After our adrenaline packed time in Queenstown we headed towards the west coast of New Zealand to explore Milford and Doubtful Sounds. During the drive west was when we heard our first gasp from the back seat. Jake and I in the front and Knox in the back were all startled as we tried to quickly determine if Sharon was ok?! Oh, she was fine - it wasn't Jake's driving that made her gasp, she had just spotted the first of the many deer farms we would pass in the coming days. The farms were just like sheep or cattle farms with large herds of deer grazing on the grass, but with much higher fences. The further we drove west, the more rain we encountered and then it rained consistently for about four days. We didn't let it dampen our spirits too much and enjoyed hours of laughs playing a modified version of Papelito and 500 rummy. I bet that many of you have never heard of Papelito. It's a great game that Jake learned in graduate school from some friends from South America. All you need is a pen, paper and a good imagination. Here's one set of rules on how to play.
We had prebooked two boat trips for this area of NZ, rain or shine. One was a day trip to Milford Sound and the other, an overnight trip into Doubtful Sound. The rain was relentless when we arrived in Milford Sound but that didn't stop us from going sea kayaking. Luckily the company we went with, Go Orange, decked us out with more gear that you can imagine to try to keep us dry and warm. Dry was a joke due to the incredible amount of rain pouring down, but we did stay warm. We had hoped to see a lot of wildlife that day and we saw a fur seal almost as soon as we started kayaking. The second half of our day trip to Milford Sound was to see more by boat. We went out to the Tasman sea and had a pod of dolphins swimming next to us at one point. There are always a handful of waterfalls in Milford Sound but due to the rainfall, we saw more waterfalls that day than the four of us have probably have seen in our entire lifetimes combined. Each member of the crew mentioned more than one time how lucky we were to see the waterfalls. Their powerfulness and beauty were undeniable, but we were ready to see the sun!
Ready to kayak in Milford Sound
Jake and I in our sea kayak with one of those thunderous waterfalls in the background
A few days later we set off for our overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound and it was still raining. The trip was almost canceled because a road we had to cross to get to the boat was just about flooded over. We waited twenty minutes hoping for the water level in the river to go down enough for us to pass and when it did, a large caravan of cars crossed. I was thinking about "What happens when it's time to return? What if the road is washed out then and we are stuck on the other side?!"...luckily that didn't happen. Also lucky for us, the sun came out after our first few hours on the boat! The four of us shared a small cabin under deck with four bunks. It was the first time Sharon and Knox slept overnight on a boat and we all had a good laugh when we saw how small the room was we were sharing! The crew were amazing working hard to provide us with warm muffins and coffee when we boarded, a huge array of delicious food for dinner and plenty of drinks as we waited for the sun to make an appearance. Dinner on the boat was fantastic and was one of Jake and Knox's favorite meals in New Zealand. The menu included roast lamb, beef, smoked salmon. Once the sun arrived, that same crew took us out kayaking, served us breakfast and got the boat ready for the next group. They did it all with a huge smile on their face and I'd highly recommend this trip.
Our overnight vessel while in Doubtful Sound
On our drive through the Catlins, I don't think any of us could believe how many sheep, cows and deer we saw. Jake and I had seen a lot of sheep and cows in Scotland, but New Zealand is on an entirely different scale when it comes to the quantity of these animals. I've heard more than one local (Kiwi) mention, "There are more sheep than people in NZ." and the estimated population of people is four million. Sharon kept the four of us laughing with her gasps of excitement each time a deer farm was spotted. I've never seen someone so excited to see deer, it was hilarious. I'm hoping that during some part of our journey throughout NZ we see wild deer.
Enjoying a beach all to ourselves while driving through the Catilns
The thing I was looking forward to seeing most in the Catlins were the Cathedral Caves. These caves are monitored by Department of Conservation staff and you may only enter during a short window of time around low tide, otherwise it is too dangerous due to the water levels. The two caves are an impressive 30 meters high and the photos I'd seen make it look really spectacular. To get to where they are on the coastline, you first have to drive down two kilometer road, then walk a half an hour. The two days we attempted to go, the road was closed because the sea was too turbulent and they weren't allowing anyone to see the caves. I was very disappointed but enjoyed another walk in the rainforest which we did instead. I don't think the beauty of a rainforest will ever wear off on me. Vibrant green moss covers everything and you feel like you are under an emerald canopy.
Another windy stop in the Catlins
Our last three nights together were spent in the seaside town of Dunedin. It's known as the "Edinburgh of the South" because it was founded by Scottish settlers and I could feel a European vibe as we walked the streets. We enjoyed our time in the Catlins, but I think we were all happy to be back in a place that had a bit more going on. One day we did a tour of Cadbury World and learned about how various Cadbury chocolates are made. Each Cadbury plant around the world focuses on making certain types of chocolates and one of the things the Dunedin plant focuses on is the marshmallow chocolates that Kiwis apparently have a thing for. During the tour, among others, we were given samples of Cadbury Pinky, Cadbury Jaffas, and Pascall Pineapple Lumps. I had never heard of any of them before and they were all delish. I especially liked the Pineapple Lumps which is branded under its subsidiary, Pascall. Unlike Cadbury which is a British company, Pascall started in New Zealand and has been making confections since 1932. The Cadbury Jaffa is a small sphere based choco-orange candy whereas the Pinky reminded me of a Strawberry Charleston chew. We also got to dispense our choice of warm milk chocolate, dark or white chocolate from a frozen-yogurt-type machine. I chose milk chocolate and it was absolutely delicious. I didn't overindulge but it was so rich I couldn't go back for seconds - and that statement is coming from someone who can't understand when someone says "XYZ is too sweet". I typically say that there is no such thing as "too sweet". The one disappointment of the tour is that although we learned about chocolate making, we didn't see any of the production in action. The woman working at our hotel told us that we'd have to wear hair nets, remove our earrings etc. but when we arrived they didn't require any of that. The tours previously showed people chocolate making operations but that ceased some time ago. Our guide said it was because corporate wants everyone to have the same experience when they visit and eliminating that aspect of the tour allows that. Lame. Couldn't they at least have let us peak in through glass windows? I would have loved to see the chocolate being made and packaged. Of all the tours I've been on whether while on vacation or through my previous job - somehow I've never seen live production.
Later that day we visited Speight's Brewery which has been around since 1876. Our tour guide was super enthusiastic about his job and I'm not sure if that's why he let us each have pour after pour in the tasting room. We've done dozens of brewery tours over the years and never before did we drink so much beer during the tour. However, it also may have been the most expensive brewery tour we've ever done ($19 per person), so maybe that's the answer to how that happened, not his enthusiasm. Either way, the beer was tasty and we enjoyed sampling several different kinds. We finished the day off with dinner at the Speight's Ale House and I had one of the best steaks I've had in a long time. We also struck up conversation with a couple that offered us a room in their home during our drive through the North Island, as well as a home cooked meal. We'll see if we end up doing that!
It was a long drive back through more cow and sheep country to drop Sharon and Knox off at the airport. Together with them we shared wonderful memories of our first days in New Zealand. We saw wildlife we had never seen before, beautiful beaches, rocky cliffs, fiords, mountains and more. We had loads of laughs and enjoyed their company immensely. Sharon and Knox are both truly unique, special individuals and I'm so thankful to call them family. We look forward to sharing more adventures with them in years to come.
After a teary goodbye, we turned in the rental car and picked up our campervan. We keep calling it a "campervan", but the reality is that it is a minivan that turns into a bed. The very back has a small electric cooler that is called our fridge, a small sink, one gas burner, and storage for pots, pans, dishes etc. I was kind of horrified when we picked it up because although I knew it was going to be smaller than the campervan we had in Tasmania, I didn't have the correct expectation as to just how small it would be. As I write this blog, we've spent six nights in the van and my expectations have been fully readjusted. The van is absolutely fine the size it is. Sure I'd love a bigger van, but the price was right for this one and I just needed to get a strategy down on how to live out of it. Every night to make our bed, we push the driver and passenger seat up as much as they'll go and cram all of our luggage on top of them. Only then can we make our bed, in which, we have to sleep diagonally to fit. We'd both need to be a bit shorter to sleep in it normally. Then in the morning, we fold up the bed and put our luggage into the back so that we can readjust the seats and drive. Rain makes this entire process a bit more interesting and we have had our fair share of rain. I never, ever, expected to encounter so much rain in New Zealand. I really hope our luck shifts and we start to have more sunny days than rainy ones. There is a DVD player in the back so we've been able to borrow movies at a few of the holiday parks and that's been a nice way to unwind at the end of the day. Unfortunately it stopped working so maybe you'll start to see more activity on the cribbage tracker. On our first few nights with the van we stayed in Wanaka which is about an hour from Queenstown and just as spectacular landscape wise. Wanaka also has a big, bright, beautiful lake surrounded by breathtaking mountains. We enjoyed many walks in the area before heading up to Mt. Cook, New Zealand's highest peak at 12,218 feet, or almost two Mt. Washingtons.
~ Jesslyn