The Traveling Sput

February 14, 2019

The next phase of our trip was to spend time in the Catlins area near the southern tip of New Zealand. This area was renowned for its wildlife: penguins, dolphins, and sea lions. Our destination in Curio Bay was an estimated 3 hours 40 minutes drive time from Manapouri.

We woke up to the sound of steady rainfall. We had heard it come down hard during the night. This was the first day of our vacation where the rain really affected our plans. The forecast for the area was rain for most of the day, partially clearing sometime in the evening.

We checked out of our room and headed south in the pouring rain. Our first stop was the Clifden Suspension Bridge that crossed the Waiau River. This was New Zealand’s longest wooden suspension bridge. It was still raining, but we donned our rain jackets, read the interpretive signs, and walked across the bridge.

Afterwards we drove further south to the coast where we had wanted to spend time exploring some beaches. We stopped at McCracken’s Lookout, which was supposed to have great views of the coast. It was still pouring rain, and the cloud cover was so low that we saw nothing but pounding surf. So we sat in the car for over an hour hoping it would clear. It never did. Finally we gave up and drove on.

The next stop was Gemstone Beach. This was a place where people hunted for real gemstones such as sapphire and jasper. I was skeptical that I would find anything but figured I could take a look even in the rain. There were lots of stones but I did not find anything worth collecting. There was one other guy there that had a shovel and was picking up some stones. He showed me what he had collected: some yellow colored stones, and he identified them but I don’t remember the name.

We drove on to Monkey Island. The description in the Roadtrippers guide said that at low tide, this small island offshore can be reached on foot. A staircase leads to the top of the island where there are great views of the mountains of Fiordland. Not today! Although it had finally stopped raining, the cloud cover was still very low so there were no views. And it was not low tide. I snapped a few pictures of the island, and we drove on.

There were a few more lookouts that we did not bother to stop at due to the weather. We reached the city of Invercargill and stopped at the New World supermarket to buy groceries for the next few nights, and then we filled up on gas.

Finally at about 3 PM the weather started to clear. We drove to the Waipapa Point Lighthouse. This was the site of New Zealand’s worst shipwreck where 131 people lost their lives. The lighthouse was built after the disaster. We walked down to the beach where we saw a pair of sea lions! They rolled around in the sand for a while and then stopped to clean themselves. We were able to get fairly close to them for photos and videos.

Next on the agenda was Slope Point, the southernmost point of the South Island, but we decided to skip going there since it was a 40-minute round trip walk and it was getting late in the afternoon. Maybe next time!

We drove to Curio Bay, a central point in the Catlins area. We checked into our room at the Lazy Dolphin Lodge which was located directly on the beach of Porpoise Bay. The room was very small, but there was a shared bathroom and kitchen directly outside. There was also an upstairs area that had a separate kitchen that was shared with the dorm rooms. It had a nice view of Porpoise Bay.

Shortly after we arrived we met a girl who was staying in one of the dorm rooms. She told us that she had just returned from Porpoise Bay where she had gone swimming with a pod of Hector’s Dolphins. I asked her where we could find them. She told me to take the path to the beach from the lodge, which would lead to the right side of Porpoise Bay. I walked out there and after a few minutes saw 5 or 6 dolphins swimming near the shore. They were far enough away that I was not able to get any good pictures, but viewing was good through binoculars. Swimming was not an option for me: the water was too cold. Afterwards I walked up the bluff to where there was a car park and a campground. There were some nice interpretive signs for the dolphins. I walked up a road that led to the headlands area. There was a good view of Porpoise Bay from above, and on the other side of the bluff was Curio Bay, which was a nesting site for yellow-eyed penguins.

I walked back to the lodge, and then we used the shared kitchen to make our dinner: spaghetti, bread, and hummus. One of the girls staying at the lodge told us that currently there was only one yellow-eyed penguin residing in Curio Bay, and he usually returned to his nest between 8 and 9 PM, before dusk. There was a viewing area set up for people to wait and watch for the penguin at the bay.

So we walked to Curio Bay and arrived there shortly after 8 PM. The bay itself was quite interesting since the beach was strewn with petrified logs. The penguin viewing area was across the fossil forest logs. A yellow rope designated where we were not allowed to get any closer. We waited 45 minutes with about 50 other people when we finally saw the penguin. He put on quite a show, preening himself and standing in one spot so it was easy to take photos from a distance. We watched for about 15 minutes before he disappeared into his nest.

February 13, 2019

We got up before dawn to get ready for our 7:15 AM trip to Doubtful Sound. The weather was partly cloudy. The boat dock was only a few km down the road and there was plenty of parking since we got there early. At the boat dock we saw amazing bright pink and orange colors from the sunrise.

The first 45 minutes of the journey was a boat ride across Lake Manapouri. The early morning sun lit up the surrounding mountains and cliffs with a nice orange color. I went up to the top deck and took numerous photos and videos.

We docked at a visitor center facility that had nice display panels of the area geology and wildlife. After a few minutes we boarded a bus for the second leg of the journey: a one hour drive up Wilmot Pass. The road went through dense rain forest. As we got closer to Doubtful Sound, the weather progressively deteriorated from mostly cloudy to full cloud cover and a lot of mist. I took pictures of a couple of waterfalls near the road. These were narrow ribbon waterfalls cascading off the mountains.

There was a very misty view of Doubtful Sound near the top of Wilmot Pass. I did not take any pictures there.

We boarded the Go Orange boat. It was not filled to capacity: I am guessing about 50 total people were on the cruise: no tour groups and no children. I spent most of the time standing on the top deck. Despite the weather which was initially drizzling, it was not that cold or windy. The water was quite calm. That also led to the very misty conditions at the start of the cruise.

It was a very different experience from Milford. The morning light through the mist made the surrounding mountains look ghostly. I thought it was pretty cool. As we progressed through the sound toward the Tasman Sea, the weather improved. The light through the clouds was lovely, and there were patches of blue and periods of sunlight. At the entrance to the sea there was a faint rainbow. It was windy there but still not too rough on the water. On the way back there was one spot that had sun rays coming down from the clouds that looked wonderful with the mountains as a backdrop.

There were several ribbon waterfalls to view throughout the sound, but nothing as large as Stirling Falls or Bowen Falls that we saw at Milford. We also did not see any wildlife. That was surprising to me since I thought we might see dolphins or seals. Still, overall it was a fun experience.

I am glad we took the morning cruise instead of afternoon. The morning light on the mountains was a highlight. On the bus return trip the overcast conditions returned and it was not as interesting. The tour guide stopped the bus at Helena Falls for a short photo break. We also stopped at the outlet tunnel from the power plant, where the water from Lake Manapouri was let out into the river. At the top of Wilmot Pass the view into Doubtful Sound was a complete whiteout, so there was no reason to stop there. We passed four full bus loads of the Real Journeys folks for their afternoon tour.

The boat trip back across Lake Manapouri was uneventful. It was very nice being in a small group of people. Everyone was friendly and well behaved.

After the tour we drove back to the hotel room and walked over to the restaurant. They had a takeaway menu where we ordered 2 servings of the blue cod fish and 1 scoop of chips. We discovered that 1 scoop was plenty for 2 people. Total cost was $17. The hotel also gave us coupons for 2 free beers which we were allowed to take outside of the restaurant to have with our fish and chips. We ate at the picnic table outside our room. The weather that afternoon and evening was very nice: partly cloudy.

We spent that evening relaxing. I had taken so many pictures and videos that it took a while to go through all of them and select the ones to post to Facebook. The internet at the room was very slow (almost as bad as in Yellowstone) so I used my cell phone data connection most of the time.

I was hoping for nice weather for a sunset walk at the lake, but we did not get it. The clouds rolled in and the mountains in the distance were fogged over.

February 12, 2019

I did not have much scheduled for today, so we slept in and did not leave the room until 8:30. It felt good not to rush around. The morning was mostly cloudy, and the weather was predicted to be partly cloudy in Te Anau and at Manapouri where we were headed (a 40-minute drive). Overnight it had rained hard. Maybe it helped the waterfalls in Milford Sound.

Morning View of Lake Te Anau From Our Room

Instead we decided to drive back to the Te Anau bird sanctuary where the birds were scheduled to be fed at 9:30. The naturalist was very knowledgeable and gave an interesting talk on the history of the takahē birds and efforts to increase their population. These birds have been victims of the stoats that were introduced to New Zealand in order to control the rabbits (which were also introduced). The stoats preferred eating the bird eggs and chicks to the rabbits, which drove the takahē and some other native bird species to near extinction.

We got to spend about 20 minutes inside the takahē enclosure, and then we watched the naturalist feed the ducks and some of the other birds. She gave us food to feed the ducks, and they pecked it right out of my hand.

Afterwards we drove into the town of Te Anau to fill up on gas, and we bought a few groceries at the Fresh Choice market.

Since it was only a half hour drive to Manapouri where we were staying for the night, I thought it would be fun to scout out some Lord of the Rings film locations that were along the way. We stopped at the Rainbow Reach car park that accessed the Kepler Track. We walked over to the swinging bridge at the beginning of the trail and admired the view over the Waiau River. About 1 km from the car park was where the opening aerial shot for the Fellowship of the Ring was filmed: the River Anduin. We drove up the road from the car park and found a spot to pull over next to the location. It was a very short walk to the bank of the Waiau River where the shot was taken.

Back on the main road there was another film location only a few km away: the Dead Marshes scene. This is where Gollum guides Frodo and Sam through a swamp and saves Frodo when he falls under the spell of the dead people within it. Someone put a rock cairn at the edge of the road and an arrow to mark the spot. It was dry season, so there was not much water in the swamp and the area was overgrown. I walked as far as possible without getting my feet wet in the mushy ground. According to the GPS coordinates I got to within 150 feet of where the scene was filmed.

After that bit of fun we drove to the town of Manapouri. It was still too early to check into our hotel room, so we drove to find the car park where the Doubtful Sound cruise was leaving the following day. Then we drove to the Frasers Beach car park, found a picnic table and had lunch. We walked down to the lake and snapped some photos. The weather was still mostly cloudy, but it was warm.

We checked into our room at the Manapouri Lakeview Motor Inn. The room had a small refrigerator and private bath, and there was a nice view of the lake. There was a shared kitchen on the property where we used the microwave to make baked potatoes for dinner. We also had a chef salad with chicken, carrots and tomatoes.

We relaxed for the remainder of the evening.

February 11, 2019

We were out of the room early at 6:45 AM to start the 65-minute drive to Milford Sound. Heinrich did all of the driving. We were booked on the 3:15 PM boat tour so we had plenty of time to get there, but we wanted to get ahead of the tour buses on the road and maximize time to see all the sights along the way.

The weather in Te Anau Downs was partly cloudy and the colors of the sunrise were pretty pink in the clouds as we left. Our first stop was at Eglinton Valley which had a nice view of the surrounding mountains. The sun lit up the top of the ridge.

Next stop was Mirror Lakes. These were very small lakes that did have nice reflections of the Earl Mountains in the water. It was a 5-minute walk from the road through a pretty fern forest.

We made a series of stops of views along the way, including Lake Gunn and The Divide.

We took a side road where there was a trail to Lake Marian. The first 10 minutes of the trail crossed a swinging bridge and then went to a viewing platform of a series of small waterfalls. It was really more of a rushing river with a few large cascades, but it was quite pretty.

Next stops were at viewpoints: Monkey Creek and the Gertrude Saddle.

At the Homer Tunnel there can be as much as a 20-minute wait to go through the one-lane tunnel. Just as we were reaching the end of the line of cars, the traffic light turned green so we had no wait at all. The mountains were getting more spectacular as we got closer to the sound, but the weather was also getting progressively worse. It was now mostly cloudy in all directions.

We stopped at The Chasm. This was a 20-minute round trip hike to a series of small waterfalls. The trail went through a lush rain forest and passed over two swinging bridges. This was one of my favorite spots for the day. The creek had carved some impressive holes in the limestone to form potholes. There was even a small arch that Heinrich photographed. Back at the car park there was a cheeky kea bird that was posing for us and looking for handouts. It actually hopped onto the roof of our car at one point.

We reached Milford Sound and there was a guy directing traffic to where he wanted us to park. We ended up in a lot so far away from the boat terminal that we had to take a shuttle bus to get there. This was not what we wanted since we had intended to take the walkway to the terminal so that we could see some of the views.

Before getting on the shuttle bus we had breakfast at the car. The sandflies were pretty bad there, so we ate quickly. The shuttle bus took us all the way to the boat terminal. We decided to check in early and ask if we could take an earlier cruise. I was very concerned about the weather which had been predicted to start raining at 3:00, which was about when we were supposed to start the cruise. We had success in switching the tour time to 12:40, but we had to pay $5 per person extra for the upgrade.

It was only 11:45 so we had some time to kill before we had to report to the boat dock at 12:30. So we walked the reverse direction to the visitor center where I got a nice photo of Mitre Peak with its reflection in the water. We also took the first part of the Foreshore Walk which gave a glimpse of Bowen Falls.

We walked back to the boat dock. We were the first people on the boat and immediately headed to the top deck where we found seats on the left side of the boat and under the roof. I thought this would be a good place to sit since I was worried it would start raining. Also the boat direction was to be close to the shore on the left side.

It turned out this was not such a great spot since the boat came so close to the shore that the roof overhang got in the way for many of my shots. But I still was able to get many decent photos. I chose the Mitre Peak company for our cruise since they had smaller boats and did not cater to the cruise crowds. It was a definite advantage when we passed the fur seals and got really close to them.

Mitre Peak also offered 15 more minutes out on the water than most of the other companies, taking us further out into the Tasman Sea. It turned out to be a wasted effort on this particular day since the boat captain reported the water was too rough to go out there. Instead we spent the first 15 minutes of the cruise circling the small bay where we had just walked around in the prior hour. This gave no new views and I wish that we could have spent more time in the main Sound area.

The weather held and it did not rain. But it was almost completely overcast which made the mountains and the water look washed out. Also it had been at least a few days with no rain there, so most of the small waterfalls that I had heard advertised were not in existence. If I were ever to go again, I would not bother to book so far ahead of time and spend more time in the area to try to go on a day with blue skies.

That is not to say I thought it was a waste. There were a lot of great sights on that cruise: the fur seals were awesome, and I loved seeing the two main waterfalls: Bowen and Stirling. The view of Bowen Falls is great from the boat. However, access to that waterfall could be obtained by taking a shuttle boat and then a short 5-minute hike to the base of the falls. I did not find out the charge for the shuttle boat but it was certainly cheaper than the Sound cruise.

Stirling Falls is unique because the boat takes you right up to the waterfall and then underneath it! So you have the chance to get soaked if you wish. I elected to stay dry, but the spray felt good.

After the cruise we took the shuttle bus back to the car. By this time the majority of the tour buses were clearing out and we were able to drive to the car park next to the visitor center. From there we went on the full Foreshore Walk and snapped a few more photos of the portion of Bowen Falls visible from there. We also went on the Lookout Walk which climbed up a series of steps to give an elevated view of Mitre Peak and the sound. I don’t think many people know that this walk exists since we had the place to ourselves.

It never did rain, so we probably would have been okay for the 3:15 tour. There was also a small period of time where I was able to see a patch of blue sky. But for the most part the weather conditions stayed the same all day with overcast skies.

On the drive back we stopped at the Tutoko suspension bridge where we had a nice view of the Tutoko River and the mountains behind. We also stopped again at The Chasm. There were no tour buses there but the kea bird was still hanging around the car park looking for handouts.

There was no wait at the Homer Tunnel and on the other side we pulled over to get a great view of a wall of small ribbon waterfalls. This was what I thought I was going to see on the Sound! There were at least four kea birds there, even more pesty than at The Chasm. People were ignoring the posted signs and feeding them.

We made one more stop at the Falls River waterfall. This was a nice gusher close to the road and not marked in the road guide. I was surprised there was no road sign for it. That ended up being one of my favorite stops for the day.

We drove back to Te Anau Downs and made dinner in the shared kitchen. We had our standard potato and eggs dinner with bacon, red pepper, onion and cheese.

February 10, 2019

We got a later start this morning. The room was so nice and comfortable that it was hard to leave. Free continental breakfast was included. I had yogurt and toast with Nutella and jam.

Heinrich drove back toward Queenstown to stop at the New World supermarket to buy food for dinner for the next two nights. We got our 6 cents per gallon discount gas coupon and drove to the Z station on the outskirts of Queenstown to fill up.

I took over driving. Our destination was Te Anau Downs (2 hours 10 minutes estimated drive time). The weather was partly cloudy and nice. I intended to stop at a few overlooks of the southern end of Lake Wakatipu, but somehow the Google Maps navigation got stopped and I passed all of them before realizing what had happened. We did stop at the southern tip of the lake to snap a few photos.

I had marked the Mavora Lakes as a possible destination, but they were on a one-hour side trip each way and on a very long dirt road. Since the weather did not look stellar in that direction, we decided to skip it.

As a result we were in Te Anau much sooner than expected. We stopped at the Fiordland National Park Visitor Centre where I picked up a few free brochures of the area and bought a T-shirt. We took a walk along the Te Anau lakeshore. It had turned into a nice warm afternoon and still was only partly cloudy.

We walked to the Punanga Manu o Te Anau Bird Sanctuary. This was a really interesting place. It is home to injured birds that could not survive in the wild as well as home to endangered species. My favorites were the takahē and kākāriki birds. The kākāriki had beautiful bright green plumage.

Then we drove into the town of Te Anau to fill up on gas. There was an I-site information center where I bought a Milford Sound day hikes guide for $3.

We drove to Te Anau Downs. We were staying at the Fiordland National Park Lodge. Since it was still too early to check in, we drove across the road to see Lake Mistletoe. It was a short 5-minute walk to the lake which had a nice view with mountains in the background.

We checked into our room. It was very nice with a private bathroom and a beautiful view of Lake Te Anau. There was a shared kitchen right next to our room, and there was also a lounge area with a TV, books and games.

After unpacking I took a walk along the shore of the lake while Heinrich did the laundry. There were a few nice wildflowers along the shore.

After I returned we cooked dinner in the shared kitchen. We had chicken alfredo with added red pepper and onion over spaghetti and a salad. We also split a loaf of bread from the bakery and I had hummus with avocado. It was delicious.

In the evening we took a walk near the lake. There were some beautiful lenticular clouds that formed. They were quite dramatic in the sky.

February 09, 2019

The itinerary for the day was to drive to Queenstown, take the road to Glenorchy and the Routeburn Track to do some hiking, and then drive back through Queenstown and south to our reserved room at the Remarkables Lodge (total estimated drive time 3 hours 40 minutes).

We awoke to partly cloudy skies and were on the road shortly after 7 AM. There was a shortcut road out of Wanaka south to Queenstown that avoided going back to SH 6. This shortcut went over the Crown Range Summit, which is the highest sealed (paved) road in the nation. We stopped at the summit to take some photos of the views from the pass. The hills were golden in the morning sun.

The road down from the pass into Queenstown was extremely twisty and steep with many hairpin curves. Fortunately it was wide and there was not much traffic.

We drove through Queenstown when it was still early and traffic was not bad. I encountered some two-lane roundabouts that were confusing since I had not dealt with those before.

We took the drive to Glenorchy. The objective was to drive to the end of the road and beat most of the traffic, and then make stops along the way to see the various sights on the way back. As we drove to Glenorchy, the weather progressively worsened with thick clouds. The scenery was nice, not spectacular, with the golden mountains as a backdrop to Lake Wakatipu.

We arrived in Glenorchy and walked a little way on the lagoon track. This was a disappointment. Google Maps showed the road going farther than it actually did, making a longer hike to the lagoon. We reached the end of the lagoon and there were no views. We decided to turn around before wasting any more time there.

Heinrich took over driving and we went to the end of the road at Routeburn Track, 34 km past Glenorchy. The last 6 km were on a chunky gravel road. The weather at the track was extremely overcast and drizzling rain on and off. But we were back inside Mount Aspiring National Park and the pretty lush scenery. So we decided to take the nature trail loop hike and then go to the Bridal Veil bridge that crossed a stream below the waterfall, a 1.5-hour round trip hike.

The hike was through a pretty forest. Even in the bad weather it was nice. There was a swinging bridge that passed over a creek with beautiful clear blue water, possibly a mini version of the Blue Pools? There was also a nice waterfall in the distance but it was difficult to get good photos due to the mist and rain. The Bridal Veil bridge featured a small waterfall and cascades into small blue pools: very pretty. We passed a large group of people near the bridge: I think they were part of a tour.

On the drive back to Glenorchy, we stopped at a Lord of the Rings filming location (Isengard) near Scott’s Creek. There was a waterfall cascading down the mountain in the distance, and the mountains near the Routeburn Track were misty in the fog.

Back in Glenorchy we parked at the wharf. The scenery was much better there with nice views of Lake Wakatipu and the surrounding mountains. The weather was partly cloudy. On the wharf was a couple that had just been married, with the bride in her dress and groom posing for photos. The photographer was operating a drone that buzzed around annoyingly.

On the drive back to Queenstown from Glenorchy, we did not stop at many viewpoints due to the heavier traffic on the road. I took a few photos of Lake Wakatipu from the car as Heinrich was driving.

We stopped at Bob’s Cove. There was a trail that led to the base of Lake Wakatipu with a few nice views. The sun had returned.

Back in Queenstown the traffic was heavy, stop and go. Consistent with our avoidance of urban areas so far, we had no desire to make any stops in town. We got through the traffic and then drove to the Pak N Save supermarket on the other side of town near the airport. There we stocked up on food for dinner. There were no cooking facilities where we were staying, so we got fixings for a chef salad.

We drove to the Remarkables Lodge south of Queenstown and checked into our room. This was advertised as a four star bed and breakfast place, and it was indeed very nice. The property was at the foot of the Remarkables mountains. Our room was huge with a private bathroom, spa tub and a sitting area. We had our chef salad for dinner, and then we used the outside hot tub for about a half hour.

February 08, 2019

The final destination for today was the town of Wanaka (estimated 3 hours 35 minutes drive time). We got a later start this morning since we had free breakfast at the hostel at 7:30. I had cereal and orange juice. The cereal with dried fruit reminded me of trail mix.

The weather was partly cloudy and views toward Franz Josef Glacier were very nice. I pulled off to the side near the glacier access road to snap a few photos.

We drove on to the town of Fox Glacier and took a side road to see Lake Matheson. This was billed as a great place to see the Southern Alps as a backdrop to the lake, with reflections of the mountains on a still day. By the time we arrived the clouds had rolled in, but there was still a partial view of the mountains. We found out that access to the lake would be an hour round trip walk. I was under the impression that the lake was a lot closer to the road. Also, the place was inundated with tour buses. It looked like a tourist trap so we bailed out.

We drove south to the west coast for one last look at the beaches there. The weather was less cloudy at the coast. We stopped briefly at Bruce Bay, Knights Point Lookout, and the Tauparikākā Marine Reserve at Ship Creek. There we went on a boardwalk that crossed some sand dunes and led down to a rocky beach.

The road then headed inland through Mount Aspiring National Park and climbed to Haast Pass. The surrounding forest was extremely lush with lots of ferns. We stopped to see Roaring Billy Falls. The river below the falls had a gorgeous blue color from the glacial deposits. It was what I had hoped to see Hokitika Gorge look like a few days ago. There were also great views of the surrounding mountains.

Another nice spot along the road was the Landsborough Valley which had a good view of the mountains near the confluence of the Landsborough and Haast Rivers.

We also stopped to see Thunder Creek Falls and Fantail Falls. Both were short hikes from the road. Thunder Creek Falls was the more impressive of the two, while Fantail Falls had hundreds of whimsical rock cairns that people had built in the surrounding river bed.

We stopped near Cameron Flats at a river access pullout to eat lunch. The sandflies at that spot were very bad, so we did not stay long. They swarmed inside our car as we were leaving, and it took awhile to get rid of them all.

Next stop was the trail to the Blue Pools. The car park was a zoo with a few campervans briefly blocking the entrance as they were searching for a spot to park. I am not sure what their problem was since there was a small side lot that had a few spaces. I pulled into that lot and we walked to the trailhead. There we discovered we were not at the closest parking lot to the pools, and it would take a one hour round trip from there. We decided to try to park at the closer lot. But that lot was completely full with no sign of anyone leaving. We debated whether to go back to the lot that was further away but decided not to since it was already mid afternoon and we had another hour of driving to do. This was one decision that I now regret because the Blue Pools are supposed to be pretty spectacular. We will have to revisit that area in a future trip and figure out a way to get there earlier in the day to avoid the crowds.

Very soon afterwards the road exited the lush forest and entered a much drier region. The surrounding hillsides were a golden color. Heinrich said it reminded him of eastern Washington. We stopped at a few viewpoints of Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea. The Lake Wanaka viewpoints were extremely windy. But they were devoid of sandflies!

We checked into the place we were staying: Aubrey Guest House in a residential area on the outskirts of Wanaka. It only had a microwave oven and a few plates and utensils for cooking facilities, so our dinner consisted of some microwaved rice and chicken dinners. I did not think they were very good: too much rice and not enough meat and vegetables.

After dinner we drove to Glendhu Bay on the other side of Lake Wanaka. We took a short walk on the shore of the lake. The vegetation was still mostly brown and dry, but there were some nice views of the mountains in Mount Aspiring National Park.

We drove into the town of Wanaka to fill up on gas and then drove back to the guest house for the evening.

February 07, 2019

The itinerary for today was to drive south and inland to the town of Franz Josef Glacier (1 hour 40 minutes estimated drive time). We woke up to mostly cloudy weather in Hokitika. After we checked out of the room, our first stop was Lake Mahinapua. The side road to the lake was through a pretty fern forest. There we got our first good views of the Southern Alps, although some of the mountains were partially obscured by the clouds.

Back on the main road, we drove to a bridge that crossed the Whataroa River. Finally I got to see nice glacial blue water. There was a side road near the bridge that led to an I-site and a spot where helicopter rides to the glaciers were offered. At the I-site we obtained a nice map of the Frank Josef and Fox glacier areas. I walked down to the bank of the river to snap some photos of it and the surrounding mountains.

Our next stop was Franz Josef glacier. The side road to the car park traveled up the glacial valley and was slow going since it contained repeated sections where the road went to one lane. I think it was done intentionally to force drivers to slow down.

It was about a 45-minute walk on a fairly easy trail to the closest view of the glacier. For many years the glacier has been slowly retreating, so the end of the walk does not get up to the head of the glacier. But we had nice views of it, especially through binoculars. Close up we were able to see the jagged sections of blue ice. We were lucky upon arrival to get a partial clearing of the clouds, so there was a bit of blue sky. On the trail we passed multiple waterfalls, some very close to the trail. They were fun to watch and I took several videos.

Back at the car park, we took another short trail to Peters Pool. It was only a 15-minute walk to the pool. The still water of the pool offered a nice reflection of mountains in the background. Even though it was still mostly cloudy, it was beautiful.

Since it was still early in the day we decided to drive further south to see Fox Glacier. It was about a half hour drive from Franz Josef on a twisty steep road. There was a lot of road construction near the entrance to the glacier, and we found out that many of the trails were closed. The main trail to the glacier was also being redone. Access to the glacier was via a very steep and unpleasant hike up a temporary trail on top of the glacial moraine. In addition the weather was not cooperative. It was very cloudy and the views of the glacier were unexceptional. I did not think the hike or the time spent at Fox was worthwhile, and I would not go there again until the construction is finished and the other trails are reopened.

We drove back north to the town of Franz Josef Glacier and checked into the Franz Josef Montrose hostel. We were pleasantly surprised to find that we had a private bathroom and small refrigerator in our room.

We decided to eat out that evening. The Full of Beans cafe was within walking distance of our hotel. I had an avocado and bacon burger that was huge and delicious. We also had a side order of chips and beer.

Our hotel was very close to the Terrace Walk that was on the south side of town. The map that we had obtained at the I-site said this was a place to see glowworms! We walked there at dusk to see them scattered all throughout the side of the trail. They like bogs and stumps, dank weather, and overhangs. It was fun to see them once again.

February 06, 2019

Our itinerary today was to drive along the west coast south to Hokitika (estimated 3-1/2 hours drive time). We left Karamea very early to try to catch low tide at Cape Foulwind. Unfortunately the weather was not good. It was very cloudy and raining when we reached the trailhead, so we decided not to go. Instead we drove onward to the car park at the Tauranga Bay Seal Colony. It was still very cloudy but not raining. It was a 10-minute walk to the overlook where we could see many fur seals and their pups lying on the rocks below. It was a distant view, so we used binoculars to watch them. We also enjoyed views along the coastline. Even though it was cloudy, the rock formations were interesting.

We drove further south to the Punakaiki area. Along the way the weather cleared and it was only partly cloudy. We stopped at Irimahuwhero Lookout which had beautiful views of the Punakaiki rocks in the distance.

Next stop was the Truman Track in Paparoa National Park. This was a 15-minute walk down to a small beach that could only be reached a few hours before and after low tide. We made it just in time before the tide came in. There was a small waterfall on the cliff directly above the beach that was fun to watch.

We drove to the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and parked near the visitor center. This is where we saw the first tour buses on the South Island. This area was quite popular with many tour groups. The pancake rocks were geologically weird. The rock layers really did look like stacks of pancakes. We stayed in the area for a few hours until high tide, since we had heard the blow hole there was quite impressive during that time. On that particular day it was good for only a few minutes. I think the weather conditions were too calm that day for the blow hole to do much. It had turned into a very nice afternoon with the sun shining.

We drove to the town of Hokitika and checked into the Mountain Jade Backpackers, where we had a room with private bath and a kitchenette. Since it was not too late in the day, after unloading our stuff we drove to Hokitika Gorge. This was one of the stops I had been looking forward to since the water in the gorge was glacial ice melt and supposed to be a beautiful turquoise color. But I was disappointed to find it was milky blue gray on that day. I think the recent rainfall had much influence on the color. Still it was a very nice walk to the gorge. There was a swinging bridge that was fun to cross and had a good view of the gorge.

Next we drove to Dorothy Falls. Access to the falls was via a dirt road that circled Lake Kaniere. The waterfall was right next to the road, so it was a quick photo stop. We continued to follow the dirt road to the west side of the lake, but there were too many trees to get a good view of the lake from the road. We finally got a good view at the lake outlet where the road became paved again.

Back in our room we fixed dinner: chicken curry, peas and carrots, red pepper, and onion. Afterwards we took a walk to Sunset Point. This was the start of the long walk along Hokitika Beach where people were collecting rocks and decorating the beach with driftwood displays. Supposedly it was a place to hunt for jade, but we did not find any.

We watched a beautiful sunset at the northern end of Hokitika Beach. Afterwards we took the heritage walk through town to the glowworm dell. We found a few groves with quite a few glowworms. Their numbers were impressive for such a small area. After enjoying the display for several minutes, we walked back to our room (we brought flashlights so we were able to see where we were going: it was quite dark out by that time).

February 05, 2019

This was another beautiful day with sunny skies. The locals told us we are having rare weather for the west coast. I expect our luck will run out soon, but I am enjoying it while it lasts.

Heinrich did the driving today. It was about a 45-minute drive to Oparara Basin. Access was up a long narrow twisty gravel road, which we had heard was not advised travel for campervans. Since we got such an early start, the road was not an issue. Only one car passed us on the way there.

It was about a 20-minute hike to Oparara Arch on an easy trail. The arch was a natural bridge and quite impressive. The morning sunshine was coming through the top of the arch when we arrived.

Next we hiked to the Moria Gate Arch. Access to the arch was by climbing into a small cave. There was a metal chain that we could use as a handrail on the way down. This arch was beautiful, and there were cave formations all around. Afterwards we took the loop trail that went directly over the arch to a nice viewpoint of the arch on the other side of the river.

The loop trail went to Mirror Tarn, which was appropriately named with the reflections in the lake. I took a video with the sounds of my favorite New Zealand bellbird in the background.

We drove back to the coast on the same twisty gravel road. This time it was more busy and we passed 8 cars. Then we drove north to the end of the road at Kohaihai. Heinrich found a place in the shade to park the car and decided to skip the hike to avoid any more knee issues. I hiked the Heaphy Track to Scotts Beach. It was a 1-hour hike each way. The trail went up a hill through lush rain forest to Scotts Hill Lookout, a really nice overlook of the beach. There was a picnic table, and it was a great place to relax and listen to the birds. Then I hiked down to the beach. It was high tide with lots of surf, and the wind was not blowing, so I got my first encounter with the dreaded sandflies. Since I had the repellent on and was wearing long pants and heavy socks, they did not bite me. But they certainly were a nuisance on the beach, swarming all around me. I was the only person on that beach, and it was beautiful. I would have stayed longer but the sandflies were just too annoying.

The sandflies were quite territorial. As soon as I left the beach they were no longer an issue. Other highlights of the trail were a small waterfall and a long swinging bridge. My favorite part was the lookout to the beach.

We drove back to the town of Karamea and stopped at the store to buy a few groceries for dinner. Then we drove back to the holiday park and fixed an early dinner in the shared kitchen: spaghetti and salad. I killed numerous sandflies that had made their way into the car when it had been parked next to the beach at Kohaihai.