Morning in Dunedin proved out the old saying “red sky in morning, sailor take warning”. The sunrise was still and gorgeous, but by the time we had all had our tea/coffee it was dark and stormy. The view from our bach (pronounced “batch” this is a term for a rental house in NZ) was directly out over the Otago peninsula and across St Clair beach. We packed up and carried our bags (and Alisa carried Maia) back up the 110 steps that comprised our portion of “Jacob’s ladder”. In town we ran a few errands. George finally picked up a surfboard (7’2” fiberglass fish with a small amount of rocker)
The city center is called “The Octagon” and has an art museum, cafes, shops, and a theatre next to the Anglican Cathedral (the Catholic cathedral is just off the center of the Octagon) and Council building surrounding a centerpiece statue of Robert Burns (founding father). Maia, Monte, and Alisa had a brief tour of the Anglican Cathedral- where we learned the shocking gossip about the choir master who was just fired by the bishop. It seems he was a bit “pushy” and so unpopular with the older choir members. We also heard how some of the congregants are still miffed about the decision to add a modern style altar to the original neo-Gothic structure over 30 years ago. Not only was the non-traditional motif not to the liking of some, the new altar had been constructed on the opposite (west) side of the building instead of the east (as most are). If I am not mistaken, our pensioner tour guide was actually fond of the changes but relished the juicy nature of sharing all this with outsiders. Although the sun came out briefly at lunchtime, when we finally got on the road again the vehicle was buffeted by strong winds all the way across the southern tip of the island.
We admired hundreds of flocks of sheep which gave way to herds of red deer being raised on ranches as we drew closer to the mountain range of the west coast .
Te Anau (“au” is pronounced “ow”) is a lake on the south end of Fiordland National Park- a World Heritage site and mountainous region of glacier carved valleys, lakes, fiords (of course) and thousands of immense waterfalls that multiply in size and number with the ever-present rains. After much deliberation about the choices we decided to take the “Nature Cruise” of Milford Sound.
The 120km drive from Te Anau to Milford was well worth the time in and of itself. Soon there were glaciers hanging over the tops of the granite walls. It seems odd to have such a landscape without bear, moose, elk, or cougar. Then again the fern trees and Kea parrots would seem out of place at 48 degrees north (home) instead of the 45 degrees south where we are now. The rains came half way through our boat cruise, but it was spectacular. We did see a few fur seals and one of them was quite a young pup, but we felt most rewarded when pods of dolphins decided to surf the bow and wake of the boat as we returned to dock. We also watched them surf the bow of a larger ship that was nearby.
On our way back from the cruise we stopped at “the Chasm”, an aptly named impressive rock feature carved by one of the myriad rivers here. A quote by Thoreau prefaces the narrow walkway crossing the deep cuts in the granite that have been shaped by the rushing water. “The finest workers in stone are not copper or steel tools, but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal allowance of time.” When we returned to the parking lot (now empty of the “been there, done that” tour buses) we were greeted by a new friend – a Kea. This large brown/green parrot seemed most unafraid of us as she hopped around the edge of the parking lot. We have read that they are curious – and uncommon. We feel pretty fortunate to have seen her. The end of our day was greeted by a generous portion of a “take away” meal; portions of battered blue cod, scallops, mushrooms and pineapple (yes, battered pineapple rings! Mmmmmm!). Thoroughly satisfied by our grease-fest, we spent the rest of the evening lazing about trying to avert the impending food coma:)
