We have had a very busy three days since Shabbat.
On SUnday morning, we went for breakfast to the kosher cafe. She opened early especially for us and we had a home cooked omelet with bagels and coffee....delish!
We then set out for the drive over the southern Alps and Fox Glacier. In order to get there, you have to drive thru Arthurs Pass...the only road that crosses the mountains.
At Arthur's Pass we went on an hour and half hike to the Devil's Punchbowl Falls which was very picturesque and quite tiring cuz we must have walked up the equivalent of 15 stories to get there.
We continued our drive thru the mountains (very curvy driving) till we reached the coast (Tasman Sea) and began our drive south along the coast (sort of like the coastal California Drive).
We stopped numerous times along the way to see beautiful vistas and to actually dip our feet into the surf with 10 foot high waves...awesome. We finally made it to Fox Glacier which we visited before evening fell.
Dinner in our apartment and then off to sleep.
On Monday morning we drove about 5 minutes to do the walk to Lake Matheson, which is a hour and half hike from the road. It is a perfectly calm lake which mirrors Mount Cook in perfect reflection...wow!
Google it to see what we saw...we'll send pics when we get back. We then were off to Queenstown which is the gateway to Fjordland and Milford Sound.
We arrived in the afternoon and again were very pleased with the beautiful apartment that we had rented. We did some shopping, walked around in this tourist packed town which sits beautifully on a lake and then were off to our apartment for dinner overlooking the lake.
This morning we left early for the long three and a half hour drive to Milford SOund, one of the most photographed spots on earth...again...google this and you will see what we mean...
We are now about an hour away from there and we stopped for coffee and emails at Te Anau which is the largest town in the area.
Well, the drive from Te Anau to Milford Sound was amazing...up and over tall mountains, a number of mirror lakes with the mountains reflected in the clear pristine waters and a walk through a glacial tunnel of ice, all preceded our arrival to Milford Sound.
The Sound has many cruise ships leaving every hour for the cruise thru the fjord out to the Tasman Sea which separates NZ from Australia (about 1700 miles) and from Antartica (I think about 2500 - 3000 miles). It is a beautiful sight and it was a beautiful day. Waterfalls everywhere cascading down from the tall mountain cliffs in the fjord and lazing on rocks all around were baby seals and swimming near the boat was the occasional dolphin. This is totally protected nature with literally no development...it is G-d's country in its purely natural state.
Well, the drive from Te Anau to Milford Sound was amazing...up and over tall mountains, a number of mirror lakes with the mountains reflected in the clear pristine waters and a walk through a glacial tunnel of ice, all preceded our arrival to Milford Sound.
The Sound has many cruise ships leaving every hour for the cruise thru the fjord out to the Tasman Sea which separates NZ from Australia (about 1700 miles) and from Antartica (I think about 2500 - 3000 miles). It is a beautiful sight and it was a beautiful day. Waterfalls everywhere cascading down from the tall mountain cliffs in the fjord and lazing on rocks all around were baby seals and swimming near the boat was the occasional dolphin. This is totally protected nature with literally no development...it is G-d's country in its purely natural state.
And then there was Milford Sound...it is magical! You have to see it to really experience it. You literally drive for hours to see this spot and then you drive back. Some people actually hike the Milford Track which takes days.
btw, it was originally called Milford Bay named by Captain Cook. He was afraid to venture in too close to the waters because of the roughness of the sea and out of fear for the safety of his ship, and therefore he never saw the much larger sound that was hidden behind the bay....the cruise lasted 2 hours and it was beautiful, well worth the three hour drive there and back. On the way back we stopped at a few more sights (there are so many) and we arrived back at our apartment at 8 PM to eat and pack for our departure.
What you really have to plan for when driving in this part of the world is fuel...we are used to gas stations all over...the sign as you come into Te Anau is "last chance for gas for 250 km"...even though there are thousands of travelers who make their way to Milford Sound...it does not have a gas stations; so the 120 kms there and back equalling 250 kms means you have to plan for fuel here and now. The driving today was amazing crossing valleys surrounded by mountains (the range is called THe Remarkables.....wonder who named them?) and all thru the valley there are sheep farms with hundreds of thousands of sheep....very few people, very few drivers on the road...but lots of sheep...
Anyway that's all for now...we leave tomorrow morning for Australia so we may have time for an update at the business lounge at the airport.
Best regards to all
Fran and David
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