After packing up and eating breakfast surrounded by bloody sand flies, we drove towards Te Anau, which is the last place to stock up on food and petrol before heading to Milford Sound. There are no shops or petrol stations on the Milford Road so it is essential that you have a full tank of petrol when leaving Te Anau - they must have some very happy petrol garage owners!

We made a quick stop in Manapouri to walk down to the lake, the scond deepest in NZ. Then we arrived in Te Anau and parked up at the DOC centre, where we bought a booklet of walks you can do on the way to Milford Sound. We'd decided to take our time and see as much as we could on the way.

We walked along the Te Anau Lake (biggest on South Island) to the free wildlife park, and saw some rare birds. By now, we were starving so we walked back to the van, then parked up in town to look for somewhere to eat lunch. We decided on an Italian cafe offering a 3 course lunch deal. Never ones to ignore a bargain, we took up the offer and dined there!

Well fed, we moved on to do the things we needed to do before leaving town - went on Facebook to warn family and friends that we'd be out of contact for a few days (no phone signal or internet out of Te Anau!), booked our cruise on Milford Sound for a few days time, and fully stocked up on food, water and petrol! We were ready for our Fiordland adventure!

After a busy day, we headed to the first DOC site on the Milford Road, beside the beautiful Lake Te Anau. It was still sunny when we arrived so we parked in a spot right next to the lake and set up our chairs on the beach. Dave even went for a paddle, but it was freezing! Unfortunately, the damn sand flies spoiled our fun and we had to retreat to the shelter of the van after about 10 minutes! We spent the rest of the night reading, for a change!