Now that's what I call remote

Te Anau, nr Milford Sound, New Zealand

Upon arrival in Te Anau we did the usual and stopped by the visitors centre to get any recomendations on accomodation. Whilst there we also found out that the road to Milford Sound was closed due to avalanche risk. Oh well it's not like that was the only reason we had come to this remote part of the country! Actually it was, which meant we had no choice but to sit it out. That afternoon didn't turn not bad as they were showing March of the Penguins at the local cinema. As an avid lover of penguins I thought it was a brilliant film and I now want to visit Antarctica. The whole experience was made even better by the fact that the cinema seats were like arm chairs and if we had wanted they would have served us cheese and biscuits!

There were a couple of guys in the room next to us who provided some entertainment. One night they tried to come into our room by mistake. Mik politely advised them of their error and off they stumbled in a drunken haze. The next day the motel owner told us they were hunters and as if to prove the point they came back the following day with a dead wild pig on the back of a truck! Nice, although even nicer were the blood stains from where it had been slaughtered on the back of another truck. Where the hell were we!?!

The next 2 days the road remained closed as they were blasting the snow to get rid of the avalanche risk and then having to clear the road. The second day of waiting we decided to drive the road and see how far we could get. It was a beautiful drive but the barrier was down and we could not get through. To make up for it Mik took us for an offroad experience. Finally he got to see what the car would do. Needless to say I wasn't quite so enthusiastic as we lost sight of town and wheelspan through the mud!

The following morning we got up early, again, in the hope that the road would be clear. Horray, they were going to be opening it at 11am so off we set complete with a set of chains for the car. We arrived at the gate to a queue of traffic. They finally opened the gates at 11.30 and everyone drove very cautiously through the mountain, past the huge piles of dynamite blasted snow. It made for quite a vista.

We then caught a boat and set off into Milford Sound, which we found out is in fact a fjord. The difference, well a sound is the result of rising sea levels flooding valleys, whereas a fjord is the result of glacial erosion. I did a geography degree don't you know. But still had to learn that from the skipper! The boat took us slowly through the stunning scenery and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. This in itself is unusual as Milford is known for it's low mists, even in summer, so we were really lucky in the end! The cruise lasted an hour and a half and we took a million photos, none of which do the place justice. We were then dropped at an underwater observatory where we could view the local fish life.

After the lovely 2 hour drive back to Te Anau we treated ourselves to a night out and went for burgers and beers at the local pub. The next morning we headed out and for the first hour of the journey barely saw another car on the road, talk about isolated.

Cara