From Fiord To Sea

We think the best way to share our 5 hour kayak trip from Milford Sound out to the Tasman Sea is to show you!





Suiting up to go after our 7:00 a.m. meet time.




Heading out into the sound (fiord).





The paddle champ.





One of many waterfalls along the way,










Half way along and the opening to the Tasman sea drawing closer.





There's seals on those rocks!





Two per kayak.





The sea awaits.




Paddling into the open seas.





The boat ride back gives us one last view.


Last Note:
Before heading back to Te Anau we stopped off at the end of the Hollyford Road to hike on a bit of the Hollyford Track. We also take the side hike to the Humboldt Falls.









Goodbye Fiordlands!

Alpine Reward

Jenn and I have developed a new technique for insuring that a healthy and respectful amount of space is left between campers. This entails lots of wild and animated hand and arm gesturing as people pass by our camper looking for a site, signaling we may be having a raucous fight. "We are loud, loud annoying people that you do not want to camp near," we try to communicate. So far our experiment is working quite well!

Today we wake and have a light breakfast before hiking up to the waterfall which we can see from our campsite. Last night we met Philip and Helena from Germany who tell us about the (roughly) 45 minute walk up the dry river bed to the falls. It is a slow and steady incline over the rabble and rocks, but the falls are great. I take a cold (refreshing?) shower and then we both back off to wash up and brush our teeth. The ice cold glacial water wakes up both up and gives us a boost of energy for the day.




We complete the drive to Milford Sound — all the way to the end of the Milford Road, a test run for our kayak trip into the fiord tomorrow. A number of vantage points give us outstanding views of the Hollyford Valley and the surrounding mountains which shadow over us.











The drive is a visual treat. One particular stop we make is at the Chasm — a series of waterfalls in the Cleddau River which have carved sculptures out of the soft stone for the thousands of years they have been running.



Before you can get to Milford Sound, you must pass through the Homer Tunnel which barrels directly through the mountain. The tunnel is 1.2km long and descends 129m. Steep, narrow and dark, it causes Jenn some panic at the thought of all that rock overhead. This is her panicked shot...



Milford Sound, the town itself, is nothing more than a few lodges, a small airstrip, a cafe, many parking lots and a visitors centre. Everything is geared towards getting people out in the fiord to see the Fiordlands up close. We find our meeting place for our kayak trip and then quickly head back out. We
do catch a glimpse of the entrance to the fiord and what awaits us in the morning.

We have a wait at the tunnel on the way back as it is one direction only with a traffic light on each side (that only works from 9am to 6pm mind you) so it is a 15 minute respite while mostly buses plow through. We spend the time waiting with a very unconcerned kea bird who likes to pose for photos. We also meet up with Philip and Helena who are coming back from their boat ride through Milford Sound and we arrange to meet up for a hike to the alpine Lake Marian.



We saw Lake Marian yesterday from the Key Summit, so we are keen to actually hike to it. It is the most rugged trail we have hiked on yet — clambering over roots, rocks and mud. There have been a number of slides and avalanches along this route and that add even more challenge to the "obstacle course".



However, with the four of us chatting it seems to pass by without much effort as we spend the time trading stories about our lives in Germany and Canada. We talk about our travel plans and our outlooks on life. We seem to make a lot of German friends when we travel — we find that they are friendly, genuine and always interesting. Philip works for John Deere in Mannheim (and spent 6 months working in Oakville a few years back!) and Helena is almost through her internship as an anesthesiologist.

Over the rocks and mud we go! We are rewarded with one truly magnificent view of the alpine glacial lake surrounded by craggy mountain peaks. It is serenely gorgeous with the sun shining, birds chatting, and yet so very quiet. We feel grateful to be the only ones there taking it all in.















On the descent down, I take a tumble and almost start my own rock slide. Thankfully no damage aside from a few scrapes and bruises! At the bottom, while doing the "sandflies are swarming us" dance, we say goodbye to our new friends and then return to the Cascade Creek campsite where we find an ideal camp spot and resume our wild hand and arm gesturing.

MBP

We have three days to explore 120km of road, hiking trails and the Milford Sound. This is luxury after covering the whole south coast in roughly the same time frame.

We start the drive loaded up with a Miles Better Pies — a pleasant surprise we uncover in Te Anau. We have to admit we've seen adverts for "pies" across both the North and South Island. They seem to be mostly packaged meat pies. Yuck. However, MBP makes them bakery fresh, heaped with fresh ingredients and we pick up two - still warm - to keep our tummy's company on the ride. We'll be honest though - they barely make it out of the city limits. The veggie pie is filled with pumpkin, potato and spinach and is achingly delicious. Gluten free they are not, but who cares?!?!

Buses loaded with people headed for Milford Sound clog the roadway and we do our best to avoid them. Along the way we stop at several lookout spots in the Eglinton Valley.












There are roughly 13 DOC campsites along this road, and we stop at all to check them out. With the exception of about two or so, all the sites are prime real estate with valley and mountain views, and freshwater lakes and streams running through them. We pick out our favorites in anticipation of the next few days of camping.


We stop at The Divide where we can hop on the Routeburn Track (another celebrated hike). The Divide is famous for its views of three major river systems (all heading out to different oceans no less) — the Hollyford, the Eglinton, and the Greenstone. We make our way up to the Key Summit. Only 3 hours return it provides some "hideous" panoramic views of the Hollyford Valley, and the Humbolt and Darran Mountains.












From here we can see across to the alpine lake Marian and decide that it will be our "tomorrow hike". The weather is fine, fine, fine. Sunny, but not too hot and ideal for hiking.




The Routeburn Track is lush. Cold glacial water seems to spring out from every rock face. After visiting the picturesque Howden Hut, Jenn decides that this would be the Great Walks trail she would like to hike if we had longer here.




We return late afternoon to the Cascade Creek campsite and have it all to ourselves — the river, mountains, and waterfalls. While I set up camp, Jenn goes for a walk to check out the site and is gone for over half and hour.
I start to get a bit worried. I figure she has most likely met someone around the corner and is busy chatting. I am right. Philip and Helena are from Germany and are driving around and sleeping in a Spaceship Camper (which they hate!). We trade good hike tips and pass along brochures from places we have already been that they are heading towards.




As the sun drops so does the temperature. Long pants, long sleeves and a toque are necessary, not just for the cold, but for the sand flies too!

After dinner we go for a hike around the Lake Gunn Nature Trail and walk through the red beech trees which are over 350 years old. We see tomtits and riflemen birds (which look like little flying eggs with wings!).



Returning to our camper we find that other cars and campers have come. By nightfall we are the nucleus, surrounded by the protons and neutrons of
tents and vans. We need to figure out a way to "hold our space"!

Kepler Day Two

Today we hiked in the other direction along the Kepler Track. From the DOC "Control Gates" to the Luxmore Hut. This is a grind hike. It doesn't start out that way though!

The Control Gates are called so because they control the flow of water from Lake Te Anau to the (controversial) underground hydro electric station at Lake Manapouri. It is quite a massive structure that also acts as a bridge across the river to the start of the Kepler Track.

Todays track wound us through a very different forest then yesterday — mostly mature mountain and red beech. We hit the Dock Beach first and are making good time. Until we meet Warren!




Warren is a DOC employee who we meet coming towards us on a bike. Now, bikes are not allowed on these trails but we'd read signs that said a project to collect long tailed bats was underway and that we may just bump into a bike on the trail.

We'd seen the bat traps on Wednesday's Kepler hike — wild looking things really. Kind of like a giant egg slicer - on stilts. Except that it didn't slice the bats, just caught them gently as they flew through and dropped them down into a canvas bag below. Supposedly the traps did work very well....but they hadn't caught any yet! Once caught, a small tracking device would be glued to the fur behind the bats neck. The device would send information about where the bats flew and most importantly where they roost.

The bat populations are also being decimated by those nasty stoats, rats, and feral cats. The researchers need to find where the bats roost so that they can set the predator traps below thus preventing the bats from being killed while they are essentially defenseless. We pester Warren with as many questions as we can think of and he genuinely seems pleased to talk with us about his interest.

Onwards we hike. All the way to Brod Bay where we stop for a snack. Here though, the trail takes a turn. Upwards. And it doesn't stop. Full on, full up for the next few hours we trudge. The incline is a constant up. Keir gets a little hot and sweaty...




just a little...






Just when we are thinking that we won't make it, we are rewarded with "teasers" of the views below through the trees.




Then, just before the treeline we encounter massive towering limestone cliffs. This gave us JUST enough encouragement to continue slogging our way up.




We were quite thankful that we persevered too because the views of Te Anau and Manapouri (both lakes and towns) were stunning.


And the view of the surrounding Fiordland was not so bad either!








We even saw a hobbit lumping along the track!


We learned afterwards that the 6 hours we'd taken to hike the track was break neck speed. We'll be sure to remind our aching calves and quads of that tomorrow!




After dinner at The Ranch (a locals haunt with huge portions and cold beer on tap!) we crossed the street to the small artsy cinema to see the "Fiordland on Film". "Shadowland" is billed as a cinematic experience of Fiordland - places that not many have ever seen. It is only 30 minutes or so long but it takes you through the vast and remarkable area that is the Fiordlands. It is easy to see how this area earned it's World Heritage status!


A Look Ahead:
We decided that the most "us" way to experience Milford Sound is to kayak it so we have arranged to go out this coming Sunday. The plan is to paddle from Milford town to the Tasman sea (making lots of good stops along the way) and then take a boat taxi back. We are so looking forward to it. Fingers crossed for no rain!

Kepler Day One

The sun comes out after two days of rain and four days of ominous threatening skies. Somehow, perhaps due to the earthquake chaos in Christchurch, we manage to snag a free WiFi connection at our campsite in Te Anau. I spend the morning doing some writing and catching up on eMails while Jenn walks over to the iSite to get the scoop on hiking in this area. She returns with yet another stack of pamphlets and her brow furrowed announcing that the people on the South Island "Suck. "They are all crabby and unhelpful. I'm ready to go back to the friendly North Island."

Te Anau is our introduction to New Zealand's Fiordlands — a vast and remote wilderness filled with mountains, rock, ice, lakes, forests and grasslands. The best way to explore this area is to do some of the many Great Walks. Here in Te Anau, the big trek is the Kepler Track. Normally a 3-4 day hike, we decide to tackle two sections of it on two different days.

After lunch at the campsite (we are the only camper van on the hill as everyone else has moved on) we drive out to the Rainbow Reach and do a three hour hike to the Moturau and the Shallow Bay huts and then back. You can stay at either one of these huts if you are doing the whole hike, but arrangements and payment must be done beforehand. Again, like everything here, it's not cheap.

The Kepler is a steady hike and the trail is well maintained. We cross two suspension bridges and walk along the river.







Several scenes from The Lord of the Rings movies were shot here, including the "Dead Marshes" scenes. Sunlight stretches down through the canopy and the forest is filled with greens of all shades from the thick mosses covering the trees and forest floor.














We talk as we walk. After three days of straight driving around the East Coast and the Catlins, we're feeling ungrounded and have questions about how we're traveling. Are we trying to do too much? How did we lose our flow? We talk about what we think best centres us and how we can adapt our camper lifestyle to ensure we don't get here again — less driving, more exploring, staying in one place for longer periods, setting an alarm to get us up earlier (somehow the camper coaxes us to sleep longer and longer). Both of us are experiencing a bit of a lost feeling, filled with doubt and questions about who we are and where we're going — not what we came on this trip to find. But, maybe we need to be lost a bit in order to find ourselves again. Or find something new.







Walking helps to lift those feelings and get us grounded again. We stop for a snack at the Moturau Hut and get a view of the mountains and our first taste of the regions notorious sandflies. They seem to be a lot like Canadian black flies, small and annoying little biters.














The Shallow Bay Hut is empty and with no one around (including the sandflies) it's a quick change and into the lake for a swim before heading back.