Stewart Island, Doubtful and Milford Sound – 26 Oct, 2014

Sorry for the delay in posting. After these trips, I decided to go “off-the-grid”. Surprisingly to me, during this time, I have received numerous requests to do a post. So here goes. It is a long one with lots of photos. Go grab a drink, relax and enjoy 🙂

While in Invercargill, I spent some time planning my next few weeks as I ended up with extra time. Deciding to go on a package tour with “Real Journeys” a privately owned kiwi company, to Stewart Island, an overnight cruise through Doubtful Sound and a day cruise of Milford Sound with the big highlight of taking a scenic flight from Milford to Queenstown.

The day I left for Bluff, the southernmost point of the South Island, for Stewart Island, the southernmost habited island in New Zealand, it was raining and windy. The hour-long boat ride was truly an adventure. The waves of the Foveaux Strait (links the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean) made for an up and down ride. Normally they offer free coffee & tea, not today. I was nervous at first, but changed my mind to believe that I was on a big jet boat ride and ended up enjoying it.

Bluff – Southernmost point of the South Island

Arriving to glorious sunny weather and a short walk to the hostel, Bunkers Backpackers. It is small and immediately felt like I was visiting a friend’s holiday home. Rob, our host was amazing and joined us on the patio while we relaxed over beers and soon a game of giant Jenga that he had just made. Over the day, more people arrived, coming either from the afternoon boat of from tramping (hiking) in the mountains for 4 days.

Rob at his reception

Harbour

Giant Jenga

Town

 

Stewart Island is the same land mass of Singapore (pop. 8 million), yet only has a population of 300. Most of it uninhabited.

That night, on high recommendation from when I was in the North Island, I went out to the “hotel” for dinner. Wow, I ended up having one of the best meals so far. I chose the special “Scallops on black pudding”. There was 6 scallops and underneath 3 of them was Paua, considered the foie gras of the sea and a specific to the area. I had to stop myself from licking the plate.

The next day, Alex and I took a small hopper boat to Ulva Island; part of it is a national park, to go tramping and bird watching. Not something I would normally do, but it ended up worth it. We saw 12 different kinds of birds, three golden sand beaches and the different flora. Unfortunately, do not have any pictures as Alex had a better camera and she has not sent them to me. The afternoon was spent teaching/showing Rob and Joe how to drain a fuel tank to get his (non-moved in a year) van started. Thanks Dad for bringing me up to do “boy” things. I made Robs week! Dinner was fresh picked mussels from the beach and a HUGE crayfish (lobster to us), eaten at the hostel between me and a deer hunter.

Joe (the hunter), me, Alex and Rob

Kala – Parrots native to NZ

The next day I made my way back to New Zealand (that is what the people on the island call it) and to the town of Te Anau, my base for the next two trips.

(What a difference a day makes. The photo on the left was taken when I arrived, the one on the right was taken the next day.)

The morning I left for the overnight tour, I met Marie, originally from France, who was going too. We hit it off immediately as she is around my age and been travelling solo for the past 18 months. What an inspiration! (Though I’m not hitchhiking like she is)

See you in Bangkok!

This being my first overnight cruise, I was excited. To get to Doubtful Sound and our boat, we took a smaller boat across the lake, then a tour bus, stopping along the way for photos.

The boat was great; the staff were amazing and the food plentiful. The day was beautiful, clear and sunny. I did not see another boat the whole time, so I felt like one of the first explorers. Almost 80% of the land has not been touched since then.

We spent the day cruising through the Sound to The Tasman Sea.  (Incorrectly named, as a sound is created by water, Doubtful and Milford were created by glaciers, so technically should be called fjords)

We saw seals, dolphins swimming in our wake, and 5 separate penguins, though to far away to get a photo 😦

Later in the day, we moored in an “arm”, where we had the option to kayak or take a tender close to shore. Wanting to learn more about the area, I chose the tender. Our captain/guide (Carol) was so informative, passing around “samples” of different plants (including a blue pollen flower), mosses and flowers. Back on the boat, we had the option to jump off and go for a swim. Not liking 7-degree temps, I passed and just watched the few brave souls.

Dinner was a plentiful buffet, including roast lamb, beef, mussels and steamed salmon. Deserts came later and included a divine cheese plate. Yes, I got into the cruise mentality and went back for seconds. After there was a nature slide show, which I passed on, instead sitting with our dinner mates, couple from Victoria, Canada, a kiwi and his girlfriend, an ex-pat German.

Waking at 6 am the next morning was well worth it. Again a wonderful day, with just the sun and birds to share the beginning of the day. The Capitan explained that Doubtful was having a drought, as it had not rained in two days. The Sounds have rain 200 days a year and rarely two sunny days in a row.

We cruised again through the Sound and ended up at another “arm”. This time they did something so cool there are no words to explain, but I will try. As we entered the arm, they asked us to come out on the deck, put our cameras away and remain silent. Thankfully, I chose the back of the boat, and ended up by myself. Then the captain shut the motor off. The silence was blissful, except for the occasional bird and lapping of the small waves on the shore. All I could think, was how blessed I am, if my life had not gone the way it had, I would have not been there to experience it. Saying a prayer of thanks to my Dad and Mark, I expected to cry, instead, I felt this incredible sense of peace and joy come over me. I had turned the bend, no turning back!

Now, I will shut my motor off (stop writing) to let you enjoy the photos in peace.

My motor is back on.

Milford Sound was a disappointment as it was very touristy, busy with boats and raining with low cloud. I spent most of my time with a couple from Australia, who were equally disappointed. After seeing the first of a hundred waterfalls, it gets boring.

(These photos were taken by Marie, when she was in Milford, love the images the drops created. Do you see the dancer?)

Due to the weather, I was not able to fly. I was very saddened; it was to be the highlight of my tours. In addition, it meant I had to spend an extra 4 hours on a tour bus to get to my next destination, Queenstown.

Nevertheless, as I now do, I changed my thinking to a positive, “There must be a good reason. Let your disappointment go, and just see what happens”.

On the way in/out of Milford, you have to go through a long tunnel. When we emerged, it was snowing. WHAT? I had just joked with the Auzies, about traveling through New Zealand’s winter and how proud I was only to see snow on the mountains. CRAP. Of course, they started laughing at me. Something made me look right and I noticed the woman sitting beside me crying. They were tears of happiness and in her rapid broken English explained that the last time she saw falling snow, she was 5 and had been praying to see it again. The next thing I knew, I was at the front of the bus asking the driver if he could pull over so we could get out and I could take her photo.

The rest of the ride back, she kept looking at the photos of her enjoying the snow, between fits of laughter, saying “40 years I wait” and more happy tears.

Sometimes the reason is not about what you want to experience, but the one you provide someone else.