Day 10
The first of our full days in Queenstown was a booked bus tour to Milford Sound via Te Anau. To be truthful, it was a painfully long bus ride - 2+ hrs to Te Anau and then another 1.5 to Milford. But, you couldn't come to Queenstown and not see this iconic site. The main mountain in Milford Sound, Mitre Peak, is so named because the very top of the mountain looks like a Bishop's hat or mitre. After arriving in Milford we boarded the Milford Mariner, were supplied a packed lunch and then had a lovely 2hr cruise right out to the Tasman Sea & back. Once out at the Tasman Sea end, we spotted one of the numerous cruise ships that regularly visit the sounds around this area, and it followed us back into Milford Sound. Actually, these water areas are incorrectly termed sounds, they are instead fiords, as they were formed by glaciers that carved out the valleys (not rivers), which were then flooded by the sea when the glaciers melted & sea levels rose. We all thought it might be better to do the sight seeing by plane or helicopter from Queenstown, or otherwise base yourself in Te Anau for a couple of nights to see Milford or Doubtful Sound or the glow worm caves. The latter one is tomorrow's trip.
Day 11
Today it was the glow worm caves just on the other side of the Lake Te Anau - so again, an even earlier morning start to the bus ride to Te Anau, and then a very long wait for the first ferry trip across to the caves. We filled in the wait by finding an internet cafe and blogging to you all - a good use of time. Then, at 2pm, we caught the ferry across the lake to Caves House. The tunnels housing the glow worms are a small part of a very long underground river system that starts well up in the mountains. The tour was a mix of walking into the tunnel caves and then a small boat into the grotto housing the glow worms. As you walked in there was a torrential river running out of the caves & further inside a waterfall that made a thunderous sound. But we all had to be quiet inside the grotto, as glow worms "switch off" if there is light or noise. It was, literally, like looking up at the stars on a clear dark night somewhere well away from city lights. It was beautiful. Tomorrow, a completely different experience.
Day 12
Today, the second of the Lord of The Rings tours, this time to Dart Stables in Glenorchy. Fortunately, the bus ride was only short (40 mins) and in the opposite direction to the previous days. After being fitted with riding boots & riding hard hats. Another 20mins into the mountains took us to Paradise, the name of the station itself, that the horses were stabled. Many of these horses had actually been used in the LOTR films, and both kids got to ride horses that were used in the movie. So they now officially Riders of Rohan!!
The ride took us to the Dart River, where Isengard was filmed and we also saw the tree where they filmed Boromir die at the end of the first movie. Apparently they regularly have films & ads shot in the area, including scenes from Narnia: Prince Caspian and Wolverine (with Hugh Jackman). All in all, lots of fun, and everyone loved it.
Tomorrow we are driving to Mt Cook.......
