New Zealand Adventure Part 5: Milford to Te Anau

The morning after our kayaking trip we woke to a gorgeous morning in Milford. We’d managed to book a campervan site at the Milford Sound Lodge – probably one of the prettiest sites we staid at.

Our plan for the day was to catch one more glimpse of the Sound and then slowly make our way back to Te Anau, while stopping at all the little stops we hadn’t had time for the day before.
Rather than going through them all, point by point, here are some highlights:

One more stop at Milford.

The Chasm.

Nice quote, but they might want to check their sources.

On a hike near Lake Marian

Near the Homer Tunnel, we got out and did a short hike and found ourselves on snowy terrain.

We tried to take a pic of ourselves, but got whited out.

When we got back to the car park area we found flock of kea parrots that were up to some mischief. These guys are apparently the only species of alpine parrots, and I must admit it’s odd to see parrots in the snow, and they’re super smart. You can just see them scheming and calculating how they’re going to get into the cars to get at the tourists food. We heard a story about one these sly little guys stealing someone’s passport right of their hands, pretty much out of spite. Luckily, they’re also really cute and fun to watch . . . just hold onto your documentation.

One of the things that really caught my attention in New Zealand were the wild flowers. Everywhere we went there were beautiful flowers, but they were just spectacular in this part of the Island. The fields closer to Te Anau were completely covered with lupins; the hills looked like they were a patchwork of pink, purple, and white.

What wasn’t covered with lupins, was yellow with broom bushes. The funny thing is that these flowers are considered pests – as they do have a tendency to spread themselves over the landscape. At least they’re pretty pests.

Back in Te Anau, we had booked a tour to see their Glowworms Caves. The excursion begins with a ferry ride, which was lovely in the later afternoon.

The boat takes you past the “Lady of the Lake.” According Maori legend, she became part of the mountainside when her infidelity lead to the death of her husband and she was overcome with guilt and grief.

The Glowworm caves themselves were really cool, although we only got spend a short time in them. Out of a two-hour plus tour, only about 20 min were spent inside. Once in, a gondola takes you into the dark parts of cave where the worms live. Suddenly the cave lights up around you like a starry sky , but they glow also reflects off the water so you seem to be floating in space.

Because we were not allowed to take pictures inside the cave, I've borrowed this one as an example.
These were taken in the Waitomo Cave in the North Island.

The funny part is that this beautiful sight it created by the gruesome life cycle of a very odd little creature. The glowworms are bioluminescent in their larvae phase. Their light attracts bugs, which get caught in snare lines and provide food for the larvae. The glowworm spends most of its lifecycle in this larvae state – about 6-12 months. The gnat that emerges from the larvae lives only a short time longer, pretty much just enough time to mate and lay more eggs. That’s the case for the lucky ones; a good number emerge from their pupa, are immediately attracted by the lights of other larvae and get caught in the fishing lines.

After the glowworms, we headed back to Queenstown for the night, enjoying the adorable scenery, even if it wasn’t all that varied.

The full slideshow: