Wednesday morning - waterfalls and dolphins

We woke this morning to the sound of heavy rain and blusterey winds. We had moored last night in a small bay off Thompson Sound, but a westerly wind had brought the weather to us! Breakfast started promptly at 7 am, with copious amount of food while the boat motored back into Doubtful Sound.

A highlight of the morning was the chance to see so many waterfalls after the heavy rain of the night before. It was hard to comprehend the size of these waterfalls, so the captain took us close to the shore.

Here is a small section at the top of one of the falls : note the size of the trees relative to the water!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And see the wonderful patterns as this mass of water hits the lake itself.

 

 

 

This shows a small section at the base of a mountain. Note the two small falls of water on the right hand side.

 

 

And here's how it looks when you're almost directly underneath the flow.

 

 

Sim, the wildlife expert on our boat, collected a bucket of water for us to try drinking.

Cheers!!

 

When possible the captain put the sails up on our boat. Not particularly effective, but fun and he enjoyed it. Rain continued off and on all morning, and we all got fairly wet.

 

 

Later on we saw some more dolphins, and this time a few came and swam by the bow of our boat. Wonderful to watch, and another tick on the 'bucket list'.

 

We also spent about 5 minutes with the engines off, people stationary, and no cameras so we could listen to the sounds of the fjords. Falling water, and then birdsong could be heard, and we watched a young fur seal swimming along under the trees.

The boat made it's way back to the landing wharf, and then we took the coach back over the Wilmott Pass to the visitor centre on Lake Manapouri. We were just about to board the ferry back to the parking area when we spotted an employee and asked him why there are no tours of the actual power plant at the moment. He explained that there is some fairly heavy maintenance work being done, but there are still tours possible, just not advertised. We had about 3 minutes to make up our minds, so now we are sitting at the visitor centre, waiting 2 1/2 hours until we can go on a tour! We had only planned a walk this afternoon, and it keeps raining, so a change of plan seemed a good idea!

 

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Tuesday - Caves and boats

After a very noisy night listening to the rain hitting the roof of our van, we were up (fairly) bright and early and ready to hit the road. Leaving Monkey Island we drove to Clifden caves and parked. The entrance into the caves was hardly marked, but we had a walking guide giving us full details. Armed with two torches each we entered the caves. Inside all was completely black except for the occasional glow worm hanging from the roof. We had to scramble, climb and slide through a set of caverns, sometimes going through extremely small holes and cracks in the rocks, for a total distance of about 300 metres. There were a sequence of white reflectors attached to the rocks to tell us which way to go. We knew that near the end we had to descend a ladder for about 7 m, but when we got there the final section was flooded, and we had to return the way we had come. All went well, except for one small section where we missed the direction sign and ended up in a dead end! After a total time of about 50 minutes we re-emerged into daylight, which a slight sigh of relief. We have some photos but they are only on our phones, and may take us some time to download.

Back in the car we drove on to Manapouri where we packed a small overnight bag and proceeded to board a boat bound for Doubtful Sound.

First we had to cross Lake Manapouri which took about an hour. At the far side, at the end of the West Arm we saw the first signs of the Manapouri power station.

Just before we docked the boat took us to one side of the lakeside to show us the colour of the rocks, and how water cascaded down into the lake . It was also a very effective demonstration of how steep the cliffs are, and how deep the water is even so close to the edge.

We boarded buses for the next stage of the trip, another 45 minutes across Wilmot Pass on the most expensive road in NZ. It cost $5 for every inch of road when it was built in the 1960s.

From the top of the pass we got our first view of Doubtful Sound, spread out below us. The area has a very high annual rainfall, 6 to 7 metres, and this was the first time you could see the Sound from the pass for about 3 days.

The cruise boat itself is actually very well equipped, and we were assigned a comfortable double berth on the top level. Despite the strong tendency to rain in the Sound, and despite a dismal weather forecast, we actually had good weather for most of the afternoon.

The views of the sound were magnificent and I took far too many photographs as usual.

 

At one point we came across a pod of bottle nose dolphins, but they never got close enough for good photos.

As it started to rain later on we were treated to a rainbow!

The boat took us up Crooked Arm where we were given the choice of a ride in one of the boat tenders, or a kayaking trip. Mick and I both chose to go kayaking and had a lovely gentle trip along the shore line. Contemplating the trip back against the wind we were relived to see the main boat had moved so it now lay ahead of us!

After a shower, and a meal of hot soup, the boat continued to the end of the main sound to a couple of islands where there is a colony of fur seals. We also saw terns resting on the rocks. The sun was still shining, but both the wind and the swell had now increased.

 

We also saw a couple of albatrosses flying ahead of the boat. Not the same type as we saw before, but a smaller variety. (Mollymall?)

Back in the main dining area we were treated to a magnificent meal which we enjoyed with a couple we had got talking to, Dave and Pam. It turns out they live in Aston in Trent, about 5 miles away from us in the UK!

After dinner there was a short presentation about Fjordland from our wildlife expert, then it was time for bed. The engines will start at 6.15 in the morning, and breakfast is at 7, so an early night was justified!

 

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Monday - water, water everywhere

This was the sunset last night, sitting outside our white box on wheels. We are loving this campervan!

 

A late-ish start this morning, due to a slightly disturbed night due to the quantity of rain falling. Rain drops on a campervan roof are really loud when you're trying to sleep. By 9 am it was sunny, but it didn't last, and rain fell most of the day.

After a bacon and egg butty we left this lovely DOC campsite and went off to explore more of the Catlins area.

For those who are interested, this is the interior of our van, set up for the day. The front seats swivel round, and the table moves over to one side, giving a very comfortable seating area. Most nights we eat outside, but if inside we can slide the table over to the right!

 

At the other end is the small cooking area, with a sink and large fridge. In the corner is a very small room containing a toilet, sink and shower. Not much storage area, just a few cupboards and one largish wardrobe, but adequate for us even though we packed far too many clothes for the holiday.

 

Up above is our very clever bed (you can just see the edge of the mattress). This lets down in the evening, and is extremely comfortable.

 

 

These are typical trees of the area, I shall look up what they are some time. They tend to be very shaped by the wind; we saw one today that looked almost complete horizontal.

 

First stop today was the Purakaunui Falls. The walk through the bush to reach them was probably more interesting then the falls. The word Mick and I kept using is 'lush'. Everything is so green, especially compared to the Central region, and this walk in particular was like being in a rain forest, full of ferns and exotic shrubs.

The falls themselves were very nice, and gave me an opportunity to play with my camera settings.

 

 

We then drove on to Papatowai and stopped at the Lost Gypsy Gallery. A one man show by a man who loves to build fun animatronics out of recycled rubbish. Some of his things were really good, plus there was a coffee stop with free wifi outside, so I could finally post yesterday's blog. We got chatting to a couple from Sweden as well, and got a recommendation for where to stop for lunch in Sweden in June when we are there briefly.

 

Final tourist stop of the day was at Curio Bay to see the remains of a petrified forest on the beach.

We then drove on towards Invercargill, but decided to skip seeing anything in the town. Instead we went to a supermarket to top up with food and drink, only to discover Invercargill still has a left over from the prohibition era - you can only buy alcohol from the Invercargill Liquor Trust, or similar licensed retailers.

 

Fully loaded with beer, wine and food we drove on, through the lashing rain, to our free campsite for the night, at Monkey Island Bay!! No sign of any pirates, but we shall keep our eyes open.

And here is Monkey Island, seen through the ever present rain!

 

 

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Sunday - A grand day out on the railway!

Today was the day for the long awaited trip on the Taieri Gorge Railway. We were up early (first time having to use the alarm), then sorted out the van before driving to Dunedin Railway station.

A splendid Victorian railway station that was built in the 1870s, it has ornate carvings, mosaic floors and a serious railway clock.

The line itself was begun in 1879, but it was 1889 before the first section was open. The final section to Cromwell was only finished in 1921!

Nowadays it is only open to Middlemarch in the Central Otago area, and is run purely as a tourist train.

 

One of the first viaducts is the Wingatui, 197 m long, and one of the largest wrought iron structures in the Southern Hemisphere.

It runs 47 m above the Mullocky stream, and of course the train was crowded with people trying to get photos of it.

There are several more viaducts on the lines, plus narrow tunnels, and spectacular views. Occasionally the train would stop to allow us to get off for more photos.

 

 

I took far too many photos, and can't really decide which ones to keep until I can see them on a big screen, so I'll only put a couple up here.

Middlemarch is a tiny town on the Strath Taieri Plain, population about 250. It's the eastern start for the Otago Central Rail Trail, and is a popular place for hikers and bikers. We just walked over the road to a cafe and had a meal! Food was delicious, but there was far too much. We got talking to the couple next to us, Sally and Ian, and learnt she was a quilter, and used to have her own quilting shop. Ian was a dairy farmer (4th generation on the same land) and now grows fruit. Sally shared lots of info on where to find quilting supplies, and has offered to let us stay in their B&B near Nelson when we are up that way, just in case we are fed up with the campervan by then.

The plains are an enormous area, with a few buildings and lots of sheep! Everywhere looked brown and parched, and it was littered with huge jagged boulders.

Both Mick and I thoroughly enjoyed the trip, spending almost the entire time standing in the open watching the view go past.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leaving the train again at Dunedin we decided to drive down to the Catlins area, and find a DOC campsite near Owaka. As we left the Taieri area and drove further south we saw green fields and hills, the first time we had seen green grass without it having been irrigated. Driving through the town of Owaka we spotted a sign for Teapot Land, and had to stop and take a photo or two!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Past Owaka we turned onto a dirt track road for 7 km, and for the last few hundred meters had to do some serious sheep avoidance. All was worth while though, and we are now parked up by the beach, with drinks in hand watching the sea.

 

This is the view from our van - bliss!

 

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