Blue Thistle Cottages Te Anau

... the pitch dark. As soon as we set off away from the Te Anau dock, it was like riding a boat into the black abyss. We arrived at the destination and proceeded down a dock towards a distantly lit building. On the way we passed many tropical flowers and rushing water making it feel like we were 100 miles away from any form of civilisation.

We were then directed to the entrance of the cave which involved a lot of bending down before emerging ...

... finally, the sun through the trees. My spirits are lifted after having made it through the snow. My feet are still wet, but not longer frozen, and I make it to the night's hut. It's in the middle of a very dense patch of forest, so I should have no problem finding wood for a fire. The thing is, it has rained here today, from the looks of it, and I can't find anything dry. I'm kicking myself for not having ever learned, I mean really learned, how to build a fire. After some time, it's just ...

... they had 20cm - this was good for us because the waterfalls were in full flow. At least the rain kept the sand flies away. We were taken right up to, & in-fact under, some of the many waterfalls - soaking those trapped on the foredeck. Dolphins escorted our boat for a short time, until they got bored & we passed a herd (?) of seals basking in the rain. The trip was rounded off by a visit to the Deep Underwater ...

... the fish we caught for dinner, plus some venison (deer meat). He shot the deer two weeks ago right here in the sound. Deer are considered feral animals and they are trying to get them out of the park so anyone can shoot them. My Pop would love this place - he loves hunting and fishing. This is not what I expected, but it is really fun so far. Tomorrow we are going out on a smaller boat to explore some of the small channels off the sound. Maybe we will see a shark or dolphins!

... Rainbow Reach. But still more glories of NZ scenery are to come. In the last kms the track is on the high bank of the magnificently braided Wairau River. Braided river beds have multiple streams running along and are usually wide and stoney. For LOTR fans the Wairau was featured as the River Anduin in Part 2. And so to the swing bridge at Rainbow Reach . What a day and despite the weather -what a terrific hike. Saved the best for last!!

... stop for the guided three day trek. But those on the guided three day trek, often hike over the pass from the main road, rather than take the boat across the lake.

            After a pleasant lunch where we talked a bit with the other members of our trek, two from Holland and four from Japan, we crossed a bridge up the trail. Our guide Hannah told us a about a bird that sounded like R2-D2 with a singing voice. It was ...

... ago and is still that way. So what we saw from the ridge was about 20 feet of tussock and then solid white clouds. But we had plenty of food this time! We spent 2 nights at the first hut, Luxmore Hut after a steep climb up through beech forest (I half expected to see elves; straight out of Lord of the Rings). There were 47 other people with us there the first night. I really wouldn't call the place a "hut" but rather a mountain chattel with flushing ...

... early,well yes it would have been a beautiful lake view if he had not already but two vans in front of us blocking our view, ah well!! we had a very nice walk around anyway,there is a tiny church which has the prettest view over the lake, well yes it was a lovely view, but the glass did not do the view justice it was as though someone had just cut out an oblong hole in the wall & just put a piece of glass in, our next port of call was a town called ...

... later we were off on a quick ride along the southern part of the lake.





We stopped off at the local info centre to confirm our Milford Sound boat trip booking tomorrow, and then leisurely biked on around the top of the lake.



On the way back we turned down the main high street and did some exploring on the bikes.

At one point we ...

... to Milford (through a freeking mountain) a car had skidded off the road that wasn't there earlier - scary stuff. We stopped for the obligatory photo of the 'No Stopping Avalanche Zone' sign then headed back to Te Anau for some rest and relaxation.

When we got back to the hostel we had some new roommates, Ben a guy from France, Peter from Newcastle and Dianne - a woman me and Tara had met a few weeks before in Taupo - she did the crossing ...