Day 3.

Nick delivered Sue and Andrew to Queenstown Airport while David did the final tidying of the AirBnB which Nick had arranged.  Then N and D set off for Te Anau.  It was a rainy low-cloud day, highly reminiscent for David of travelling through the Lake District of the UK.  Deep Lakes, green vegetation (lots of rain per year in the South island), low cloud and rain.  Rain, rain, rain.  Milford Sound has over 12 metres of rain in some years.

We went via Kingston, at the western end of Lake Wakatipu, where we found a remnant of the old metre gauge railway, once the lifeline to the area, now derelict (of course).  We arrived at Te Anau in time to walk some way up the Kepler Track – one of the three world-renowned walking tracks in this area.  Clearly it was not an undertaking for us to do now, as it takes several days, and has to be booked months in advance it is so popular.

Sign seen in Te Anau: is this just me, but if I go a helicopter flight, I do NOT  want to become “part to the scenery” !!! ?

 ^{Notes for John and Mark, coming here later this year: we stayed for two nights at the Luxmore Hotel, not a standout but a safe choice.  On the main street (not on the lake and so less expensive).  Dinner was at a place called La Dolce Vita, near the hotel, and was good but not outstanding.  However see Day 4.}

Day 4.

Milford Sound.  This needed a start at 0800 from Te Anau.  There is little accommodation at Milford Sound, which is 115km from Te Anau.  We were booked onto cruise at 1020, and the guidebooks (etc.) say it is two hours drive fro Te Anau to Milford Sound.  Kiwi estimates of the time something will take you are usually accurate – unlike in England, for instance when if a walk is predicted to take two hours, one to one-and-a-half is a better estimate.

Anyway, after a swift drive through spectacular scenery, we arrived in time for our cruise.  It was absolutely worth the effort: MS is unbelievably beautiful and impressive.

On the way back there are lots of things to see or do (i’m sure you could see them on the way there also, but we were too much in a hurry).  Mirror Lakes, waterfalls, and we did Key Summit – a 2 hour walk up to a summit looking over “Fjordland” – the area around the western coast of the South Island.

It was a wonderful day and we finished it off with a great meal at Redcliffe in Te Anau.  An unexpected fine-food experience much to be recommended.