Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Having tried and failed to persuade every single bar with Sky in Queenstown that it would be really good business to open up three or four hours early and combine a full English breakfast with a chance to watch England play Wales for the six nations decider we decided to cut our losses and try Te Anau. A quick look in Lonely Planet, followed by a phone call assured us that the Moose Bar did have a set with ESPN and we would be able to watch the repeats of the six nations from 7pm.
After a journey in which all radio was banned and games of " I know who I am" substituted we arrived in Te Anau much as Butch and Sundance had arrived in Bolivia; only Te Anau was perhaps a tad quieter. Only the tumbleweed was missing.
Unabashed we checked out the Moose bar and, as a back up, The Ranch Bar (which had SKY but no ESPN) then moved on to get "the best pies in Southland" from Miles Pies. Really nice pies Lindsay had Chicken and Bacon and Roger Venison (culinary note for Catherine) but romantic lunch spoiled when we had to put fingers in our ears and go "La, la,la" when the café radio went to sports news. Other diners rather surprised at this.
After lunch it started to rain so we amused ourselves with booking a tour to Milton Sound for the following day, visiting the supermarket and watching episodes of "Sherlock". A bit of dinner- pork stir fry then off to Moose. A bit worried at first when we realised the St. Patrick's night celebrations had started with a couple of pretty good Irish singers. Barman put TV on silent for us and we stood watching whilst the rest of the customers cavorted round with big green hats on the top of big orange hair. We got a couple of drinks. Seven came around and the Match started - Ireland versus Italy. It was going to be a long night and we'd need to pace ourselves. Half an eye on the match the other one and a half eyes on the entertainment. Lots of Irish stuff…Black Velvet Band, Wild Rover, and bizarrely "Fairy Tale of New York " - perhaps Christmas comes a little later here.
By nine our pacing had gone a little astray, whilst at the other end of the Bar a number of Kiwis were doing a good impression of Stavros Flattley. Could be a good night if only England could deliver.
Two hours later we were in a wide ranging conversation with a Kiwi dressed as an Irishman, disappointed and wondering how best to respond to the inevitable banter from Sion, Rich, Jon Ruck Chris Sugden and others whose Welshness had so far been unsuspected . To top off a bloody awful day there was no hot water left to shower!
To rub salt in our wounds I Skyped Becky the following day to find her sat beaming in a Welsh rugby shirt. Think I have now given up any hope of our Grandchildren taking advantage of dual qualification to play sport for England.
Luckily the next day dawned fair and the stunning scenery of Milford Sound in the sunshine did a lot to heal our wounds! Funnily enough it is not actually a Sound but a Fjord having been carved by ice rather than water. We took a nature cruise out on the water (200 feet deep) amidst towering mountains , cascading waterfalls and vertiginous drops and were privileged to see several large pods of dolphins using the Sound to give their young a break from the wide ocean and two colonies of Fur Seals sunning themselves on the rocks. On this occasion Roger was not tempted to go swimming with them as the water was about 8 degrees!
We learned that the bare patches on the mountain sides had been caused by tree avalanches, when one or two trees at the top of the slope gave up the fight to cling to the bare rock face and fell, dragging all the other trees who were holding on by a system of interlocking roots, down into the water with them! Apparently quite a common occurrence in the Sound.
Heading on to Dunedin in the morning - hoping for a little more warmth (Fjordland is pretty chilly, even in the sunshine) and the attractions of life in the Edinburgh of New Zealand!
- comments
Bec It was a joke. PLEASE don't disown me quite yet xx Isn't Milford Sound beautiful...I am so jealous of your adventures, I loved NZ best of all, enjoy the rest of your time there x
Catherine Pies sound tasty!! Wondering whether flaky or puff?? Or maybe just plain old shortcrust!!!! Egg wash or milk??? Round, square, deep dish or shallow??? So much more information required about this highly interesting section of the action packed blog!!!!!! At last something of real culinary excitement and taste bud tingling!!!!