Dec 20th 2011

Can't believe it's so near Christmas & yet it doesn't feel like it here although they have decorations, trees etc the weather makes it all a bit sureal!! By now I would be in a panic with Emma's birthday 3 days away and then Christmas Eve with family arriving, cake to decorate and vegies to prepare!!! Must admit it's quite nice in a way as we've had a pretty rough time of late and it's good to chill out this year!! We look forward to having the family with us in January.

We left Queenstown at 11am. Quite sorry as we had a lovely apartment with stunning views. We drove to Arrowtown an old gold mining town. It's on the Arrow river which became known as the richest river in the world. We went to look at the Chinese settlement. This consisted of tiny huts v. basic and right down beside the river & we guess in the flood plain. Some of the Chinese moved here from the Australian gold fields - -Queensland e.g. but most came from China. They were not "settlers" as they never intended to stay but instead families would collect money together to pay the passage for a family member to come over in the hope that they would make a lot of money to bring back so the family could be released from poverty and buy a farm. They tended to work areas that European miners felt they'd exhausted but because of their industriousness the Chinese would manage to get some gold. Once the infra structure had been built up around the gold mining areas there would have been problems when the Europeans moved on so they were glad of the Chinese miners moving in: quote "Better to have Chimpanzees than no one at all" unquote. There was a fair bit of discrimination against them although eventually there was some better integration and also some intermarriage. The Chinese had 'allotments' behind their 'houses/huts' and eventually made money selling their produce. There was also some opium smoking going on in the room behind Ah-Lum's General Store!! Ah-Lum became a bit of a hero as apart from supplying the much needed seed he rescued an European from drowning in the river!!

We then went to see the Europeans' housing and this was palacial in comparison. They had been refurbished of late and used by businesses but they would still have been of a much higher standard and larger than the Chinese settlement houses. They were also well above the flood plain.

We then took the road to Frankton to get the road to Te Anau. This took us alongside the Remarkable Mountains & Pete got some photos as these probably featured in Lord of the Rings. We got to Te Anau about 4pm. It was very hot. The apt is very nice and clean and bright & in a really quiet spot. Took a drive and a walk around the town. Te Anau is lovely & is beside Lake Te Anau the second largest lake in NZ. Much to my excitement we managed to spot some Tuis. These are also called Parson birds as they have two large plumes of white feathers on the lower throat. They have a very characteristic, tuneful song and are usually the first to start up in the mornings and the last to finish up at night a bit like our male blackbirds. It is a NZ endemic and loves nectar producing flowers & its beak is adapted to sucking nectar in the same way as the Honey eaters.

We had pizza, chips & salad for dinner in our apartment. It clouded over and started raining. Overnight cruise tomorrow through the Fiords so hope it brightens up again.

Dec 21st 2011

Left hotel at 9.30am after free early bird breakfast. Headed out to Milfird Sound. V scenic route again. Crystal clear rushing rivers, snowcapped mountains, lush forests, extensive banks of lupins. Stopped briefly at MacKay Creek. Stopped at Mirror Lakes which lived up to their name except for some tiny Scaup ducklings kept diving & popping up again causing ripples.We are so lucky it's wonderful weather. The sandflies are particularly annoying around here though. We had elevenses beside Lake Gunn then on through a valley of heavily wooded mountains and then along a rocky river with fast moving water. Some beautiful waterfalls.

The weather is excellent considering that this area gets 7m of rain annually. Milford Sound was found by the Welsh seal hunter, John Grono, who named it after his home town of Milford Haven. A river running into Milford Sound he called the Cleddau River after the river that runs into Milford Haven. It shouldn't really be called a 'sound' as a sound is where the sea has flooded a river valley. It is really a Fiord as it is a flooded glacial valley. As we continue our journey towards MS the mountains become less wooded. As the snow thaws in the bright sunshine it creates fine sparkling silvery falls cascading down mountainsides. The road took us up above the snow line where there are thawing ?drifts which are still about a foot deep. We stopped and in a full 360 degree circle there are cascading waterfalls all around us. Magic!

Then into the Homer tunnel, 1km long under a mountain which has a gradient of 1:10 and then out onto a descending series of switchbach bends down the mountain side. Still the sparkling cascades continue glistening in the sun. There are more trees again now. Stopped at the Chasm which is exactly that. Walking through the rain forest we came to this fast torrent which carries with it tumbling pebbles that have sculpted the chasm into v smooth & interesting shapes. This area is home to some endangered species of birds such as the Kata a beautiful endemic parrot and the yellowhead also endemic and confined to South Island. We got to Milford Sound & had our lunch. Then we went for a walk around the bay. There isn't a village here just a couple of visitors' centres, a fishing harbour and some apartments. Aparently the road gets v bad in winter & cars are not allowed along unless carrying snow chains and driver can display knowledge of how to fit them. If not they are sent back.

We boarded the Milford Mariner at 4.15pm & got a lovely cabin with double bed & nice en suite. We sailed off down the fiord amongst wonderful scenery. Fiord short compared to Norwegian ones though(16km). We sailed out into the Tasmin Sea& then pulled into Anita Bay where we dropped anchor & some people went off in kayaks & we went with others in a tender. The guide explained how in this area the fresh water comes off the mountains picking up tannins on the way & settles in a layer 8m deep on top of the salt water. This cuts out a lot of sunlight &, therefore, red and black coral and other organisms are found in shallower water than would normally be the case. She also told us about the beautiful Greenstone found on south island. It is used for jewellery now but the Mauris used it for jewellery, weapons & traded with it. That found in Anita Bay has interesting black 'bits' through it.

Capt Cook saw the entrance to Milford Sound but dismissed it as he didn't think it went v far inlnd. It was then discovered & named by Welsh sailor J Grono. The weather was still lovely & we sat in the salon having a drink waiting for dinner to be served. We had a delicious 3 course dinner & met a v nice couple from the Gold Coast, Oz - - Cuff's Harbour. He'd had bowel cancer 10 yrs previously & had the all clear. We then had a slide show & talk about the Fiord. In the middle of this a pod of Dusky (common, small) dolphins appeared. We've never seen a show like it - -they are so lively!! There were baby ones too moving through the water so rapidly & coming out of it - -at times, completely. One was deliberately hitting his tail off the water & making clapping' sounds. Amazing and then they vanished as quickly as they'd appeared. The guy who was showing us the slides then showed us a slide, saying that it was of a previous cruise of a killer whale that breeched(came right out of the water) next to a kayaker. Amazingly the kayak righted itself again after totally disappearing. The next day, however, I was asking about whales in the Fiord and he admitted that the incident had happened in Seattle!!

Dec 22nd 2011

We anchored in Harrison's cove overnight. Rather a fractious night as it was so hot in our cabin. Woke up to a wonderfully calm sea so the reflections in the water were stunning. We had a delicious cooked breakfast at 7am then up on deck with our coffees. Met up with a group of bottlenose dolphins which were much bigger and slower than the duskies but they were still pretty fast moving & came up in the water some of them completely out. They enjoy riding on the bow wave. Then we sailed past a breeding colony of fur seals the breed that Grono was hunting. There were some in the water and some on the rocks with 2 males having a bit of an altercation! Then we saw a sun fish v near the surface of the water. These can get up to 3m long & up to a ton in weight aparently. They mostly eat jelly fish - good on 'em!!!! Again the spectacular scenery & falls. We docked at 9.15am. We have a long journey today - 250 miles & on twisty roads. Drove back to Te Anau & Frankton but bypassed both. Landscape gentler after that but still hilly & loads of lupins. In fact, we saw 2 council workmen spraying lupins with nasty pink stuff. Wonder if they're pushing out native species. They are certainly growing in profusion which is maddening as we all know how we regularly lose the battle agaianst voracious slugs and snails when trying to culture and nurture lupins in our gardens at home.

Got here -Wanaka- or 'one ball' as Pete likes to call it at about 2pm & had lunch on our balcony. Temp 42 degreesC in sun and 30 in shade. Strangely as we sweltered we were looking out at snowcapped mountains in the distance!! Managed to chill out at the pool reading for a couple of hours.

Dec 23rd 2011

Emma's birthday today and we are off to Franz Josef. Left at 9.30am. Stopped to look at Lake Hawea & Lake Wanaka. Formed by glaciers 3000 ft above lake level. L.Wanaka is 30 miles long and 1000ft deep so its bottom is below sea level. Beautiful day again, water calm with reflections of snow capped mountains. Took a 30 min walk through forest to see 'Blue Pools'. The water looks blue because the very pure snow melt water refracts sunlight. Supposed to make the brown and rainbow trout swimming in it look as if they're floating in air. They knew we were coming so we didn't get to see that!

We then motored on through Haast Pass. Again we are amidst lush forest, blue and white water aerated as it rushes and tumbles around & over huge boulders. We walked to see Thunder Creek falls. Certainly had the wow factor. The Haast is an extremely wide river & eventually we emerge from the forest at its estuary with the Tasman Sea. We then follow the coast road with sea to our left & forest to the right. We stopped at Knight's Point lookout to have lunch overlooking the sea. We could see NZ fur seals basking in the sun way down below us. Fiordland penguins live here too as do gannets, shearwaters, black back gulls & red billed gulls. Colder here 18 degrees C but still lovely & sunny.

We pulled over inland again. Mostly beef farming here and some deer. Lots of dead possums on the road. Had to cross several rivers on single track bridges some of them being small suspension bridges.

Our accommodation at Glenfern villas is really nice. It's a little villa with cooking facilities (so I'm going to cook tonight), 2 comfy settees, separate v modern bathroom and sep bedroom with a huge bed! We also have patio doors onto our own private decked area with a bit of grass too. Love it! Shame it's only for 1 night!

Dec 24th 2011

Off on our Helicopter flight to the Franz Josef glazier today and then to Hokitiki where we will celebrate Christmas. It's going to be really strange being on our own for the first time since Em was born in 1977!