News Flash - we've adpoted!!

Hmmm, not sure where we are in terms of days...holidays are like that. Anyway, after we did our helicopter ride we headed off to the little town of Wanaka. The jorney there was, as always, quite stunning and we stopped about every mile to take photos! Since we felt that we had indulged a wee bit too much in the delights of the breweries and wineries of New Zealand that is was time to work hard!

We picked a long hike (that turned out not to be the one we originally wanted - oh well) that started at the end of the road heading to Mount Aspiring. Not the greatest road for Venus the Van to be driven on - between the mutliple ruts and fords, it is a wonder that the old girl held it together!! In the process, we did manage to dispell one myth - constant vibration for an hour does NOT get rid of body fat.

The hike up to the bottom of the Rob Roy Glacier was really nice and certainly got us sweating - very humid, even though it was an overcast day. We even got to see/ hear parts of the ice breaking off.



Just turn your head sideways and check out this Kea. Despite being in the wild, this bird was very tame so we think that it is fed by the hikers, despite the many signs telling you not to do so.
It's beak has quite the hook, so we were a bit wary of it...because we had a wee bit of a nasty encounter with a pair of Oyster Catchers at Farewell Spit. They were very aggressive and territorial. Picture the pair of us screaming our heads off, running as fast as we could in the deep sand, being dive bombed by a couple of birds a fraction of our size. Yes, we are intrepid, brave world travellers....


But I digress. The valley we were in was quite beautiful and certainly could have been in any of the Lord of the Rings movies......dreaming of Stridor crossing the stream to sweep us away.....sigh.




Okay, back to the adpotion. So, cast your minds back to the Reflection Lodge adpotion. As it turned out, one of the guests at the Lodge was supposed to be meeting friends in Lake Hawea and then heading to Doubtful Sound. Unfortunately, Sandy's friend's mother had a serious health issue and the plans were changed, leaving Sandy in the lurch. Over a few bottles of wine, we offered to pick her up in Wanaka and go as her "substitute friends". Hence the adoption. Two days later, we were picking up Lady Birmingham in Wanaka and she got to join the adventure in Venus the Van!


Now, she was probably not really sure what she was getting into, but she had a blast with us, and the feeling was mutual. Our first stop on the way to Te Anau was to the Shotover Canyon to
enjoy a wee ride down the river.........


.....in a jet boat that is deliberately driven as close to the rock walls of the canyon as possible!! What a blast this was, and Sandy (we will not disclose her age, but she's up there!) thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We were all a bit wet at the end, but the blistering heat soon dried us off. Of course, we had to celebrate with a beverage - why not?

Our next stop was Te Anau where Sandy had a cabin for two nights and very kindly shared it with us. this is when we all disvoered just how much we snore.....crap. Errin remains the angel of the group - in snoring only, I might add!!

Getting to Doubtful sound is not that easy as it is very remote. We drove to Manapouri, got a ferry to take us to the other side of Lake Manapouri, a journey of about an hour - magnificent scenery already. Then we got a bus from there to Deep Cove, which was about an hour....and then to the cruise boat. This is one of the views on the road to Deep Cove, with Doubtful Sound in the background



The cruise was stunning. Doubtful Sound is the deepest and longest of the Sounds, and is not as touristy as Milford Sound. It rains about 8 metres a year, 200 days of the year....but not when we were there!! We saw a few dolphins, but they were very shy and did not play for us. No whales.

The highlight of the boat ride was when they pulled into a cove, turned off the engines and everything that would make a noise, and 70+ people stood in absolute silence to listen to the "Sounds of Silence". Raw. Emotional. Powerful. Incredible.

Not a person on the boat was unaffected by this, just to listen to nature. It was truly amazing.



But all good things must come to an end and we dropped Sandy off to catch her bus to Dunedin this morning. Lots of hugs later, we all promise to meet again.....but perhaps not in such a flamboyant van!!

Thanks Sandy, you are the best!!



Our adventure will continue as we spend, oh, 4 days in QUEENSTOWN!!!!!!

Lots of love,

Errin & Joan