Post by The Symbolic Sacrifice on Jul 13, 2004 20:35:55 GMT -5
okay, I admit I have an obsession with snow.
The snowman had to wait because we were
frightened into action to get to our next port of
call pronto before the roads were closed.
I could not taking pics, there was snow
everywhere
Te Anau - gateway to Milford Sound.
The snow stopped falling, the roads were open
- just, there were small amounts of ice and
unmelted snow on the road which was piled to
the sides.
We stopped for morning tea/brunch at a little
cafe with a log fire going, the weather looked
ominous and was getting darker by the minute.
The boys could care less about food and were
having serious snowball fights.
Anyone in the car park was fairgame, but they
only had on jeans and long sleeved t-shirts,
no gloves, hats or water proof clothing.
They came back in soaked through but
laughing and then the snow started to come
down in earnest, the biggest flakes I had seen
in my short experience with falling snow.
Then I found the cafe's garden.
So we kept driving, snow is so funny when
you're moving quickly, it doesn't wet the
windscreen, just blows over the top of the car.
Jeff kept reaching over and closing my mouth,
it seemed to be forever open in awe.
The road stayed clear and the snow stopped,
by the time we arrived at Te Anau the sun
was shining and there was not a bit of snow
to be seen.
We went out to a pub for dinner, Teresa, Nathan
and Brendon stayed at the motel and we were
bringing them takeaway home.
The meal was great and we spoke to other
tourists who were driving to Milford Sound the
next morning as well.
Everyone was worrying about the road being
closed and having to use chains, especially as
it had started to snow again and it covered
everything extremely quickly.
Jeff and Steve decided to stay and have a few
drinks and play some pool.
Johannah, Craig and I were elected to take
the takeaway home.
Thats when the fun started
We crunched out to the car and it was covered
in snow, we got in and started it but I couldn't
see out the back, front or sides.
The demister was doing a really slow job,
so Craid got out and scraped off a heap of snow
from the back window, the winscreen wiper
removed it from the front window in one fell
swoop and crashed it to the bonnet.
I mistakenly thought I could get rid of the side
window snow to see out of the side mirror to
reverse, but as I pushed the button for the
window it all came tumbling in and fell on my
lap. That was the end of me, I couldn't stop
laughing, and nobody knew the way back
to the motel.
We drove around not being able
to see, not being able to recognise a thing,
hey it was all covered in white and looked
totally different.
Half an hour later we found it (it was a five
minute walk) but the takeaways were icy
We woke up to a fairyland that was white,
it was everywhere but the roads seemed ok.
We set off at 8am so that we could catch the
11am boat into the Sound. The drive was only
50 kms, but all hairpin bends.
I couldn't stop taking photos because there
was snow everywhere, it looked like a winter
wonderland, all the pine trees were so beautiful.
I even saw my first snow plough
Then we saw the tunnel that went under the
mountain and was usually closed the road due
to avalanche.
The signs said road open all the way, so in
we went, from brilliant white to dingy black,
the eyes took forever to adjust and the
tunnel looked really narrow, I just hoped that
no-one would come the other way.
It was just an illusion, there was plenty of room,
but the light at the end of the tunnel sure looked
great.
We arrived with 5 mins to spare as the horn
blasted from the boat, we jumped aboard and
they took off.
I doubt the photos will do justice to the
magnificent scenery within the Sound (fiord)
but it was breathtaking.
I just took photos from the moment we started
until the moment the boat pulled up again to
the terminal.
Going back to Te Anau on the same road we
came in on was a total surprise, there was
no snow anywhere, not even a bit hiding,
it was like it hadn't existed in the first place.
How weird was that?
Next stop back to the east coast and Dunedin.
First place on our agenda was Larnach Castle,
New Zealands only castle.
Never visited a castle before and the imagination
ran riot.
Next was was an albatross reserch centre,
where the come back every year to breed.
On to Twizel, gateway to Mt Cook, New
Zealand's highest peak.
We had two nights at Twizel thinking we could
get a bit more skiing in but all the resorts had
already closed due to poor snow.
We did a two hour walk in Mt Cook National Park
walk over a suspension bridge that really swayed
badly and finally we got to make a snowman with
some leftover snow we found in a crevase.
Had a gourmet pizza for tea and had an early
night.
Our last couple of days we spent in Christchurch
while Steve and family kept driving to the North
Island.
We went up in the Gondala, went to a Heritage
Town and then our last stop was to The Antartic
Centre.
The scenery in New Zealand was exactly like the
Lord of the Rings Trilogy, I bought a location guide
for where scenes were filmed.
It was spring time so all the lambs were being
born and the countryside was dotted with all
these cute little white things, that Craig and
myself plotted to take one home with us.
They lost hundreds in the cold snap that
happened.
The vineyards had to hire helicopters during
the coldest part of the nightsand set braziers
at the end of each row to stop frost damage
on the buds.
Well there you have it, hope it wasn't too boring,
do yourself a favour and get over there for a
holiday, it is AMAZING.
~SS~