Working our way south...

On Jan. 2 we left Wanaka and first stopped at Arrowtown, an historic gold-mining town that today is quaint and charming with B&B's, cafes, up-scale shops and historic sites. We walked around for about an hour (Miles got GREAT licorice) and continued on to Queenstown.

Main Street, Arrowtown

Queenstown is really the headquarters for all the adventure sports you hear about: bungy, kayaking, tandem skydiving, horseback trekking, jetboat trips, tramping (multi-day hiking), etc. The place was teeming with people of all ages and there was even an arts & crafts fair, a farmer's market and lake cruises. Busy, busy, busy. It's a particularly fun and popular place for young backpackers. We enjoyed walking along the harbor, ate our lunch (Turkish kebab roll) by Lake Wakatipu and the weather was spectacular.

Queenstown, on Lake Wakatipu

The Earnslaw, a coal-powered cruise boat in Queenstown

We then left and drove the Kawarau Bridge and watched people bungy jump. This is the bridge where bungy jumping began back in 1988. It was fascinating to watch from the viewing platform and NOT JUMP. Miles was tempted to try it though, and they assured us the cord was 100% rubber and the bounce was gentle. He went to sign up and found out he had to wait 3 hours for his turn and he passed on the opportunity. In retrospect, he realized his testosterone had clouded his thinking since even coughing can throw out his back, so a "gentle" bungy jump would have been really stupid.

Bungy!!!

We arrived at Te Anau and settled into our comfy motel room, complete with a full kitchen and balcony with a view of Lake Te Anau. We're going to be here a week and do lots of day trips in Fiordland and it's nice not to have to live out of our suitcase. It's a beautiful setting and the weather...ahhhhh.

Lake Te Anau

You can see the water in the background

As luck would have it, we woke up on the 3rd to pouring rain which shouldn't have surprised us because we should know by now that NZ weather is always changing. We had a big day pre-reserved to go to Milford Sound and thought, "They do the cruise rain or shine, so let's go!" Well, we had the BEST DAY EVER!!! It turns out this weather is normal. It rains in this area at least 200 days a year and because of the amount of rain today, there were countless waterfalls that wouldn't be there on a dry day. Blue skies are over-rated, anyhow. Even on the 2-hour drive to the boat terminal, we passed huge rock cliffs that had numerous waterfalls pouring from the tops. The drive alone was worth a trip with jaw-dropping beauty. We had to walk to the boat from the parking lot and got completely drenched even though we had rain jackets and umbrellas, but we soon dried out. The boat trip didn't disappoint, either. There was lots of rain, the water was choppy (we both got a little queasy), but the visibility was good, each waterfall different, some gushing powerfully, others thin and delicate. I suppose all the pictures/postcards you see of Milford Sound are taken in the winter, when it's drier, with blue skies. However, I think we got the better deal to see the numerous waterfalls pouring out of the enormous mountains.

Waterfalls along Milford Sound





Amazing wildflowers in the meadow on our drive back to Te Anau