You're certainly right about that nelsonian!

Sounds like a lovely day and much better weather.

Fingers crossed your house will survive the storms in Perth but at least you're not there right now! A friend in Warnbro said she couldn't hear the TV because of the storm but she wasn't complaining because they still had power!

Melnq8, so happy for you that you are experiencing better weather. Even if it's chilly, sunshine can really lift the spirits. Your experiences at the wineries sound like fun.

And trust that your home in Perth is OK!

As expected, I’ve fallen way behind. We’ve not had Internet access for a few days, so I’ll try catch up in one go. I do plan to write a much more detailed report at a later date if I have time.

I think we left off after a nice dinner at Café de Paris in Hokitika…

The following day we drove from Hoki to Cromwell, which I absolutely do not recommend. I’d estimated the drive at 6.5 hours, so we knew it was going to be a long day, but what we didn’t count on was sunshine on the West Coast, which encouraged us to stop more than we’d planned. I was so excited by the glorious clear sunny day in Franz Josef that we drove out to the glacier and walked to the viewpoint. We were tempted to walk to the terminal face, but we’ve done it many times before and sanity prevailed, so we moved on to Fox Glacier where we stopped for lunch at The Saddle, knowing there weren’t many food options further on. In between there were many stops for photos which didn’t help our progress much.

We also stopped to walk the beach at Bruce Bay, which we don’t recall ever seeing in the sunshine before…resistance was futile. Same for Knight’s Point.

I’d hoped to walk a new track at Haast, but there was just no way…it was getting late and we wanted to get over Haast Pass before dark. I’m not sure why, the pass really is no big deal, although the road was in pretty rough shape this time last year with some scary eroded areas and drop offs. It was fine this time around. Of course there was no time for the Blue Pools either, but it didn’t really matter as we’ve visited many times before, and the sun was gone, so my hopes of nice photos were dashed anyway.

Our next detour was to Wanaka, by design, as we thought a nice Indian dinner would taste pretty good and we knew dinner dining options are limited in Cromwell . The food hit the spot, but delayed our arrival to Cromwell even more…we arrived in Cromwell at 7:30 pm in the pitch black, with no idea of how to find our accommodation, get this, 10.5 hours after we left Hoki. I repeat, I do not recommend this, even for seasoned SI visitors like ourselves (even less so in winter when the days are so short).

We spent two nights in Cromwell, in a lovely vineyard cottage, which gave us one full day to visit the area wineries, have a nice winery lunch and just relax.

Then it was on to the North Catlins via Clyde, Alexandra and Roxborough, and a side road I’d learned about on another travel forum, which of course made for another slow drive day. We stopped to look for penguins, nearly getting swept away in some ferociously cold gale force wind and rain near Nugget Point. It was seriously nasty.

We spent three nights in the North Catlins. We were fairly lucky with the weather (well, it’s all about perspective, isn’t it?). We had a snippet of sunshine here and there on the Catlin coast and plenty of rain, but we managed to get in some good walks and it didn't slow us down much.

Te Anau up next...stay tuned...

Hi Melnq8, so glad for your recent update. We sort of have the same travel rhythms. . .go with the flow. Hey! When you get some unexpected breaks in the weather, take advantage. Happy that the lift in weather extended to the Glacier area. Now for some beautiful weather in Te Anau. Just curious whether or not you're staying at the Croft Inn. Because of your recommendation, we had a wonderful stay there. We really liked the hospitality which Jane offers, not to mention the beauty of the property. And complimentary internet access is a bonus. (We owe Jane an e-mail and pic from last February! We're behind, just a little!) Here's wishing you fun and more decent weather wherever you go!

You havent' mentioned your ice cream adventures yet Melnq8!

You are in Deep South country!

tomarot -

No, we're not staying at The Croft. I contacted Jane twice to make a booking, but when she didn't respond I booked The Birchwood Cottages, where we are now. We only had four days to make all the bookings, so time was an issue. Jane did eventually get back...she apologized for the delay. Seems they have a new grandbaby and were busy with family matters. They were going to be away during our visit anyway, so just as well. We like the Birchwood Cottages so far - I had concerns about them being right on the main road, but didn't hear a thing last night. This is Te Anau afterall! Free internet here too, which is always a bonus, especially when it works.

mlgb -

You must be a mindreader - we made a point of stopping for some Deep South near Invercargill yesterday - first ice cream of the trip. Lemon/lime and hokey pokey for me. Plain vanilla for Bill (boring). We must be slowing down in our old age.

I bet those penguins were hiding from the weather.

What on earth is hokey pokey ice cream? I'm not sure it's safe to google!

Hokey pokey ice-cream is delicious, one of my favourite flavours, vanilla ice-cream with little lumps of crunchy toffee.

Hokey pokey is overrated, just slightly better then plain Vanilla.

Impressive drive, have driven from Blenheim to Bruce Bay several times before, thats a tiring drive and would not recommend. I go down there for long weekends hence the marathon driving effort.

I love the Haast area, the forests have a primitive charm to them. Have Kayaked around knights point, quite scenic looking back inland.

We saw one penguin, but we were the ones hiding from the weather...he took his own sweet time working his way up the beach.

About the hokey pokey...it sort of reminds me of honeycomb candy in the US or the interior of an Australian Crunchie Bar.

Yikes Thomas, I wouldn't recommend that one either.

It gets worst, I normally finish work around 3pm then hit the road. Reach Greymouth around 6pm, grab dinner. Then reach Bruce Bay just on sunset which is around 9:30 (Got a nice little campsite here). If I am smart I would get fuel at Hoki, otherwise its a nervous drive to Fox until these 24/hr fuel. I have mates who live in Greymouth which I could stay with but still keen to do it in one try.

The return trip is more laid back, and normally takes me all day. with plenty of stops and visits to the glaciers.

Oh, I love Crunchies especially the new version Cadbury Crunchie Rocks (more chocolate!).
Thomas, vanilla is my favourite flavour so Hokey Pokey must be nigh on perfect!

One wild penguin on the beach would make my day whatever the weather.

Aloha from Kauai -- a very different kind of paradise from NZ ;-). First, happy anniversary!!!

Your weather report has me nervous. I'm glad it doesn't seem to be spoiling your good time. My next trip back to NZ will be June (2013). I'll be working in Auckland and Christchurch--and hope I get better weather!

My previous trips have typically been in May--and we never encountered any snow--although we had LOTS of rain last year in Auckland. We had snow-capped mountains in Queenstown -- making it even more beautiful.

Enjoy the rest of your trip.

We were here over the exact same dates last June and had entirely different weather - still plenty of rain mind you, but no snow on the roads and fewer overall wet days.

Speaking of which, today it's raining just about everywhere on the SI according to weather reports. We'd planned to go to Doubtful Sound, but don't think we will. The cruise yesterday was cancelled as only three people had booked, which was a shame, as it turned out to be a really nice day.

I've been in November/December and had the same iincluding snow in Arthur's Pass. There is no telling with NZ weather.

Usually hotel managers are understanding and will shift your dates if they have space. I try not to book off season lodging too tightly, I am less picky about hotels than most.

I never pee-book, Outside of peak holiday season (last two weeks of December and all of January) it is normally very easy to pick up accommodation almost anywhere.

Even in peak, if you are prepared to compromise its normally possible to get accommodation in most locations.
Although the advantage of pre-booking is that you do not waste time looking for accommodation in a strange town. Plus it gives the freedom to arrive into your destination later. Booking a couple of days out is often a good strategy.

Have seen heavy snow in December before, although only on the mountains.

And freeze it did…we woke to the kind of NZ winter day that really makes me happy…clear skies, low cloud clinging to the hills, and the promise of a pretty day ahead. A layer of ice on the steps nearly sent Bill flying as he loaded the suitcase into the car. There was even a layer of frost on the backs of some cows we passed as we left our accommodation - It was definitely frosty.

Back on the Southern Scenic Route we headed to the South Catlins, stopping for coffee at the Niagara Falls Café, which was so cozy and welcoming that we regretted not being hungry. We detoured to Slope Point and made the 20 minute walk to the southernmost point on the South Island. There was no wind, blue skies overhead.

What more could a person want?

After more poking around, we finally arrived in Te Anau to gloom. Figures.

On our first full day in Te Anau, we made the early morning trek to Manapouri to look into taking a Doubtful Sound cruise…the weather wasn’t promising, but is it ever? Unfortunately, the cruise had been cancelled that day as only three people had signed up, so we left and worked our way along the Milford Road to seek out some walks.

We hadn’t planned on driving to Milford, but it turned out to be such a pretty day (yes!) that that’s exactly what we did. We didn’t take a cruise (done that many times), but managed to keep ourselves busy for many hours, returning to Te Anau in time for a showing of Ata Whenua, drinks and dinner.

The following day, we made the trek back to Manapouri, in even worse conditions. We decided at the last minute to take the Doubltful Sound cruise, which turned out to be a very good option. The weather wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t raining!

From Te Anau we drove to Glenorchy , which is where we are at the moment, winding up our three night stay. Yesterday was all winter gloom, but we still managed to walk several miles on the Caples Track. We popped into Kinloch Lodge, which was open for casual meals and drinks on a drop in basis – nice spot to rest the old legs.

Today was absolutely glorious – sunshine, snow-capped mountains, Glenorchy at its absolute finest. A perfect day. I’ve just now watched the sunset, leaving a gorgeous orange-pink cast over the snow covered mountains – incredible. We managed to fit in three hikes and hopefully I got some really good photos which I’ll share in the longer trip report. Whether or not we can move tomorrow is another issue altogether!

Tomorrow we’re off to Geraldine for a night, then it’s up to Christchurch for our final night before our early morning departure on Sunday morning. How fast the time goes…

Melnq8, loved your recent post. So happy that you got some clear days. Glenorchy sounded wonderful. It was gorgeous when we were there in late February, but no snow on the mountains as you so vividly describe. We can just about visualize the remainder of your path. Hope the last couple of days are good weather for travel. Will await your pix.