April 22 - Milford Sound

 What an amazing day we had!  After breakfast we drove the 117km to Milford Sound.  The drive takes about 2 hours…twisty narrow road without shoulders, but gorgeous views.  There is only about be way in and out of Milford Sound.  

Once there we boarded a boat for a cruise around the sound.  We saw furry seals and waterfalls while learning about the sound.  A full day 😃

April 21 - Te Anau

 We drove to a small tourist town n the southern west coast where the fjords are.  The way here was twisty, with the southern alps in our view the entire way.  The peaks remain with a dusting of snow ….gorgeous to view.  The forecast is for it to warm up a bit next week, but for now it’s cool and windy with a low cloud base.  

The town is on a lake of the same name, the second largest lake in New Zealand with a depth of up to 420meters.  We booked a tour to see the glow worms.  A 2 1/2 hour tour that started with a boat ride across the lake, with great views.  Once we arrived we were split up into smaller groups and headed off into the caves to see them.  A 500m walk crouching low at times, 47 stairs and walking on metal grates with water rushing just under our feet.  We both had feelings of vertigo.  The water flow was deafening- could hear anything but that.  

At the far end we entered a grotto where we sat in a boat / away from the rushing water where it was quiet, looking up at all the glow worms.  We weren’t allowed to take photos, so I took photos of the video they showed us after the experience.  

The worms are translucent and only the tip glows so when we are looking at them in the dark….they look like stars in the heavens.  They grow to be 4cm long, and as soon as the eggs hatch, they spend 9 months building these long strings to catch insects to eat.  After these 9 months of eating, they turn into a flying insect lasting only a few days before the females lay up to 100 eggs and then die for the cycle to start over.  

This was a great excursions and we loved it.  Ted is doing really well walking longer distances, even with his boot on!  We didn’t do much exploring of the town as it’s only 2C with a wind.  So cold!  

April 20 - Winton

 A long day of driving today.  We drive through the centre of the South Island all the way south to Bluff, the southern tip.  A bit rainy today.  Our route took us is the Lindell Pass, through the snow capped hills, along a few lakes and rivers which meant twisty roads.  Would have been nice on the motorcycles!  The grass is yellow and only short bushes for most of the drive.  Near the tip the grass became grazing land, thick and lush green with lots of cattle and sheep.  

Bluff was windy and cool, but we braved the weather for a few photos!  After that we went north to Invercargill to a hardware store that not only sells hardware but also has several old motorcycles on display.  One of the displays is the world’s fastest Indian that Burt Munroe set the land speed record with.  It’s a great movie if you haven’t seen it.  It was amazing to wander through the store, and see so many motorcycles and cars, tools and even an engine.  All with plaques explaining about the item.  Very well done.  

Bluff

My fav cup of tea…cup and saucer, milk pot, tea pot with loose tea, extra pot of hot water and a strainer and holder.  Ted is enjoying a flat white coffee, which can be found everywhere….even in gas stations….a barista in a gas station!!!  Best idea ever! 

April 19 - Omarama

 We are in the centre of the South Island, south of mount cook and north of Queenstown.  We are going to do a bit of zigzagging for the next few days to try and see everything before we leave….and also there aren’t roads everywhere due to the mountains!!!  

Yesterday morning we went looking for penguins but didn’t see any.  They are on the East coast, and we will try to get back there before returning the car.  We headed inland with gorgeous scenery…so green hills, some treed hills, lots of sheep and some cattle.  Further inland it’s dryer.  Few trees, short shrubs and grass that’s yellow.  Stark contrast to the lush green of the west coast.  

We passed a few lakes and stopped to see them.  Many of the leaves are turning yellow, certainly the start of autumn here, and it has cooled off for now.  The upper hills have received a dusting of snow.  We had cloudy weather yesterday, and just a few sprinkles of rain.  I’m glad for the heat in the car!!!  

Tomorrow we are heading south.  

This is where we are located 

It’s autumn here

Stopped at this gorgeous beach to try to see the baby blue penguins…no luck.  

They certainly know how to serve tea here in New Zealand.  I’m always offered milk…not cream.  Tea in a pot, and here I was provided with a sand timer….5 minutes to steep my tea!

April 18 - somewhere on the East coast

 As we were heading to bed last night, the rain was thundering down like I’ve never seen before!!!  Scary.  Wouldn’t want to be riding when that’s happening.  The forecast is for rain the next 5 days….and snow over the pass to get us back to Christchurch.  Yikes!!!!  Ok….plan B.  Return the bikes early….but only if the rain settles.  Plan C is to rent a vehicle and trailer to get them back….Plan D is to take a bus back to Christchurch and let the shop deal with the bikes!!!  

When we got up this morning the rain had settled somewhat so we decided to ride.  Light drizzle as we loaded up, which turned into a heavy rain for about 45min, stopping as we got into Greymouth.  I love this town…but no time to explore….we wanted to get going to Christchurch….so fill up the bikes, and breakfast at the gas station and off we went.  

Arthur’s pass was gorgeous….just as I imagined ….but too much rain and cold to stop.  We headed towards clear skies…the rain stopped about 45 min out of Christchurch and by the time we arrived it was 21C!!!!  Nice and warm now.  We have a rental car now for the rest of the trip.  Heading south then up the west coast then back east to Christchurch.  😃😃😃.  

April 17 - Punakaiki

 We are on the West coast also know as the WET coast!!!!  We departed this morning in the sunshine…not particularly warm…but sunny.  The ride today was generally south west heading to the west coast.  Some farm land at the beginning which turned into hilly, twisty treed area either a gorge, and river and rocky outcrops.  Gorgeous!  Keeping our heads on a swivel to try and catch the views while staying on the road and aware of traffic.  About an hour into our 4 1/2 hr ride it started to rain…just a bit more than a drizzle….then stopped.  On and off raining for then next hour.  The last hour was heavy rain….just as we were getting to the west coast and the Tasman Sea.  The coast is amazing….tall black rocks with the sea waves crashing against the rocks. No pictures as we were soaked and it was raining hard.  This is an amazing place that we hope to return to someday to see the blowholes, the coastline and the pancake rocks.  

We are in a motel that has a tavern attached to it.  Good food to warm us up this afternoon and access to laundry, so we dried our clothes.  

This is where we are tonight, in Punakaiki.  Our original plan was to head south a few hundred km then across to Christchurch to return the bikes on Tuesday, then rent a car for the remainder of our time here.  With the rain we have decided to return the bikes a few days early.  So our plan for tomorrow is to get up early and make tracks towards Christchurch.  It’s about 3 1/2 hours from here, doable in light rain, but we have had quite heavy rain here this evening….so if it’s heavy rain we will have to stop for shelter.  Forecast for Christchurch tomorrow is cloudy….so fingers crossed we make it all the way, and will continue our holiday in a car.  

April 16 - Abel Tasman boat cruise

 We booked a 4 hour boat cruise to see Abel Tasman.  We ride to the park…about 60km away, but it took over an hour.  A nice sunny day.  We got onto the boat and cruised around seeing all the sights, and the beautiful bays that are there.  It was a bit cooler today, especially on the water when the wind picked up.  Such a great way to see the park.  Lots of walking today…some of it on sand…and Ted is doing really well.  We walked about 5km throughout the day and he managed it.  😃😃😃