I booked my Milford Sound trip with a tour company called Mitre Peak Cruises. It was a 12 hour day so I had an early start. We drove straight to a small town called Te Anau for a break, seeing mostly farmland on the way. Te Anau was on a huge lake with nice hills in the background. Quite scenic. But the drive from there to Milford Sound was absolutely gorgeous! We stopped at a few places along the way to get some pictures as we drove through the Alps. There was even a tunnel that went right through a mountain to come out the other side zigzagging down a valley.
On one of our photo stops, we had a Kea fly over looking for some food. Cheeky fellow, kept following this poor girl trying to eat her banana. Lol.
The cruise itself was nice. The first mountain top you see looking at the inlet is called Mitre Peak (hence the company's name) and is the prettiest landscape. I see why this was another filming spot for the LOTR movie. There were a couple of waterfalls and we saw some fur seals lazing about on the rocks. No penguins or dolphins this day. We had free tea and coffee on board, which was nice as the wind was a bit chilly sitting outside on the upper deck. We spent about an hour getting out to the ocean, and then an hour back to port.
I didn't get back to the hostel till mid-evening so I had a quiet night.
I went hiking the next day. Queenstown Hill is 907 m and pretty much just up behind the hostel. It was a steep walk just to get to the car park. Whew, no wonder the locals are in shape.
The view was stunning! I wish I ran my town errands before the hike so I could enjoy it longer! There is farmland at the summit so you can see a dirt path all across the land. Very tempting to walk all over exploring... but it is private land :(
Queenstown is a very small town, surrounded by mountains and on Lake Wakatipu, which is really big! One of the most picturesque towns I've seen. Full of adrenalin rush activities here and has a reputation of being a party town. Lots of gift shops and eateries as well.
After my errands, I went to the park and sat on a bench along the lake walkway to watch the sunset. Unfortunately, the mountains block it a bit so I thought, maybe it'll be nicer up at the summit of Queenstown Hill. Plan to try it out the next day then.
I spent most of the following morning day reading, using the computer and making my picnic dinner. I hiked back up Queenstown Hill at 4 pm and planned to stay till 8 pm to watch the sunset. The hike was easier that day for some reason... and I ventured a little farther along the path to a different summit overlooking the adjoining town Frankton. It was so windy and once the sun got low, was super cold. But again, the sunset was still hidden. I tried, but it's just not the best place for them. Oh well, it was so peaceful up there. Once I got back to the hostel, I lounged in the TV room before bed.
The next day, I wanted to go to Glenorchy, but since there weren't any buses running there, I had to hitchhike. I walked just outside of town, before the highway started, to a nice gravel patch for people to pull over. Took about 45 mins, but finally got a ride. A nice Chinese couple drove me the 48 km and dropped me off at the township. I got a room at the Glenorchy Hotel & Backpackers. The dorms were still closed due to the off-season, so I was placed in a room all to myself. Nice to have the space, however the hotel itself was freezing, poorly insulated and very old and run down. At least I had a little heater I could turn on at night.
I went to the beach and walked around the Glenorchy Walkway that went into the wetlands. Such a beautiful area. It's just at the other end of Lake Wakatipu. Again, surrounded by mountains. Lots of movies were filmed here, LOTR, Wolverine, Chronicles of Narnia, Willow, the Waterhorse, etc... I wish I could have done the Routeburn Trek while here, but it takes a few days and my time here is ending soon. Plus, it's difficult to get to some areas as you need a 4x4 vehicle and there wasn't anyone doing drop offs and pickups in those locations for day hikes. Best to go there when it's in season.
I ate dinner at my hotels restaurant. I didn't have many options as there's only 3 places to eat, and 1 cafe closes for the evening. The town is just local homes, 1 hotel, 3 eateries and 2 info centres with one having an extremely small store. My dinner wasn't that great either considering the price I had to pay, so won't eat there again.
I went on a 6 hour day hike the next day. I walked just out of town to the Whakaari Conservation area and went up the Mount Judah Track. I hiked up to Bonnie Jean Hut which was my summit for the day. The mount is an old mining area so I passed a few mines and a scheelite battery camp. I guess they found lots of tungsten up in the hills. There was quartz everywhere in this region. Glistening rocks a plenty!
A nice way to spend a clear sunny day and I didn't encounter anyone else! All to myself... and cows and goats. Couldn't believe how much dung was on the path! Had to watch my step the whole way, lol.
I had a hot shower when I got back and ate at the other cafe for dinner. Then, I read in bed till I fell asleep.
I checked out this morning and a nice local man offered me a ride back to Queenstown. I went back to Aspen Lodge, had lunch and finished my book. This evening, I watched another rugby game (England vs France) in the lounge and am having an early night since I'm catching a bus first thing tomorrow.
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