17th
All we had planned for the 17th was a hike and so because of that we were able to sleep in (especially since we were going to be at the same hotel again, we didn’t have to worry about getting up and out!) It was really nice to get to sleep in, especially since I was still feeling crummy. After breakfast I decided that I’d like to see a doctor so we went downstairs, checked email (free wifi in the lobby!) and asked at the desk. The guy at the desk was very helpful and called for me so I could ask about an appointment. They had an appointment at 12:15 (it was currently 11:00) so we went back upstairs to watch some Lord of the Rings before heading out. The doctor was really nice and told me that nothing is wrong. She said my ears looked fine and there was just a little something on my throat that looked no good along with a canker sore, which is the reason that the right side of my throat hurts more. She said they could do a culture but it was likely to come back negative and even if it was positive it would be a couple of days before they knew for sure. She said pain killers and gargling would be good along with writing me a prescription for penicilian just in case things got worse. She said that I might have a little trouble flying but since it wasn’t an ear infection I should be just fine. (My ear still hurts a little bit. It seems to be getting better but very slowly).
After going to the doctor we headed out for a hike that Toshi had read about. Hikes here are funny because they tell you how long not how far. This was a three-hour return (meaning round trip) and it was pretty long so we figured pretty flat which it was. It was a bit on the long side but pretty flat so not too bad. It was warmer than I expected and we ended up drinking all 80oz of water that Toshi had in his Camelback.
After getting back to the hotel and changing in to clean clothes we vegged for a little while and then headed out for dinner. The place that we had looked into going was closed for dinner so we walked across the street to another place called the Ranch. The food was pretty good – I had chicken shnitzel, which was basically chicken katsu, it was tasty. I had chocolate mudpie for dessert and Toshi had weird cheesecake; mine was much better. We stopped at the bigger grocery store to get non-perishable things to take with us to Knobs Flat where there is no grocery store. They had to be all non-perishable because we were driving straight to Milford for our cruise and we weren’t going to check in until afterwards and things were going to be sitting in the car.
After dinner we finished watching Lord of the Rings. I like all the movies but I think Return of the King is my favorite partially because of my favorite line in the movie. At the very end when Aragorn has been crowned and he is walking through all the people, he gets to the hobbits and they bow to him. He says “my friends, you bow to no one.” He bows to the hobbits and everyone else follows him. Best part ever.
January 18th – We left Te Anau about 9:00 and drove straight to Milford Sound, which is just over a two-hour drive on some windy roads. Everywhere here is windy and goes up and down with all the mountains. Toshi wasn’t feeling so well so I did the first part of the driving and I did all but the last half hour or so. Toshi blamed me for his being sick although his is different than mine and seems to be lasting not nearly as long. We stopped at one viewpoint place along the way and that’s when Toshi took over the driving after we did a little 15 minute walk.
We arrived to Milford about 11:15 or so and got all checked in for the cruise. Since neither one of us was feeling great I was really glad that we had canceled our kayak trip and booked a cruise instead. We were able to relax on a big boat and the weather turned out to be gorgeous. Unlike Doubtful, Milford is much more easily accessible. You drive until the road ends and that’s where the boats load and then you are on the sound (fjord). We had paid for a cruise that involved lunch and that was served right when we got on the boat. Lunch was nothing fancy but was pretty tasty. The cruise got us out into the sound and then to the edge of where the Tasman Sea is. (We had done the same thing on the Doubtful cruise although on the Doubtful cruise the Tasman was pretty rocky and on Milford it wasn’t so much. It’s amazing what just a couple of days can do to the weather and the water!)
On the way back we stopped at the underwater discovery, which we had hoped was going to be really cool. It was ok but not nearly as neat as I had hoped for with viewing things underwater and such. We did learn about the fjords and the fresh water layer that sits on top of the salt-water and due to that there are some things that live in the salt-water at depths they would not normally live at. The fresh water on top creates a bit of a cloudy feeling on top and makes it darker than it would normally be down below.
One of my favorite parts of the cruise was on the way back when we stopped at one of the major waterfalls. Although there are hundreds of little waterfalls in the fjords, very few of them are permanent. We stopped by the biggest waterfall on the way back and they put the nose of the boat in the waterfall. I was on the top deck where I had spent about half the cruise, the other half I had spent on the middle deck inside, and I was happily sprayed by the waterfall, it was really cool.
After getting off the boat about 3:00 or so we headed back south along the Te Anau-Milford highway and back to Knobs Flat. It appears that basically the only things here are the hotel we are in, which are more like cabins as they aren’t serviced everyday, and some nearby campsites. There are no restaurants and there is no internet just the hotel and the road.
We did a lot of reading last night before we went to bed. Our evening ritual has been either reading or Lord of the Rings before going to sleep. Finally about 11:00 I convinced Toshi that we needed to sleep. We are both still sick and we had an early morning planned.
This morning, the 19th the alarm went off at 6:00. We had planned to get up, put hiking clothes on, stop by Mirror Lakes for some early morning pictures and then go on our hike. When we checked in our host had shown us the weather and it was supposed to get worse throughout the day so we wanted to do the hike early. Toshi got up and looked outside. It was dreary and gloomy and not picture worthy so we went back to sleep. He wanted to sleep and have no alarm but I know better, we would have slept all morning! I set the alarm for 8:00 and we snoozed until 9:00! We finally got out the door about 9:30 or shortly after and make the quick drive to the Divide, just about 20 minutes away.
The hike we were going to do was a Summit hike but was part of a track. There are lots of tracks here in New Zealand, luckily you don’t have to do the whole track to take advantage of the hikes themselves. Like our last one, this was a three-hour hike, but unlike our last one this one was short and steep. We knew we were going to get rained on and it was chilly outside so we planned the best we could. Layers and as much waterproof as we had which was unfortunately not much.
Although the hike was steep, overall it wasn’t too bad on the way up. It was steep but we took breaks and because it was so much up I was really warm and took off my fleece. We saw the turnoff for the hut where we had seen some people coming down from but we kept going up the hill. Then as we rounded a corner the trees went away and we were exposed to the elements. It was really windy and raining, and really windy. The wind was not fun. Also, my knee had been hurting on and off which was not making things any easier. I had my headphones on with my running music and that was helping a little bit but I was not a happy camper. I was doing my best but finally I just started crying. I tried to push through for as long as I could but I was not happy and Toshi saw that I was crying. We were so close I didn’t want to go back down before reaching the top so we pushed on. I was very grateful for my hiking boots keeping my feet dry and my hat, which was keeping a lot o the rain off my face. I realized it would have been good to have my fleece on but we were unprotected and I didn’t want to stop to put it on. We made it to the stop and turned right around and came back down. Because of the weather and the immense fog unfortunately we couldn’t see anything.
On the way back down we got to a little spot that had sheltered us from the wind on the way up and I stopped and put my fleece back on. Warm! We made it back down just fine and although my knee doesn’t like the down I was much happier once we were back under the cover of the trees. As we went down it got warmer which helped although by the time we realized that our pants were soaked. Again I was grateful for dry feet. Magic hiking boots they are!
We got back and hung up everything to dry by the heater and in the bathroom. I took a hot shower and managed to get the bathroom all wet since the showerhead sprays everywhere but the shower was great. We had some lunch and have been vegging ever since – about 4 hours or so now.
Dinner will be pasta tonight and then tomorrow we head back to Queenstown for one night, plane to Auckland, staying there one night and then back to the states. It felt really long at the beginning but as we got going it’s felt so short. Soon back to reality – although my temporary reality won’t be so bad I don’t think.
All for now, last little bit in a couple of days but for now here’s an overall view of the trip.
The highlights:
Favorite activity: Blackwater rafting in Waitomo, swimming with the dolphins in Kaikoura
Favorite city: Wellington
Favorite town: Wanaka
Favorite place stayed: the B&B in Wanaka
Most difficult part of the trip: Hiking Fox Glacier
Favorite place: the Fjordland
Best weather day: Wineries in Blenheim, kayaking Abel Tasman
And then today I was thinking about this. When we went to see Jeffrey graduate from Interlochen they did what they called Blue Streak – a breakdown of the whole year one or two words at a time. I might have to add to it since I’m sure I’ll forget things along the way
SEA-SF, SF-LAX, delayed in LAX, meeting up with Toshi, LAX-AKL, rental car, driving on the opposite side of the road, windshield wipers vs turn signals, Happy New Year early, us asleep at 9:30pm, dreary days in Auckland, everything closed, everyone on vacation, drive to Waitomo, Waitomo Caves, abseling, blackwater rafting, cold water! zip line in the dark, glow worms, not really glow worms, climbing up through waterfalls, drive to Rotorua, mud bath and sulfur springs, drive to Taupo, walking on the beach in the rain, drive to Wellington, Wellington, feels like home, sunshine and windy, cable car, met Toshi’s online friends, ferry to the south island, drive to Blenheim, sunshine, wine tasting in the sunshine, a wine Toshi likes, buying a bottle, drive to Takaka, so far away from everything, first two night stay since Auckland, long windy dive to Kaiteriteri, kayaking Abel Tasman from Kaiteriteri, gorgeous day, hands hurt from kayaking, meeting up with Shannon and Brian for dinner in Montueka, drive back to Takaka, drive to Kaiteriteri, water taxi insanity day, storm, new hike, waiting for the tide, walking through a river, not a happy camper, hard to find the boat, shortcut, found the boat, WAVES, finally on land and dry, out for a run, drive to Kaikoura, yummy organic dinner, swimming with the dolphins, drive to Methven, hot air balloon, panic attack in the balloon, powered through, champagne breakfast in the field, drive to Punakaiki, stayed in a tree house, pancake rocks and blowholes, drive to Fox Glacier, rain, lots of rain, cottage for two nights, day on Fox Glacier, rain, more rain, 5.5 hours on the glacier, rock falls, walking back through rivers, soaking wet, incredible, sleeping in, sore throat, earache, everything still wet, drive to Wanaka, yummy food, fantastic B&B, jet boat, jet boat stops running, walking through fields, back to town, refund for unsuccessful boat trip, drive to Queenstown, cable car, luge above Queenstown, souvenirs, the Cow on Cow Lane for dinner, drive to Manapouri, early morning to cruise, Doubtful Sound all day, boat, met people from Seattle, bus, boat, bus, met people from California/Seattle, underground in the power plant, boat, massive, impressive, huge, incredible, fantastic day, stay in Te Anau, 3 hour hike around the lake, warm weather and sunshine, drive to Milford Sound, cruise, fantastic weather, drive to Knobs Flat, 3 hour hike in the rain,
All we had planned for the 17th was a hike and so because of that we were able to sleep in (especially since we were going to be at the same hotel again, we didn’t have to worry about getting up and out!) It was really nice to get to sleep in, especially since I was still feeling crummy. After breakfast I decided that I’d like to see a doctor so we went downstairs, checked email (free wifi in the lobby!) and asked at the desk. The guy at the desk was very helpful and called for me so I could ask about an appointment. They had an appointment at 12:15 (it was currently 11:00) so we went back upstairs to watch some Lord of the Rings before heading out. The doctor was really nice and told me that nothing is wrong. She said my ears looked fine and there was just a little something on my throat that looked no good along with a canker sore, which is the reason that the right side of my throat hurts more. She said they could do a culture but it was likely to come back negative and even if it was positive it would be a couple of days before they knew for sure. She said pain killers and gargling would be good along with writing me a prescription for penicilian just in case things got worse. She said that I might have a little trouble flying but since it wasn’t an ear infection I should be just fine. (My ear still hurts a little bit. It seems to be getting better but very slowly).
After going to the doctor we headed out for a hike that Toshi had read about. Hikes here are funny because they tell you how long not how far. This was a three-hour return (meaning round trip) and it was pretty long so we figured pretty flat which it was. It was a bit on the long side but pretty flat so not too bad. It was warmer than I expected and we ended up drinking all 80oz of water that Toshi had in his Camelback.
After getting back to the hotel and changing in to clean clothes we vegged for a little while and then headed out for dinner. The place that we had looked into going was closed for dinner so we walked across the street to another place called the Ranch. The food was pretty good – I had chicken shnitzel, which was basically chicken katsu, it was tasty. I had chocolate mudpie for dessert and Toshi had weird cheesecake; mine was much better. We stopped at the bigger grocery store to get non-perishable things to take with us to Knobs Flat where there is no grocery store. They had to be all non-perishable because we were driving straight to Milford for our cruise and we weren’t going to check in until afterwards and things were going to be sitting in the car.
After dinner we finished watching Lord of the Rings. I like all the movies but I think Return of the King is my favorite partially because of my favorite line in the movie. At the very end when Aragorn has been crowned and he is walking through all the people, he gets to the hobbits and they bow to him. He says “my friends, you bow to no one.” He bows to the hobbits and everyone else follows him. Best part ever.
January 18th – We left Te Anau about 9:00 and drove straight to Milford Sound, which is just over a two-hour drive on some windy roads. Everywhere here is windy and goes up and down with all the mountains. Toshi wasn’t feeling so well so I did the first part of the driving and I did all but the last half hour or so. Toshi blamed me for his being sick although his is different than mine and seems to be lasting not nearly as long. We stopped at one viewpoint place along the way and that’s when Toshi took over the driving after we did a little 15 minute walk.
We arrived to Milford about 11:15 or so and got all checked in for the cruise. Since neither one of us was feeling great I was really glad that we had canceled our kayak trip and booked a cruise instead. We were able to relax on a big boat and the weather turned out to be gorgeous. Unlike Doubtful, Milford is much more easily accessible. You drive until the road ends and that’s where the boats load and then you are on the sound (fjord). We had paid for a cruise that involved lunch and that was served right when we got on the boat. Lunch was nothing fancy but was pretty tasty. The cruise got us out into the sound and then to the edge of where the Tasman Sea is. (We had done the same thing on the Doubtful cruise although on the Doubtful cruise the Tasman was pretty rocky and on Milford it wasn’t so much. It’s amazing what just a couple of days can do to the weather and the water!)
On the way back we stopped at the underwater discovery, which we had hoped was going to be really cool. It was ok but not nearly as neat as I had hoped for with viewing things underwater and such. We did learn about the fjords and the fresh water layer that sits on top of the salt-water and due to that there are some things that live in the salt-water at depths they would not normally live at. The fresh water on top creates a bit of a cloudy feeling on top and makes it darker than it would normally be down below.
One of my favorite parts of the cruise was on the way back when we stopped at one of the major waterfalls. Although there are hundreds of little waterfalls in the fjords, very few of them are permanent. We stopped by the biggest waterfall on the way back and they put the nose of the boat in the waterfall. I was on the top deck where I had spent about half the cruise, the other half I had spent on the middle deck inside, and I was happily sprayed by the waterfall, it was really cool.
After getting off the boat about 3:00 or so we headed back south along the Te Anau-Milford highway and back to Knobs Flat. It appears that basically the only things here are the hotel we are in, which are more like cabins as they aren’t serviced everyday, and some nearby campsites. There are no restaurants and there is no internet just the hotel and the road.
We did a lot of reading last night before we went to bed. Our evening ritual has been either reading or Lord of the Rings before going to sleep. Finally about 11:00 I convinced Toshi that we needed to sleep. We are both still sick and we had an early morning planned.
This morning, the 19th the alarm went off at 6:00. We had planned to get up, put hiking clothes on, stop by Mirror Lakes for some early morning pictures and then go on our hike. When we checked in our host had shown us the weather and it was supposed to get worse throughout the day so we wanted to do the hike early. Toshi got up and looked outside. It was dreary and gloomy and not picture worthy so we went back to sleep. He wanted to sleep and have no alarm but I know better, we would have slept all morning! I set the alarm for 8:00 and we snoozed until 9:00! We finally got out the door about 9:30 or shortly after and make the quick drive to the Divide, just about 20 minutes away.
The hike we were going to do was a Summit hike but was part of a track. There are lots of tracks here in New Zealand, luckily you don’t have to do the whole track to take advantage of the hikes themselves. Like our last one, this was a three-hour hike, but unlike our last one this one was short and steep. We knew we were going to get rained on and it was chilly outside so we planned the best we could. Layers and as much waterproof as we had which was unfortunately not much.
Although the hike was steep, overall it wasn’t too bad on the way up. It was steep but we took breaks and because it was so much up I was really warm and took off my fleece. We saw the turnoff for the hut where we had seen some people coming down from but we kept going up the hill. Then as we rounded a corner the trees went away and we were exposed to the elements. It was really windy and raining, and really windy. The wind was not fun. Also, my knee had been hurting on and off which was not making things any easier. I had my headphones on with my running music and that was helping a little bit but I was not a happy camper. I was doing my best but finally I just started crying. I tried to push through for as long as I could but I was not happy and Toshi saw that I was crying. We were so close I didn’t want to go back down before reaching the top so we pushed on. I was very grateful for my hiking boots keeping my feet dry and my hat, which was keeping a lot o the rain off my face. I realized it would have been good to have my fleece on but we were unprotected and I didn’t want to stop to put it on. We made it to the stop and turned right around and came back down. Because of the weather and the immense fog unfortunately we couldn’t see anything.
On the way back down we got to a little spot that had sheltered us from the wind on the way up and I stopped and put my fleece back on. Warm! We made it back down just fine and although my knee doesn’t like the down I was much happier once we were back under the cover of the trees. As we went down it got warmer which helped although by the time we realized that our pants were soaked. Again I was grateful for dry feet. Magic hiking boots they are!
We got back and hung up everything to dry by the heater and in the bathroom. I took a hot shower and managed to get the bathroom all wet since the showerhead sprays everywhere but the shower was great. We had some lunch and have been vegging ever since – about 4 hours or so now.
Dinner will be pasta tonight and then tomorrow we head back to Queenstown for one night, plane to Auckland, staying there one night and then back to the states. It felt really long at the beginning but as we got going it’s felt so short. Soon back to reality – although my temporary reality won’t be so bad I don’t think.
All for now, last little bit in a couple of days but for now here’s an overall view of the trip.
The highlights:
Favorite activity: Blackwater rafting in Waitomo, swimming with the dolphins in Kaikoura
Favorite city: Wellington
Favorite town: Wanaka
Favorite place stayed: the B&B in Wanaka
Most difficult part of the trip: Hiking Fox Glacier
Favorite place: the Fjordland
Best weather day: Wineries in Blenheim, kayaking Abel Tasman
And then today I was thinking about this. When we went to see Jeffrey graduate from Interlochen they did what they called Blue Streak – a breakdown of the whole year one or two words at a time. I might have to add to it since I’m sure I’ll forget things along the way
SEA-SF, SF-LAX, delayed in LAX, meeting up with Toshi, LAX-AKL, rental car, driving on the opposite side of the road, windshield wipers vs turn signals, Happy New Year early, us asleep at 9:30pm, dreary days in Auckland, everything closed, everyone on vacation, drive to Waitomo, Waitomo Caves, abseling, blackwater rafting, cold water! zip line in the dark, glow worms, not really glow worms, climbing up through waterfalls, drive to Rotorua, mud bath and sulfur springs, drive to Taupo, walking on the beach in the rain, drive to Wellington, Wellington, feels like home, sunshine and windy, cable car, met Toshi’s online friends, ferry to the south island, drive to Blenheim, sunshine, wine tasting in the sunshine, a wine Toshi likes, buying a bottle, drive to Takaka, so far away from everything, first two night stay since Auckland, long windy dive to Kaiteriteri, kayaking Abel Tasman from Kaiteriteri, gorgeous day, hands hurt from kayaking, meeting up with Shannon and Brian for dinner in Montueka, drive back to Takaka, drive to Kaiteriteri, water taxi insanity day, storm, new hike, waiting for the tide, walking through a river, not a happy camper, hard to find the boat, shortcut, found the boat, WAVES, finally on land and dry, out for a run, drive to Kaikoura, yummy organic dinner, swimming with the dolphins, drive to Methven, hot air balloon, panic attack in the balloon, powered through, champagne breakfast in the field, drive to Punakaiki, stayed in a tree house, pancake rocks and blowholes, drive to Fox Glacier, rain, lots of rain, cottage for two nights, day on Fox Glacier, rain, more rain, 5.5 hours on the glacier, rock falls, walking back through rivers, soaking wet, incredible, sleeping in, sore throat, earache, everything still wet, drive to Wanaka, yummy food, fantastic B&B, jet boat, jet boat stops running, walking through fields, back to town, refund for unsuccessful boat trip, drive to Queenstown, cable car, luge above Queenstown, souvenirs, the Cow on Cow Lane for dinner, drive to Manapouri, early morning to cruise, Doubtful Sound all day, boat, met people from Seattle, bus, boat, bus, met people from California/Seattle, underground in the power plant, boat, massive, impressive, huge, incredible, fantastic day, stay in Te Anau, 3 hour hike around the lake, warm weather and sunshine, drive to Milford Sound, cruise, fantastic weather, drive to Knobs Flat, 3 hour hike in the rain,
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