A Fjord for you and Track for me
Te Anau & Milford Sound & the Kepler Track, New Zealand
December 10, 2007
te anau
And I was on my way to humble little Te Anau. Another spectacular day with equally spectacular views as our little van coasted along an open road through the mountain ranges that bordered both sides. Te anau, te anau, te anau…that name ring a bell? Well…that’s actually because it’s my current home-sweet-home! But let’s go back in time when I was just a mere traveller through such a lovely place that sits so nicely on a beautiful outstretching lake up to peaked mountains that stretch as far as the eye can see…(ya…I kinda like it here) The place is aptly named “gateway to fiordland”.
here ya go!
Now…fjords are a wonder in themselves…and I couldn’t wait to catch a glimpse. And if you’re wondering what exactly this term that sounds as if it came straight out of a Tolkien novel is, allow me: a fiord is a narrow inlet carved out by a glacier that moved from the mountains out towards the sea…and as a result leaving behind high, sheer, steep rock faces on either side. It’s like a maze of waterways (they call “arms” of the fjord) carving throughout giant mountain peaks…often gently rounded on the tops because a massive block of ice acted like sandpaper scraping over their tops for quite some time. Wow…that is probably that most unscientific explanation…but you get the idea. To make matters slightly more confusing…the fjords of new Zealand are called “sounds”…which is a close cousin of a fjord but not the same thing. A sound forms when the sea backs into and floods a river valley. Why the incorrect term you ask? Well…when Captain Cook sailed around these islands the term fjord didn’t exist…so they were close enough to accurate at the time.
view from the top, near the Luxmore Hut
And something else I’d been hearing so much about were all the tramps one could do down in the southland. I was still a little hesitant as I didn’t really have all the gear and wasn’t sure if I was up to such a treck…hiking for 4 days with a pack on?? I’d just never done it before! You must remember that I arrived in New Zealand completely ignorant of the fact that most visitors come solely for the WORLD famous hiking and camping. And it is truly unlike anywhere else. There are over 500 huts for use by trampers all over the country awaiting those who take the time and effort to stare at a map for hours on end, planning a route and just heading out preparedly hoping for the best. For most of the people though, the but searching is left to those in the know…and are mostly kept between what are termed the “Great Walks” of New Zealand.
ferns...all over. as you can see...the path was pretty damn easy to follow
There are brouchers, carefully guided instructions on what to wear, what to pack, and the “can I do it?” advice, pre-made bookings (some up to a year in advance!) and even tickets to present to the hut warden upon arrival. Yes…it’s a pretty organized system. And I was completely oblivious to the whole dang thing. I owe this up to the fact that I am not from what you may term an “outdoorsy” or “camping” family. I have never had to carry my own pack, or pitch a tent in the wilderness. My camping extended to Indian princess weekends where you park your car outside the “campsite”…and pretend to rough it. Ahhh city folk. And that’s what I also get for being an orange county girl scout…I know how to sell cookies and knit a tea cozy!
ya!
So. I settled into the YHA here (little did I know how monumental this choice would for my future) and booked onto a kayak trip to Doubtful Sound (really a fiord). I also walked down to the DOC (department of conservation…and around these parts you just say “where’s the ‘dock’ office?”) to inquire about hopping on one of these “great walks tramps” I’d heard about. And like I said before, it is impossible to travel in new Zealand and not be immersed in the entire outdoors experience…people are constantly talking about hiking, kayaking, biking etc. and in te anau…many of the guests had come to tramp two very well known NZ tracks: the Milford and the Kepler. Given that the first is rated one of the best walks in the world, I would have had to made a booking about the time I was leaving on this whole travel extravaganza. Soooo, Kepler sounds good to me!
ridgeline of the Kepler on a spectacularly clear day
At first, I was so intimidated by the whole thing…thinking…can I do it? Will I make it up that mountain with a pack on? What should I bring? Are these shoes ok? Well the friendly people at DOC answered all my fevered inquiries and I was skipping home excited for this new adventure I’d have over the next few days. And what a wondrous few days it was. The weather was spectacular…got so lucky. The second day of the track winds its way over the ridge of the mountain to incredible views all around. I just couldn’t stop saying “wooow! This is AMAZING!! Wow! Wow! I can’t believe this…I’ve got to get into this more!” and needless to say that it was waaay easier than I expected…I got to the top of the “hardest section” and thought “that’s it?! That was waaay easier than any hockey workout” haha. So I was excited I’d found something else I enjoyed and was well suited for.
The last day of the trek wound through the valley and along some beautifully secluded beach areas…is this paradise? Then on through more rainforest until I exited out of the track and hitched my way back to civilization, still elated by the whole experience. And though I was lucky with the tramping weather, my kayak trip was unfortunately canceled to my extreme disappointment. But because of this I was left to hang around te anau and as my mum firmly believes…everything happens for a reason: I got to know the staff quite well in this time…played tennis with one guy who works here every night and somehow was roped into (ok…I really did want to…weird theatre kid) dressing up for their chirstmas parade…yes…home-made floats and everything (sure you’ve seen the pictures by now). Was too much fun as I giggled along in the small-town atmosphere and hunger for entertainment….at the end of the line was a gathering with greasy food stands and a band playing inside the storage-end of a full-sized transport truck (you have the image??). how great. And i continued to meet the staff at the YHA bbq and found how much I missed such a family-style atmosphere…tons of laughter…and even free beer.
YHA Christmas Parade pals!
Though I didn’t get out to Doubtful Sound I did make it to the more famous Milford sound luckily hopping on a bus of a driver I had met in queenstown who generously offered to help a poor traveler out by providing a free ride and cruise of the magnificent Milford. I happily accepted and got on the bus grinning and happy to have made friends with a bus driver! Though the day turned out not to be the brightest or clearest (i.e. it was raining and foggy) Milford showed its true self among the misty air that hung in and around the peaks of fiordland.
on the way to Milford...the drive there is just a part of the spectacular beauty
twas a stormy day (authentic Milford) but you can kind of get the scale of the place in this pic. look at how tiny the boats are!
This, mind you, is one of the wettest places in the world. It rains about 280 days a year (and roughly 8 metres of it…yes…metres) and makes it the wondrous place it is so I really couldn’t complain. I quite liked Milford in its “natural” setting. And when it rains…the water comes cascading down from about 1000 different points….more waterfalls than you can possibly imagine…so no, I didn’t mind the rain. So I jumped on board with all those other sorry paying individuals (heh) and headed into the huge green rising peaks that surrounded us…and if anything can make you feel small in the world…the fjords are it. Just incredible. But because the fog was hovering we couldn’t actually see the tops of any of the peaks. And even still…it felt massively impressive in stature.
waterfalls everywhere you looked
i decided to get soaked as we went right up to one of those pumping waterfalls...wooo!
As we rode along there were more and more waterfalls! the boat cruised right up to the biggest, about twice the size of Niagra falls, …warning any passengers wishing to stay dry to stay well inside the vessel. Because I was already half-soaked from standing outside in the rain taking photos and had received a complimentary dumping off the roof when the boat swayed, timed perfectly with my stepping out from the cover to get a better angle. So I figured…ya…let’s do it! One of the workers and me braved the elements to see this thing up close. And by up close I mean…I was thinking we were going to drive right through the thing…the massive falls thundered and blew so much mist I felt like I was being thrown into a very extreme kind of water park. It was great! People from inside watched us as if we had lost our minds. What a rush though! And a perfectly good shower. I was now officially soaking wet (we had after all practically jumped into the falls)…and came back in smiling so wide I must have made a few people jealous. I mean…it’s just a bit of water. I stayed in milford that night and pretty quickly found that there is actually nothing to do there…especially if you don’t have a car to drive to the day hikes in the area. And anyway it was raining…so curling up with a book and my journal in the cozy common area of the hostel sounded perfect. Then…back to Te Anau again! After hanging out in this little town for so long I was growing quite fond of it.
and when it cleared a bit...just stunning
As I bussed out of te anau and up the revered west coast of the south island I began to contemplate: wow…I really love new Zealand, i don’t have any sort of commitments at home, no job, no relationship (I’m sure my family is screaming right now…what about us??! Well of course I miss you guys!), no court dates, nothing to get back to really…aaaaand I already have a work visa…all the signs were loudly hinting it: a longer stay in new Zealand?? of course now this is all old news now…but at the time it was life-changing! and since you guys already know the rest of that story…I’ll end it there for now.
BackpackNomadic 