NZ-Milford Sound, Queenstown pt2 (Arrowtown), Mt. Cook

Leaving Queenstown fairly late after a very relaxing spa sessions at the Queenstown Lodge (far end of town uphill from roundabout…) we headed into the black night and settled in for a the dark drive to Te Anau which is the last permanently inhabited town area before the fjordlands of the south island. We arrived shortly before midnight and found a "campsite" on the side of the road- in an area in where camping is made pretty difficult with lots of very obvious no camping sites. The night had been blustery and it was fairly cold outside, when we hit the pillow it had started to rain gently. Waking up to pissing rain wasn't that great, the occasional car driving by and beeping wasn't much better. What was worrying at 8am was the large amount of tour buses driving by and other campervans! So, in spite of really wanting to stay wrapped up in the warmth of the van- relative warmth, it was bloody freezing in our van, we got ready quickly and headed south east though fields of golden long grasses contrasting beautifully with the dark skies and the driving rain. When the rain abated around a half hour later, the nature of the road had changed to winding through lush temperate rainforest which was various shades of green around and above us and above that the steep sides of mountains which had received a good sprinkling of snow. The higher we drove the deeper the snow and the more fantastic the thousands of waterfalls looked cascading down the dark grey basalt rocks. What a drive! The roads cleared quickly by the mountain road clearing teams, we were held up once briefly while they swept snow off the road ensuring the hoards of buses and campers could pass. Thankfully, it wasn't as bad as it could have been, winter and all keeping visitor numbers down. Through a long tunnel reminiscent of dwarfish work perhaps; we headed down hill into the next valley- rather Fjord/sound, and our destination Milford Sound. The drive down was steep and our brakes were kept very hot by the steep gradients and the sharp corners, taking us down into the valley floor once more and to the harbour. It started raining fairly heavily at this point so we decided to have a long lunch – but first checked out the costing of the tours which turned out to be rather expensive. With the serious lack of visibility it didn't make sense to do any of them, even though one did include a lunch deal. Sadly it was also too rainy for the kayak trip which would have been the ideal trip taking us close to penguins, seals, possibly dolphins and whales, and incidentally wasn't bookable from the sound, but from Te Anau. Milford sound was terrific- and definitely a place to recommend.

Heading back towards the Central Otago region – yes once again through the pissing rain for much of it during the day meant that we this time saw much more of the countryside we'd driven through towards Queenstown. It was pretty impressive - nonstop "wow's" with final amazing wow around the lake coming to Queenstown. Naturally, we had to be headed for a spa and sauna, followed by a nice meal- and a cheeky camping site in the spa hotels carpark J Thanks!!!

The next day we left early and headed to Arrowtown a little way out of town- and were very pleasantly surprised. The whole area was a gold rush area and apparently attracted a vast number of Chinese from Hong Kong in the 1870's who effectively migrated there and build a small community of very small huts- have a look at the picassa pictures!!! The remnants have been restored in some instances and are well kept for tourists to have a look at- off the beaten path. The town itself is an upmarket little tourist place, which sells lots of merino wool products and has created an image of itself to suit an illustrious past- very twee and quaint. Visit it, and have some very tasty scones and cream. It is also located like everything and everywhere else in NZ near some great walks along rivers, through mountain and in the autumnal conditions made for a lovely morning. The colours of the forests in the autumn are simply perfect - from the golden and rust coloured vines through to the shades of yellow and light green and coppers in the mixed forests up the flanks of the hills and mountains. West from there we found our route once more and drove solidly until we arrived at Mt Cook, stopping only for fuel and a stretch of legs here and there. Oh- and of course, yet another great picnic spot overlooking another lake, some vineyards and the snow capped mountains. For those of you that enjoyed the Two towers in Lord of the rings, we drove past Twizel (yes!!! A small town where lots of battles scenes with Orcs were filmed - private land so only organized tours for uber geeks), and then up the road near Mt Cook , the shots of Isengard, the mountain refuge castle – the name escapes me, and what looks like the big trek through the mountains on a path far up the mountain. It is an amazing setting and keeps the locals interested in the outside world I think. I have a sneaky suspicion it would be very easy to ignore all but the millions of sheep farmers at your doorstep in this area- the mountains and heliskiing, and lakes… Film buffs who have visited the south island will also recognize the Fjordland Milford sound and this area featuring in Wolverine, the locals were very pleased about this!!! (MT)

I shall just write a little about Mt. Cook…amazing drive into the village, past a huge turquoise lake with the majestic peaks rising cheekily into the mist on the horizon. We camped in a wee site, very basic but right at the base of the mountain. Arriving early evening, our first port of call was the information centre, which on discovering being shut, turned into the gorgeous café next door. It is a family owned business and fits all the wonderful clichés of a mountain lodge: huge roaring fires, animal skin covered armchairs, piano, hot chocolates that you could drown in pleasurably, etc, etc. However, this place also had a funky floor-ceiling glass wall overlooking the mountains as well as photos of all the mountaineering relatives from decades back – you actually do not need a gortex North Face jacket – we should all be wearing tweed Victorian dresses for mountain hikes. Chatting to the chap who owns the place has the benefit of not only feeling like you are in a place steeped in family history, but also in the very safe hands of an expert mountaineer. Mark and I were very excited by the fact that he takes people up onto the glacier for a day's skiing in his little plane and I think if it had not been too early in the season, we would happily be much poorer now. We booked a day's glacial kayaking on the lake instead which sounded pretty amazing, although unfortunately when we got up the next morning it was too windy to go out safely. That night, I cooked a big hearty stew and we tried to stay as warm as possible in the very cold van – we had ice on the inside the next morning. As the kayaking was cancelled, we went for a walk around the valley which was beautiful and very energizing with bright blue skies and a bracing wind blowing us along our way. Before departing Mt. Cook, it would have been rude not to sample the hot chocolate spectaculaire one more time… (JG)