than sheep-oriented now. Bought award-winning Brie and vintage 5 forks.

We almost missed the Moreksi Boulders, strangely round spheres of rocks on the beach, which wouldn't have been a tragedy, but then we would have missed the thick, creamy seafood chowder at the Boulders Cafe at the top of the beach stairs. The large bowl was $18 but it was packed with seafood (lumps that we figured were potato fillers were pieces of fish). It was topped with two scrumptious green lipped mussels in the shell and came with a crunchy roll. It was enough for two of us for a light lunch overlooking the light green sea. The gift shop there had a nice selection of stuff, especially jewelry.

We drove down 1 through mist and clouds and downright thick fog, and just as we came over the hill to the Dunedin welcome sign it cleared up. Bright and sunny! Dunedin exudes a Scottish flair. Great old elaborate Victorian architecture, lively streets with lots of students, quaint little single family homes with tons of flowers. Fairly easily found our motel with our Fodor guide map, right on George Street, a main shopping and restaurant avenue. Heart of student culture. First time in an NZ motel and the amenities at 858 George Street were great. Owners are clearly quite thoughtful, with little touches like a sewing kit and one day of complimentary breakfast that they brought to our fridge. Fridge even has a freezer, good for my ice bag. Has a separate bedroom and dining room plus a galley kitchen along one wall. And the first microwave we've seen. This proved handy when what we thought were the hardboiled eggs they brought us turned out to be raw. Made nice poached eggs on toast. Spotlessly clean and free parking tucked in with the motel as well.

Though people were sitting out in the sunshine in sidewalk eateries, we decided since it was only 4-ish that we would skip a city walk and head to the Otago Peninsula since it would stay light til at least 8. It was about 15 minutes out there and another 45 to the point. Incredibly gorgeous. Hilly, clouds and sun chasing each other, stunning views of coast and hills. So wild it's hard to believe NZ's seventh largest city is only minutes away. We drove down the west side and took the road inland to Larnach Castle. We thought maybe we could see it from the outside but you have to pay to do even that (the last house tour was admitted at 5) so we skipped it. We headed to the gravel roads of the east side hills. The views of sea and cliffheads and was spectacular. It reminded me of the Isle of Skye in its wildness. So many roads ended in a tramp to the sea. Wish we could have stayed a few days out here!

By now it was getting late, 7 pm, so we decided to head over to Penguin Place where you could supposedly see some penguins coming in from the sea at dusk. But when we got there, all was locked up tight, couldn't find a soul. Maybe they were all out somewhere viewing penguins. Chris suggested we drive the few miles to the Royal Albatross Center and see what was happening there. Good move. The albatross tours were over for the day but at 7:45 they were taking a group to the beach to watch the blue penguins, the smallest ones in the world, come in from the sea. It was $25 apiece and I could see that Chris could have lived without this experience. But we were right here and I love penguins so we paid up. It's all for a good cause but it is expensive to view NZ's wildlife on organized adventures. You have to pick and choose. I was glad we had already seen albatrosses on our whale watch.

The center was informative for wandering around, as was the talk at the beginning of the tour. Lots more pairs of breeding penguins exist now since the center began its work of having protected hides for them to breed in and keeping the egg predators out (with an elaborate fence). The land is being turned back to the Maori soon; the tour lady said her boss, I assume the director, is a Maori. Our group of about 15 trooped down a barely lit walk and stairs about 8 pm to a wide observation deck. It was lit up more than I expected. A little group of blue penguins had already washed up on the beach and were preparing to head up the rocky hill toward us.

We spent about a half hour watching various groups of penguins scramble up the hillside path to their hides. Some came right up to the viewing platform. We left ahead of the others so we could tackle those lengthy stairs at leisure (stupid hip bursitis!) which turned out to be a blessing. Walking quietly alone, we could hear the wacky sounds the Penguins make to talk to their buddies. Other-worldly! I never would have imagined they sounded like that.

We made the long dark drive back to Dunedin and ended up eating at The Lone Star restaurant a block from the motel because it was 10 pm by now and we were afraid kitchens were closing. The theme of this chain is New Zealanders' interpretation of Texas, which must be pretty appealing because there's 27 of these now in NZ. It's decorated with Clint Eastwood-with-a-gun photo enlargements, that sort of thing. The menu was meat-oriented but I had the salt and pepper calamari starter as an entree, which was good and chewy. Nice hefty portion on a little lettuce for $16. Excellent Chardonnay, Whither Hills I think. Chris had orange roughy, which was fine but kind of glopped up with stuff like a mediocre American meal. Had a good interesting chopped veggie salad with it. Our young waitress said she'd done a home switch with some Americans and got to go skiing in Breckinridge. She said she was amazed by how friendly Americans were to her there. I told her I was glad to hear that because we think NZ-ers are really friendly. She insisted on taking our picture eating our pavlova dessert when she heard I wasn't in many of our vacation pictures (being the photographer). She said even tho pavlova is NZ's best known dessert it's not the thing you ask for on your birthday or anything. And pavlovas are all different. The Kaikoura pavlova was big and surrounded by hard meringue. This one was small and topped with soft meringue and ice cream, with whipped cream on the side. Walked home about 11.

pthomas156

SUNDAY 3/29: BEACH, PORT AND THE STEEPEST STREET IN THE WORLD


We did laundry, which was free except for soap powder, $2. Grateful to find laundry facilities after at least a week! This was a great apartment. Fodor's had cited slightly outdated bathrooms as a "con" but ours seemed so new I felt like I was the first one to use it. Excellent shower. I could have spent 4-5 days in Dunedin area I think; the Otago Peninsula was actually my favorite place in our whole trip.

We drove about a half hour north to have lunch at the home of PJ and Jenn, folks that we had met six months ago on a schooner trip in Camden, Maine, while they were doing a lengthy tour of the U.S. They suggested we run down to the nearby Orokunui Eco Center since we left them just before 4, but when we got there we decided we had too little time to really tour what looked like a great refuge. They've built another one of these incredible anti-predator fences all around the place to keep the birds safe -- it amazes me that the Kiwis can do that.

We saw on the map that a beach walk could be had at Long Beach down the road; we couldn't go all the way to the beach on the trails at Otago yesterday. We marveled at the beautiful access trail from the parking lot, 300 meters of lush tropical forest and towering cliffs -- one of which was being climbed by someone, so we watched that for a bit before walking the beautiful, broad beach that was almost deserted in this golden late afternoon light.


To get back downtown, we chose the route through Port Chalmers, a port town. We parked and took a walk to ogle the action in the shipyard. We ended up talking to a German member of the crew from a huge container ship that we watched being loaded. He and his mates were going to dinner around the corner tonight and shoving off tomorrow; fun to talk to. After the port, with some effort, we located Baldwin Street in Dunedin, billed as the steepest residential street in the world. We drove down it and it was actually kind of scary. I wouldn't want to live on it!

We made a quick stop at the motel and then walked to the Irish Bog pub to watch part of the World Cricket Cup championship game, which NZ was playing against Australia. It was a huge national event. We sat at the bar and watched and we were still confused. They'd been playing for hours and Australia still wasn't up to bat. At the bar, we talked to some kind of pro Ira Scotsman -- almost as confusing as cricket -- who now lives in NZ. We soon had enough of both cricket and incendiary politics, and went to dinner at the Golden Dragon, which was relatively busy on this late Sunday night. We had delicious lamb with cumin and beef with veggies. Grabbed an ice cream cone at the Dairy Bar near the motel. They had the Kapiti Island ice cream that I had enjoyed in Geraldine and it was a premium price. I loved the fig and honey. Chris had regular Hokey Pokey with honeycomb in it, which is NZ's favorite flavor. The small version was called "learner's" and was only $2. Glad to get in bed by about 11.

tripplanner001

No apologies please. Appreciate the effort you put into this.

annhig

We found our hotel in an amazing section of Oamaru -- a well-preserved few blocks of Victorian architecture. In the late 1800s, the town was booming and all kinds of elegant buildings were going up. Eventually it hit the skids, but nobody was ever interested enough in Oamaru to knock the buildings down and start over. So it's all still there. Hotel Criterion is on a prominent corner and was recently renovated. >>

pthomas - we stayed in the same hotel! amazing! and not only that, we also ate at Cucina 1871 too and had about the best dinner we had in NZ if not on the whole trip. [which is saying something].

the only difference is that for us, it was our 2nd to last night in NZ, for you it was your second. We were lucky enough to see the little penguins in Oamaru [very lucky, as we never made it to Dunedin] and also had a walk round the town which is fascinating - including a great botanical garden, those wonderful victorian buildings and an opera house where we had a guided tour by a very bored barman who latched onto us like a drowning man does a life-raft.

great report - please keep going.

Sue_xx_yy

This is an absolutely fabulous report. I am able to 'do' things vicariously we didn't have time to do ourselves, like the kiwi centre, and things we didn't even know about, like the Aviation Heritage centre. Really appreciate all the effort.

Kwaussie

Only just found this report and enjoyed reading it all in one go. So wonderful to 'see' NZ & Aus through others' eyes.
Did you manage to try some bourbon with L&P ?

pthomas156

Annhig, so glad you liked Cucina so much too. I hope the ladies who own it see this report and these comments! Wish we had stumbled into the opera house tour. And no, kwaussie, we did not have augmented bourbon tho I am not a purist and probably would have liked it better than plain.

pthomas156

MONDAY 3/30: TE ANAU AND A BEAUTIFUL B&B

Actually got up early by setting alarm, still didn't leave for Te Anau until 9:15! By 11:15 we were gassing up in Gore, stopped for flat whites at Shelby's Cakes and enjoyed a marvelous apricot crumble -- I was already eating a Magnum ice cream bar, which I had been eyeing in every gas station. Rich like a Dove Bar. Beautiful sunny day and tho we are on the "unscenic" route -- the scenic one swings down to the other side of the Catlin Mountains -- we are driving through the usual NZ beauty of green hills, twisty main roads, sheep and cattle. I'm not sure New Zealanders have ever seen unscenic! Every little town looks like you would love to stay in the town hotel, visit Luzzy and Wayne's Curio Shop, have a handle at the outdoor pub. But others put it in perspective: Shelby at Shelby's Cakes says she loves Te Anau but hasn't been there in years. Her husband wants to go the U.S. for Steve Earle's songwriting camp but she says they need to wait until they can go for a longer time.

Starting to see leaves turn a bit. Especially the very occasional maple! We pass numerous deer farms including one where the deer had big antlers. Eventually we found a place to take a picture of them, and there were deer on one side of the road making noise and big black milk cows on the other side mooing at us interlopers. Hilariously cacophonous. We drove into Te Anau and asked the visitors center where our b&b was. A few miles back out the way we came. Te Anau is very tiny on a beautiful lake with a collection of restaurants and a supermarket and drugstore, etc. We stopped at the market for wine and bought a dozen Bluff oysters for $25, already shucked like our friends Pj and Jen had at their house at lunch. Then we headed out to Kakapo Road to find Dusky Ridges B&B.

Loads of sheep were scattered over the fields as we drove down the road leading to the B&B. It was a lovely, modern house with an extension and another separate cottage for visitors. The owner, Wynn, had to step out but she left us a welcome note saying to go inside where we found a fresh loaf of bread and butter, homemade brownies, an enormous amount of breakfast food -- fabulous. The downstairs had a living room, a dining area and a little kitchen with a laundry. What a great setup. Upstairs were 2 bedrooms and a bathroom. Lots of books about NZ, lots of little touches such as local hand lotion, a small bouquet of flowers. Outside in a pen across the yard were sheep and llamas, and next door to them were deer. Took lots of photos. When Wynn came in, she was just as lovely as her welcome. She and her husband Henrik from Denmark bought this property seven years ago when their property elsewhere was bought out by a big German farm. That's why everything is new. She suggested we might like to walk on the property to a big stand of trees where a hill affords a good view of the lake, especially at sunset.

So we got out our wine and oysters and cheese and with some of Wynn's bread and made ourselves a picnic in the backyard. After that, we took a walk back down toward the road to visit the sheep, then back up to the stand of trees. Beautiful views everywhere. Between the hill and the lake, way in the distance, we could see their herd of deer. And we could hear them very clearly because it's mating season. A hilarious amount of bugling. We stayed quite a while then walked back and relaxed some more. We decided the property was so lovely that we'd rather stay there than go back into town for dinner (tho Wynn had given us dining suggestions). We still had oysters and cheese, so who wanted to leave? As sunset approached we walked back up to the stand of trees, this time accompanied by the elderly male buck that Wynn said had to be separated from the yard herd into his own pen because he was giving the others trouble. Then we walked back, got in bed and read and went online. Very relaxing night thanks to our beautiful surroundings. (Paid $180 US)

TUESDAY 3/31: OVERNIGHT CRUISE IN DOUBTFUL SOUND

We were woken up at 7:45 by our neighbor and house caretaker Arlene calling to update us on Rob the repairman coming to fix the furnace -- an important event because the house we had moved out of in Rhode Island had gone under contract while we were in Christchurch and we were supposed to have a house inspection on Friday. These house negotiations are a bit nerve-wracking from 10,000 miles away!

We scrambled around to make breakfast from the four eggs and lots of venison sausage and bacon that Wynn had left us. You can tell she wants her guests to have the same level of service she likes. We were ready by shortly after 10 to check out. We met Henrik, Wynn's husband. He and their four dogs had mustered the sheep to the area where they would go through a dipping process for lice. Good thing I took sheep pix yesterday! We paid Wynn our $250 NZ by credit card with her phone; she says she wants to get a Square to make things easier. Then we were off the few miles to Te Anau to wait for the boat that would kick off our overnight cruise in Doubtful Sound.

The bus wasn't boarding until 11:30 so we went off to get a flat white and pop round the shops near the cafe. We took the bus the short way to Lake Manapori, where we picked up our box lunches ($25 each, a little pricey for a sandwich and some cheese and crackers and an apple) and boarded the boat. We went to the top deck, which turned out to be a freezing wind tunnel tho it was nice to be in the open. So we stayed up there the whole time, a little less than an hour. A big group of kids was with us. At first we thought they were NZ-school kids off for an overnight field trip. Later we found out that they were from an international school in Singapore. They were of all ethnic groups but they all spoke perfect English. They were on a 10-day trip and the next day they were going on helicopters! Must be an expensive school!

At the end of the lake we boarded another bus to go across the Wilmot Pass to Doubtful (named that by Captain Cook who was unsure of its usefulness). It was brilliant green and wet with clouds of ferns and twisty beech trees. We passed a couple of waterfalls that even I thought were beautiful, and I tend to think waterfalls are overrated as a sight. After about 20 minutes we arrived at the Fjordland Navigator, a gleaming navy blue cruising boat with sails. Looks modern enough to have heat! They showed us to our double cabin, quite neat and basic, not too small. After a bit of cruising, water activities began to happen. I had wanted to kayak, but there were only 28 kayaks and at least that many kids. So we opted for the small tender ride, which was fine. We got close to shore and talked about the few birds we could see and some of the trees. The kids on the tender were hilarious, ages 11-13. They wanted to go faster. One kid grabbed a sandfly and smashed it against the knee of one of the girls; some things never change. The boat looked beautiful against the steep islands. A fjord is a passage carved by a glacier so this is one; a sound is carved by a river. Doubtful is big, somewhat wide compared apparently to Milford. Looks similar to the fjords of Norway but even more to Patagonia and our expedition ship trip around Cape Horn. After we got back to the ship, apparently a few adults headed out to kayak but I missed the memo on that. Then anyone who wanted (the kids!) went swimming. The water was cold but the kids jumped off the boat, did flips, etc. The water is mostly fresh; I tasted it. It has lots of tannin so the wake can look a little brown.

About 6 pm we had a glass of wine (Rabbit Run Pinot Gris, delicious) and a Tui beer, and it seemed dinner was beginning so we had some tasty leek-potato-cauliflower soup. We sat with a nice couple from Sydney. But after soup, there was a cleaning up and they said we were heading out to see seals, which was great because it was golden sunset light. The ship headed out the mouth of the Tasman Sea, very dramatic with lots of rocks and rocking and rolling seas. Quite sunny breaks in the clouds, beautiful light. They hoisted a few sails, which they said was mostly for show, but it was quite a show. One of the rock groups, maybe shelter islands, had the seals which were mostly sleeping as wild waves crashed around them. The young ones were clambering around jumping into pools. Very, very beautiful. Great light on the sails for photos. This moment alone would have made the whole cruise worth it! This was where Cook sailed in and didn't think much of this piece of geography. He did a good job of representing it on a map tho.

After that the sun was slipping away, and about 8 we headed in to dinner. Great buffet with a wonderful lamb roast carvery. Salmon, curry chicken, good veggies and a terrific beet salad. We sat with the fellow from Sydney; his wife Florence didn't feel well, maybe the soup, maybe migraine. We discussed the state of golf in the world. Pavlova appeared for dessert, along with lots of others including hot apple pie. After dinner we saw a 40-minute nature slide show by the boat naturalist, and by 10:30 we couldn't wait to get to bed. By then the captain had taken the ship into a channel called Crooked Arm, part of which we had been in when we kayaked. He went down to the end where it's very still. No rocking at all but Chris said his side of the bed was slanted and he only slept medium well. Mine was not slanted.

One price note: the price on this trip drops steeply on April 1. We would have saved a bundle if we could have waited one more day to go but that didn't work out!

pthomas156

WEDNESDAY 4/1: MAKING OUR WAY TO QUEENSTOWN, THEN A BIG ERROR!

The crew started the boat engines at 6:30, a wake up call for breakfast from 7 to 8. Loads of food in the buffet, including hard poached eggs. Just at 8 as we were supposed to get out of the dining room, the captain conveniently spotted bottle-nosed dolphins and everyone rushed out into the gloomy mist. Sure enough a dozen or so dolphin fins could be spotted going in and out of the water and pretty soon the critters started swimming right next to the boat in the wake. Then they did a few leaps and twists tho the nature guide said they aren't as acrobatic as the dusky dolphins we saw in the whale watch at Kaikoura. Next up were a small group of crested penguins swimming in the middle. Their little heads would poke up and they would AWK. Very cute but we couldn't get too close. At one point the captain asked everyone to find a place outside and not to make noise. He turned off the engine and everything on the boat and we listened to the sounds of Doubtful Sound. Suddenly we could hear birds, tho we still couldn't see them. The wisps of clouds drifted along. Waterfalls rushed. Very peaceful. This is what it would be like if you're Jane Gooddall, say, and you lived in nature all the time.

By 10 we arrived back at the bus to go back over Wilmot Pass. One of the school chaperones said the kids were from the United World College of Singapore. A teacher said he was from Spain but he had spent the last eight years teaching around the world, including a year in North Carolina, and he didn't care as much about money as he did about living and having experiences. He quite fancies Asia and said he thinks he'll stay there a while. He said if we go to Singapore no need to spend more than a weekend; not that much to see. On the boat we chatted with a couple from London. It was her second trip to NZ to fill in the gaps from the first. It was his first. She travels a lot with a couple of women whose husbands don't like to go. She wants to go to the Galapagos but he is leery of boats. This was his first overnight boat trip, which he loved. She had been to Milford sound and said Doubtful is much bigger and more dramatic. She said they didn't see any animals in Milford (tho others later said they did). I was glad to hear it because Chris has sensibly persuaded me that now that we have done Doubtful, we don't need to make the forced drive to Milford today, and instead can go right to Queenstown. We have seen a lot of fjords In the past half dozen years, but I feel compelled to see ones that are so famous!

Back in Te Anau, we did some more fruitless shopping for a very large hat for Chris (getting closer, he points out). Then a hokey pokey ice cream later plus some downloading of email at the Pop In Cafe, we were off to Queenstown at 1:50 through a sheep-filled valley hemmed in by beautiful green hills. The closer we got to Queenstown on this gorgeous sunny day the more rugged the mountains became. Then hit Lake Wakatipu and had to stop several times for photos. These mountains are remarkable! Wish we could see them with snow. What makes them so unusual is that they appear to have absolutely nothing manmade on them and they drop dramatically right down to the lake. Qtown is bigger than we imagined, tho later somebody pointed out it only has a couple of stop lights; the suburb of Frankton (?) makes it seem bigger. Found the Crowne Plaza Hotel (thank you IHG points!) perfectly located on the waterfront in the heart of everything, and they had upgraded us to a lakefront-view room on the second floor with a balcony. Perfect!

It was a beautiful day, so we decided to take advantage of it by going up the mountain in the gondola, which was within walking distance. It was a hefty $32 apiece to get up there (round trip), but it was an amazing view all around from the viewing platforms. Really looks like Colorado without the development. The cafe was closed and we didn't want to have a big dinner up there, so we got drinks and a fish bites appetizer at the bar. We sat at a window with a perfect view of everything including the gondolas passing by.

At about 7:15, we decided to walk down the Tiki Trail back to town. The brochure said it takes an hour, and it was staying light until about 8:15. What we didn't realize is that the sun sets at 7:30, and if you're on a trail in a thick forest it's much darker than being on the street. We kept seeing people walking up, which is of course harder, and we worried about them being in the dark. We should have been worrying about US. With about a third of the trail to go, darkness descended and we couldn't see a thing! Scary. And the trail was a scramble over tree roots in part, not the nice smooth path it had started out (later we realized the trail was graded medium, not easy). Fortunately Chris had the flashlight on his cell phone, because the only way to get down was for him to see the path, walk it, and then shine the light on the path for me. We were stressed and exhausted by the time we finally got to the bottom. We plunked ourselves down at the Coyote Grill for a margarita (excellent) and some beer. We also had chips and three dips. Hit the spot. Then we collapsed into bed, vowing not to be such dumb tourists again!.

THURSDAY. 4/2: TRYING THE ROUTEBURN TRACK

Our hotel room came with the breakfast buffet, so we found ourselves dining with the South African Stormers rugby team, which had been staying at the hotel. Very large men! And they were very fond of throwing all kinds of fruits and veggies into the industrial-sized juicer. Our plan for the day was to make the gorgeous drive north of Queenstown to Glenorchy to do the first day of the multi-day Routeburn Track. Even tho Milford is more famous, a lot of people say they like this one best. And while we had not planned to do any of the multi-days, we were curious to see what at least part of one was like (and whether we could do it).

The drive is indeed dramatic, ending in a lovely valley where we picked up some cheese and bread for the trek. The Routeburn section was a bit surprising. It's almost all in the woods. And while the woods is beautiful and quirky, with so many places where it looks like a hobbit could step right out onto the path, it would have been nice to have an occasional view. The stream running downhill next to the path (which was smooth but had its share of uphill) was an incredible shade of pale blue, almost unearthly. We have found that we hike slower than the estimated time to do hikes, probably thanks to my picture taking, and after almost four hours, we still hadn't come to the hut that marks the end of the first-day trek, so we decided to head back. Later we found we were almost there and our reward would have been a magnificent vista. (It would be nice to have signs that indicate how far you have left to go.) But at least we did it and felt like we could handle it if we want to do a multi-day next time we're here.

Back at the hotel, we used our free drink vouchers to relax on our balcony overlooking the lake and the Remarkables. Love this view. Afterward, we went down to talk to the concierge about our plan for the next day, which was to visit wineries in the Central Otago. Unfortunately for us, the next day was Good Friday, and all wineries and liquor stores and bars are closed. When you plan your trip yourself, sometimes your research is not perfect! Who knew? We headed for a walk around town -- bagpipers were playing on the waterfront, drawing a crowd -- and had a fast-food dinner at Devil Burgers to discuss our alternatives.

Melnq8

Sounds like you were pretty lucky with the weather in Glenorchy and Doubtful!

annhig

yes -certainly luckier than us with the weather at Doubtful, where after a lovely ride across the lake, the weather got increasingly worse and we had almost unrelieved gloom on the Sound. perhaps an overnight would have been better but it didn't fit into our already over-crowded itinerary.

enjoying your trip with you- almost literally - though i seem to remember that we got the gondola down too .

tripplanner001

Doubtful Sound sounds beautiful. Would love to see some photos if you ever get around to it.

Melnq8

I feel your pain regarding the gondola walk - one year we walked up AND back down...after having walked the 4.25 mile Mt Crichton Loop the same morning.

What were we thinking?

pthomas156

FRIDAY (GOOD) 4/3: ARROWTOWN

Indulged again at the breakfast buffet at hotel. Took it easy, no place we have to go. Called Siberia Air Experience and switched our planned plane/hike/jet boat adventure from Saturday to Sunday when the weather was looking better; luckily they had two slots available for us. Talked to concierge who made us reservations for tonight at Captains so Chris can have venison, which he had been looking forward to in NZ. She also tried to make us reservations at Mt Difficulty winery for tomorrow lunch but they were closed today so she left a message. Then we took off for Arrowtown. Just outside of town we saw the Shotover Jet Boat running so we stopped to take a look. It can go in surprisingly shallow water! Continued on to Arrowtown where we parked with masses of other cars. Quaint historic little town where gold rush was centered. However, now it's mostly about shopping and eating, and we've been in this kind of town before.

We paid $1 for a walking trails map and decided to do the Anniversary Walk, a 4.2 km loop around the river right in town. We weren't up for anything big after the last two days! Unfortunately, it was quite difficult to tell from this map where the walk begins as several walks begin in the same place and the map indicates the walk goes south when actually it goes north. So we went for about a mile in the wrong direction along the river until we asked a family and they said it's the other way. The trail we were on was part of a 6-8 hour deal. So we went back the other way and began the route properly. Very pleasant, shaded by big trees, mostly flat with lots of folks and kids strolling and biking. However, it was a little too much of the same stuff, we'd already done a couple of miles in the wrong direction, and it was quite a warm sunny day! We were happy to find the end but not happy that there was no beer (Good Friday) as a reward. We had bought a beer and a bottle of wine last night that was in the car so we decided to go back to the hotel and have those. Stopped at Apex at the airport to tell them we were having problems with our trunk lock but their mechanics were already left for the day.

Went back to hotel and relaxed. We had had to switch rooms because other paying customers wanted our straight-on lakefront room so we assumed we would get kicked to something in the back with no view. The word on IHG rewards is that ANY paying customer is better than a platinum member there on a hard-earned free room. But we only got moved from 214 to 208 which still has a balcony looking at the lake and Remarkables, just a few rooms down, so a lake view. We are happy!!

By 7:45 we were at Captains on the pedestrian mall, where Chris had very good venison and I had a delicious ribeye with small boiled potatoes, lovely toasted onions and wilted spinach. I had chosen blue cheese and shallot sauce, which was a thick slice of cheese slightly melting on top of the steak. The taste was a bit much for the steak, but it was easy to take off and dip into with the potatoes. We ended up talking to the couple next to us, Lizzy and Richard, about 10 years older than us from Christchurch who had flown in for the long weekend. I liked them because they talked to each other the whole meal like we do. They are world travelers; pretty much just rich. Very fun. I love that New Zealanders are so friendly that they end up engaging us in restaurants! The couple across from us were very young and had just gotten married in America a few days before. They were talking to their waiter (who was from Ireland) about getting a visa to work here. Stopped at an English candy store and got Finnish licorice, not as good as Aussie. Back at hotel around 11. Could hear kids out on the waterfront making noise into the night but it was no big deal to us.

SATURDAY 4/4: THE HEAVENLY OTAGO VINEYARDS

Woke up in leisurely fashion; today we hadn't even signed up for breakfast. About 10 we went down the street to the waterfront park where there's an arts and crafts fair every Saturday. Pottery, jewelry, kids clothes, cutting boards, the usual. Didn't see anything I couldn't live without. Went back to the hotel, made reservations for kayaking Abel Tasman next Thursday, got the car, and took off for the Central Otago wineries. The concierge called to say that Mt Difficulty confirmed our reservations for 2 pm, so we had 3 hours to get out there.

We headed out to Chard Farm in Gibbs Valley, the closest. I had read an nyt article about a writer who was watching bungy jumping from the nearby bridge while drinking a glass of wine. The winery is in a dramatic setting down a long gravel road along a gorge. Colors were changing so the trees lined up like sentries along the road were golden yellow with the giant rugged mountains behind. Just gorgeous. But the bungy jumping is a bit down the road! The winery was the finish line that day for a big bike race so lots of people were in the front yard and there were tents selling sausages etc. We went to the cellar door and tasted half a dozen wines. Not crazy enough about them to buy, but enjoyable. We turned left out of the driveway and went down to the bungy jumping bridge, which is apparently where the sport started. Quite an elaborate operation. It didn't look as terrible as I imagined to jump off a bridge with water (not pavement) below. We watched a few people jump, great fun, and in the gift store bought my daughter's forthcoming baby a couple of NZ shirts (one labeled "free range chick"). Then we were off to lunch at Mt Difficulty, which is near Cromwell about a half hour from there.

The drive down Route 6 thru wine country is absolutely stunning. Two lanes, the usual fast clip and Saturday traffic. Lots of pulling off onto the lookout points to admire the mountains turning gold in the sunny autumn light or the sheer craggy ridges. The view is wide open, like the western US. Roarin Meg's is a postcard stop with a view of the aqua river gushing downstream. Lots of trees appeared to have lost their leaves but a sign at the lookout says NZ is taking the unusual step of killing off all the wildings, or non-native trees that are negatively affecting native trees and birds. If you don't stop at the lookouts, you don't see the river, which is far, far down in the gorge below, all along the road.

We saw the turn for the Bannockburn Wineries, and very quickly we were on Felton Road. A sign mentioned something about the desert, and sure enough, up on the hillside were rock formations that looked like Monument Valley in the western U.S.! So beautiful. The building on the hill next to the formations was Mount Difficulty vineyard. The vines were planted in rows all around, but magnificent rocks and the entire valley and mountains could be seen from the dining terrace. A vintage truck up there just added to the scene. It was so magnificent and the light at 2 pm was so clear and beautiful that I had to walk up the hill to take photos; Chris went in to tell the restaurant, quite busy, that we were here for our reservation.

We sat on the terrace where no umbrellas obstruct the view. They give you straw hats for the sun. The menu was short but tempting. There was an antipasto-type platter to share which most NZ vineyards with eateries have available. But we wanted to see what the chef could do. We ordered duck with a fruity sauce and linguine with forest mushrooms. The linguine reduction sauce was so flavorful we had to ask for bread because we didn't want a smidge of it to miss our mouths. It was a new item menu and we suggested to them at the end that more pasta would be welcome. NZ restaurants don't seem to give bread unless requested which is good for the waistline. The duck too had fabulous sauce. Four pieces and all had crispy skin. The presentation was especially striking because the courgettes had their dark green skin on, next to the wonderful Kelly green curly lettuce (dressing was great). For wine, Chris had a Reisling and I had the Pinot Gris trio selection, which was a deal at $12.95. I loved all three. This was one of the best meals in combination with a setting (including the weather) that I have ever experienced. We bought one of the Pinot Gris and the dessert wine I had had as part of my trio.

We finally dragged ourselves away so we could hit one more winery. First we stopped at the bottom of the road to read about how the terrain had changed during the hydraulic mining and sluicing during the Gold Rush days. Then we realized workers had arrived to begin picking the grapes, the first time we had seen that. Apparently the weather has been so good that vineyards had delayed picking. It was fun to see, but we noticed the workers had very dark skin. We had seen no dark-skinned people in NZ. Where did these folks come from? (Later we learned that residents of far-flung islands come in to pick grapes.) We moved on to Peregrine Winery, where it was 4:45 and we had 15 minutes to taste. Very nice folks, not rushed. The winery building is in the shape of a falcon wing, and they have an interest in preserving raptors. Loved the dessert wine, which was a little less sweet that Mount Difficulty's. Bought that too.

Went back to the hotel and relaxed, did emails, etc. Had a quick dinner at Saigon, the Vietnamese restaurant right across the street. Had an interesting crispy crepe that looked like an omelet but apparently was some kind of fried noodle crust. Nice modern place, reasonably priced.

pthomas156

SUNDAY 4/5: SIBERIA AIR ADVENTURE

Up early on Easter morning. Left at 6:35 am for our fly-hike-boat adventure with Siberia Air into the Mount Aspiring World Heritage National Park. We decided to take the Alpine road through Cardrona to Wanaka even tho we wondered how that would be in the early morning duskiness, considering how scary some of these NZ mountain roads are. It was fine but it started out with lots of hairpin turns. From Wanaka to Makarora it was another hour. It was cloudy and foggy and a little rainy and we wondered if the plane would even take off. But the pilot said he'd already been up in the air taking some hunters somewhere. Indeed, as we waited we started to see patches of blue sky and quite soon it was a beautiful day.

The yellow Cessna plane whisked us and another couple up into the air over the remote Siberia Valley with lots of great views of the Southern Alps tho one snowy peak was too clouded in to fly over. The flight lasted about 25 minutes. We were dropped off in the valley near Siberia Stream. It was clear and cold and we had been warned to bring extra shoes do we could ford it. Tho we thought this was to be a flatter valley walk, the beautiful trail quickly headed up into the mountains. It was quite an ascent with lovely views along the way and lots of birds.

We had been told to be at the end of the trail to meet the jet boat about three hours later. We hike a bit more slowly than others (we always find!) and in spite of the fact that we didn't spend much time sitting around picnicking, we found it a bit of a struggle at the end to meet the deadline! But we did, and we met up with several other folks who were also picking up the boat.

The jet boat was piloted by a cheerful young guy who clearly knew the river, as he darted around in often shallow water, giving us plenty of bursts and whirl-arounds. The cattle grazing along the shores barely gave us a second look. At the end, after about a half-hour ride, we were picked up by a van and driven back to our car. Then we faced another two-hour drive back to Queenstown and our hotel. It would have been more convenient if we could have planned this so we were heading for the West Coast, where we were to go tomorrow, but that's not how it worked out! The whole adventure cost about $350 apiece, which we felt was well worth it. http://southernalpsair.mobi/site/sib...k_jetboat.html

We hung out in the hotel for a while, feeling justified by all our hiking that day. We opened our bottle of Peregrine Sauvignon and people-watched from the balcony. We headed out about 8 to find dinner. We ended up at Surreal, Chris attracted by the $15 rump roast special. I had the $15 Thai curry ( looks a little like dog barf but tasty). We were going to order the cheesecake, but one of the waiters suggested that that Jaffa cake was more traditionally NZ. It was very good with orange zest.


MONDAY 4/6: THE WILD WEST COAST UP TO FOX

Took off at 9:30 am to head up the west coast, our first day this trip without reservations! We noted that in spite of all the nights we spent in Queenstown, we never made it to Queens Gardens. Never made it to The Winery, a place downtown where you can get tastes of 84 local wines or something. We were either too busy or too tired after being busy. In retrospect we would have skipped Arrowtown and that walk. Might have done another winery area day plus the desert walk at Mt Difficulty. Or, once I had seen the upcoming beaches, I might have wanted a day at Haast Beach.

Took Route 6 to Wanaka instead of the twisty alpine road through Cardrona that we took yesterday but it was at least 20 minutes longer. By the time we stopped for gas at Lake Hawea, it was 11:15. Not good on a day we needed to make tracks. In spite of the usual prediction of rain, it didn't rain a drop and was getting bluer the farther west we headed. The mountains here are like paint-by-number perfection, every inch craggy and dramatic, with grand, sweeping vistas of peaks and lakes. Everything untouched, barely anyone lives out here. The lake is so gigantic that when we saw a beach we wondered whether it was low tide, forgetting it's not the ocean, and yet we saw just one boat. In the sunshine it turned cornflower blue. Sigh.

We stopped at Makarora Country Cafe for a quick and delicious lunch of steak and mushroom as well as lamb and mint pie. Such flaky pastry!! As we headed for the Haast Pass it clouded up and began to rain. So no stopping for big views at the Gates of Haast. When we got to the village, we turned left to go to Haast Beach which was 4 km away. But we didn't see any sign so after driving a bit Chris just turned into one of the gravel roads on the right, which we figured had to be along the beach. Sure enough, a huge beach heavily decorated with twisted pieces of driftwood sculpture unfolded before us. It had stopped raining so we walked a bit on that. The beach was all small stones of varying colors and designs, some green enough to be greenstone maybe. The waves were rolling in wildly. Just magnificent. I wish we were staying here; nobody really gives you info on the craziness of beaches here. Maybe nobody likes this kind of wild driftwood sort of thing as much as I do.

When Chris realized we weren't too far from Jackson Bay, the town at the end of the line on this road, he said let's go. So we did. Our guidebooks suggested estuary walks, etc but we ignored those because it sprinkled on and off. The very straight road was lined on both sides with lush fern trees and thick leafy vegetation that made us feel like we were somewhere in the warm southeast of the US, like Florida or the Carolinas. Warming and tropical. Several bridges crossed wide, mostly dry riverbeds with pale blue water trickling through them.

After maybe 45 minutes we finally came to the end of the line: Jackson Bay. It isn't much. Just a long wharf with fishing boats bobbing wildly in the crashing sea. By the wharf was a welcome sight: the Craypot Restaurant. One of Chris's favorite books is The Restaurant At the End of the Universe and now he would get to eat in a real one, at the end of the only road on the West Coast of NZ. It's a tiny but cute little building with a huge orange umbrella covering a few tables outside. This was an indoor day tho, so we sat at one of the half dozen booths and ordered a flat white, a bowl of seafood chowder ($18 NZ) and some chips. No wifi unless you pay for it. The chowder came out in a funky ceramic fish bowl on a fish plate. The chips were served in a metal basket with a handle. So stylish I had to take a photo which got a laugh out of the two ladies running the place. We ate while gazing at rain sluicing down the windows and the boats rocking on the sea. It really did feel like the end of the earth. We bought Chris a tshirt for $43; they know their market: people who like weird places. And the edges of things.

It was about 3 so we thought we'd better get going. It would end up taking us until 5:45 to get to Fox Glacier, with only a couple of brief stops as it was raining on and off much of the way. We stopped at Ship's Creek where a boardwalk led to another wide wild beach. The first people I saw said they had spotted some crested penguins swimming off shore; they don't usually come in until twilight. The next people coming up the beach with hiking sticks said they'd seen Dolphins playing. Of course tho I walked a ways, I saw none of these. But I did see beautiful smooth rocks of different types covering the beach, including greenstone. The only shells seemed to be clams. As I started back it began to rain hard. Chris was up at the interpretive signs ( look southwest across the Tasman Sea and the only thing from here is Antarctica) so we both made a run for the car. Our only other stop was at Knights Point, which Lonely Planet had advised to see "if humanly possible." We noted the (only) road up the coast had been rerouted because the old one had washed out or something, and when we got to the lookout, the observation deck was closed because of cliff erosion. You could still see over the bushes however, to a beach below the cliffs with rocky outcroppings dotting the sea. On the north side near the bathrooms another lookout afforded a beautiful view down the rocky coast.

We put pedal to the metal then, arriving at Fox in the gloom at 5:45, 45 minutes to go til sunset. We had no internet connection or phone service as we went up this remote coast (didn't plan for that!) so we couldn't call ahead for a reservation. Finally in the middle of town, the service worked and Expedia showed us which hotels were available. A couple of the dozen accommodations had no vacancy signs, but the Whitehaven Hotel, mentioned in Fodor, had a king room for $130, the owner said. We signed up, and the owner was quite efficient about showing us on a map where things are in town, from how to walk up to the glacier from town, to how to see glow worms on an 8:30 pm walk to where to go to dinner. The room was spacious and outfitted with a sofa and coffee table plus a microwave and fridge. It really started to rain a lot, so we just hunkered down, still full from our chowder. Later I had microwaved popcorn and Chris had his leftover French fries and we snacked on almonds and opened our bottle of Mount Difficulty Pinot Gris. The internet wasn't working great, and they only give you 150 MB free, but we did manage to use it some. We read and went to sleep early so we could get up early tomorrow..