New Zealand - Day 4

November 6, 2010

What a day! The views we got on our drive to Milford Sound were absolutely astounding. It's days like these that are good for the soul and reaffirm that God is real, and huge, and AWESOME!

We woke up late this morning, ate breakfast, and headed out around 11:00. (Apparently the big rush is between 9:00 and 10:00. When we arrived we realized why... but I'm getting ahead of myself.) The drive to the park was so fun! So much to look at on all sides. First there were the standard, bright green pastures dotted with fluffy white sheep. Then the land began to rise dramatically. The mountains around here are massive - and that's coming from a Colorado native. The road wound through canyons, forests of pine, palm, and other gnarled mossy trees that reminded me of Fangorn Forest from The Lord of the Rings. (There's probably a reason for that!) They all looked so ancient, mysterious and beautiful!

Our first stop was at the Mirror Lakes - a place where you can see the mountains and sky reflected perfectly in the still water. We were pretty disappointed with what we saw when we arrived, though. It wasn't the right time of day so we couldn't see a reflection, and the "lake" wasn't much more than a reedy pond. Not people to give up hope, we decided to hit it on the way back and see what we could see.

Next we stopped at a little vista overlooking the mountains. I was happy because I got to use my tripod to get some group pictures. Lisa was happy because we got to see some Keas - aggressive mountain parrots that we'd read about. They are big and fearless and followed us around, trying to break into our car and get at our snacks. It was pretty funny.

Next we drove several kilometers down a gravel road through the woods to the bottom of a trail that we could hike (or tramp, as the kiwis say) up to one of the many beautiful waterfalls in the area. On our way we stopped along the rocky path at a big suspension bridge over some rapids to take a photo. These were so scary because they're basically long suspension bridges made of steel cable and they bounced a lot when you stepped out onto them. Lisa and I hung onto our cameras for dear life while we were out there.

Beneath the bridge were several large boulders that forced the river into a myriad of tiny rushing falls. Lisa and Derick climbed out onto them so I could get a picture of them out on the largest rock in the center of the river. Of course, Lisa struck one of her famous yoga poses. Then we switched places and James and I climbed out there very carefully. It was kind of scary but also fun and adventurous - something we were definitely looking for on this trip!

I love the colors of the rock and water together!

This place made us feel very small.

After that it was only a few short minutes to the waterfall trail. I was thankful we found several short hikes (30 minutes round trip) that I could handle. It was fairly steep and I was quite winded once we reached the top, but I made it! The waterfall itself was tall and thin, and tumbled down three or four tiers from the top of the mountain on the other side of the valley.

After we climbed down from there we grabbed our sack lunches and walked down to the nearby river bed for an impromptu picnic. Derick and I sat on a log in the sun, James stood in the shade of another suspension bridge, and Lisa removed the jeans from under her dress and waded out into the icy blue water. It was very pleasant until a swarm of biting gnats moved in and started pestering us. Their bites swelled up like mosquito bites and itched just as bad. Note to other travelers - bring bug repellant with you!

By this time it was about 2:30 pm. We suspected that the afternoon light might spoil our pictures but decided to press on to Milford Sound. Around this time is when the drive got really good. The mountains towered above us on both sides, the forest got even wilder, and we started to see water tumbling down off of the cliffs on either side. Suddenly, we came to a small and rough looking tunnel that took us under the mountain. On the other side we were met by switch-back after switch-back that took us down to the sound. I turned on some epic movie music for this last leg of the drive to help enhance our feeling of awe.

When we got to the bottom we parked and walked for a few minutes out to the edge of the water, prepared to take some incredible photos. But sure enough, we were there at the worst time of day. True, there were almost no other tourists so we had the place to ourselves. But the tide was out and the sun was so bright that we couldn't get the shots we wanted. Lisa and I both quickly became frustrated and upset because we had so been looking forward to this. Our husbands tried in vain to cheer us up, and finally we got back into the car feeling very defeated.

Thankfully, the day was not over! On our way home we decided to stop by a few more short, scenic hikes. First we went to a trail at the end of the tunnel where we could explore an alpine area. There were lots of little waterfalls tumbling down into the cracks behind lingering snow drifts, and lots of alpine plants. Again, we climbed all over the rocks and tried to come up with cool photos. I'm so glad Lisa is as passionate about photography as I am so I got as many photo opportunities as I wanted. =^)

After driving back down the mountain a ways we ventured back onto the gravel road from earlier and walked up to see the falls at the base of the trail leading to Lake Marian. That part of the hike was really cool because the trees, rocks, and everything else were completely covered with moss. It was like a trek into Narnia or Middle Earth - great for the imagination!

Finally, we returned to the Mirror Lakes to see if the view had improved. By this time it was about 7:00 pm (yes, it stays light out in New Zealand for a really long time because they are so far south!) Thankfully, it had. Turns out the best viewing times are early and late in the day. The pictures would have been perfect if there weren't a couple of ducks swimming in the lake and disturbing its calm. But you can still see the effect.

It's kind of small, but in the picture below

you can see that the sign is upside down and

can only be read in the reflection. Clever.

After all that hiking and incredible sight-seeing we were starving. So we stopped at the grocery store for some snacks to take on the road the next day and then drove to The Redcliffe Cafe & Bar for dinner. It was by far the best food we had in New Zealand - and it was frequented by the cast of Lord of the Rings! Double bonus!

The restaurant was amazing! The front half of the building is a low-lit bar with little conversation nooks and a poetry corner where they have live music on the weekends. In the back is a very classy, European inspired restaurant. We ordered pumpkin spiced soup as an appetizer (or entree as they're called in New Zealand), and then we all had some incredible gamey meals. (They are big fans of lamb, duck and venison). Finally James, Lisa and I shared dessert - a deconstructed chocolate, banana and coffee flavored pie. Mmmm... It took about an hour for our food to arrive (standard in New Zealand) and considering we arrived after 8:00 and had a 20 minute wait, that meant that we didn't get back to the cabin that night until around 11:00. But considering how late it stays light out here, and the fact that we're on a four hour delay from Japan, it didn't feel very strange at all. Plus we had a great time talking, laughing, and indulging on superb cuisine. Again, BEST VACATION EVER!!