November 23rd, 2019
After a couple of nights at Clifden Bridge it was time to
say goodbye to the chickens and get on the road north. The weather looked like it was going to be decent
tomorrow and the next day so I booked a 2 hour boat ride with Cruise Milford for
tomorrow and figured I’d go hiking the next day. The first part of the drive was a fairly
straight road with some rolling hills on either side. The scenery got more interesting as I
approached Te Anau, a town of only a couple of thousand people but with over
4000 beds of accommodation available in the summertime. It’s essentially the last stop before heading
north on a dead end road (a long one at that) towards Milford Sound. Time to stock up on food, fill up on gas and
do whatever last things one needs to do online as we’re headed into “offline”
territory.
Te Anau is situated, not too surprisingly, on Lake Te Anau with
small mountains on the far side of the lake.
Even though it was an overcast day with a relatively low ceiling, it was
still a pretty vista. After yesterday’s wind
warning (it never got close to the possible 120 km/h winds predicted but it was
still pretty blustery), today was quite calm and there were three or four small
sailboats barely moving out on the water.
I stocked up of food and gas and got back on the road in the early
afternoon.
The mountains grew in size the further north I drove and the
scenery just got better and better. I
had researched the camping options on the highway up to the sound and most were
DOC (Department of Conservation) campsites which typically have a fee of $8/adult
but in this area it was $15/night. I
guess they know you pretty much have no other option however CamperMate did
mention one private campsite called Knob’s Flats amidst 5 or 6 DOC sites that
was only $20/night and included showers, washing up facilities and proper toilets…not
the “long drop” ones of the DOC’s spots. I assumed that most self-contained campers
like me would be headed to that site and I didn’t want to arrive too late.
However I pulled into one DOC campsite called Deer Flats,
the last before the private one which looked like it was the best option of the
DOCs sites and wow, it was fantastic.
There was a picnic table a stone’s throw away from a creek with
mountains on either side and the area was relatively small so you couldn’t have
too many neighbours. With the recent
rain there were small waterfalls cascading down the rocky cliffs and I couldn’t
see how the place with the showers could be any better. Anyways I’d be in the area for 3 nights so I
could always get that shower later…it had only been 2 days since the last one
so I was still relatively “fresh”!
Betty 2.0 is looking good!
More "van porn":
Just after starting to set up “camp”, which merely entailed getting
out a camping chair, small foldout table and my guitar, a mid-sized rental van
pulled up next to me and a dozen people spilled out of it. Within a minute or so a lady with darker skin,
glasses and wearing western clothes but sporting a hijab asked whether they
could use the picnic table. “Sure, no
problem” I responded. It turned out to
be a group from Malaysia.
One couple, Dean and Jameiyah, run a small tour company and
they had brought ten other fellow countrymen for a two week adventure in New
Zealand. They were super friendly and
offered me some of their traditional food.
I had just eaten lunch but I didn’t want to be impolite, plus it looked
pretty interesting. White rice, a curry
of spinach and pumpkin and some spicy little bits of chicken…yummy! We chatted for a while, they checked out
Betty 2.0 and I took some pictures of the group and soon they were on their way
to Queenstown as they were on a tight schedule.
Before they left Jameiyah gave me her business card and it turns out I
have a tour guide in Kuala Lumpur if and when I make it there. I love these little encounters when traveling!
My new friends:
What a gorgeous spot!
These are pics from the next morning...I've got to add them on this post as there were already too many amazing pictures on the day in Milford Sound! What a way to start your day!!!
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