Day 35 San Francisco

I have called this the same day as the previous post because we passed through the international date line and found that after the night flight we arrived in San Francisco before we left Aukland!  We also crossed the equator for the second time in our lives.

Alcatraz

We landed in SF by 1000 and eventually got to our hotel by about 1300.  We are on the 39th floor and have some magnificent views of the city including Alcatraz.  

We freshened and rested a short time before exploring some nearby parts of the city.  Chinatown was very interesting and we saw sealions on the wharf.

We aim to go on a boat trip under the bridge and round the harbour tomorrow and a ride on a tram on the day after.

SF at night

Day 35 Dunedin/Aukland

Mounts Cook & Tasman

Today was regretfully our last in New Zealand.  Will we ever be back?  I think we hope so.

Mount Egmont

We were up early, had a quick breakfast and made the short trip to Dunedin airport.  We deposited the hire car and then checked in our luggage etc.  We were able to check the luggage in right through to San Francisco which was a bonus.  The flight to Aukland was about 1 1/2 hours and was very smooth.  We were able to see the peaks of mountains in the southern island which we had not seen before because of cloud and when flying over North Island we saw the unmistakable peak of mount Egmont showing above the clouds (we had not been near Mount Egmont when we were in the north). 

We  arrived in Aukland and had the long wait until 7:30 before the takeoff to San Francisco but with people watching and doing different things it was not too bad.  

Day 34 Dunedin

The posts are coming thick and fast now as we are able to catch up with a good internet connection in San Francisco!

Dunedin station

We had a couple of hours to explore the city in the morning and went to see the railway station said to be the most photographed building in the southern hemisphere – anyway it looks better than the average British Rail.  The town centre was disappointing as far as shops were concerned but had some traditional colonial buildings.  

Pukeko

spoonbills

We soon made our way back to our accommodation because at 1:00 we were being picked up for another wildlife tour – a penguin colony and boat tour round the peninsula to see albatrosses and other sea birds etc.

hospital penguins

adult with yellow collar

Adult + 3 young penguins (no collar)

small blue penguin in his hide

It went well.  On the way in a minibus we saw spoonbills and some pukeko.  We arrived at the yellow-eyed penguin colony and were given an interesting short appreciation of their life cycle.  At this time some of them are still ashore as they moult – they have to get rid of last year’s feathers and regrow this year’s in about 2 months and all without any food as they cannot go to sea to fish because their new coat was not waterproof.  We were then led to some hides where we could observe and photograph them.  They also have a small hospital – like Gweek seal sanctuary – where they help injured and orphaned young penguins.  All brilliant stuff and we saw some blue penguins as well.

white capped albatross

northern royal albatross in flight

We then had to go to sea ourselves and managed to photograph two types of albatross and saw more seals, shearwaters and petrels.  It was quite an experience and again we were able to go out into the sea further as it was so calm.  We then made our way back to the harbour and eventually the lodgings.  We had thoroughly enjoyed a very special day for us.

Day 33 Doubtful Sound/Dunedin

Apologies for the delay in posting this day's activities but we had an early start, a long drive and then settling into the accommodation.  When we left Dunedin the internet connection was not good at Aukland airport (no CostaCoffee!).  

It was overcast and misty when we started the next day but it was soon clearing.  It proved to be a very successful day viewing the local wildlife.  We soon found a pod of bottle nosed dolphins which gave a good performance for us.   

mist clearing

We also met a couple of crested penguins which were swimming in the sound.  

Crested Penguins

By this time the mist and cloud had cleared and we we were making our return journey back to Deep Cove, the bus and across Lake Manapouri to the car.  It had been an unforgettable experience and it was so good to see the conservation programmes working and the threatened populations now recovering.

Why is it called Doubtful Sound?  Capt. Cook gave it that name because the predominant wind is westerly and if he anchored down the sound he doubted he would be able to sail out again.

We then successfully made our way on the journey to Dunedin successfully finding our destination with the help of the satnav.

Day 32 Doubtful Sound

The day began overcast but improved as we made our way from Te Anau to Lake Manapouri where we began our Doubtful Sound experience.  The journey involved crossing Lake Manapouri to the western arm, and then disembarking from that boat and taking a coach journey across Wilmott Pass to Deep Cove the eastern end of Doubtful Sound, all of that took from 1230 until 230.  We soon settled into our cabin on the Fiordland Navigator and were underway up the sound looking for the various forms of wildlife.  We were already warned of one form of wildlife – sandflies – finding us and so we used plenty of anti-insect.  We were offered the chance to join smallboat expeditions to check around the edges of the sound and that was a good experience – no waves of any extent.

A bit later we rejoined the larger boat and headed to the end of the sound where it joins the Tasman Sea.  On the way we met some dusky dolphins – very small only about 2 feet long – and some more fur seals of the variety we had seen close up at Kaikoura.  We also met a blue penguin swimming but they are so small we could not get a good photo.  The sea was unusually calm when we reached the mouth of the sound  and we had a wonderful view back the way we came.

We then made our way back to a sheltered side sound for our night’s anchorage.

First view Doubtful

View from Tasman Sea

Day 31 Te Anau

Takehe

Kea

It started off cloudy but eventually the sun came out for another dry day.  We consider ourselves to have been very fortunate with the weather - we have been told it rains for 200 days each year on the west coast.  This morning we went to a nature reserve and saw Takehes (only 250 left in the world) and a parrot called Kea (only 5000 in the world).  They are operating programmes to build the populations up. 

In the afternoon we took a boat trip across the lake and went down some caves and observed some glow worms in complete darkness.  The whole trip was well organised and it was an interesting experience.  Some of the surrounding mountains still have snow on them.

Tomorrow we are off to Doubtful Sound for an overnight boat cruise and so there won't be a blog until at least the day after that - we will enjoy our cruise and let you know if we see any dolphins, penguins and albatrosses.

Day 30 Te Anau

Yesterday was probably the coldest of our time in New Zealand but today was obviously brighter and warmer.  We headed further south from Queenstown to small town of Te Anau on the lake of that name.  The start of the journey was along the side of Lake Wakatipu and as usual was very scenic.

 We left the lake at a place called Kingston and had read about a steam train called the "Kingston Flyer", we started travelling alongside railway tracks and eventually came across the train preparing to make a journey.  If you like steam trains turn the sound on and enjoy!

After that excitement we carried on to get to Te Anau in the early afternoon and the temperature was now a very comfortable 23 degrees.  We had some lunch and went to our lodge where we soon learnt that there was going to be a wedding in the grounds a bit later and so Christine wanted to watch that excitement.
 
We stayed a little while before going back into town to watch a film of the fiordland scenery - some of which we hope to see.

Day 29 Queenstown

An update from yesterday, we had hoped to change our flight bookings so that one of us occupied an aisle seat so that we needn't disturb anyone else when we wanted to get up during the long flights.  At the moment we are unable to change but we will try again when we check in at Dunedin.  

Today was a bit cooler and cloudier but we went on our coal fired, steam driven ship on a cruise across Lake Wakatipu to a farmstead.  The ship was launched in 1912 the year after the Titanic but luckily we didn't meet any icebergs!  There was a viewing gallery where you could watch and listen to everything going round and up and down.  As you can see she threw out some smoke whilst underway.

We saw parts of the lake we hadn't viewed before but after about 40 mins of a memorable journey we were at our destination.  We were welcomed by a farmer who said he was going to demonstrate some of the workings of a New Zealand farm.  First off we were given a demonstration of how a sheep is sheared - in front of our eyes and very interesting. Next a "One man and his dog" type demonstration with him whistling and talking to a border collie.  We were then allowed to feed some farm animals - sheep, alpacas, deer and highland cattle.  We really enjoyed the trip which lasted most of today and we have enjoyed the fact 
that for the past two days no driving has been involved and we have just sat back and been entertained.

Day 28 Queenstown

Our second of three days in Queenstown dawned dry but cloudy.  After breakfast we walked the 2km pathway into town and had a look at the gardens which had the fountain. We then had a further browse, did some shopping and had a sit by the quayside and enjoyed a drink watching the local activity.  We then walked the 2km back.


The afternoon was spent sorting ourselves out with clothes and improving our seats for the flights home.

Earnslaw

We had booked a cable car ride up a mountain for the evening with a meal in the restaurant at the top.  The view was stunning with the mountains and the town seen at a different perspective.  Down below we could see as well the SS Earnslaw - a 1912 steamship which plies up and down the lake - which we have booked a trip on tomorrow.  We are looking forward to it. 

Day 27 Queenstown

We made the short but scenic journey from Wanaka to Queenstown today (so named because it was said to be fit enough for Queen Victoria).  We stopped first at the old gold mining town of Cardrona.

 Parts of it are kept as it was in the early 1900s.  We were told that when prospectors first came here in the 1860s they found gold nuggets just laying on the nearby river bed!  It was a very active place for a time but then gradually died but has reinvented itself as a ski resort with good slopes nearby.

The ground either side of the road was sort of "scrubby" and I suppose when the snow comes it is OK.  The road is highest metalled road in New Zealand (1076m) and a bit later on we had some fantastic views. 

We had to descend down a twisty road to lake level and then took a quick detour to another mining town of Arrow Town which again has retained some of its buildings.  We spent a couple of hours in the museum, having a picnic and doing some shopping.
A great little stop-off.

Arrow Town

View from balcony

We then made our way to the hotel where we are staying on Lake Wakatipu and took a picture from the balcony.