My Best Two Weeks in NZ (so far)-Part 2- The Southern Scenic Route

When we last left our gentle readers, it was Wednesday November 11, 2010 in Dunedin. Our intrepid tramping party of three Wallace sibs had met up with Fayne the night before. Fayne and I spent the morning in the Immigration Office trying to get our work visas extended beyond the 22nd so as to not become illegal aliens. This included a trip to the courthouse to swear we were in a real, not a sham, domestic partnership. Mission accomplished. Next, it was time to deposit Las Hermanas Wallace at the airport. Since they were first off on a brief domestic hop to Christchurch, there was no problem escorting them to the gate. The Dunedin Airport was surprisingly pleasant with good shopping (Athena and Cheryl got a lot of good retail therapy done.)

Heading south, we took the Southern Scenic Route, which winds in a U-shape from Dunedin to Te Anau. First stop, Balclutha, a small town noteworthy to me as the first place I almost worked in New Zealand. I won't go into details, but the job description discussed on the phone was different than the contract sent, so I declined. I had a helpful contact there, Irene Mosley, a woman working as a recruitment coordinator for the hospital. She left a standing invitation to drop by when going through, so we did. She kindly showed us around the hospital and town, and took us to lunch. I got the impression (let me clear these were NOT her words) that the hospital treated American locums physicians like rented mules. I think I made the right choice.
The road led along the coast, sometimes on unpaved (unsealed, as they say here) roads, past too many waterfalls, views, and walks to savor in one afternoon.

Purakaunui Falls

Florence Hill Lookout

Our destination for the night was Invercargill, near the bottom of the South Island. This is another place we almost lived, but we chose Timaru for a better climate- less rain, wind, and cold. Again, a good choice. Invercargill is noted for a few things. The Southland museum is home to the largest collection of tuataras, a fascinating reptile, the closest living relative of the dinosaur. Most famous of all is Henry, the 110+ yo patriarch. It is also the hometown of favorite son Burt Munro, immortalized by Anthony Hopkins in the film "The World's fastest Indian". Here is a replica of his bike made for the film.
Invercargill is a long, straight town laid out in a strict rectangular grid. Landmarks include the 1888 brick water tower and the quite magnificent central Queens Park, featuring tall walls of rhododendrons.
It is also en route to its harbor at Bluff,
the stepping-off point to Stewart Island, essentially a nature preserve for native New Zealand flora and fauna. You arrive in the only tiny town on the island, Oban.

We were essentially on a day-tripping visit, but made time to take a cruise to Ulva Island, one of many islands intended as a predator-free safe haven.Of all creatures, New Zealand is most hospitable to birds, and they are found in abundance.

A Robin (I think)

The rainforest is home to exotic plants and flowers, like these tiny orchids.

I would love to come back to hike across one of the longer trails, but it was time to resume our trip up the Western side of the Southern Scenic Route. We weren't prepared for the beauty of this. (It is as if there are so many beautiful vistas in NZ they tire of bragging about them all.) This was the view of Te Waewae Bay at McCracken's Rest.

We were headed to Manapouri on the lake of the same name to start our next adventure, an overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound aboard the Fiordland Navigator. This fiord is south of Milford Sound, and was named by Capt. James Cook, who was doubtful he would have enough wind to turn his ship around if he entered it. Our voyage began with a trip across Lake Manapouri  to the western edge.

Here, mountains of granite separate the deep alpine lake from the sea. Clever engineers in the 1960's built a power station 200 m. deep down to generate electricity by drawing water from the lake. This project was the beginning of the Green Movement in NZ, because the initial plan also called for raising the level of the lake 30 meters, flooding a huge area. Kiwis arouse en masse, changed governments, and halted that part of the project..
From the end of the lake, you board a bus to go over Wilmont pass on a road built and still maintained by the power company, descending to Deep Cove on the sound to board our vessel. Unlike earlier at Milford, it was now cloudy and drizzling most of the time, which made it perfect to see hundreds of waterfalls. With the mist and water, it was really a Middle Earth experience. Judge for yourselves.

Fun, comfortable, quiet except for the sound of running water and naturalist's intermittent commentary. Of course there were some penguins, dolphins, fur seals, and birds. (See my last posting from Milford for more of that.)  Saturday morning, as we returned on the bus over the pass, the skies had cleared enough for this view of Doubtful Sound.

We drove from Manapouri to Wanaka (again, see the previous blog entry) to spend the night. I was struck by these lovely, multicolored foxgloves (Margaret corrects me: they are lupin) (there may be heaps like this by Hwy 1, for all I know). Sunday, back to Timaru to begin my second phase/overtime with work, concluding my best two weeks in New Zealand (so far)!