Te Anau and the sounds

Milford sound or Doubtful sound?

Milford Sound

Next stop was the town of Te Anau, which is the last "big" town center before you head off either to Milford or Doubtful Sound (neither of which is a sound , but a fjord - a valley carved by a glacier and filled by the sea).

My Dutch friend, always hard to impress, told me she drove past and went "meh", and that they are probably similar enough that it is pointless to do both. She said "choose Doubtful because Milford Sound is too commercialized".

Indeed, Milford Sound is the more famous between the two. According to the hostel owner, this is because the road to Milford Sound was funded by the government and for this same reason is is being pushed hard as a tourist destination.
I don't know if that's true.
Milford sound is also the more accessible of the two - allowing day trips from Queenstown.

As it turned out, I was lucky - end of season prices for the overnight cruise to Doubtful  made it cheaper than overnight to Milford.
However, I still felt that if I go to Doubtful only, I will be missing out something everyone talks about. I compromised by taking a kayaking trip to Milford.
Both were dramatic, gorgeous and fun.

Milford - is easier to get to, the 'hills' are sharper and steeper. But because we were on a kayak we didn't go as far as we did on the boat, but we did see a seal up close.

Doubtful - is bigger and I found in some ways more dramatic than Milford. Due to the weather we didn't go as far as the seal colony, and we didn't see dolphins while kayaking (I am told this is a 50-50 chance as Doubtful Sound does have a pod of bottlenose dolphins).
My Dutch friend was correct though - they are similar enough, so if you are  pressed for time or money it is hard to justify both. Milford is closer and better for a day trip, but I liked Doubtful better for the entire fjord cruise experience.

The cruise itself?
One of the best experiences I had in New Zealand so far!
In fact, just getting there was amazing! Minopouri lake with it's view to Te Anau and the snow covered mountains was gorgeous, so much that for a moment I forgot we were on the lake and thought we must be in Doubtful Sound already!
You are being fed well while on the ship, almost too well. When you get there, there are muffins and coffee all the way until the evening where you are served a real feast.

The end of season, despite the discount was not a busy time so most people got to be the only ones in their room. My room for 4, was occupied by just me and another girl.

Despite positive weather forecasts, it rained a lot while I was on the ship, and while I was kayaking... The good thing about it that my pants were already wet enough I didn't mind doing jumping off the ship for a swim (yeah I didn't bring my swimming suit, because who is crazy enough to be swimming in that cold???)
The other good thing about the rainfall was... hundreds of spectacular waterfalls. According to the nature guide, they don't measure rainfall in mm, but in meters, and the Doubtful Sound gets about 5 meters per year! (I believe the kayaking guide at Milford said 6 meters per year, but either way that's a heck lot!).

Mirror lake. Is this the "long white cloud" which is the namesake of the country?

Kayaking in Milford Sound

Te Anau

Te Anau

The dorm room on the ship

Doubtful Sound

Our ship!

Kayaking in Doubtful Sound

Abandon ship!

Damn it's cold!

I actually felt warm afterwards.

We got to drink some moss filtered water

Doubtful Sound

Queenstown

My Dutch friend, who incidentally was staying there at the time, described Queenstown as 4 times bigger than Wanaka, and 4 times as "touristy".

She wasn't far off the mark. Queenstown turned out to be a pretty damn cool place, with a 'city centre' that felt more like an outdoor shopping mall than anything else. It is known as the adrenaline capital of NZ, and the advertising push for bengee jumping, sky diving and canyon swing is pretty hard.

I have stayed in The Flaming Kiwi backpackers, and I do recommend that place! For one thing free unlimited internet!

During my stay there was no snow, so I did not ski. However, I did walk to the Queenstown gardens, the lakefront path and the Queenstown hill (Dunedin has nothing in Queenstown hill, on the way there, there is nothing like watching a dad pushing a stroller up the giant slope!)

Queenstown gardens

 

 

Dunedin and Otago peninsula

According to the bus driver, Dunedin is the Gaelic name for Edinburgh, and that a lot of street names have been copied from there.

The vineyard exchange host has this to say about Dunedin:  "Dunedin has Scottish origins; the locals won’t let you forget that.  It is legend that Scotsmen have a formula for finding the perfect wife and only seek out women who meet the criteria which are:  Strong Legs for hill climbing; Good Broad Hips for child bearing; The Personality and Training of Mother Teresa for raising the children correctly and; The Bedroom Skills of a high class prostitute!!"
 
As far as scotish influences go, I think I only noticed it from one scotish store at the city centre. My own first impression of Dunedin was that the city is uphill both ways.

Scottish influence or not, the city is charming and unique in its own right. It does have its own fair share of Gothic architecture which is nice to look at, but what I liked the most is the hilly streets. the multi level landscape is just something special.

As I was walking aimlessly through the city street, I came across a chocolate factory. A CHOCOLATE FACTORY! I mean, who am I not to go in and realise a childhood dream.

I did overdo it though with the sampling and ended up going back to the hostel and not doing any more walking for the rest of the day.

School for boys

University of Otago

The train station

On my last day in Dunedin, I went into the tourist centre and booked myself on the next excursion to the Otago peninsula.

Maori meeting place

We boarded some Canadian made offroad vehicle....

I gotta say that it was well worth the drive as the seal colony was so close to us! Fur seal puppies are one of the most adorable creatures I've seen!

We did spot one little blue penguin (the smallest penguin in the world). Apparently they only come out in the evening and love to live in rocks.

There were also yellow eyed penguins, but far away down on the beach.

Fur seal pups

Yellow eyed penguins

Little blue penguin