Flag Hotel Fiorland Hotel Te Anau

... the length of the fiord to the entrance to the Tasman Sea. Along the way we saw dophins, fur seals and the especially cute Fiordland Crested Penguins. Then we had a wonderful dinner followed by a slide show narrated by the naturalist. We met many nice people including an American couple from Oregon and a British couple who kept us laughing. After dinner we dropped anchor in a sheltered cove. It was truly a privilege to be in this beautiful wilderness area overnight.

... As with the rest of New Zealand it wasn't very busy and we soon discovered that there were only 4 passangers on the boat... so we had loads of room.<br><br>The cruise was amazing... the sides of the fiord were lush with vegetation, apart from where tree-valaunches had occured and were incredibily steep and high. The water was perfectly calm and the weather was clear and sunny.<br><br>We explore the sound and spotted a few pairs of rare ...

... 3 months - he was your all action hero type - done kayaking, mountain climbing, sailing, skiing - he had his moments but was really a pompous opinionated little person who loved the sound of his own voice. Glad in a way that kayaking was off as I am not sure that I could have coped with him for 3.5 hours in a kayak. Dried out and heated up back at campsite and headed for the library , another free wifi spot so caught up on all your comments - ha ha work must be bad that you all log ...

... just above out heads in various constellations. These were the glow worms which used their bioluminescence to attract flying insects etc. to fishing lines of snot they drop from their cocoons (the guide called them "silk" but I reckon they were snot with a marketing makeover myself).<br><br>Te Anau is not renown for it&#8217;s culinary prowess so dinner at The Fat Duck was not likely to be a Blumethal experience but they served up a mean garlic bread and not too bad Venison.

... s Pass to the sound. Bus ride over the Pass was out of this world - I don't think I've ever been on such a remote road, which kept climbing and climbing into the mountains. Was quite eery as we didn't meet any other vehicles or people the entire 40 minute journey and we were surrounded by dense rainforest most of the way. We then had a 3 and half hour boat tour around Doubtful Sound, which was awesome, as they say in these parts! Not only was the scenery out of this world ...

... thing that professionals do, people that eat health food and go running and to the gym, as opposed to the pub and the donut shop? I can't help but feel a little out of place here, now that I see what I'm actually about to do. But I came all this way, and I am determined to do this. The first few hours of the Track take me around to the far side of Lake Te Anau, and into the mountains. The town is still there behind me, but getting smaller by the minute. The forest here is incredible, very ...

... photos, then descended into the Arthur Valley. We took a side trip to Sutherland Falls, a 582 meter high waterfall, which was quite impressive. We finished the track the next day at the appropriately named Sandfly Point which is at the southern end of the Milford Sound. We briefly glimpsed views fo the iconic Mitre Peak before returning to Te Anau, where we met Becca, Micah and Lauren to exchange stories and get caught up. One of the ...

... to the earth. This is where they filmed the movie Lord of the Rings and it is a very wild place. The only way to get to where we are going is by boat or helicopter - there are no roads or even trails. Chris told us that there are 100 earthquakes a day here because the earth is still changing. The last big one was in 2003 and you can see where some of the sides of the mountains fell off. It was 7.3 on the Richter scale and they expect the next big one to be over 8. After we ...

... breakfast of cereal,tea and toast and get out on the track.But just as we leave it stops raining ,the sun comes out and a magnificent double rainbow appears just in fromt of us and stretches way over the hills. Some cheeky keas -mountain parrots - skreech above us. The warden of the hut warned us last night of kea behaviour - sharp beaks can ruin a camera lens if you get too close and can do serious damage to a backpack left on ...

... channel. As soon as we entered the mouth of the fiord, we were surprised to find the sea calm and flat, untroubled by the wind through the fiord. This allowed the Captain to take us further into the Abel Tasman than is normally possible. The return journey, with the wind now behind us, was stunning! The late-afternoon sun drenched mountains and sparkling water made for a plethora of photo ...