The Land of the Long White Cloud

Well, we have witnessed and spoken about New Zealand's fame as the land of the long white cloud many times over the last two weeks. This title has its beginnings in the lore of the Maori and today, we found out first hand that the long white cloud originates in Dunedin.

The morning is damp and darker - the fog lingers,  We began with breakfast shared in the dining room with our fellow guests.  It is Sunday and everything is at as lightly slower pace.  Breakfast starts 30 minutes later and there is less hubbub and rush.  

We take the advice of Stuart last night and head up Signal Hill.  Wow, what a wonder this is.  The fog is burning off quickly and the morning is growing warmer and brighter.  The air as we climb into the hills is crisp and clear and is filled with the scent of the pine trees and grassy meadows with a slight undertone of the salt air coming in from the sea.
Once we reach Signal Hill, passing a number of people walking up, and one keen runner, we find a stunning monument and gorgeous views.  The monument links Edinburgh in Scotland and Dunedin, which has had a large number of Scottish immigrants.
The monument and the figures on either end of the landmark represent 'History' and 'the Thread of Life'.

The view takes in from the Otago Peninsula where we are headed today right across Dunedin from Port Chalmers to the hills behind.  You can see the fog burning off in the photo above, and you can also clearly see the long white cloud that sits firmly blanketing the city after the fog.

The road back into the City is very steep and we need to drive down with one foot firmly on the brake.  So we figure that the next spot to visit is Baldwin Street - listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's steepest residential street at a 35% slope!  Even I am not going to drive down that one.  Just after Michael takes his photo, a local hoon turns into Baldwin Street at the top and roars down the road, scattering the tourists who are busy standing in the street taking photos.  He thinks he is funny.  Will be singing a different tune the day his brakes fail.  Idiot.

From here we head over to the Peninsula.  As we drive over, we realise that the long white cloud is coming in from the sea.  It travels silently across the water, finger-like into the bays and inlets, keeping a long, low profile until it hits an island in the Bay where it rises like a bulbous mass before again settling into its long low profile on the other side.

The bay alternates between being shrouded in the mysterious dampness that comes with the low cloud, and bright sparkling summer waters complete with sunshine glittering and small boats at play.  It is totally captivating and Michael who one minute says "enough Bay photos" and before the day is through, maxes out the storage on the camera and on his phone! The easiest way is to show you!

We drove the entire length of the Otago Peninsula and finished up at the Royal Albatross  Centre.  Michael took a walk down the path to the signed lookout, but there are no albatross to be seen - just a fur seal surfing the waves.  Up at the Information Centre,we are told that the Albatross are nesting in the cliffs behind the centre and can only be seen on a guided walk.  The tickets are normally $50 per person (yep 50!) but because there is only one albatross and a chick at the moment, the tickets are discounted to $35.  We decide that the cost is actually too expensive for what you get and opt to just explore the information room which is very good, and free.

Once fortified with a coffee and a shortbread, we head off again, past lots of small fishing shacks, a fisherman getting his cray pots ready and a lady putting up a paling fence.  Our next visit will take the rest of the afternoon - Lanarch Castle. This was another of the 'must-sees' that everyone had told us about.

New Zealand's only castle, it is actually a manor house built by an Australian.  Our first activity was to have some lunch in the Ballroom Cafe - it has gone past 2 pm - no wonder we are hungry.  I have a Ploughman's Plate and Michael has the Squid Ink Pasta.

Our hunger sufficiently sated, we enter the hallowed halls of this imposing home. The first impression one experiences is the wooden paneling and carvings made from mahogany, walnut and rosewood. The capital which has been injected into the castle's restoration over the past 50 years is unimaginable. The entry tickets we purchased had given us access into the main building and the gardens.

Entry into the dwelling is by way the main foyer with its magnificent tiled floor, and from a simple lesson in navigating the manor by the directions on the information pamphlet provided. Taking the stairs leading down to the ground floor, gun room and reception room. In the reception room, visitors are presented with an audio/visual on the history of the manor and the current owners' work in progress in restoring the building and grounds.


Every window contains a proportion of coloured glass which is also found in the pantry windows! From the conservatory through to every room, all have been faithfully restored to its original splendour. The central staircase is a sight to behold, as are the views from atop the main tower. The view from the tower is a panoramic 360 degrees which gives the visitor an outstanding appreciation of the gardens.


The gardens! Now, for those devotees of Charles Dodgson aka Lewis Carrolls' masterpieces, "Alice Through The Looking Glass" and "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland", these gardens are for you.

Off with their heads!

As with exploring the manor house, the same applies to the gardens - map. If a visitor follows the directions faithfully, they are taken into Alice's world: the Queen of Hearts, White Rabbit, Cheshire Cat and others....of course our heroine, Alice herself.

I've got a good idea...let's change the subject!

As the afternoon was galloping, we decided it was time to push on as our laundry washing was calling and as was good coffee. However, we had intended to stop at a cafe called '1908' on the way back to Dunedin which did not eventuate. We were on the return journey when we realised that 1908 was 14 km in the direction from where we came! Ces la vie! We pushed on to our rendezvous with the laundromat. 


Two hours later, the clothes washing done-and-dusted, we drove into Dunedin city centre  and had a wonderful dinner at a Japanese restaurant called "Tokyo Garden". We started with a complimentary Miso soup followed by our mains: Maria- Karaage Chicken Bento; Michael - Teriyaki Beef Bento. Yummmmm!

Pleasantly satisfied with our meals and feeling somewhat weary after another full day, we made our way to The Brothers - in the rain. The expected downpour finally arrived . . . two days late.

Upon our return to the hotel, we met a male couple who arrived at the same time as us. They introduced themselves as Rob and Robert who hale from Bournemouth, UK. They weren't expecting to arrive due to the intense snow fronts affecting the UK at present. So, after a chat and providing them with a few hints of what to see and how to get around Dunedin, we bade them a good night.

To you good friends....

If we shadows have offended,
Think but this and all is mended,
That you have slumbered here
While these visions did appear.....
.....
So, good night unto you all
Give me your hands if we be friends
And Robin shall restore amends.

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!!!