Day 13 Tasman Glacier

We hiked up, up, up to see the (very retreated) Tasman Glacier. Today has been our sunniest in 2 weeks.

Mt. Cook

Outside our window this morning:

There is a mountain out there! Because of the rain and dark last night there wad nothing to see!

Day 10 Milford Sound

This morning we were up 6:30ish. Out the door at 7:30 for a day trip to Milford Sound. We left early to beat the traffic. It took 1.5 hours and there were very few cars on the road. The weather looked sketchy on the way out there but turned out to be beautiful, if a bit cloudy. We took a 2 hour cruise on the smallest boat available and it only had about 12 people on board. You really couldn’t ask for anything better. The skipper let each kid take a turn at the wheel and they loved it! He even announced it as each one had a turn. Along the way we saw fur seals on rocks, frolicking bottlenose dolphins, waterfalls, and stunning scenery in the fjord. Upon our return we had lunch at Milford Sound Cafe just up the road from the boats. We also stopped at The Chasm for a 20 minute stroll through the forest to see a waterfall and chasm. Now we are back at our house for our last night before we travel on to Dunedin. Laundry and organising in my future for the evening as well as UNO with the kids and maybe a walk by the lake.

Once we return home I will be able to share proper photos from the camera rather than only from my phone.

The dawn view from our rental house in Te Anau

Gorgeous!

Day 9 Mavora Lake

We drove about 40km up a gravel road to see this lakes area north of Te Anau.

Happy Easter

The Easter bunny found us in Te Anau, New Zealand.

Luxurious excesses

I only share this because I have never been in a house with a urinal. This bathroom is off the room with the bar, pool table and piano.

Te Anau

This is the view from our rental house on the lake in Te Anau, Rainbow Lake House. It is for sale for a cool NZ$1.4 million.

Day 8 Goodbye beautiful Queenstown

This morning we day goodbye to Queenstown as we make our way to Te Anau for three nights. We are driving south along Lake Wakitipu around the Eyre Mountains. The sun is shining and it is 20C outside. Bliss!

Day 7 Queenstown

I have no photos at the moment because I didn’t have my phone with me all day.

We drove into town 11ish for some culture. We watched a young Canadian woman named Miranda do a street show for 45 minutes. She didn’t actually do much in that 45 minutes but it kept us entertained. The kids laughed and laughed. After that we attempted to have lunch at a gastropub which wasn’t open when we tried. We ended up at theIrish place on the waterfront, Pog Mahones. Tom and I had a seafood platter with a couple of Guinesses. The kids shared a fish and chips plate.

After lunch Sofia and I walked over to the Kiwi Birdlife Centre and Tom took Alex to have adventures. The bird centre was interesting but overpriced for what was there. It was $42 for me and $21 for Sofia. Granted this is in NZ$ but ouch. After about 45 minutes of looking at Kiwis, parrots, tuataras, Keas and so on we waited for the conservation show to start. Some of the animals weren’t cooperating but it was still fun to see some of the animals up close.

Tom and Alex had a wander around town, had an ice cream and then drove over to get us.

The weather deteriorated so we headed over to a shopping area. Sofia got her ice cream and they picked up sushi for dinner. I had a quick look in Wild South and bought a couple of tunics. From here it was back to the house for the night.

Tomorrow we drive over to Te Anau for three nights. I will miss Queenstown. I am pretty sure I could live here. What a fantastic place!