NZ South - Riversdale to Rob Roy

Milford Sound, Mitre Peak

This past week has been one of great despair (deadly earthquakes and pirates) and great beauty.  What a world of contrasts in which we live.  It is never easy to accept tragedy.  Natural disasters,  however, are in some ways easier to understand than man's inhumanity to fellow humans.  Natural disasters seem to bring out the best of humanity as people gather to help and support those in need. As we seek to understand, we embraced the beauty of the land and the people here in New Zealand.

We started our week out in Riversdale, a small farming community between Te Anau and Queenstown with the Leahy family on their dairy farm.

Alan, Melinda, and Daughter Emily were our gracious hosts.

Within just a few short hours we learned an incredible amount about the dairy business. Our respect and admiration for farmers in general and Alan and Melinda in particular has increased exponentially.  We love our milk, cheese, whipped cream, ice cream, creamed cheese, yogurt and don't give it much thought other than buying it.  What goes behind each bottle of milk is uncountable hours of hard work.

After our wonderful visit with the Leahy family we continued to Queenstown.  This is the Adrenalin Captial of the World.  We could have chosen sky diving, jet boating, bungee jumping, river rafting or several other high thrill activities while we were in Queenstown, but we chose a two and half hour helicopter excursion and a steamship ride across the lake.

Our helicopter excursion was fabulous.  Go to our Web Album to see all of the photos and video of our heli-flight.  Here are just a few:

After a morning of flying we ended the day with a steam ship ride on the TSS Earnslaw.

Built in 1911, this graceful lady took us across the lake to a beautiful homestead where we ate roasted lamb with mint sauce and Pavlova in the private dining room.  After dinner we enjoyed a sheep shearing demonstration, then headed back on the Earnslaw in the starlight to Queenstown.


While we sailed across the lake, we joined a sing-along in the piano bar.

It was a great way to end the day.

We said goodbye to Queenstown the following morning and headed for Lake Wanaka.  We went over through the quaint gold town of Arrowstown.

It reminded us of Columbia, but far more commercial.  The Kiwis really know how to milk the tourist dollar.

From here we climbed over a tall pass to Lake Wanaka.  The scenery from the top was breathtaking.  On our way down the other side, we passed by a venison farm where we saw some of the most beautiful deer/elk hybrids.  Take a look at these racks!

We arrived in Wanaka late in the afternoon..  The weather for the following day was rainy in the morning, clearing in the afternoon.  The following afternoon, we took a bicycle ride around part of the lake.

This is a beautiful location.  Russ and I agree that if we were going to live anywhere in New Zealand, it would be here.  The lake, mountains, ski areas, hiking, and quaint town are in Kiwi terms "brilliant."

The following day, we drove up into a magnificient valley where we found the trail head for the Rob Roy Track to the glacier.

The scenery on this 2 hour uphill trek just kept getting better and better. At the end of the trail, the blue green of the glacier hangs over the granite and glistening waterfalls cascade down moraine terraces to the valley floor.

While we were there, we heard a rumble and turned our heads to see an avalanche of ice as part of the glacier broke off and tumbled down.  See the video.  Change is inevitable.  It is everywhere.

Today, Sunday, February 27, 2011 we spent the day resting and catching up on chores. Late in the afternoon, we visited a Puzzling World and spent a good hour just trying to get out of the huge outdoor maze.  After our success with this, we finished the day at a Mexican restaurant.  Tomorrow we head further north to the Franz Joseph glacier.

All is well with the 2 Sail R's