08 Feb - Invercargill to Te Anau

The itinerary we were loosely following had us spending another day in Invercargill and daytripping to Stewart Island which is south of the South Island. However, unless you were big into bird watching there wasn't much to see and transportation wasn't pleasant (read you were probably going to get seasick). So Stewart Island was scratched to open the itinerary up a bit for more time in Milford Sound and Queenstown.

Sleepy boy in Invercargill

After the Zach mandated goodbyes to our new sheep friends we left Invercargill for the scenic route to Te Anau which is in Fjordland (again like a county) and the gateway to Milford Sound.

The coast along the southern tip of South Island was stunning. We begun to notice, and as you can see from preceding pictures, there is no one around. Everywhere we went, which was all the major scenic stops at the height of tourist season, we either had the place to ourselves or nearly so. No traffic, no crowds, really nice.

I mean yeah, but not for a long ways

Aside from the scenery there weren't many designated stops on the route. The Clifden Suspension Bridge was kind of the one. It was built in 1899 to ford the Waiau River. To kind of give you a scale of all things New Zealand, this is one of the longest bridges in the country. It is currently condemned (more modern bridge just downstream). Impressive for 1899 nonetheless.

This memorial is posted on one of the bridge's towers. There were similar War Memorials in every small town in New Zealand, just like in the States. All remembered those lost during WWI by Kiwis serving with ANZAC, the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps. ANZAC rememberance is prominent in both countries. WWI hit the Kiwis hard - they lost 7% of their population. Many of these memorials also remembered those lost in Britain's Boer Wars and WWII.

Our RV park was right downtown Te Anau which was a touristy little town. We walked around town for a bit, shopped souvenirs and had a long lunch. It's a good thing sheep aren't friendly because mutton burgers are pretty darn good.

Downtown Te Anau

First of many futile attempts to get a good picture of the boys in front of the New Zealand flag

Te Anau is on Lake Te Anau. This is looking west from downtown toward the mountains of Fjordland. Notice there is no one on the lake despite being a beautiful summer day.

We stopped at a downtown information center and managed to book one of the Department of Conservation RV sites in Milford Sound. This meant we could spend the next night in Milford Sound (which wasn't really anything more than a coffee shop, sightseeing cruise terminal and airport) instead of driving two hours out and back from Te Anau in one day.

Kids played at the holiday park playground when we got back. Not quite sure, but sounds like their playmates were a couple of Kiwis and a couple of Germans. Boys never realized the German girls weren't speaking English. Playgrounds are universal.

Zach being Zach while waiting for dinner