I’m filling in Day 11 and Day 12 on the evening of Day 12, because our boat in Milford Sound did not have Wi-Fi. So, these two posts are going to be more “impressions and pictures” than a lot of words.
The first thing that we had to do was figure out what to bring aboard the Milford Mariner overnight . . . because we were only allowed a backpack! The evening before involved a lot of “this and that” – as in “Do I need this? Do I need that?”
After breakfast at the hotel, we were on our way. We had a really heavy mist that morning. This shot isn’t the best, as we were speeding by, but you can see the mist on the river.
One of the towns that we drove through was Balclutha. Balclutha is, of course, the masted ship docked at Hyde Street Pier in San Francisco (right next to the SERC docks). The ship’s, and the town’s, name is derived from a township that spans the Clutha River; “Clutha” is the Gaelic name for the River Clyde in Scotland. (The Māori name for it is Iwikatea: iwi: bones; katea: whitened – refers to a battle which left human bones strewn over the ground.) Balclutha (the ship) was the last to fly the flag of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
We drove through the town of Clinton – the next town was Gore (pronounced Gorrrre) – Didn’t have my camera out to take a photo of the “Clinton/Gore” highway sign. I wonder what these towns thought of that match-up in American politics and if that sign had a lot of Americans pose by it “back in the day”!
This is a photo of the Creamota factory – I believe that our guide said that it is closed now. “Sargeant Dan” was their spokesman for kids to eat more oat/wheat hot cereal:
The gigantic rainbow trout from Gorrrrre:
We stopped in Gore for a “bio-break” – and amazing pastries! I asked the gal who was serving the coffee whether they were made locally . . . and she said “Yes indeed – by me!” Her daughter had the store “Floral Victoria” next door, and there were some beautiful bouquets and floral arrangements in the coffee shop!
In this area of New Zealand, you are expected to have a “chocolate fish” after your breakfast. They are chocolate covered . . . well . . . sort of minty marshmallow candies.
I asked the woman how many “flat whites” (like a latte without foam) it would take to fill up my Thermos, and she said two. So that’s what I got, filled right into my Thermos so I didn’t have to use a “to go” cup:
I managed to miss the Gore “Wool and Haberdashery” unfortunately! I decided that the perfect present for my Dad would be to take the wool that I had gotten from the sheep station and make him a scarf like I made “gluten-free Marilyn” the hat. I knew that I likely didn’t have enough wool to make a full scarf . . . if I had seen the “Wool and Haberdashery” I could have supplemented my “stash,” but no such luck.
Here is the “Red Tussock” conservation area (and our first view of the Alps):
Some lamb and venison “on the hoof”:
I can’t quite remember the name of this town. Maybe it was Gore? In any case, we took a quick stop. Note how the recent rains had swollen the river enough that the picnic table is in the river!
We hit the town of Ti Anau for lunch. This sign in front of the restaurant made me laugh!! Also, some photographs of an Australian magpie, which is a bit like a mockingbird. It sings all sorts of different birds’ songs.
The next few photos are taken between Ti Anau and Milford Sound. There is 4,800 square miles of “Fiordland National Park.” It is very rugged country, and the largest in New Zealand. We saw the “remainder” of the Elizabeth Glacier (pronounced: GLASS-ear) – in 1975, New Zealand had 4,100 glaciers that were over one hectare. Now, there are 3,900.
Again, on our way to Milford Sound, this is the Eglinton Valley. The “scar” on the side of the hill is from a tree falling off the top, and taking all the trees below with it.
Then we stopped at Mirror Lakes. It’s a World Heritage Area as the longest continuous inland waterway from North to South, which is especially important for indigenous fauna. Check out these trout! They were easily two pounders. The water was so clear I was able to photograph them!
We kept driving, driving – from our first “big” waterfall, to a stop to see if we could spot the kea (New Zealand parrots) that frequent the area. We sure could! The one below was quite intrepid. He had probably been fed at this rest stop (verboten, but you know how it goes). Since we were warned not to feed him . . . he headed for the bus!! He even took a chunk out of the first stair! There is a close up in his nest with his mate.
Another glacier (GLASS-ear) on the road, and then the tunnel to Milford Sound. It was a bit less than a mile, but only one car could go at a time. Sometimes apparently the kea hitch a ride on cars, so that they don’t have to fly up and over the mountain!!
Once we got on the Milford Mariner and stowed our backpacks in our rooms, we were off. The Māori word for Milford Sound is “Piopiotahi” (pron: Pippy-oh-tah-hee) – which means “a single piopio.” What’s a piopio? It’s a now-extinct bird, that was done in by ship rats. :-(
The first thing that we saw was the “Fairy Waterfall” from which you can always get rainbows in the mist:
Mo’waterfalls again – if you look closely, there is a 2nd rainbow mirroring the first, on the outside:
Here’s Lynn getting ready for our ride out in the Zodiac (we opted for that versus the kayaks):
The Zodiac gang:
The Milford Mariner:
Penguin shots from the Zodiac! It was SO far away but I did my best! (With the cell phone!). This is the only forest-dwelling penguin. They can actually climb, and make their nests up on the cliffs. The name of this penguin in Māori hearkens to their God of Thunder (a la Thor), because the yellow feathers that extend from behind the eyes back look like lightening.
We did see another penguin on the next day (which I will talk about in the next post). We have a widower on our trip, Don. He’s not only very handsome (looks like Daniel Craig, about 20 years older), but he had a wonderful situation with his wife. They got together in junior high school! So they were together 58 years! She passed away suddenly about 5 years ago from a quick-onset brain aneurysm.
Anyway, he takes a lot of photos, but every time we would compare notes, he would have a rock (and I would have the same rock), but somehow, the penguin, or bird, or rainbow, or what-have-you that I had in my photo was missing from his photo. It got to be so comical! He’s been super nice to me and it’s nice to have someone like that on the trip. He’s traveling with Jim and Marilyn, as the four of them used to do trips together. They come from Arizona, though he’s originally from Pennsylvania. Think I mentioned before, he went to Penn State, where an ex-boyfriend of mine went. He’s a big fan, with lots of logo things, and even Nittany Lions in his garden LOL!
After dinner, the crew asked if anyone wanted to “take a dip.” Well, I had brought my bathing suit, and thought I’d surprise everyone and do it! I certainly did surprise them! Our guide said that in all his time with OAT no one had ever taken the crew up on it. I was the only one on the whole boat (we weren’t the only passengers). WHEW it was cold!
When I was climbing down to the fantail to get in the water I realized, first, I had my room key, which I stuffed in Don’s breast pocket as I went past. I might have said something like it was his responsibility, if I died, to take care of Lynn! Then I realized I still had on my necklace and ring, which I gave to Bev from our group. She said she was glad I got back out – but kind of sad that the necklace wasn’t going to be hers (ha ha!) My plan had been to swim around the boat, but I only swam about 20 meters or so away from the boat and the water got precipitously colder. I guess that the engines had somehow warmed the water some? (I went off the back deck.) Once I was back out of the water, I ran down and changed into lots of clothes, and Rod even kept my hands in his to try to warm them up – and bought me another glass of wine for my bravery :-) (Toshiko said: “Sugoi!!!”)
Rumor had it that you could see the Milky and possibly the “Southern Lights’ if you stayed up, but I was exhausted. I did go up to the very top deck (where the Bridge is) and lie on one of the big wooden benches. I did get to see the Southern Cross – and three satellites! – and then Orion’s Belt.
When Herbert would be traveling on business, we would always go out and look at Orion’s Belt before going to sleep, me from home, he from wherever he was. When I saw the three stars of the belt, I had to smile. But they “looked different” and I couldn’t figure out why – until l saw the two stars that make up the “sword” going upwards from the belt! Of course! We are in the Southern Hemisphere – the belt is tilted in the opposite direction (why it “looked weird”) – and the sword is “pointing up!”
If you want $100 off, call OAT at 1-800-955-1925 and request a catalog, tell them you were referred by Sandy Shepard, customer number 3087257, and get $100 off your first trip!