The morning in the Caitlin’s was another damp start but with the sun on the rise we started off on our journey to Te Anau. The journey was going to take most of the day and we hoped to arrive after lunch sometime. The journey was wonderful as the scenery change from green and wet farm land and started to become mountainous with stunning views. Along the way we found an airstream van serving hot bacon sarnies and stopped for our breakfast and took the time to explore a local honey shop- much tasting was done!
Te Anau was hot and sunny with blue skies and mountain views from across the lake, our air bnb was huge and very modern and just a short walk to the lake and its gravel shores. Once unpacked we headed for a walk down the lake and into town for a short while, the walk took a couple of hours there and back and we stopped to watch the Great Crested Grebes, Masked Lapwings and Shoveler duck on the lake. The lake itself is huge and so most of the wildlife would be on its far shores which are wooded , but on our side it was still a stunning walk.
We chose to cook at home on our first night and stay in, as the next day would be an early start as we were driving to Milford sound for a boat trip, its a two hour journey through the mountain pass and tunnel and so an early start was needed.
With the moon up we left the house at around 5am, and as we drove along to the mountain pass out of town the dawn was just beginning . The trip to Milford sound is out of this world, snaking roads, river gorges and cliffs all around. We knew that the Kia birds might be around, to the scenery was so great our attention was on that, we could look for the wildlife on the way back in the light.
The road ends at the tunnel which takes you through to Milford sound itself where the sea merges with the mountains in a Fjord. We made our way to the boat terminal an hour early, luckily we were told that the previous time slot still had not left and only had 4 people on board and if we wanted we could go on that instead. We ran to the boat happy to have a full boat almost entirely to ourselves. The four of us settled in with coffee and cookies and made our way to the prow of the boat to be in the best spot to see everything.
The Sound is one massive Fjord with cliffs towering above, we sailed from the bay to the mouth of the sound where it joins the open sea of the islands West coast. The scenery was the star in this journey although we did enjoy watching the Fur Seals, Terns and Red Billed Gulls along the way. We finished the trip with a Glacial facial , the boat drove slowly in to a waterfall coming down the cliffs, it looked like a fine mist but we got soaked.
The trip back was a slower affair, stopping along the mountain pass to hunt for the Kia parrots, we were treated to a Weka pottering about and Fantails further along but sadly now parrots today.
The next two days in Te Anau we spent our time enjoying the house and taking walks in the local area. A trip to a local wildlife reserve and a long walk along the far side of the lake. This remote path was full of Fantails, Tom Tits and a huge array of fungi and fauna, even in this remote spot there was a toilet at the end point ( all be it a small hut with a hole in the ground ). The return walk was back the same way back across the dam at the end of the lake. Such a pleasant walk in sunny weather, we treated ourselves to tea in the pub before getting ready for the next leg of the journey.
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