Where the mountains are high and the fjords plunge deep

As we left Bergen last night, the Captain explained in laboured English that during the night we would be calling in to the Port of Florø at 03:30 departing again at 03:40 at which time the ship's horn would sound three times. We were not to be alarmed and this would not be the emergency horn.

Horn?? what horn? Both Donna and I slept right through it as I suspect almost all the other passengers did also. We are marvelling at the lack of noise transference into the cabins - they are all well noise-insulated.

We went up for breakfast at about 8:30 am as our excursion is not until 14:00 this afternoon. A full smorgasbord is available - cereals, breads, hot food, cold food, fruits, juices, teas and coffees.  We noticed yesterday that it can become a little like pigs at the trough, so we were happy to have a later breakfast today and went up about 9 am.  Breakfast is served until 10 am.

Today is a bucket list day.  You know the photo that is iconic Norwegian fjordland on all the postcards and travel blogs that you see?  Well, today that is where we are going. 

The cruise ships cruises the length of the Geirangerfjord.  The scenery is magical - towering cliffs that plunge into the water below.  Moraine slopes, saddles, faulted and folded mountains, ice and snow caps, single farms and tiny settlements clinging to small areas of grasslands.  We ask ourselves how you could get there with all your belongings, and what would make people want to live in such isolation - it is amazing!  We pass the famous Seven Sisters Falls, but today only four are at home (falling).  We can only imagine this cascade in full flow!

We dock in Geiranger just before 2pm.  This is a village in western Norway, at the head of the beautiful Geirangerfjord with 240 permanent residents. In the summer months, up to 6 cruise liners dock here bring up to 10,000 PER DAY to visit.
We leave the ship at at 2pm. Buses are waiting to collect us - too bad that they didn't warn us that it is a mad 400 metre dash in the drizzle. There are three buses waiting - one for the English/Norwegian, one for the German/French and the last for French language groups - goes to show you how many french people are on this cruise.
 

We are exploring the Geirangerfjord and Trollstigen Route - 'the Trolls Route' one of Norway's national tourist routes and on to Molde where we again join the ship at 11:15 pm.  For those who followed our blog in Romania, this is the equivalent of the Transfagarasan Pass. There are 11 switchback hairpin bends. More about that later. We drive up out of Geiranger and look back over the village to see our ship already sailing out and two of the other three docked in view at the head of the fjord.  While the views from down within the fjord are stunning, You really can't appreciate it fully until you are above it, looking down the length.

The scenery is stunning, wondrous even. None of these photos can really do it justice. We travel for a hour and can count 7 or 8 ranges in the distance, towering over us, big sky sort of scenery.  Each time there is a photo opportunity, this is what you see!

Then we turn a bend and we are near the top of the peak, above the treeline and with lakes and tumbling streams with water so clear we can see the stones at the bottom.  Walking trails abound, little cabins where I guess people shelter in bad weather.  Many of the cabins have grassed roofs, some planted, most wild! 
The snow poles can be as high as 8 metres - thats what you call snowfall!

We see more of the same, not same scenery.  I think that the blog would crash if I tried to load too many more photos!  There was four hours of driving through this scenery and we never bored of the changing views. One minute we were in drizzle, then sunshine and again into rain. This region is also a big cropping area for Norway, growing apples and pears, the best strawberries and raspberries (supposedly) as well as heaps of other berries.  There was evidence of recent grass cutting for winter hay also.


There is a ferry crossing at a quaint little village - and another to come later tonight as we near Molde. Finally we reach Trollstigen, 'the Trolls Road', the only permanent road in to Geiranger. 
There is another road but it is closed from November to May each year.  Even this road can be treacherous! 

There is a lookout above the road and we pulled in to the rest/tourist area at Stigrøra, 858 metres above sea level, to allow people off to take photos.  The road twists through eleven hairpin bends and an impressive bridge carries the road across the Stigfossen waterfall. The road is carved into the mountain and supported by stone walls. The walk out to the lookout is made of steel for the first 150m or so, and is quite slippery, so I don't venture out, but Donna did and she brought back some stunning

photos.  From here, we drive down those 11 hairpins. There is a woman sitting, window side who is terrified of the steep turns and the precipitous drops. Her 'friends' kept making comments about it.  Really?  Grow up (and these were Aussies). Still, if she had any sense, she would have moved to an inside seat and given up the window - there were plenty of seats free, so it wasn't like there was a reason to hog the window.

When we reach the bottom of the Trollstigen,we have a coffee break and served lovely fresh open rolls with cheese, tomato and cucumber or cheese and meat and cream filled folded waffles that are soooo good. One of those people near us on the bus is complaining about this dinner and is horrified to be told that this is a coffee break (it is after 6 pm by now) and that dinner will be served in Molde at 9:30 pm. I think that they are normally in bed by then!  We ate quickly so we could escape outside and get some photos of the plentiful trolls. Donna even found a friend!!

From here, we are back on the bus and headed toward Molde. We are now in hunting lands and there could be no doubt given the deer heads on one of the local buildings - I only managed to get half of them in the shot as we drove by.

Another ferry crossing (cheaper than bridges) and a few more hours of jaw breaking scenery and we reach the end of our day tour in Molde, Norway's town of roses.

We are booked in for a cod dinner served on a bed of mashed potato with julienned vegetables and a sweet apple, cream and cinnamon crumble for dessert. It was a delicious way to end a stunning day.  The Kong Harald pulls in at 10:45 pm and departs at 11:15. It was too late to blog last night!

The rain is not only in Spain

So again I am sitting down to write the blog.  Just like every other day on this trip.

As we arrived in Christchurch, so we come back.  The weather here at the moment is damp and cool.  Today was a top of 17⁰ but the wind made it feel much cooler.  Summer here, it seems, is about as warm as winter back home!  We are told that after New Year it

actually got into the mid 30's.  I know I was looking forward to the cooler weather here before we left, but now, I'm craving the warmer weather back home.  Just as well we are leaving tomorrow.  We began our day down at the bus terminus getting ready to travel up to Mt Cavendish via the Christchurch Gondola.  En-route we see more and more of the public art offerings that artists were asked to contribute straight after the 2011 earthquake when the Art Gallery was damaged.  There are all sorts of offerings from raspy graffiti styled works to extravagant offerings that have contemporary themes.

It was brunch time and the offerings were pretty slim.  We settled on Japanese - Pork and Garlic Chive dumplings and Chicken Yatsu to share.  Really fresh and prepared in front of our eyes.  Yummy as!

We had checked out the bus times and finish our meal just in time to get the bus as it pulls in to the bay.  The Bus Terminus is fairly newly finished and really well laid out.  All buses pull in to a bay meaning that no matter what the weather, passengers get to board in the dry.  Seems to work like a dream with 13 gates available and buses coming and going literally every couple of minutes.

We have had to plan our day a bit better as we are now relying on public transport.  The bus to Lyttelton ends up at the Christchurch Gondola station - very convenient and takes about 20 minutes from the centre of town. Its interesting to have the opportunity to travel through the suburbs and get a bit of an overview to life in the Christchurch residential areas.


The Christchurch Gondola has a route that rises 445 m above the base station over a route of 1 km - almost fully vertically up (or so it seems to me).  Not for the faint-hearted and by the time we actually reached the summit, I was starting to feel it!  Still, the views are certainly worth the little bit of acrophobia felt.


You look out over the Mount Cavendish Scenic Reserve, Lyttelton Scenic Reserve, Mount Pleasant Scenic Reserve and Tauhinu-Korokio Scenic Reserve down over Lyttelton Harbour and across to Otamahua (Quail) Island.  Down over Christchurch city and out to the Pacific Ocean.  It truly is quite a vista.

Michael indulges his sweet tooth with a Cookies n Cream cheesecake while I enjoyed a date scone with my coffee.
Following this little sustenance, Michael set out to walk one of the trails while I explored the Time Tunnel that explained the history of the region. Their souvenir shop was surprisingly affordable - too bad that I have already bought my fill.

The Canterbury Plains are stunning and we are told that on a clear day you can see across to the Southern Alps, but not today.  As we are leaving, the gondola operator tells us that yesterday the weather was so bad that you could not see Christchurch until after the fog lifted about 4 pm, so I guess it is better that we came today.

We followed our trip up the Mountain with a foot trip through the streets of Christchurch finding more of the artworks and some new buildings that are brave and bold in timber and metal and now limited to 6 stories to limit future problems with any more seismic activity.  Buildings now are rated for earthquakes and although we are only on the second floor, I'm grateful the Ramada has a A1 rating! 

The famous Container Mall has been all but totally dismantled now that the inner city Malls are again taking shape.  It is interesting as when you ask where the City Centre is, the common response is that it is changing day by day.

The last remnants of the Chinese New Year celebrations are still up - you need to understand the incredible number of Chinese people who came to New Zealand when gold was discovered.  And as we have found during our stay, NZ is a very popular destination for Chinese tourists these days.



Our last stop for the afternoon was the Transitional Cathedral otherwise known as the Cardboard Cathedral.  The Evensong Service was underway and so I sat in, allowing the choister boy voices to lift my spirit into the cavernous void above us. 

I calculate that the seating as set out can accommodate about 340 people - significantly less than the 1,000 that the former Anglican Cathedral could house. 
Although this building is 'temporary', there is definitely a feel of persistence and permanence. 

After the service, we are told that the decision has just taken to re-build the former Cathedral, although there is not yet an appeal underway.

And nearby is probably the most poignant art installation, the 185 Empty Chairs memorial dedicated to the number of lives lost in the 2011 earthquake.


Back to the hotel just a few blocks away - they have a combined washing machine / dryer so we can do all our washing before we leave for home. It is getting darker now and much cooler. Time to be indoors.

And now, if only the broader weather patterns will behave themselves - we arrived on the coat tails of TC Gita.  Not at all interested in being blown home by TC Hola currently out in the Pacific - or any other one that our home messages are warning of.

Friendly locals give us lots of tips

Anne at the Mossburn Railway Hotel had suggested the trip to Doubtful Sound and when we went over for a nip after returning from Milford Sound yesterday, we shared a table briefly with Gerard.  He is a former dairy farmer, who now drives livestock trucks and in his other life shows dogs with his wife and loves to surprise her with little getaways - like to see the Lupins in bloom.  A real diamond in the rough! He and Michael got talking about planes.  And all of a sudden, the rest of our trip could be planned around any number of air museums. Gerard also had a number of other suggestions like routes to follow. Unfortunately, we won't have enough time to do it all!



So this morning we head off from Mossburn and head south towards Invercargill planning a couple of stops in between.  The landscape has changed quite a bit - it has mellowed from the big rocky hills to more mature, weathered and flattened lush farmlands.  Sure there are still hills in the background, but the are rounded and rolling. The 'long white cloud' is still visible and now I get the meaning for New Zealanders

- each day starts and ends with the cloud.  Its like it wraps the landscape daily, keeping it secure for the new day's dawning. 

I make a quick toilet stop in Lumsden where Michael spies my namesake street!

The views are more pastoral with everything that comes with that - roadside mailboxes, cattle underpasses between milking shed and pastures, amazing fir tree hedges that provide windbreaks to the fields. Field after field of swedes grown as feed for the sheep. And those delightful bucolic smells.

The first planned stop is at the Croydon Aviation Heritage Museum at Mandeville.  The GPS takes us via an unplanned detour - as they sometimes have want to do. Funnily, it detoured about 1.6 kms from the museum! Travelled an extra 40 kms!!
Once back on the highway we turn one last corner to then view the museum.

The Croydon Aviation Heritage Museum is a homage to the biplane with not one, not two, not three but FOUR tiger moths!

(Michael)  This a 'flying' museum, with each of the exhibits bearing an airworthy clearance. However, there are a couple of the exhibits which are undergoing restoration to full airworthiness. 

The museum demands thorough investigation to fully appreciate the decades of effort injected to maintain this caliber of excellence. The aircraft are dutifully maintained and the flying hours carefully husbanded. The care and attention taken gives the impression that the aircraft have just emerged from the factory floor. Most of the aircraft are a representation from the De Havilland and Auster stables. Albeit, there are aircraft from contemporary eras as well, such as an Aermacchi M-346 and a Pitts S-2A two seater. Other aircraft from specialised interests includes a reproduction of the 1910 Pither monoplane, whereby making its inaugral and only flight in 2010. The other is a homebuilt, an Williams Mk4 Microlight constructed and flown in 1991. 

Visitors are given a treat of gaining access to the maintenance hanger where repairs, reconstructions and complete rebuilds are effected. Upon entering this hanger, the aroma of wood, sawdust and glue is like a sweet smelling bouquet. As I was standing in awe, I noticed at one end of the hanger a recognisable cigar shaped fuselage of a typical monocoque construction and the familiar De Havilland rudder. I enquired from one of the fuse techs as to the identity of this mystery work in progress. A mystery in progress indeed, as the tech said that they are in the process of building a replica De Havilland DH 88 Comet racer. I stood in absolute silence, as it was further revealed the project is expected to be completed in five years. This time frame is dependent upon sourcing the original Gypsy 6R engines. Apparently, attention to detail is paramount.

Recovering sufficiently, I left the hanger and made my way to the museum and my Maria.

I must admit - I was truly p*ssed off when Michael asked whether he could go up on a flight only to be told no, there was no flying today. They are working on a restoration for an owner that wants it asap. They advertise flights available and are obviously happy to forgo not a small flying fee. One would think that any aficionado would understand a visitor from afar, a yearning and make it possible. Not a good leaving feeling guys.


From here it is a short drive to the next town of Gore.  The Gore Visitor Centre and Museum is a homage to the history of the area with some very interesting displays. It centres on the every day with home and commerce exhibitions filled with the familiar and not so known items.  Not dissimilar to our Brennan and Geraghty's Museum at home.  There is a section devoted the the local history of Scouting - another parallel with our home lives and how the movement featured in the advertising for the local cereal brand!

This centre is also the home of the Hokonui Moonshine Museum that explains the links with Scotland (more than once we have drawn parallels with Scotland in the scenery down here) and Scottish settlers - with the stills and the whiskey recipes that they brought with them and the ingenious ways they beat the temperance movement during the 50 odd years of prohibition.  Very interesting and the wee dram sampled at the end while not as smooth as its aged cousins from the motherland was definitely very drinkable!

A quick trip across the road to the Eastern Southland Gallery was a real eye opener. No photos obviously as it is an art gallery.  There are three displays - the John Money Wing and Ralph Hotere Gallery and in the temporary space is an exhibition of Rod Eales works.  John Money was the patron of both the artists and his amazing collection of artefacts - mainly carvings - from across the world is stunning.

The it is on to Invercargill for the night and tomorrow.  We are booked in to the historic Victoria Railway Hotel that once upon a time sat across the street from the railway station that is now a YMCA centre.  We venture into town looking for a dinner restaurant. The town is tired and a little grubby with lots of vacant commercial shops.  The local Council is busy replacing stormwater in the CBD, again links with home lol.

In the end we settle on a Pinch of Spice - an Indian restaurant that turned out to be a great choice.  It was spotless, the service very attentive and the food wonderfully tasty.

We began with a Tandoor tasting plate of chicken, lamb kabob, fish and prawns and followed that with Chicken Chettinad and Beef Rogan Josh served with Basmati rice and a roti and a paratha.  Delicious!

Off to plan the next couple of days now - our time is flying by!

The day that almost wasn't

Last night we came back to our room to book for Doubtful Sound.  Only we can't.  Surely both operators can't be fully booked out? Surely.  And then we are watching the local news and learn that there has been a major slip on the road that goes over the Wilmot Pass after 330 mm of rain in two hours yesterday.  Last night, 400 tourists were airlifted off

the mountain, well into the night!  And another 90 hikers from the Milford walking track when a stream rose 9 m.
Many people had suggested that the Doubtful Sound cruise was better than the Milford Sound one because of the extended trip - by boat from Lake Manapouri, then by coach over Wilmot Pass and on reaching Deep Cove, by catamaran for a three hour cruise that takes in the most dramatic scenery of Doubtful Sound.

However, the next trip is Thursday and even that is not a given and very dependent on the road being able to be cleared. So instead we look to book for Milford Sound.  And many of these tours are fully booked too - crikey! We manage to book a tour with Real Journeys departing at 1:45 pm. Not so bad as it is a three hour drive from Mossburn to Milford.


The hotel does not serve breakfast, and suggests the Dome Cafe around the corner.  We settle in to eggs bennie for Michael and poached eggs for me along with large coffees at 7:45.  We head off from Mossburn having prepared with the Bushmans (midges are well known at the Sound), some fruit and warm jackets.  Despite the weather forecast being for 22 degrees and sunny, it is raining and cool as we leave.  We join the road out of town

behind two coachloads of people - the first of many that we see today.

As we drive down, catching little glimpses of the sun high on the slopes, we wonder again at the forces of nature that can sculpt and create such magical landscapes. This part of the country is heavily grazed. If we thought that we saw a lot of sheep in a paddock yesterday, then it was nothing!  There was at least 1,000 sheep in one hectare. Seriously. And cattle and deer loads are heavy too.  Guess that with great rainfall and supposedly good weather (from time to time) the forage crops grow quickly.  There is certainly plenty of bales of hay around.

The vegetation is really interesting - from red tussocks, to small shrubs, to the occasional eucalypt in the dry sclerophyll forest and forest after forest of firs.  The tree line is really evident as we travel down the slopes into the Fiordland National Park and as the sky gets bigger with the huge stone cliffs, even the grasses and tussocks give up, leaving the rock to mosses, lichens and the odd fern or two.  Turns out that there is even rainforest down in the pockets, complete with ferns and vines and palms. 

Once we are on the southern side of the slopes, the weather magically clears - there is nary a cloud and the sun is beaming down like a real summer day.  Just. Magical.  And the scenery all of a sudden turns even more stupendous - if that is possible. 
There is a heap of traffic both in front of us and coming towards us. And there are many of them who have absolutely no idea how to drive in mountains. The average speed is 70 kph, although there are stretches on the flats that go up to 100 kph.  Corners are advisorily signed between 45 and 75 kph.  But the Asians do 20 kph. At every corner. Without fail. Makes for a frustrating drive.  There are plenty of signs that proclaim 'New Zealand roads are different.  Allow more time.'   From Mossburn to Milford Sound is only 176 kms but we were told by Tracey at the Mossburn Railway Hotel to allow 3 hours.  And it takes 3 hours almost to the minute.  Michael took photos from the car on the forward journey, knowing that there would be time to stop at the various vantage points on the way back.

The Milford Road is claimed to be the most scenic road in New Zealand and we are in no position to argue against that as it sure is a stunning drive.

Yet the whole trip down, behind some very nervous drivers, I cannot but wonder just where it was that Inga and Markus very nearly came to grief on their drive down this road some years ago.

We arrive at Milford Sound exactly as planned.  The literature says to plan for it to take 45 minutes to an hour to park your car, but St Frances continues to sit on my shoulder as a car pulls out in the closest car park as we arrive.  I'll never win the lottery,
but I'll always have a car park!  A 300 m walk to the terminal brings us in just before the 12:15 boat is about to leave, and as it is not fully booked, the staff agree to transfer us to this earlier departure.

There are only about 100 people on the Milford Monarch which is licensed to carry about 450, so there is plenty of space and moving room. We head out under the guidance of Captain Mack who provides just enough commentary to keep you informed without it being overbearing - there is plenty of silence broken only by the sound of the quiet engine, the waves and the birds to sit in awe looking skyward. And the sound of waterfalls.  There are only two permanent waterfalls into the Sound, but after rain like yesterday there can be hundreds of temporary falls.  We are even invited to claim a bit of

immortality by naming one of them today - so please see the M&M Falls!
Milford Sound is wettest place in New Zealand and records a massive 17 metres of rain a year.  Not a real problem until they get 330 mm in 2 hours!  There is quite a bit of debris in the Sound today, courtesy of that rain.  About 9 metres below the fresh water that feeds into the Sound from rain and snow-melts lies the salt water that comes in from the Tasman Sea.  As the fresh water is less dense than the salt water, it just sits atop and the waters never mix -isn't nature wondrous!

At the Bridal Veil Falls you can trace the Pembroke Fault line that runs all the way up the mountain and is responsible for 187 known earthquakes.

The Stirling Falls are very pure and provide the township of Milford with its water supply and also feeds a small hydro-electric power station to provide power.

Milford Sound is one of only two places in the world where in a commercial operation you can easily see a glacier from sea level- here you looking through Harrison Cove through the rainforested Harrison Valley up to Mt Pembroke with the Pembroke Glacier.  The other place is Patagonia in Argentina.

We see lots of birds, juvenile fur seals and very briefly a shy penguin - he was too quick for a photo.  All too soon we are docking back in the harbour and ready to hit the road again.

The trip back is much slower as we stop at almost every one of the many photo opportunities to capture these amazing views.  Can't fit them all here - so come on round when we get home if you want to see more. Our young waitress on the boat, Melissa suggested that we musn't miss the Mirror Pools (too windy for the effect by now) and the Te Anau Glow Worms that Donna also recommended.  Trouble is that they are at the start of the Doubtful Sound and so, there is no way we can get to them today either - maybe next trip!

There is a huge Chinese influence here also,so we opt for an early dinner in Te Anau and stop in at the Ming Garden restaurant conveniently located in Wong Way (true!) for a tasty meal.  Much of the restaurant is devoted to banquet tables - there are least 20 set for up to 20 people and there are a number of Chinese eating here.  Good omen and good food.

Back to the Mossburn Railway Hotel to do some washing and to have a wee dram to warm up while we do the blog.

Off to Mandeville tomorrow - another day that will thrill the boys!!!