Day 7 13/2/13 Te Anau to Milford Sound

What a most amazing day, the drive to Milford Sound, the cruise on the waterway and the amazing scenery. It has been 35 years since I was in Milford Sound and while you think you remember it well I was still overwhelmed by its beauty and magnificence. We started early at 7am with the sun just beginning to rise on Lake Te Anau as we wanted to be ahead of the buses and campervans (this is campervan town) based on the advice that while it is only 118km, you need to allow 2-3hours for the journey. It was about 7degrees and it was magical to see the valley with low lying cloud and the sun hitting the tops of the mountains. We stopped at Mirror Lakes with the most wonderful reflections of the mountains in the water, then The Chasm where you walk through a rain forest to thunderous waterfalls. John met some native birds, who were quite large and took a fancy to our car, in particular the rubber around the windows and doors as we found out on the return from our walk. We then passed rockslides, then through the amazing engineering feat of the Homer Tunnel and into the Sound. We had a delicious coffee then boarded our tour with Mitre Peak Cruises, a smaller boat which definitely gets up close and personal to the attractions, literally sitting underneath waterfalls and almost reaching out to touch the fur seals lazing in the sun and the dolphins swimming alongside the boat. We went out of the Sound past St Anne's lighthouse into the Tasman Sea, then turned for the return journey. It was quite windy and cold but at least the sun was shining and we saw Mitre Peak in all her glory. After the cruise we walked up 110 steps to the lookout of the area. We then headed for Queenstown through gorgeous grazing areas of sheep, cows and red deer.

Day 8 14/2/13 Queenstown

What a beautiful place Queenstown is, especially with its magnificent location and cute shops and cafes, we could have easily spent another day here. We decided on a leisurely day and started with a walk of the town, which took in some "heartbreak" hills, we looked in the shops, had coffee at Vudu Café on the waterfront, which had fabulous coffee and the most delicious cakes. In the afternoon we did a tour to Walter Peak Homestead on the steamship TSS Earnslaw which has been in operation for over 100 years. We really enjoyed this trip as it is such beautiful scenery from the boat and at the homestead you see sheep rounded up and sheared, highland cattle, red deer, alpaca and there was a litter of 8week old Border collie pups, very cute. This was followed by an afternoon tea in a gorgeous old home surrounded with stunning gardens right on the shores of the lake. We had heard about the whitebait in this region and we had found a restaurant that served these...and they were delicious!!

Day 9 15/2/13 Queenstown to Franz Josef

Before leaving Queenstown we did the Gondola ride to the top of the mountain to view Lake Wakatipu and the surrounds, which is an awesome scene. We decided we would not want to walk up the hill the gondola follows!! We then headed for the west coast via Arrowtown, a quaint former gold mining town, then to Wanaka via the Crown Range Road which begins with the zigzag up the mountain with amazing views back to Queenstown and the surrounding vista. We had lunch beside Lake Wanaka, and you think can the scenery get anymore beautiful and then we passed Lake Hawea and onto Haast Pass both of which are stunning. The countryside is so dramatic and changing all the time. We then headed to Fox Glacier, however we decided not to walk up to it as it was quite misty and cold and it was about 7pm, so headed for our hotel at Franz Josef, which had a lovely view of the top of the glacier mountain. Today's drive was narrow roads and one lane bridges so quite tiring for John, even though it was another wonderful day.