Te Anau, New Zealand

We’re back in Te Anau after a restful night and great breakfast this morning. Breakfast was interrupted by another Crested Penguin sighting, in the rain naturally. It rained until we left the ship and reached the east side of the pass.

The steady rain had one salubrious result: waterfalls or more correctly cascades. Water pouring off the mountain sides everywhere we looked. Coupled with the low hanging clouds they created a fine mood. The captain maneuvered so that Carol the naturalist leaned over the bow of our ship to collect a pot full of water from a cascade so we could all have a taste. Tasted just like water even though it had a brownish tint.

The boat ride across Lake Manapouri back to town was uneventful and dry. Not many chose to sit outside in the breeze even though the sun was breaking through the clouds. We’d all had enough fresh air, I guess.

Judy and I drove back to Te Anau, checked back into our hotel and had a crackers and cheese lunch in the room. The day was too nice to waste so we went to the National Park center to view a short movie and then, at a ranger’s suggestion, drove a few kms to a car park for the Kepler Track. It’s a 60 km loop trail but, as you might guess, we walked for only an hour and returned. Kepler has become one of the most popular treks in Fjordland and its easy to see why. It’s very well maintained – a gravel path in most places – with great views and traverses a beech tree forest.

Judy and I, somewhat to our surprise, have been spending quite a bit of our hiking time looking for birds. My interest, of course, is taking pictures with that really big lens I bought recently. It’s tougher than it looks: small objects high in the trees, usually in dark woods with back lighting to make exposures tough to manage. Add to that the shaky hands of an old guy holding a heavy camera rig and you have less than 100% success rate.

I’m typing this on my iPhone, sitting in the car while Judy is in the supermarket laying on a grub steak for breakfast and lunch tomorrow. We’re hitting the road at 7 AM for Milford Sound. We’re going to sightsee on the way and decide when we get there whether to do another water activity. We’ve had six boat trips on this trip, seen all the sights and wildlife advertised for Milford so we may just wander around . . . Taking pictures of birds, of course.

Fish and chips for dinner and now we’re back in our room.