After visiting Milford Sound it was time to see Doubtful Sound. This trip was a bit different than my Milford one, no Kayaking for a start. I was picked up in the morning in a little van and we made our way to Manapouri. There were ten of us on this trip and we then transferred to a boat to make our way across Lake Manapouri. Nigel was to be our guide and he'd actually built the boat himself, rather an impressive job, and it was really fast!
We zoomed across the lake and had amazing views of the Cathedral and Kepler Mountains, with snow covered peaks. It took about forty minutes to get across the lake and we moored at the far end. This was the location of the Manapouri Hydro Electric power station and our trip involved a little tour. The power station is built underground and uses the potential energy created by the difference in heights between the lake and Doubtful Sound. The machine room with the turbines and generators was reached by driving down a long spiraling tunnel. The air inside was nice and warm and steam poured out of the tunnel entrance making it all look rather eerie!
Nigel drove us down and we got out of the van at the bottom to have a look around. The cavern which houses all the machinery was very impressive, blasted out of solid rock. Most of the electricity is used by an Aluminium Smelter on the coast, so hardly any of it goes for domestic use. The Smelter buys the electricity at a cheap rate too. There is an elaborate control system to make sure that the level of the lake does not vary too much with control gates on the rivers.
After we finished down the hole, we drove out and carried on over the Wilmot Pass, a road which had been constructed for the power station and is reported to have been the most expensive road in New Zealand. It is not connected to anything, it just goes between the power station and the sound. The road climbs up through a forest of mountain beech until it nearly reaches the snowline. Then it drops down towards the sound where it is surrounded by rainforest! It's incredible how much rain falls in Fiordland. Milford Sound gets something like seven metres of rain a year, which makes it even more amazing that we got a nice day for kayaking!
As we reached the sound, we had a little drizzle and there were some clouds around, but it still looked amazing. Quite different from Milford Sound, but just as beautiful. We transferred to another boat, this one had a glass bottom section so we could see anyone who fell out.
Nigel took the boat down the fiord and again, it took about forty minutes before we reached the sea. It was a lot choppier at the entrance to the Fiord and we could then see why the sound was named Doubtful. When Captain Cook was exploring, he saw the entrance to the Fiord, but because of the islands which block the entrance he thought it 'doubtful' that he would be able to sail in.
We turned around and took our time getting back to the van. There are many arms on the fiord and we explored some of them, looking at the sites of tree avalanches where huge swathes of forest had tumbled into the sea. The seals were playing around again, but there were not as many as I'd seen in Milford.
One of the arms which we explored is called Crooked Arm, for obvious reasons when you go up it. Nigel was telling us how most of it had been frozen only a week before, incredible! There were at least four hanging valleys along the arm which were of classic form, it would be a perfect geography field trip coming out here.
Then, on the way back.... Dolphins! I'd not seen any on any of my other boat trips and here they were! They dived in and out of the water and even swam under the boat. We could see them swimming under the floor and jumping through the wake. They were bottlenosed dolphins and seeing them made my day. Beautiful. It was a bit cold and deep to jump in and swim with them, I was freezing cold as it was!
It was time to head back, so after briefly looking at an old oyster boat which had sunk, we headed back to the van, drove across the pass and then back into the other boat for the journey back across the lake. A great day.
The Te Anau film club was supposed to be showing two Jane Campion films that evening and I thought it would be a good idea to go along. As it happened, they had been sent the wrong film, so instead it was "The Occasional Work of a Female Slave" a German film from 1973. I do quite like arthouse films so decided to go anyway. I was joined by two fellow hostellers and we walked down by the lake to the venue, the Department of Conservation office.
I'd been warned to take a cushion with me and seeing as my bum was still hurting from the snowboarding incident, it was a very good idea! There were two couples there, who ran the film club, and nobody else! Seems that there is little interest in 70's european films in Te Anau. One of the couples had a three week old baby, so this was the baby's first film.
I have to say, the film was interesting, it was in black and white and there were some interesting points made about the nature of the family. It also included one of the most horrific scenes I'd ever seen in a film, which I won't go into now, but if you ask me, I'll tell you about it! After the first reel finished, we had a welcome cup of tea and a really cool chat with our hosts. The second reel was much more pleasant and of course, the ending was rather random... One of my favourite lines from the film was something like "Roswitha and Slyvia needed a new way to experience reality, so they learnt a song by Brecht off by heart."
And on that note...
I'd really enjoyed staying in Te Anau, but it was time to move on. My plan was to head on towards Invercargill and the Catlins and to see how far I got. Invercargill is one of (if not the) the world's southernmost cities and has a bit of a Scottish feel about it. The Catlins is a very beautiful area with hills and gorgeous beaches.
I set off in my little car and headed South down the Scenic Drive route. I made quite quick progress to Cliffden to look at the suspension bridge, being held up only by hundreds of cows which were being moved from one field to another, down the main road. I had to push my way through and it took ages!
After Cliffden I was getting a bit peckish, but decided not to stop at Tuatapere, the sausage capital of New Zealand, and instead continued to Riverton. I found a nice cafe, the Nostalgia Cafe and had a yummy vegetarian pie with potato wedges. Then, back into the car to Invercargill.
I drove into Invercargill, had a mooch around and decided to carry on. I thought that if I could get to Gore and get a bed there, then that would do. Gore was around 40 miles away and about 10 miles North of Gore there was an aeroplane museum which had some old biplanes. The road was easy to Gore, it was the main highway and it didn't take me too long to get to the airfield at Mandeville.
The building didn't look very special but it was full of old planes being restored and new ones being built! The aim of the society is to recreate 1920's aeroplanes and flying experiences. They had a tiger moth or two which actually would fly, but I think the rest of them were being worked on. There were about ten people in the building, quietly working away on wings and things. Incredible! I was tempted to book a flight for the next day, but instead I had a cup of coffee in "The Moth" which is a restaurant in an old converted railway building on site. Time to head back to Gore.
Unfortunately, the backpackers place in Gore looked rather shut! It was the old fire station and so I decided instead to head on into the Catlins, even though it was getting dark. Dark, what did that matter, you may ask! Well my route to the Hilltop Backpackers was down a long and windy gravel track. It took me an hour and a half to get there and the weather was rather wild. I actually drove past the road for the place and had to reverse, difficult to see in the dark.
I drove up the track, hopped out the car and found that the place was a gorgeous house, lovingly restored and the boss, Rodney, had done an amazing job. There were only three other people staying there and I quite enjoyed cooking myself a chicken curry and chilling out in front of the wood stove, lovely.
Just time for a bath before bedtime and a read of Lord of the Rings! They have been filming the film version out here in New Zealand, so there is quite a Tolkein thing going on - seeing as I'd never read any of his stuff, apart from The Hobbit, I thought I'd better start.
When I woke up in the morning and looked out the window, there was an amazing view. One way, I could see the forest I drove through last night, the other way was the sea!
After a leisurely breakfast, I drove down the road and headed down another gravel track to see the Purakaunui Falls, just a ten minute walk from the car park, very nice.
Then, I doubled back to drive to Waikawa and Curio Bay. This took a long time as once again, lots of windy gravel roads, but at least in the day time you could see where the big pot holes where. At Curio Bay I had a look at the fossilised forest which you can only see at low tide. I somehow, stupidly, expected to see lots of tree stumps and little trees, but of course, what you do see are fossilised logs and things. It was quite impressive, especially as it was a sunny day with the sea crashing in!
From Curio Bay, I double backed again, back towards the falls and the hostel. I would have visited the Bay first, but I needed to be there at low tide, which was lunchtime. I carried along the coast road until the turn off for Nugget Point. This is a windswept point next to a beautiful beach. There is a little walk out to the lighthouse at the end and some helpful people at let me use there binoculars to look at the seals lounging below. The point is called Nugget Point because of the rock outcrops just out to sea, which are a bit nuggety. The amazing thing about them is that the rock is layered vertically so at some point, the earth has moved and spun them through ninety degrees. I had a little walk on the beach and then it was back to the car to get to Dunedin.
Dunedin is a city with Scottish roots and first impressions are good! The centre is called the Octagon and has some nice buildings around. I've timed my visit with the International Film Festival, so hope to see some films (not German films of the 1970s though). I'm staying at the YHA which is about ten minutes walk from the Octagon. It is in an old T.B. hospital and is supposedly haunted. It's certainly got a lot of character, with a roof garden, a trampolene and a maze of corridors. Tomorrow? Not sure yet, let's see.
Had quite a lazy morning today, went for a coffee and then joined the demonstration which was about Genetically Modified Food trials. The New Zealand government have to make a decision over the next month whether to go the GM way or to instead pursue organic and traditional methods of agriculture. It was interesting to hear peoples perspectives and good to be able to add something about the state of the U.K. where we have trial crops which are contaminating the surrounding crops, an irreversible process.
In the afternoon I visited the Railway Station and the Otago Settler's Museum which had a few things of interest including a Double Fairlie Steam Engine. These were designed and built in the U.K. and can now be found on the Festiniog Railway in North Wales and I didn't realise they were exported out here!
Next I visited the Dunedin Public Art Gallery which had some interesting contemporary works on display. I didn't have too long there before it closed, so I went for a coffee at the Arc cafe before heading to one of the cinemas to see the film "Blackboards". I'd really wanted to see this film when it was on in the UK but missed it as it was only on limited release. The film is about a couple of Iranian teachers on the border between Iran and Iraq, who are desperate to teach. They carry their blackboards on their backs around the steep and mountainous terrain. The film was good, but not as good as I'd hoped.
Afterwards, I headed back to the hostel to cook myself a nice curry!
Another lazy-ish morning today, I sorted out a lot of my baggage and was shocked to see how many books I've bought and read whilst I've been away. I hope I don't trip over the luggage limit on the way home!
At lunchtime I headed down to the station where I was going to catch the Taieri Gorge Train. The railway line and trains are owned by the city and were bought when the national railway company closed the line. The route is pretty spectacular and takes the train up into the Central Otago Plains. The gorge gets very steep and a fair bit of ingenuity was required to thread the railway line over deep chasms and through rock tunnels. All in all, a good way to spend the afternoon.
What was a bit weird on the journey was that every time we stopped, a whole gang of people (tourists) found it really exciting to pick up bits of ballast and attempt to throw them across the gorge, an unusual custom! Mind you, it takes all sorts and I can be a little eccentric at times! (really?)
Tonight I'm going to the theatre to see a play called Dead Certain. It wasn't until after I bought the ticket that I found out that the play is quite macabre. I just hope it isn't too scary!
Update: Well, the play wasn't scary at all, it was very good, the only problem I had was finding the theatre. I was given some rubbish directions when I bought the ticket and drove around South Dunedin looking for the venue. Always a good idea to stop for more directions, so I asked a dude at one of the garages and he said, "Errr, well, I walk past it every day, but I'm not sure how to explain directions, it's kind of over there." which he accompanied with a vague arm waving. So I drove in that direction, couldn't find it and pulled into an off licence. The guy working there was from the planet Zog and couldn't help, don't think he knew what a theatre was, but someone in the queue had heard of it! "Well", he said, "I thought it shut years ago, but if you go kind of left, then right and it's before the railway bridge.". Hooray!
The theatre was half full of arty types and I was somewhat out of place, but it doesn't bother me anymore so I quietly grabbed a seat as the first act had started. The play was about an actor and a former ballet dancer in a wheelchair. The ballet dancer had hired the actor to run through her play, which spookily co-incided with the beginning of the act, it was as if she had seen into the future and written what was going to happen when he turned up. All in all, very good and well worth a watch.
I always find it a bit sad moving on from somewhere which has been an enjoyable place to stay, and Dunedin was one of those places. Today, I was planning on getting to Wanaka, in the centre of the South Island and another ski-resort. Wanaka is a convenient stopping off point on the way to the West Coast so I booked into the YHA.
Before leaving Dunedin, I drove out onto the peninsula opposite the harbour to visit New Zealand's only castle, Larnach Castle. The castle is in a beautiful location and was built at the end of the 19th century by a guy called Larnach. He was a bit of a dodgy boiler, got himself into a fair few financial scrapes but also became a respected politican. There were many family tragedies which culminated in him taking his own life in the Parliament Buildings.
It was quite sad walking around looking at his legacy, but the castle has been restored really well after being in a derelict state in 1967. There is a cool video which shows the state of the building in the sixties and the work which has been done. I cheered my self up a bit by having some shortbread and a cup of tea in the old ballroom in front of a roaring log fire! A group of tourists ( I know I'm one too ) kept themselves entertained by taking pictures of each other pretending to throw logs on the fire... nice!
From Larnach, I drove South to meet the road to Wanaka. The journey was really nice with lots of interesting scenery. It rained for a lot of the time, but as I got nearer to Wanaka, the sun came out and it got hotter and hotter. If it wasn't for the wind, it would be boiling! (That last sentance is especially for all you UK gloaters, gloating about the weather!). There were some pretty towns on the way, all of them enticing me to stop for coffee, but I carried on to Wanaka.
Wanaka is a beautiful town on the edge of a lake, surrounded by snowy mountains. It is much smaller than Queenstown, but it seems just as busy! I had booked my accomodation in advance which was good news and I only had the bed for one night. They YHA was full and the dorm I was in was really small, the best news was that you had two duvets for your bed, so I was really warm!
In the town there is a cinema called Cinema Paradiso which has a cool cafe next door. They were showing the Australian film, The Dish, in the evening, so I decided to get a ticket and have a meal there too. I had a delicious bowl of Pasta with chicken and courgettes and then waited for the previous film to finish. Inside the cinema, it was great to find that the seats were old sofas and easy chairs making for a comfortable film viewing. On the far side of the room was a bright yellow Morris Minor without a roof which you could sit in to watch the film! At half time the film is stopped when the reels are changed, but because the cafe is still open I bought some Baileys and White Chocolate ice cream, yum. The film was really good and it was a great place to watch it too.
I made a snap decision this morning, to go on an aeroplane flight across to Milford Sound. It was quite cheap from Wanaka and I thought that because it was such a beautiful day, that it would be amazing to see the Southern Alps from above.
Before going to the airport I popped into the cool email shop in town. This small shop had bus seats to sit on, which makes for a comfy surf! I arrived just as the guy was opening up and he asked me to watch the shop whilst he went to get some ciggies. This was no problem to me and I sat down to check my mail. A few minutes later a man and a woman turned up and I said "Take a seat and make a note of the time.." in a friendly voice. "Eh?", the woman said. "Hmm, do you want to check your email?" I asked. "Er, no, I'm the owner!" she replied.
In these situations, you just have to smile and hope that you've not dropped the other dude in the doo doo! She seemed quite surprised to have a new member of staff looking after the shop, but didn't mind too much
On the way out, I met the ciggie guy and he said "Thanks Bro!". I made a hasty exit before the boss found him!
Next, I drove to the airport to meet two other people who would be joining us for the flight and our pilot Dave. He looked like a cross between Han Solo and Chewie and I hoped that he had the flying skills to match!
The sky was really clear and as we took off and gained height, we could see for miles and miles. The plane could hold about ten people and had two engines, but for some reason, I felt really scared and very vulnerable. I don't usually get too worked up about flying, but I did find myself quite distracted from the views all around.
We flew around Mount Aspiring and when we flew across one of the ridges, we hit a massive turbulence patch. I came out of my seat, even with the seatbelt on and could feel the plane slicing sideways through the air. It didn't last too long, but I was scared!
From Aspiring we flew across to Milford and then up the Sound. Unfortunately, because the wind was so strong, it meant that we couldn't land or fly very low. From there we headed back to Wanaka. I was really disappointed as although it was really clear and the mountains and glaciers looked good, it tarnished my memories of Milford after the kayaking experience.
Ah well, we had a safe landing and I was glad to get down. Before I left Wanaka, I wanted to visit the Puzzling World which contains numerous rooms with illusions and stuff. There are plenty of optical illusions, including a room full of pictures of famous people. They keep their eyes on you wherever you go in the room!
The best thing about it though was the huge three dimensional maze. I took the challenge of visiting all four towers, one in each corner, and then returning to the exit. It was really good fun, especially bumping into the same people, over and over again, each time getting more frustrated! I managed to complete the task without too much hassle, but because of the bridges and tunnels, it made it much more difficult.
After the maze, I filled up with fuel and set off. The drive was really beautiful, across the Haast Pass, where there was a great waterfall by the road, and down to the West Coast. It was amazing to see so little signs of habitation, I really felt I was in the wilds. I didn't see many cars, apart from campervans (Maui) heading in the opposite direction and when I finally reached the Fox Glacier township, I half expected to find it deserted!
It really is a small hamlet rather than a township and when I booked in to Ivory Towers, the hostel I was staying in, the chap had no record of my booking! Fortunately, they weren't too full, phew!
The evening entertainment included a visit to a Gloworm Grotto, which was good fun, and then I snuggled up in front of the fire with a book.
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