Te Anau and the Wildlife Centre

Today we decided to take a stroll around Te Anau Lake which is the 2nd largest lake in New Zealand . It was a beautiful, sunny and clear day and the lake was like a millpond. We strolled along the waterfront until we reached the Te Anau Visitor Centre. We spent about 45 minutes in the centre looking at the exhibits on Maori Culture and a big exhibit on the efforts to stop the extinction of New Zealand's rarest birds.

After leaving the visitor centre we continued strolling along the lake. We saw some Canada Geese and also a Kowhai Plant in flower. The Kowhai is largely recognized as the National Plant of New Zealand. We reached Te Anau wildlife park after about 15 minutes. This facility is run by the New Zealand Conservation Department. It protects and breeds rare native bird species. Entry is free but a gold coin donation is recommended ($1 or $2) in the box provided. First we saw a Kia, then we saw an aviary containing a couple of South Island Kaka birds. These can still be seen in the wild in the Fiordland forests, especially in early summer when trees like the kamahi and rata are in flower . The nectar gives the breeding Kaka an energy boost while they, in turn, pollinate the flowers. It is a very delicate balance. Kaka nest in holes in the trees where the female and her chicks are vulnerable to attack by stoats. Populations are in decline in Fiordland, except in predator controlled areas like the Eglinton Valley on the Milford road.

After the Kaka we came across some Kakariki which are Red Crowned Parakeets native to NZ. These birds enjoy foraging for seeds and insects on the forest floor. This feeding habit makes them vulnerable to attack by introduced predators such as stoats and cats. Strong mainland populations only exist where there is predator control. The closely related Yellow Crowned Parakeet feeds in the shrub and canopy layers of the forest where it is less at risk. They can be found in good numbers on the nearby Kepler Track.

Next was the aviary containing the Takahe. Thought once to be extinct, these endangered birds have been given a 2nd chance at survival . In 1948 Dr Orbell discovered a small population of these birds in the Murchison Mountains, west of Lake Te Anau. The population then was estimated to be some 200 birds. These numbers have since declined due to the influx of red deer (introduced by the Europeans again!) into the Murchison. The deer caused deterioration in the quality of the snow tussocks (Takahe main food source in the wild). The mineral and protein rich tussocks were heavily grazed by the deer until they died. Deer numbers have now been dramatically reduced but only time will tell as the tussocks naturally regenerate, whether more Takahe chicks grow to reach maturity.

Free fish

After our visit to the centre we left to find somewhere for a late lunch in Te Anau. We found a fish and chip shop, so ordered some chips, we decided not to get fish as it was quite expensive. We got chatting to the owner, who realised we were Brits. He said he'd lived in the U.K. years ago and knew we liked our fish and chips, so he went to the kitchen and brought us out some fish to go with our chips to try . He wanted our approval that it was as tasty as our fish and chips back home. It was tasty, but not the same as you'd get back home! It was kind of him to give us some free fish to try, so we thanked him and left. We decided to visit a pub (we'll kind of pub) to have a drink. I fancied a desert- they looked lovely so ordered one! With our bellies full, we found a spot to park up for the night ready for our drive to Milford Sound in the morning.

Milford Sound

We awoke very early and set off on the road to Milford Sound in our hire car. The weather was mostly clear blue skies and lots of sun – it was a perfect day for a drive to Milford Sound. We decided not to do a cruise as our budget was a bit tight, but we'd heard that the driving route has lots of scenery to offer, so with that in mind we started our drive. The first place we stopped off at was Lake Mistletoe. As we were getting nearer, the weather started to change, the sky became a bit dull, but we decided to stop and take a walk around anyway .

Mirror Lakes

The drive down to Milford Sound is just amazing – it really is one of the best drives in the whole of New Zealand! You can drive it in between 2 and 2 and a half hours, but we took nearly 4 hours as there are so many great stops along the way. We visited Mirror Lakes to take some great photos of the reflections of the mountains in the lake and were very lucky the water was so calm. We also stopped at Lake Gunn to do the pretty nature walk there – and took some more photos.

Lake Gunn

We stopped at various places by the side of the road to take in the surrounding beauty, and to take yet more photos! The road is quite challenging and many opt to take one of the many coach tours, but we are very independent travellers and loved doing the drive ourselves. It is really a big part of the trip there for us – the scenery along the way is stunning . We headed through the Homer Tunnel – which was fun – and then down the windy zig zag road that takes you down to Milford Sound. We could have spent another few hours on the drive down (easily) but were happy with the stops we took. As we got near Milford Sound, we stopped at a lookout point to take in the views and there was a kea, so we stopped to admire it. I couldn't believe how tame it was! It looked so much like a parrot.

Ghostly presence.... 

We decided to park up for the night as we thought we'd walk the Routeburn Track in the morning. It had a big car park, so decided to park up there for the night. We cooked our dinner on the camp stove and settled down before dark. We just stayed in the car, and when it became dark, it was actually really eerie as no-one was around, except a load of parked up cars. We were just settled ready for sleep, when we heard a tapping on the car window and bonnet. John looked out the window, there was nobody around, so he got out of the car to take a look and there was nobody to be seen- perhaps it was a ghost! Needless to say, I was a little scared to stay there overnight and was on my guard all night . Somehow, I managed to drift off to sleep, and awoke the next morning, so it was fine. I wonder what it was that was knocking at the car, perhaps it was a kea looking for food.

Routeburn Track

We had breakfast and set off on the Routeburn Track. We just opted for the key summit alpine walk, which is a three hour round trip. It has some great views of Milford Sound, and we were lucky that this morning was a clear day. It was lovely and sunny, perfect for our trek! The Key Summit track is a wonderful walk which shouldn’t take you more than a couple of hours. It follows the last part of the world famous multi-day Routeburn track in the Fiordland National Park, branching off to ascend the Key Summit. The walk, although largely up, isn’t particularly strenuous, and is worth doing either on your way in to or out of Milford Sound. The reward, of views across the Fiordland National Park, is entirely worth it., with spikey mountain peaks, glacially carved valleys and rolling forests in all directions . A small taste of what the Routeburn track may hold in store, if you have more time and the urge to tramp for multiple days. Anyway we walked the route and when at the top, we were rewarded with the most amazing views. Then we walked back down and drove on towards Milford Sound.

Milford Sound

On arriving at Milford Sound we parked up and cooked up some lunch on one of the picnic benches, then headed off for a walk around the Sound. It was a beautiful place. We took lots of pictures, then headed back to the Blue Duck cafe for a snack before heading for a walk around the local area. One of the coolest things we saw was a green forest where the trees are almost entirely covered by moss. It looked like something straight out of the Hobbit. We took a walk around the sound at dusk, however, we had not realised that there were so many sandflies on the Milford road (despite using loads of repellant) we were attacked by a swarm of them so we didn't hang around for too long!

The Chasm

After a really wonderful day we decided to stay at a DOC campsite nearby . On the way back we stopped at ‘The Chasm’ where we took a short walk to see an impressive waterfall flowing underneath a bridge. We were also very excited to see a couple of kea in the car park – they especially liked climbing on the cars. It was great to see them and they really are quite friendly birds.

Gertrude's Saddle- experienced trampers only.

The next morning feeling refreshed, we decided to stop off and do the Gertrude Saddle walk as we passed the homer tunnel, we parked up and got out to do the hike. There was a sign at the start of the hike saying experienced trampers only... we thought we were experienced enough so decided to give it a go- it couldn't be that hard could it.... hmm!

We walked up the valley – a high alpine valley with beautiful clear streams running through it!
There were a half-dozen places near the beginning where it was necessary to cross water without any clear indication of where the trail was and where best to cross the water . Then the trail traveled over a long stretch of bush, stones and rough tussock where the path was barely visible. Then the climb begins, and most of the climbing surface is loose stone rubble threatening a broken ankle with every step. The climb wasn't too bad going up, but I was worried about not having an obvious path to follow and trying not to take so much time that darkness would fall before we got back to the car.

The track was steep in places, and there were several snow fields to cross. We met a man who was on the way down, said he had been to the top, but that it was still a pretty long way up there – obviously we were looking at a "false summit". (they had put cables on the rocks where they thought it might be difficult). We indeed needed to use these as it was rather steep. John was fine with his long legs, but it was more difficult for me to climb these massive boulder rocks with my little legs. We reached the top eventually and boy I'm glad we continued to make it to the top!

Watch out for the eagle .... 

Once we reached the top we saw what a beautiful view it was. We could see Milford Sound in all it's glory. The weather was beautiful, we were so lucky to have such a clear day. There was not a soul around, we had the top of the mountain to ourselves. We decided to eat our lunch while admiring the view. We demolished it pretty quickly, then I started to take some pictures. Just as I was doing this, I saw something swooping down towards John's head and shouted watch out for the eagle.... John quickly ducked down as he thought the bird was coming down on top of him! It looked as big as an eagle as it was swooping down towards John, it landed right near us. It was only then that we realised it was a kea! It had come to say hello and it came really close to us. I think as people feed them, they are quite tame. We didn't have any food left over, even if we wanted to feed it. The kea even came close enough for us to get a couple of cool pictures with it, overlooking the sound, and one of it looking like it was sat on John's shoulder! We stayed on the top of the saddle for about an hour and a half then started our descent down the mountain, which became the difficult part of the trek! We lost our way down and got stuck so had to cross over a waterfall just to get back down! We did however manage to get back before dark and headed back to the car.

So was is worth it? Absolutely. The view was everything I was hoping for and seeing the kea at the top of the mountain made it all the more worthwhile!