The road from Cardrona to Queenstown rises to the highest point of any road in New Zealand. It is a spectacle, one of the greatest roads to travel on for the beauty of its panoramas. However, it is not for the faint of heart or those prone to motion sickness; it has hairpin turns and precipitous sides. Once again, the high morning sun all but washes out the images.
We bypassed Queenstown as we skirted Lake Wakatipu along the Southern Scenic Route, fringed by striking rugged mountains, for a Fjord-like experience.
At he southern end of the lake lies the small town of Kingston. It seemed like a good place to have lunch and enjoy the surroundings, and yes, a little cigar by the beach.
At Mossburn, we changed onto Rt 94 heading toward Te Anau, our final destination for the day. On the outskirts of town, we have booked a simple but delightful cottage, appropriately called Wilderness Cottage, as it is set in the middle of nowhere. We arrived to find the owner, who lives about thirteen kilometers away, just finishing cleaning it up for us. We learned that she and her husband own 630 acres of farmland that surround the cottage. Here they raise hundreds of sheep, cattle and deer, that are all around us. It's a lot of work for them, but when you don't have to do the work, this is like Heaven on Earth!
The views of the pastoral landscape from any window in the home are simply superb.
There are many more male deer (bucks) than does, but they are currently being kept separate from the females in another part of the property.
After getting acquainted with the surroundings and doing some necessary laundry, we headed in town. Te Anau is home to only about 2,000 people, but you would never know it. There are abounding shopping and dining establishments in town, as well as hotels, motels and campgrounds. This is the hub for trips to New Zealand's Fiordland, in any direction, and many people love to explore the locations that mesmerized them while watching a number of famous movies, including The Lord of the Rings and Avatar.
I photographed a map of the area to give an understanding of where we are. Do you see the jagged part with no roads, at the bottom left? That's Fiordland. Te Anau Lake is the long lake with 4 fjord-like ramifications on its left, that is situated near the top of Fiordland, to the left of the squiggly lake (Lake Wakatipu). The town of Te Anau is at the bottom of the lake where you can see two roads meet. Lake Te Anau holds more water than any other lake in Australasia. It is almost half a kilometer deep.
We intend to visit Milford Sound tomorrow, where, quoting from Lonely Planet "granite giants cast their reflection in waters where dolphins and penguins frolic...". Unfortunately, we were told that we will not be able to drive ourselves there, as the road has been badly damaged by recent severe weather and is closed to all car traffic. The only way to reach Milford is to travel by bus in a bus convoy. Only three convoys are allowed per day, so that workers can tend to road repairs. Having no choice we opted to purchase two bus tickets (ouch!!), but I would have hated to come all the way here and miss out, so that's the way it's going to be. We'll have to be up at the crack of dawn, as our bus leaves at 7:30 sharp.
I will leave you this time with a photo taken from the porch of the cottage of a stupendously colorful sky at dusk. From Te Anau, Ciao to all.
Comments