Along the Away

Goodbye Queenstown! Time to mosey on over to the south western corner of the South Island!

Off we trundled on the coach, passing through some lush forest lined roads.

We had the opportunity to take a wander through some forest trails right off the main road which is always good for healthy dose of nature.

We then continued through ‘Fiordland’ – to me, ‘Fiordland’ sounds a bit like a territory you might find on a map in Game of Thrones, but in reality it is a land of beauty and picture postcard views. Like the Scandinavian ‘Fjord’ (steep valley), Fiordland is dominated by the Southern Alps and the crystal clear lakes that lie between them.

We stopped to look at Mirror Lake where the still waters reflect the mountains and sky. This particular spot is rather famous and a sign sitting above the waterline rather cleverly makes it’s point.

Fiordland offers similar views and effects all around the area so we stopped regularly along our journey to get out our cameras.

A highlight of our trip was driving through the mountain – the Homer Tunnel is built into the Darran Mountain Range and is 1.2km long. When it opened in 1954 it was only a single lane gravel road. It has since been widened to two lanes but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was rather glad to not have met another vehicle on our journey through it!

The tunnel is pretty much pitch black, but when we came out through the other end it was back into the sunshine, past waterfalls and forest, always with the moody mountain backdrop.

Winding our way around the snow capped mountains meant we eventually ran into some snow! We had time to pull over and have an impromptu snow ball fight!

But I’m a lover not a fighter, so I also busied myself creating a little baby snow-pal, complete with a hat.

Luckily the weather was not wet or wild so we were able to take time to go on the Milford Sound Nature Cruise. This was quite special, cruising around the Sound in between the sheer vertical mountain faces where multiple waterfalls cascaded off the sides.

We saw a couple of fur seals sunbathing on the rocks, and then a pod of bottlenose dolphins came out to play with the boat!

What is it about dolphins that turn everyone into crazed paparazzi clicking away? I took a million photos, but for everyone’s sake here are just a couple.

It was cool how close the boat took us to the wall of the mountain rock face. The captain edged us right up to the wall where a waterfall smashed down on the front deck. Some brave souls held on tight and took a hit – but I watched from just inside the cabin :-)

The rocky walls are beautiful, layers of colour and minerals – the geology is very interesting, on the boat they share information about it which is cool.

The Milford Sound Cruise was really good – I would definitely recommend it. I did wonder a bit about the fabulous reviews Milford Sound gets from travellers, it was beautiful but not as breath-taking as I was expecting (it pains me to say, but gotta be honest). I think it must depend a lot on the weather, the sky and the water. A Google image search shows some truly gorgeous photos of the Sound, so if you have options, opt for the clearest day you can.

While in Queenstown, I went horse riding at Glenorchy, arranged with Dart Stables who came and picked up a group of us in town. It was a 45 minute scenic drive to the stables travelling along Lake Waktipu with a couple of photo stops along the way which was appreciated… I mean, look at this scene.

When we got to the stables we had the option of borrowing gear for the ride which was a good idea given the river crossings we would be making. I borrowed some gumboots and a big waterproof riding jacket – I felt like I was off on a mountaineering adventure, but better to be prepared than sorry (and wet and cold).

I went on the two Hour ‘River Wild’ ride which was perfect for all riding abilities – especially beginners!

It was breathtaking.

We meandered along the northern part of Lake Wakatipu with a mountain range backdrop and lots of glacial river crossings.

I rode a beautiful horse named Merlin – he was very kind, and only a little bit curious about wandering off the track a couple of times.

The two female riding guides travelling with us were great, they kept all the horses happily in line and gave us plenty of instruction in regards to riding through the river crossings and how to lean backwards to make it easier for our horse.

I was just enthralled by the beauty of the mountains and the golden light.

As the sun set the temperature dropped – my feet were so so so cold! My toes felt like little pebbles in my shoes by the time we got back – I couldn’t feel them at all, and that was with two pairs of merino socks on, so be warned if you read this ahead of doing the ride – rug up your feet!

Totally worth it though!

As enjoyable as my North Island adventuring has been, I headed off to the South Island with a skip in my step knowing that the consensus among many is that things only get better the further south you go. It’s no secret that the South Island takes the prize for jaw dropping scenery and it’s no secret that nature is my thing.

So I travelled over the Cook Strait nice and early in the morning on the inter-islander ferry.

The trip took over three hours crossing through the Marlborough Sound, my eyes peeled for whales (which never showed). It was a relatively smooth trip though and I was there in a jiffy!

For the next part of my trip I decided to do with the tour company Topdeck to make it easy to get about the icy island, particularly traveling over to the glaciers (the place I’m most looking forward to!)

There was a full bus of about 30 of us which is the biggest group of people I have ever travelled with! Everyone was really nice, a mix of Aussies, Canadians and Europeans, though I was the oldest at 32, they ranged down to about 20 which was an adjustment. I have previously travelled with Intrepid tours who have smaller groups (12 maximum), a wider age group (mid twenties to fifties, with the average around 30) and who travel on local transport not their own dedicated tour vehicle. I think by nature I’m more suited to the Intrepid style, but I enjoyed what Topdeck had to offer and had a great time.

Our first stop was to a winery I’m the Malborough region – Forrest Wines.

There was lots of taste testing but my favourite thing was the picturesque landscape and the first glimpses of mountain ranges along the horizon.

And the sheep ;-)

From here we piled back in the bus and drove down to Nelson, via a night stopover in Christchurch. More on that in the next post!