Te Anau

Te Anau is the closest town to Milford Sound. It's not even that close (about 75 miles) but staying anywhere closer means camping, or possibly staying on a boat, so Te Anau gets a lot of its traffic from that. I suppose there are hotels, but it mainly vacation homes and rentals.

We had driven in the night before, and were going to catch a bus to Milford Sound for a boat cruise. We did not need to meet the bus until 11 (I think), so Chris wanted to show us the area around the lake.

This gave us a chance to view many native plants and scenery, but there were a few other enrichments. At one end of the trail there was a rehabilitation area for different birds. Most of them were species that we had seen at Rainbow Springs, but this was another view of them. We saw our beloved kea again, but I took so many kea pictures on the way to Milford Sound that I am holding off on that. Instead I have a picture of a kaka. (Most New Zealand bird names are taken from the way their calls sound: ke-a, ka-ka, more-pork. Of course, translating bird calls into human phonetics is open to wide interpretation.)

Probably the most interesting bird we saw was a takahe. This bird is highly endangered. It looks rather similar to the pukeko, but we found a sign that listed the differences between the two birds. Probably the best indication is that if you are seeing it in the wild, and not in a pen labeled takahe, then it is a pukeko. Takahe are just too rare.

Even with one in captivity, we were lucky to see it. Since the focus of this place was rehabilitation and then release, as opposed to display, the bird has plenty of places to hide and often chooses to do so, which is completely allowed. Chris had been there twice before without seeing it.

For some reason, for our visit the bird was running up and down the hill. I suspect it was some kind of pre-nesting behavior. I did not get great pictures due to the constant movement, but I do have one up here, as well as a picture of the giant takahe statue in the middle of town.

Looking at the photos, you can see the gorgeous scenery, and also how marshy and wet everything is. I liked the way that the water came right up to the trail, but it was not merely that. In addition, the grass was quite wet, and the area was fairly hilly.

Maria was still sporting a wound on the back of her heel, making anything other than flip-flops too painful to wear. Things were not quite as steep as Hobbiton, but evidently it was more treacherous, or the fact of it being milder lulled her into a false sense of security. She did a really spectacular slip, getting mud all over and around her pants.

Chris was amazed at how ladylike she was over it, not swearing at all. He has no idea exactly how miraculous that was, but it was the calming spell of the South Island (and the Scottish tour guide).

Not to worry. Chris ran ahead to get the vehicle back, and we rushed back to give her a chance to change before boarding the bus. He did not ask for it, but I took one of my handy emergency ponchos as we wrapped her in it, protecting the car interior.

I said there were two enrichments. At the far end of the trail (at least as far as we went, but you can keep going quite a ways) there are the bird pens. At the near end there is something like a discovery center. They have displays of plants and minerals, and information on the history and ecology of the area, including native lore.

We were able to pick up quite a bit of information here, and it also started one of the strangest odysseys of our trip. They have this series of educational children's books featuring native creatures learning things or resolving issues. Maria noticed one in particular, 5 Kiwi in a Kombi (this appears to be what Kiwis call a VW bus), that she felt was perfect to take back to her kindergarten class.

Maria asked me to buy it for her, but I had left my wallet in the car, and did not want to go get it. I said it was clearly a common book, as part of this series, so we would just buy it somewhere else. Well, let me tell you, we looked in every bookstore we encountered across New Zealand, including three in Queenstown and five in the Auckland airport. We saw many books in the series, but not that one. Eventually Chris needed to order it for her and forward it to the States when it arrived. Crazy.

http://www.fiordland.org.nz/Explore-Fiordland/Places-to-visit/Te-Anau.asp
http://harristravel.shutterfly.com/700