June 16, 2017 – Te Anau and Milford Sound

As promised - photos from yesterday.  Lunch and the handmade cup.

Such interesting kinds of tuna!  I'll report when we try them!

Today's adventure was such a good idea!  Lots of people told us to take the coach and boat ride combination and they were right.  We booked the longer cruise and the coach ride that had lots of photos stops – good choice.  We’re up stupid early but that gives us time for breakfast before we have to meet the coach at 7:45.

Justin is our driver and guide, with an eighteen-seater Mercedes bus and only seven passengers!  Justin knows so much about this area!  The drive is about an hour and a half and he narrates about a third of the time, telling us about the changes in vegetation and we cross over from the west to the east side of the Southern Alps.  He knows the names of all the mountains and that Lake Te Anau is the largest completely contained body of water in the world!  It’s one hundred meters deep!

People believe that the name Te Anau may be come from a Maori chief’s daughter’s name.  It means Cave of the Rushing and Swirling Waters.

There are little pink triangles on a few of the trees and he says they mark the location of traps for stoats and rats that are endangering the native birds.  There is only one native land mammal in New Zealand and he’s a tiny bat the size of your thumb!  The others have all been imported and it hasn’t gone well.  He says the possums were imported for their fur and they have multiplied like crazy, so if we see a possum on the road, we should make him a “squashum”. 

Stoats were imported to eat the rabbits.  The problem is that rabbits are really fast and the native birds just stand around trying to make friends!  Guess who gets eaten! 

Since we left so early, we get to see sunrise from the bus!  It isn’t as dramatic as yesterday’s though.  We make a few stops on the way to the cruise;  but Justin promises more on the way home, when the mists will have lifted.

At one of our stops there are several keas, the mountain parrots that look like someone painted the edges of all their wings!  Justin tells us not to feed them, so they don’t become dependent on people for their food supply.  They are quite the little beggars and one or two even hop on the van, trying to eat the rubber around the windows!

We get to the terminal in just the right amount of time to board the Milford Mariner.  It is supposed to hold one hundred and fifty people; but we only count fourteen!  It’s like having your own private yacht!  

There are waterfalls everywhere!  The mists are lifting and we can see the snowy peaks around us and have an unobstructed view on all sides with so few people on board.  And we have to naturalists to do the commentary as we spend about two delightful hours being awed and amazed!  We even get to see three fur seals and some bottlenose dolphins!

We’ve purchased the picnic lunch and when we open the box we’re dumbfounded at all the food!  We expected a sandwich, some chips, and, maybe a piece of fruit.  We weren’t expecting there to also be a cookie, cheese and crackers, trail mix, and a chocolate bar!  And there was freshly-made hot tomato soup and rolls!  Marilyn treated us to mulled wine and the napkin coaster was an origami creation!  All in all, a delightful experience.

When we disembark, Justin is waiting for us and we all pile back into our fancy coach for the return trip.  As he promised, there are more stops on the way back for photos and leg-stretching.  When we finally return to our holiday park, it’s around four o’clock!  A full day, indeed!

A couple of the other passengers are staying here as well, and we strike up a conversation before returning to our room.  They are a father and son from Wisconsin!  They are also spending three weeks in New Zealand; but they started in Auckland, on the north island and are going the opposite direction from us.  That means we can each give the others advice about what to see and do!  That’s always helpful.

After having it recommended, we decide to have dinner at the Fat Duck!  The kitchen doesn’t open until five; but the bar is open and we have hot coffee drinks to pass the time until we can order food.  Marilyn has a Hot Kiss, with crème de cocoa and Jamisons, and I have a Baileys Mint Kiss with Baileys and peppermint schnapps.

For dinner we each have a salad.  Marilyn has the grilled lamb with roast pumpkin, feta, cherry tomatoes, pumpkin seeds, and a mint and yoghurt (sic) dressing.  I have the Moroccan chicken with Moroccan spiced chicken, charred corn, avocado, red peppers and citrus dressing.  It’s really delicious!  There is a rugby game between Wales and Samoa on the TV, and we watch for a while trying to figure out the rules.  It’s so quick and action-packed that it’s hard to tear ourselves away!

Back home we do a little housekeeping, have coffee in our new mugs that we bought on the ship, along with our cookies from lunch, and settle in for the night!  What a delightful day!