Day 25 -27 Te Anau to Wanaka

 Thurs 24th Jan

18 - 20 degrees, sunny periods

We set off this am for yet another boat ride across a lake - this time across Lake Te Anau to THE glow worms caves.

The guide on the boat gave us an excellent commentary of which our frazzled fact laden brains could recall very little in retrospect!

However - we can tell you that the lake is the largest, deepest fresh water lake in New Zealand. So fresh you can drink the water straight from the lake.

She also told us that the area around where the caves are is carefully protected as it is home to around 200 rare birds, once thought extinct called the Takahē. These flightless birds are chicken sized, with blue/green plumage and red beaks and legs. There are others on nature reserves of which there is one in Te Anau. Think they look a bit like a chunkier version of the Pukeko we saw in Rotorua (but they can fly) There is a giant statue of one in Te Anau which we failed to photograph!

When we arrived at the visitor centre we were given an excellent presentation by a guide about the glow worms. 

Apparently they’re not worms but grubs of a type of fly. They create a kind of hammock to suspend themselves horizontally, that’s right, suspended at both ends, from the roof of the cave and then secrete a kind of luminous fishing line which hangs down from their hammocks and captures prey such as flies, moths, other glow-worms, glow-flies, etc. We watched a slo-mo film of a grub capturing a moth and then secreting some chemical to turn the inside of the moth to liquid food that it could feed on for several days - Yuck! The hungrier the grub the more they shine. Sadly after the grub stage they only live a few days as flies before they die, just enough time to reproduce. The female dies straight after giving birth, the males blunder on for a couple more days, often being eaten by other glow worms in the pupae stage.

We were then led to a cave entrance which was very low and deep. There were waterfalls whose volumous  waters  hurtled along at an alarming rate. Carol attempted to take a quick photo and then was severely told off by the rather cocky young guide as we were told not to take photos of the glow worms when we arrived to see them  (I knew that, i’m not stupid ! - C  - well i thought it but didn’t verbalise it..) We continued feeling our way through the dimly lit cave.

We were then ushered into a small boat on an waterway  and set off in the pitch black guided by rope operated by the guide. It was very disorientating but we were soon witness to the image of thousands of little lights on the cave roof. It was magical - in fact in the words of New Zealanders - awesome! Sadly as you know we could not take photos so you will just have to trust us on this one, but it was very good.

Back on to the boat, across Lake Te Anau and after a picnic by the lake we set off for Wanaka.

Enroute we called by an old gold mining town called Arrowtown.

It really looked a bit like a wild west frontier town! In a slightly disney way.

They’re still keen on flogging us those possum products!

L




The gold soon ran out and the town was abandoned, which is why the buildings remain (somewhat restored) in the original style they were built and laid out. It was pretty and we had our first good cup of tea in nearly a month - in lovely English vintage porcelain cups with cake.( Was going to say china but they said made in England on them and see below...)

We wanted to visit the museum but it shut at 5pm so instead we went to see the remains and restored remains of Chinatown (a dozen of poor huts and a store which was the centre of the village). In the late 1800’s NZ was desperate for population, and it was decreed that even the Chinese were better than no population at all, so were encouraged to come and prospect for gold. They were marginalised, racially abused we would call it these days, for working harder and finding more gold. But even then they were sold a dummy and, not finding the gold that was promised, most could not afford the fare to go home. Years later, says the info board, when they were old and no longer a threat, they were respected for their hard work. So states the information board. Hmmm. ( Graham)

Nevertheless they had their own community, maintained their cultural practices ( chinese new year celebrations with fireworks appeared to bemuse the locals( earlier european settlers). There were many interesting boards with info re the Chinese village. ( Carol)

 Ah Lum( also known as Lau Lei) was the owner of the last store in the Chinese village - he acted as the village leader, and as he was fluent in English and Chinese was able to translate and aid communication between the workers and the local business people etc. The store was also used as a bank ( sounds familiar - Monterey, California?). When he died in 1925 it kind of signalled the end for the settlement...

Gradually it became a ruin - until 1986 when it was restored and today many buildings can be seen - some made of tin, some stone and some built in to cave walls... 

The restored store-

One of the workers huts.

The road to Wanaka is a real pleasure, over the mountains through Cardrona, another gold rush town, but now a ski resort. The hills here were unique, yellow and bumpy, with every corner a ‘Whoa’ moment. And so down to Wanaka, another play town next to a lovely lake. We arrive, dump our stuff and head down for the famous blue cod and chips. God they were massive. We ate nearly all the fish and left all the chips and went to bed too full to move.One between two would have been enough.

Fri 25 January 

Cloudy but warm.22 degrees?

A bit of a fill in day today. We drive to see some waterfalls and pools noted for their turquoise blue colour. Fair enough. They were indeed turquoise with a quaint bridge over. We had a nice walk through the pools and a forest, had a picnic  and then head back for a wine tasting.

We head to Rippon Wines, which looks like a moderately successful winery with a grassy bank down to vineyards with lovely views over Lake Wanaka. A party of Chinese are taking the opportunity to take what look like wedding photos in the garden - well it seems that they are much more careful in their choice of shot poses than the slapdash Trees. We enquire as to the tasting opportunities and are told to come back in 5 minutes, so we go outside to watch the next Vogue shoot.

A few minutes later we are with an audience of a dozen being led through Rippon Wines selection. We start with an Osteiner, a cross between a Reisling and another (forget its name). It was awful. “What do you think?” asks the host. “A bit acidic” says Graham. “Ah, that’s the slate it roots into” says the host. Its natural. Next was the reisling. Awful, acidic. Next the Saunvignon Blanc. A bit better but I wouldn’t buy it. She bangs on about everything being so natural, so bio, there is nothing added to the wine, nothing. “What about sulphites?” Says Graham. “Ah, well we use a little sulphite, but not as much as other wine makers” comes the reply. “Only enough 

to preserve the wine”. Of course they do, nothing wrong with that - if you don’t use sulphites the wine may spoil in the bottle. Don’t know why I said it. Everyone uses sulphite. Next comes the pinot noir jeunesse, nice. And then the finalé, I get a big glass for asking awkward questions - the pinot noir from the older wines. Lovely. I could buy some of this until I see the price - $59! (£31) as in a famous Graham saying - “ How much!”

This is a great spot and so generous to give a free tasting, as soon as one group finishes, the next group starts. All free. I can’t see them continuing this for much longer.

These are the views from the tasting room and outside, ooooh, it’s lovely. And Graham in the chair of contemplation after being rude about their wines.

Tomorrow we head off to Twizel pronounced “ Twyzel”, with a “y” rather than a “ee”. Gateway to Mount Cook National Park. Here’s hoping the weather treats us better than in Fiordland....