45th Parallel South

Tramping to Rob Roy Glacier

Since we had multiple parental visits we tried to plan trips that would cater to our interests as well as theirs.  With Bill & Erica it was mountains and wool - and I think we succeeded!  After a few days in ChCh and a couple of lovely birthday celebrations we set off on our adventure.

NZ Traffic jam

Our first destination was Wanaka; along the way we stopped in Ashburton to check out some NZ yarn.  From Wanaka we hiked up to the Rob Roy Glacier and while driving to the trail head we got stuck in a few traffic jams (see photo).  To reach the glacier we  had to cross a swinging bridge, which I tried to bounce of course, and then remembered that the info centre had told us the bridge was going to be completely torn down and replaced in a few days.  Oops.  Ah well, I'm here writing this post eh?

Swinging bridge

Marshall and breidi

Continuing further south -in fact we crossed the circle of latitude 45 degrees below the Equator - we set up camp in Te Anau.  Te Anau is near the starting point of a few NZ Great Walks.  We were able to walk along the first day hike of the Kepler track amidst beech and fern forests.  Along the way Marshall caught a photo of a couple of fiddleheads. I told him they looked like the two of us snuggling into each other (go ahead: "Awwww," or "gag me with a spoon," depending on your disposition).  

Erica & Bill, Milford Sound

Probably the most notable destination was the Milford Sound.  Actually it's not really a sound after all since our guides explained that a sound is an inlet of water separating pieces of land, whilst a fjord is water in a valley with steep sides that was carved out by a glacier.  I think they should rename it for accuracy.  Our boat cruise on the fjord was just breathtaking.  We saw seals, layers upon layers of U-shaped valleys, 5,000 ft cliffs, and made our tour complete with a wet, close up encounter with a waterfall.  

Mirror Lake

The drive there/back wasn't bad either!  We saw a golden valley carved out by a glacier and mountain reflections in Mirror Lake.  Then we drove through an awesome dark tunnel sculpted into pure rock.  My favourite stop was at The Chasm and the photo should tell you everything.  

The Chasm

Plus in the car park we got up close to a Kea (alpine parrot).   Our last stop was to drink 99% pure water from a spring that came tumbling out of the mountains.  A pretty fantastic day!

On Easter we started driving back north, but still had time to stop for a long wonderful lunch at a Central Otago winery called Carrick.  The meal was one of the best I've had in NZ and the wine outstanding! 

Easter in Central Otago

Our last stop was in Lake Tekapo, which flaunts some of the brightest blue water I've seen.  It is also pretty remote and situated in the midst of the largest dark sky reserve in the world.  That means that the star gazing there is pretty cool.  With our naked eyes

Lake Tekapo

aided by a huge telescope we saw the rings on Saturn, clusters of stars being born, and the face of the moon in incredible detail, pockmarks and all.  

While I can't show you a photo of the moon's face I'll leave you with one of the lake during the day. I have to say the south of the south is pretty fantastic and so was our trip.  We even finished it off with an early birthday for me.  Thanks for everything, Bill & Erica!