Te Anau 2016

What's covered?

Debbie at Trailfinders had told us that not many people travel as far south as The Catlins but that it is a beautiful area. We took her advice and Te Anau was a useful stop en route, quite apart from being worth a visit in its own right.

3 November

It was an easy two hour drive and we checked in to the Fjorland Lodge before doing anything else. Stunning views from our room, the lounge and the dining room across fields and the lake to the mountains. No other property in sight.

We had a quick look around Te Anau and watched the short film about the area at the cinema. On returning to the hotel we checked our email and were stunned to learn that Malcolm, my oldest friend who we had visited in Perth, had suffered a fatal heart attack. He had muscular dystrophy and the heart is of course a muscle. We later learned that few sufferers live beyond their late 60s. Needless to say, we were just numbed, it was the last bit of news we had expected.

Our booking here was half board and it proved to be amongst the very best food whilst we have been away. We have also found the staff to be great. Andy Cunningham is the manager and Jenny seems to run the place in his absence. She looked after us so well. Olivia has been good as one of our waitresses and Gippy is both porter and room cleaner, and probably many other things, a general fac totem. It was a great place to be while recovering from the shock.

4 November

We stayed in the hotel until around 11ish and then went into town for lunch and the Glow Worm Cave cruise. A catamaran took us to the entrance where we were split into groups of about twelve. Our group was first given a talk about the glow worms and their life cycle. Then we walked through a low entrance into a tunnel to board a narrow metal boat that is pulled through the water into the cave. Whilst the water in the cave is noisy, we were told the glow worms do not like other noise and it affects them. We had to remain silent. There was no photography allowed so the best way to imagine it is the think of a night sky or a fibreglass lamp.

We returned to the hotel still feeling a bit numb from yesterday's news, struggling to believe it. I looked at the logistics of going to the funeral and bizarrely it would take nearly as long as from the UK, quite apart from the practicalities of rearranging our bookings and leaving Gill to move all our stuff from one town to another.

5 November

We drove to Milford Sound with the intention of getting a small boat cruise. Five years ago we saw the Sounds from our cruise ship but of course that was limited as to how far it could travel into the Sounds. The weather when we left Fjordland Lodge was lovely and stayed that way for most of the journey which was worthwhile in its own right. However, the closer we got to our destination, the worse the weather got. The cloud and the rain meant we would not see the mountains and would probably see less than we had before.

We returned and the weather improved all the way back! However, at Milford Sound we were told the weather was in for the day and tomorrow was forecast to be worse!

6 November

We had decided on a quiet day in the hotel and the weather here had deteriorated so much that there was little alternative. Thankfully the hotel has several quiet and comfortable areas in addition to our room so it is a good location to get stuck in. Even with the cloud and the rain, the views are stunning.

At lunchtime we went into Te Anau for a bite and to do some shopping for tomorrow. Curio Bay our next stop, did not provide breakfast and the nearest place to eat is a cafe five minutes drive away. With no idea of how good or otherwise that might be, we bought food to cook one evening meal!