New Zealand South Island (Nov 2010, Part 4)

Day 8 (Te Anau, Lake Monowai)

Open space just outside the Te Anau DOC

Tourists information board just outside the DOC

Today was the day to explore the surrounding areas of Te Anau, and so we slept a little longer to recuperate for the previous day. The sun was out in full today, not a dark cloud in the skies.  How nice the same weather happened for the previous day trip to Milford Sound. We drove to the Te Anau DOC office where there is a souvenir shop as well as the hikers’ gathering place for tramping trips around the Te Anau area. This is the place to sign up for hikes, get maps and even arrange for transport to hiking routes. The park beside the office was beautiful as well, just beside the lake, offering superb view of the Lake Te Anau.

Fraser Beach near Manapouri

Lake Manapouri (photo take at Fraser Beach)

 

We took the highway 95 in the direction of Manapouri. With the sunny weather, driving and able to see the beautiful scenery of the southlands, is really a pleasant and enjoyable experience. Just before we reached the small town of Manapouri, we drove to the nearby Fraser Beach. This beach is part of the Lake Manapouri.  There was a designated car park area but there are paths that we could drive closer to the beach. The morning sun was really inviting and we spend much time on the beach. The sun was shining but the air was chilly at times, making it just right.

Side road to Lake Monowai

Gravel road leading to the Lake Monowai

We continued on to our first destination for the day which was Lake Monowai. Once we turned off the main tar road onto the side road to Lake Monowai, the road began with the same tar road and then change to gravel road which required us to go slow if not there would be some slide skidding and I could sometimes see the anti-ski  light coming up. It was quite safe with such good weather and by just going slow, everything is good. 

Lake Monowai Car Park

Around 11am, we reached the car park grounds of Lake Monowai. There were no visitors around and we were the only car in the park. Guess maybe even the only visit of the lake at that time. It was really peaceful and at times when we stood still in the forest trail, we could hear the sound of the wind. We followed the forest trail looking for the view point location stated on the walking trail as out end point. I thought we walked more than and the trails got a bit dense and seemed no one has took the path for some time as the undergrowth thickened up. Based on my pacing, definitely we existed and then took the return walk back where we came from.

Walking trail near the lake

At the shores of Lake Monowai

Leaving the Lake Monowai, we headed on the gravel road towards the Borland Lodge area. It took a while to travel on the gravel road, but we reached a point where the road leads uphill into a dirt track mountain road. Guess that path belongs to those 4WD and not saloon cars.  There were some parked cars before the gantry that warned drivers about recommended 4WD for the road. If we were to go on foot, would not know how login it takes for us to reach the place for us to do the hike near the Borland Saddle.  From here we took the same path and headed back to Manapouri and then back to Te Anau. Should have done more research to learn about type of vehicle allowed or suitable to get to Borland Saddle.  On the way back to town, we chanced upon a wildlife conservation area. Could not remember the name of the place, but it was a short drive from the main road, crossing across farms to man-made ponds  nicely done up with the backdrop of majestic mountain ranges.

Some road near the Borland Road area

Man-made santuary for the birds near Lake Monowai

Around 4pm, we were back in the town centre of Te Anau. Too early for dinner so we ended up having ice cream near the small petrol station in town. The sun was scorching hot and that was why we took to the ice creams to keep us cool. They say there is a big hole in the sky near NZ, maybe that explain the high UV down there. Tonight menu, we wanted something different and we thought of the Japanese restaurant in town.  We ordered a few items and initially we thought the cooks being Japanese would serve food of considerable standard. But we were wrong. Would not want to mention the name here since it isn’t something good. Maybe they had already improved by now or may even closed down.

At the shore of Lake Te Anau (just outside our motel)

Ducks searching for food in the sand

Calm cool wind in the evening

Sunset at Lake Te Anau

The day was too early to end. While my wife stayed inside the motel enjoying the local TV cooking show. I spent the evening strolling along the lake just beside out motel and snapped some pictures of the lake itself with the setting sun. It was quite chilly but just alright with a simple outer shell jacket.  

Day 9 (Invercargill, Bluff)

Today we would be hitting the roads road and end point will be the most southern town of New Zealand called Invercargill. Driving route will be via the scenic route leaving Te Anau on highway 95, then onto Blackmount, Redcliff and highway 99 then goes all the way to the southern coastline until the city of Invercargill. This was the first time we drove on this new route and we took some detours to visit of the tourist sites.

The rock the marks the lake water level decades ago

We left the motel around 7:30pm and took a slow drive down the same route as yesterday to the town of Manapouri. For today, we took time to look around the small town. There was big rock that was set up as a monument to share with tourist the water level of the lake when the rock was marked back then many years ago. There was nothing much to explore in the town, but this town is the starting point for those interested to join the cruise to Doubtful Sound, IN terms of accommodations,  there is more at Te Anau and driving between these 2 towns are just 20mins away.

Road Signs at Manapouri

We were taking the Southern Scenic Route

We continued on the scenic route along Blackmount road all the way pass our previous Lake Monowai route. It was déjà vu all the way until we went beyond the Borland route junction.  Our 1^st destination for the day was Lake Hauroko.  We took quite a long drive until we reached the highway 99 along Clifden Road.  The scenic route was actually driving across farmlands and we were shown with huge herds of deer  and sheep along the way. The animals were all very curious if any of the cars stopped to look at them. They would watch and see what we were trying to do. Once we stepped out of the car to take a picture, they would run away.  The junction that turned into the road leading to Lake Hauroko was just close to the beginning of highway 99. A small brown signboard indicate a tourist site that gave us the indication on when to turn. The good thing about self-driving in New Zealand is that every place  of tourist attractions are indicated by these big brown signboards. 

Driving on the gravel road to Lake Hauroko

Arriving at the car park

The road that leads to Lake Haruoko started off with the same metal tar road but as we drive inner, the road changes to gravel and we had to slow down to avoid skidding and not to create too much dust on the road. The road slowly led us out of the farmland into the hilly forested area.  The entire distance from the main road to the Lake Hauroko was just about 20km, but due to the gravel road and unable to drive a higher speed, it took us quite a while to reach the car park.  

Side view of the jetty

 

Wooden platform that extends into Lake Hauroko

A typical DOC signboard

Reading the information from the signboards,  Lake Hauroko is the deepest lake in New Zealand with a depth of over 400m deep, but located at an altitude of just 150m above sea level.  It was windy when we walked towards the wooden jetty built into the lake and it was real cold just staying outdoors walking near the jetty. There wasn’t any sunlight and the skies was dark and cloudy. It was quite quiet at the park as well with just one campervan parked at one corner. Maybe the place was good for the locals to have BBQ or weekends gathering, other than that, there was nothing much for tourist like us to do here except enjoying the scenery. 

At the Car Park Area at Lake Harauko

 

Since we had a long drive ahead of us, we left the lake after 30mins of walking around there.  The return trip back to the main road was greeted with more and more cars going towards the lake.  The sun was coming out of the dark clouds when we reached the farmland areas.

On the gravel road leading out of Lake Harouko

 Once we were back on highway 99, we continued southward along the southern scenic road towards the small town of Tuatapere.  It is a small rural town that is just 8km away from the southern coastline, the small town only has a few hundreds as understand from Wiki.  When we reached the town centre, the town was really old with many of the shops that lined the road either closed down or in an abandoned state.  We assumed the town centre will be the place with the gas station and the local supermarket. We parked our car across the road and went to the supermarket to see if there was any food for our lunch.  Fortunately there was a small café located inside the supermarket and once we saw tables and menus, we were keen to have our stomach filled at that location. We were quite hungry since the snacks we had for breakfast when we drove out of Te Anau. 

An old building of the once busy town

 After lunch we walked a little to the nearby dilapidated shops and from the exterior of the shops, we could tell the town has a long history and now has been forgotten. Only those that took the southern scenic road will pass by this town. There is one famous attraction which is the Hump Ridge Track. The track is a 3 day loop track that runs along the southern coast of New Zealand South Island.

Someone added the "PHIL" to the signage

Directional signs showing where are the towns

One of the southern scenic route plaque

After driving 10mins from Tutuapere, we reached another scenic lookout point, McCracken’s Rest. A small little gravel car park for us to stop our car and the lookout point offers unobstructed view of the beach with waves of whites splashing on the shores.  The weather was the best for a day to go to the beach, strong winds, great sunshine, and an already filled stomach from the lunch we had. 

We have reached Gemstone Beach

Great day to be on a gemstone beach

A handful of "gems"

From here it was a short drive to Orepuki and we were on the lookout for the Gemstone Beach. The entrance was not that obvious but we found it and just parked the car close to the beach.  We started to do some frolicking for “gems”  and ended up gotten my hiking boots soaking wet as I was caught by the incoming waves while venturing closer to the wave line. Gemstone Beach was part of the Heritage Trails attractions.

At the Cosy Nook

Sheltered bay within Cosy Nook

A fishing boat parked just by the gravel path

 Next stop was Cosy Nook. The place is a beautiful little cove that occupy a small stretch of the southern coastline.  Did some reading on the internet about driving to this place about the small narrow roads and the only suitable for small cars and not campervans.   The cover was distinctively mark when we drove from the tar road onto the dirt path. There were only I guess a few families from the few houses that sat close to the bay. We could tell the locals living there really love the sea. Some of the old boats were actually their current houses and we drove onto a passage that we could see the owner of those little house waving at us. The house was just a small room with everything they need to live there.  I was really captivated by the simple life these locals live, carefree and everyday listening to the sound of the sea.  Just before entering the Cosy Nook, there is a Cosy Nook Cottage located at the end of the Mullet Road, the road that leads from highway 99 to Cosy Nook.  A good place to stay (well, could be the only place) if one wants to enjoy the peace and quiet and get acquainted with the sea.

Bus stop painted like a bus with South Park gang on board

Back at the beach again

We headed back to the main highway 99 on our way to Invercargill via Riverton, still staying on the scenic route. There wasn’t much to see for the drive to Riverton and once we saw the coast again, we took the coastal road. We did a stop at Colac Bay which is just a few hundred meters from highway 99. Spotted an interesting bus stop painted like a bus ferrying characters from South Park, The Simpsons.

Nice coloured rocks at the beach. No sand, just rocks

Colac Bay

At Colac Bay, we again started our “gems” frolicking again but this time the color of the pebbles and stones were different. As what the internet says about these beaches, everything you could be finding new gems because of the strong waves bringing in new “treasures”.

From Colac Bay, we drove all the way to Invercargill after passing through Riverton.  It was a return to the city landscape as Invercargill is considered the most southern city. Small is when compared to the bigger cities like Dunedin or Christchurch of course. We checked in to one of the newer motel which is called 388 Tay Motel. Obviously the 388 Tay came from the address. We had booked this motel as it is new and just along the main highway giving good access to food within the city.

Driving into the town of Bluff

As it was still early around 4:30pm, we decided to drive to the most southern town in south island, Bluff. The distance from Invercargill to Bluff is about 28km, and we intended to visit the well know Stirling Point which is where the highway 1 of the south island starts. This highway 1 will run all the way to the north at Picton, bypassing Christchurch and other cities along the east coast of south island. It was a sunny evening drive to Bluff, no much cars on the road except trucks, and being a Sunday, there was even fewer traffic. The only worrying thing we had was whether do we had enough fuel to get back to Invercargill. In the smaller towns, most of the petrol station closes around early evening. We thought that Bluff was just a short drive.

Old warehouse along the highway 1

When we reached Bluff, we could tell the town was indeed the oldest European town settled in New Zealand as mentioned on the town website. Many of the buildings there created an atmosphere of the past. It was like driving back in time, seeing the big old warehouses that “guards” the pier for all the sea related activities. We continued on the main road of the town until we reached Stirling Point. The most southern tip of the highway 1. 

Directional signs of the major cities

Tourist information on Stirling Point

One of the whaling chains structure at Stirling Point

 We drove up the Bluff Hill, the highest viewpoint at Bluff that offered panoramic views of the Southland and Stewart Island.  This is the most southern part of the world that we could go.

At the top of Bluff Hill (in direction of Invercargill)

The drive back to Invercargill, we were driving the car in eco mode. The drive downhill back to town was on neutral to save some petrol. No sudden acceleration as we took the same highway 1 back to Invercargill. Sure enough halfway through the fuel indicator lighted up. But it was all good as there was more than enough fuel to get us back to Invercargill. First thing was a visit to the petrol station and then off to McDonalds for dinner as it was the most easily accessible place for dinner on a Sunday evening.

End of Part 4 


Proceed to Part 5 of NZ South Island