A busy time in the South

SUNDAY
Last day and the sun is shining so we should have a good flight. We got to the airport in plenty of time and went into the Air New Zealand lounge but I didn't want champagne, too early. When we checked in the woman in Auckland had cancelled the window seat and we had an aisle and middle seat so we were not happy. Fortunately, the flight was not full and we changed seats and had the last row to ourselves. The flight was very good with lovely views and we arrived in Auckland on time. It was very hot and humid after the cold south!

The cases took ages to come out bet we eventually got on the shuttle to the car park, picked up the car and were on on way. We stopped at a place on the highway called Mercer and there was a cafe there which sold local pork, bacon and sausages and we had a sandwich with ham off the bone and salad on brown bread with mustard and it was sooooo yummy.

We arrived back in Tauranga and went to the supermarket and bought a ready cooked chicken and salad for dinner. it was nearly time for the kennels to open for collecting Totty so we sat in a park until it was time to save us coming out again. She was very pleased to see us and I told the kennel owner that we were putting our cases away now until Easter!

We had a nice evening at home and it felt very good to be back but it is so hot!

Saturday

Saturday was very wet and I felt sorry for the people who were booked to go to Milford or Doubtful Sound, they wouldn't see much.

We set off and drove to Manapouri where you get the boat to Doubtful Sound. We wanted to see if there were any hotels to stay when Malcolm comes over but there is nothing, it is very small.

We then drove up to Queenstown through the rain which wasn't really heavy but it spoilt the views. We stopped at Kingston again for coffee but a different bar. The weather forecast said there would be sun in Queenstown after 12 and sure enough as we arrived at 11.50 the clouds broke up and the sun came out and was out for the rest of the day.

We went to our hotel but as the room wasn't ready we left the case and set off to Arrowtown which is a really pretty, old mining town and they still have lots of the old buildings. We had a look around and then lunch in a little bar.

On the way back to Queenstown we passed by the ski fields and down to the Shotover River where we saw the hover boat which goes very fast and does 360 degree turns and looks really scary - not for me.

We then went onto Queenstown and the sky ride up the mountain to the luge. The gondola ride is very high much higher than the one in Rotura and I couldn't look back! When we got to the top we had a look around and took photos as the views are awesome. We then went to the chairlift to go on the luge. You go up higher and then come down on the luge which is the opposite way to Rotorua. They only have two tracks scenic and advanced and they are narrow and we didn't think as good as the one in Rotorua but it was fun. We watched a young man doing a bungy jump - they are so brave!

We went back to the hotel and checked in and booked a table for dinner had a cup of tea. We had a lovely view from our room. Then off we went again for a walk in the Queenstown Gardens which are lovely.

After a shower we were ready to go for dinner and we had a lovely table and the restaurant was quiet and we had a very nice meal. There was a lady at another table and Jon looked across at her and turned to me and said 'There is a woman over there who looks like Mary' I turned to look and spotted her straight away. It was amazing how like Mary she was and we couldn't believe it. i couldn't stop looking at her and I even took a photo and will ask Mary if she sees herself!

Friday
We were up early and had breakfast and were on the road by 8.00 for the two hour journey. We decided to drive there without stopping and do all the stops on the return. The weather was good when we left Te Anau but as we got higher it got colder with low cloud and rain and went down to 10 degrees. We reached the Homer Tunnel which was started in 1935 and finished in 1953. It is very dark and narrow and the traffic lights change every 15 minutes to let traffic through both ways. When we got through to the other end you couldn't see much because of the cloud which was a shame.

We finally arrived at Milford Sound in time to have coffee before we went on the boat. Jon had booked a small boat as some of them are really big with not much outside space. I can't put into words just how beautiful it all is. There was snow on the high mountains, the water was a beautiful blue as they had not had any rain for nine days and apparently rain makes the water muggy. There were fur seals and waterfalls and it was just gorgeous. We sailed out as far as the Tasman Sea, which was very calm and then back. We had a nice lunch on the boat and then he took the boat into the Stirling waterfall and we all got wet but it was good fun.

Our trip back to the hotel took hours as there are so many places to stop at. We saw waterfalls and rivers and snow and glaciers. We stopped outside the Homer tunnel and there is a part of a glacier that has slipped down and I stood on that - very weird standing in the snow in a T shirt!

We stopped at Gunn's camp which was a base for the families of the men who built the road and the tunnel back in the 1930s. Very basic cabins which you can now rent at about £20 a night for two people with firewood thrown in for the range! Not my idea of a holiday but many people go there. We had a look in the cabins and they are very basic. There is no electricity and the generator is turned off at 10.30. There is no phone and no cell phone signal. I have no idea what they do in an emergency!


We stopped at Mirror Lakes and the water is so clear and the mountains are reflected in the lake just like a mirror. We climbed up to see the Humboldt Falls which were pretty even in a drought.

We could have stopped at many more places but we just didn't have the time and by the time we got back to the hotel I could quite easily have gone to bed.

We had booked a table at a restaurant that was recommended in the Lonely Planet and looked nice. Our starter which was like a warm pork pate was very good but then we waited about 40 minutes for our main and it only came out when we asked how much longer. I had chosen elephant fish and Jon had venison. Jon's was cold and mine was very overcooked and very dry. I have never had a bad fish meal here but this was BAD. We told them we were not happy with it but we had waited so long we didn't want to wait for another 40 minutes so we told them not to bother. We had pudding which was filo tarts with stewed nectarines and plums with a Chantilly cream and it was really good - such a shame about the mains. We looked around the restaurant and there were many unhappy people sitting waiting for food so it wasn't only us. They knocked $3 off the bill!!!! Big deal. We certainly won't go there again when we go with Malcolm whenever he re books to come over.

We went back tot he hotel and fell into bed, very tired.