Drive to Lake Tekapo and the Church of the Good Shepherd. During the night there were seemingly heavy rain showers, and two trains passed close by the campsite waking both of us. Luckily, we fell back to sleep quickly. The morning was cold. The good news was the sun was shining. Not sure what to do, we headed North until we almost reached Timaru and then headed inland towards Lake Tekapo. The drive was non-stop until we reached Tekapo. Loo break required, but the only toilets were surrounded by a coachload of Chinese tourists. Only option was to stop and wait cross legged.

The first tourist attraction was the Church of the Good Shepherd. Lots of people of all nationalities taking selfies, but managed to snap a few pictures without people. There is also a statue erected to the “runholders of the MacKenzie county and those who appreciate the value of the Collie dog, without the help of which the grazing of this mountain country would be impossible”.

While I was taking these pictures I overheard a conversation about other places to go. The recommendation was to go up to the University of Canterbury Mt John Observatory where there was a café. Good advice this was. The day was clear, though some clouds to make the landscape interesting. Even managed to get a picture of Mt Cook as it peeped through the clouds. At the café they were selling coffee and food along with stamps and postcards all bearing the Observatory pictures. You could also post the cards there, they stated this was the highest postbox in the Southern Hemisphere. I find that a little surprising at only 1,029 metres. You would have thought somewhere in South America (Peru, Chile?) would have higher postboxes.

Back down, we headed off to Geraldine for a night. Decided to camp in the Top-Ten cos it was right in the middle of the town which would allow us a walk around. Must have been early closing though, most places firmly closed. At least we found a bar where we could sit and drink in peace.

Campervan bed made up with the blanket on top of the duvet. It’s forecast to go below zero tonight. Also done (well, Rosemary insisted we did it) our final wash because we have only one more day of camping left. Tomorrow we head to Christchurch and plan to camp near Birdling flats. Weather looks a bit iffy though.

 

Bungy jump day! So we left Glenorchy. It was a promising day. The sky was blue when we rose, but soon clouded over. Drove on back to Queenstown, refuelled and bought 2 -3 days supply of food and headed on to our destination of Omarama.

Our first stop of the day was AJ Hackett, the original bungy jump centre. The set-up is impressive, with a huge hall with food, clothing and booking. Yet you can still walk across the suspension bridge because it is part of a DOC trail. Sorry, I didn’t jump. (I know I shall regret it, but Rosemary whinged and the price ($205) was more than I expected. Almost worst for the jumpers, was the walk back up hill from the river.)

Next it was on the road again to stop to take some photographs at the Roaring Meg power station. I’m sure there’s a beer called that. Next on the agenda was the Goldfields Mining Centre. This looked rather upmarket with jewellery and a wine merchant. We stopped and had a coffee served by a delectable French mademoiselle from Provence.

Next stop was for a 4K walk around the Bannockburn Sluicings Historic Reserve. Really interesting scenery caused by the gold mine works and the hydraulic workings which were used to flush all the worked spoils into the river. Naturalists would say this was a total destruction of the environment, but still it has its beauty and is well worth a visit. The land around here is pretty poor and worthless, until someone invented the grape. Yes grapes and crap soil go well together. Oh and the weather was still holding out. R claimed never to have seen so many thyme plants.

On we drove through some spectacular scenery, then we came to Lindis Pass, and the rain belted down. The intention for the night was to stay at a DOC site in Omarama. Instead it was to be a Top10 site, required for dry cooking and eating. The host of the site said it was due to snow tonight and tomorrow. Let’s see what happens.

Cruise of Doubtful Sound. Today was a lazy start for the day, we had no rush as we were due to start our cruise at midday. A slow shower, a quiet breakfast, no rush as there is not much else to do at Manapouri. Thankfully today it was not raining, the sun shone amongst the clouds. We arrived at the car park and checked in for our cruise arriving before most other people. Bought a sandwich to sustain us until tea time.

Just before midday the previous day’s cruise arrived back. The not very happy looking passengers got off. They almost certainly had a miserable first day. Apparently, it rains 1.5 meters in Manapouri and 8 meters in Doubtful Sound. So if yesterday was wet for us, it must have been torrential for them. At least they saw sun on their morning cruise.

Soon we were whisked away across Manapouri lake to the far end of the West Arm next to the power station. Disgorged into a visitor centre with some information about the power station. A short wait and then on to a couple of coaches.  The drive to Doubtful Sound was on a dirt road that took us up a hill, over a pass and then down to the actual Sound, about 200 meters below Lake Manapouri. The road was built back in 1963 the most expensive New Zealand, built at a cost of 2 dollars a centimetre and 2 years to build instead of the estimated 1 year.

We stopped at various places to look at the Sound, several waterfalls and places where the rivers had decided to change direction. We saw several slips where the trees above, which are basically only rooted is moss on top of the bare rock surface, had slipped away taking out the trees below. These scars start as bare rock, then moss, followed by other small plants take root and then trees.

Near to the boat we stopped, to be transferred to another coach for the rest of the journey. A bridge was out, and we had to file across a small pedestrian bridge, one at a time, to board the next bus for the rest of the journey.

Soon boarded and briefed we set off down the Sound on the boat. We lugged our luggage to the cabin and admired the scenery around us.  Our first stop was in Crooked Arm where we had admired some waterfalls. Here we divided into groups who went kayaking or on the motor boats. Rosemary and I chose the motor boat where we went near to shore and were shown the different trees etc.

Back to the boat then then a quick swim in the Sound to wash myself. The surface water in the sound is not at all salty as it floats on top of the saline water below. The temperature of the water was 16.5C, a little breathtaking.

Soon it was tea time, then it was a soup meal. The weather was now cloudy but relatively calm. We went out in to the Tasman Sea and around the Nee Islets where there were New Zealand Fur Seals basking and swimming. Prior this an Albatross was flying over the sea making itself available for photographs. It was rather dark, so the ISO 256000 photos will never look great.

The sun did its thing and sunk below the horizon unseen, but at least there was a lovely glow in the sky for us.

Supper time now, and a huge buffet supper along with some pricy wine. On the protein side, I managed some roast beef, roast lamb and smoked salmon and green lipped mussels.

Went to bed with some stars shining in the sky.

Another early morning rain shower which ended before 8am.  As soon as it ended I was up and out, making sure I was in the shower block. The sun was shining and it remained pretty well cloudless for the rest of the day. I can live with the timing of the rain over these last couple of days.

Today was Royal Albatross day on the Otago Peninsula, their only mainland breeding colony. We drove along the coast road, inches from the water’s edge without any barriers. The wind was strong, so there was a good chance of seeing some adults or juveniles flying. Though you can see the flying Royal Albatross from the carpark, we decided to pay the fairly hefty price of $50 each to watch a short film and have a guide talk to us and take us to view the four Albatross chicks. All four fluffy, white chicks were visible. The webcam star chick gave us a good walking display as it waddled through the grass. The chicks spend all their time eating & not moving, so get overweight very quickly. As fledging time nears, the parents cut down on food and encourage the chick to waddle to them for food.

On cue, as we arrived, an adult Royal Albatross flew into view and made several attempts at landing. Unfortunately, the final landing was just below our view line.

An Australasian Hawk also flew around and we saw a ginger tom cat in the undergrowth but at a distance from the breeding grounds.

Glorious creatures, with impressive 2.9-3.3m wingspan.

After the Albatross we headed across the peninsula to Allans Beach. A huge sandy beach which had a few Seals. (Actually, I walked by one thinking it was a log.) We later passed a few estuaries where there ware lots of Paradise Ducks and Variable & South Island Pied Oyster Catchers to photo.

Many beaches were festooned with enormous kelp seaweed. Must have been detached from their habitat by the cyclones. Loads of really bleached out driftwood. Rosemary found a bit which she claimed looked like a duck’s head. Mmmm.

Back to Dunedin, and a Countdown to buy provisions including beer, wine and steak. R wanted to buy a chocolate Easter Kiwi & Egg, but none were to be had.