New Zealand: part 5 - magnificent deep fjords
22/02/2020 On this freezing day (14°C), we're heading towards Te Anau. In New Caledonia we we're cold at 25°C so honestly, we're sure we will lose our toes here!
Besides herds of sheep on the side of the road, there are herds of Homo Sapiens too 😂
So as soon as we arrive in Te Anau, we Google and found a really good and cosy restaurant: Redcliff. Enjoyable afternoon that's all about chillin'!
This is for tomorrow: in New Zealand you'll find that everything is "the best", "the only", "the highest", "the most beautiful", ... hmmmm good that they are so proud of their country 😏
We check out a small walk in town (the only free thing to do): the bird sanctuary. A lot of empty cages but some cute surprises!
You can tell your story using painted stones. Wonderful idea for at home or school 😎
A lesson about Mistletoe (never knew what it actually looked like on a tree!):
Louise is caressing a duckling:
And we found out which duck makes the sound of the whistles hunters use in the woods 😓 These ducks are gorgeous!
Just listen 😁
And the highlight is the Takahe. Like the Kiwi they cannot fly and the poor guys are almost extinct.
It's time to check-in to yet another airbnb. A lot better this time!
23/02/2020 Today we tackle the Milford Highway. It's very difficult to write what our feelings were at that time. I'm reading my diary and we had the feeling as if it was all such a rip off. Today I'm tempted to leave these comments out, because with a 6 months distance between the actual trip and this blog we find that the pictures are amazing and we do have a lot of great memories. But actually only because we really looked for them ... The best way to describe New Zealand is like an overpriced theme park. Not like Disneyland, but one where you pay way too much for the rides you have 😳 It is the perfect moment to explain OFFER and DEMAND to the girls. "Too many tourists for the offer, equals everyone sells everything at crazy prices!"
Anyway if you go there, keep this in mind, but I'll try to censor from now on 😌
The Milford highway goes up to Milford sound and there are about 32 stops. Short walks, lookouts and longer hikes with camping. We've selected only a few to get a taste of nature around the sounds!
It's not possible anymore to drive to Milford Sound. You have to take a bus, cars are not allowed... Buses cost approximately 80€ per person, so anyway 😏 we manage to have some really good stops while avoiding the crowd.
First stop: Te Anau Downs station. Gorgeous surroundings and some educational panels give us a historical tour of the area.
We try to imagine how our friends and family are driving in Belgium and feel so lucky, lucky, lucky 😅
We pass the Knobs flats for quite obvious reasons and will do it on the return trip:
Second stop: the mirror lakes. We are happy to have pushed through the crowd as the light is better now than on the return trip 😌 Funny no? 😂
The mirror lakes are magnificent!!!
One of the bus drivers insisted on taking our picture and pushed his clients to the side 😀
Third stop and the end of the road for us: Cascade Creek. We go for a wonderful walk through a tall Red Beech forest
While the girls are chattering away, the birds are checking them out 😍
Some obstacles along the way, make it a lot more fun to go hiking!
On the way back, we stopped again at the mirror lakes (without buses!) to find this small duck diving really deep. The water is so clear, we would love to join him for a swim!
And know the fourth stop: the Knobs flats.
A gorgeous place to fool around! Where's Louise?
There she is!
A little bit further off the road, there's no sign or visible stop. However quite a good view!
Lake Mistletoe and Te Anau Downs are not really worth a stop especially after all we've seen before, but maybe we're spoiled... 😏
Back at Te Anau, we found that a great way to discover the Fjordlands and sounds on a budget is ... the cinema! They have the Shadow Movie running in a small cinema with very comfortable seats. So while enjoying a beer, we dive off incredible waterfalls and glide over amazing landscapes. A movie made from the scouting images for the Lord of the Rings movies 😎
24/02/2020 While you need to take a boat to get to the Milford Track, you can just get to a free carpark for the Rainbow walk. A few Lord of the rings scenes have been shot here and it's absolutely gorgeous.
It's a magical walk full of fauna and flora wonders!
Geoffrey enjoys himself on the suspension bridges 😏
Great place to have lunch and to build our new beach condo 😌😍
We continue the hike a little bit further along the lake.
Some last finishing touches to the condo on the way back:
Louise found this cute little curious mouse with her Eagle eyes! We didn't believe her at first 😂
And Anna rides her horse all the way back 😍
And off course Geoffrey can't help temptation:
Besides lots of cattle, sheep, herds of men doing nr 1 along the road, there are also quite a lot of Deer farms in New Zealand. Still very wild. Pretty interesting to observe these herds closer by.
As a treat for this 5 hour walk, we found a playground where suddenly the girls have a lot of energy again! And guess who we meet: Belgians! They travel by plane and car and it's a great opportunity to exchange stories, talk Flemish ... and have a beer 😎
I'll get back to you soon with some more of ... New Zealand!
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