Part 4

The alarm went off at 5:21. Slowly we struggled to wake up and start moving. We drove over to the meeting place at 6 and handed the gear to Bill and Stu (the guide). They put it in the boat, and we climbed into the van.

A few more stops on the way out of town to pick up the rest of the group and then we headed to Manapouri. It was about a 25 minute drive.

There we climbed into the boat, an aluminum unit which Bill used to ferry us across Laka Manapouri. There was some coffee passed around at this time, so life was getting better.

About 2 hours later we arrived at the west arm, which is the western tip of the lake. There is a big hydroelectric power station there, which passes water from the lake into Doubtful Sound. It generates approximately 560 MW of power in the process.

Anyway, we all climbed into a little Toyota Land Rover and Bill drove us over to Deep Cove, which took about an hour. Deep cove sits on the edge of Doubtful Sound.

We saw the sound from the top of the pass and it looked incredible. Tall walls rising up from the water, with wisps of snow on the taller peaks. Gushing waterfalls everywhere.

We arrived at the cove and carried the kayaks down to the beach from where they are stored.

The gear was handed out and we started to put on the wetsuits, etc. About this time the sandflies came out and began to make life miserable. We were somewhat distracted as Stu explained the safety procedures to us.

Finally we got into the kayaks and started paddling. This was a good thing since the sand flies don't go out on the water.

The kayaks were very nice. Tandem units made of kevlar. They cost about NZ$4000 - NZ$5000 each (that's about $2500 american). The paddles were graphite/composite fibers. High-end stuff, no doubt about it.

Impressive sights. We saw a seal on the way out laying on its side. Two penguins sitting on a rock. Massive waterfalls. Snow covered mountains.

Lunch stop had too many sand flies. Sociable group, though. The wind began to blow and it got cold in a hurry.

After lunch we paddled on to the end of the arm we were on, then hoisted some makeshift sails and sailed back around 4 km. Total distance for the day was around 15km. Some windy conditions to make it interesting.

	The group is getting ready to depart in the morning.
	Typical views seen kayaking around Doubtful Sound.

Pulled into the campground and had to carry the kayaks fully loaded quite a ways into the woods. 75m or so. I suspect this is because they are trying to maintain a low profile insofar as the location of the campground.

Set the tents up on gravel while the sandflies launched an all-out attack. After the tents were in place, we raced to the screen tent for dinner. The group was jovial, passing snacks around. Lots of fun.

We got our water from the stream running next to our camping area. No filtration or boiling was done to treat it. Felt very strange drinking untreated water.

Finally washed up at 10pm. Very tired. It had been a long day.

Awoke this morning to the sounds of birds in the forest. No rain last night. We are very, very lucky, since Doubtful Sound gets 9 meters of rain per year. That's a lot of rain.

We awoke and got up, the sun was not yet shining in our area. The steep canyon walls were starting to be lit up, but the forest was not. Sandflies don't come out until the sun is shining in the immediate area, so we had a brief interlude without the pesky little creatures.

We wandered over to the screened in porch and had breakfast with everyone. We had chosen oatmeal, there was once again a large variety of foods. Stu indicated that at 8:30 the tent would be coming down, so people were motivated to keep moving.

Ironically enough, at 8:30 two other things happened. The sun hit the forest canopy and, as a result, the sand flies came out.

Trying to get dressed was bad. There were 50 of the sandflies on Pam and I kept trying to swat them out of the way. A videotape of us changing would have been amusing to watch.

Stu checked in on the radio the night before and heard that we would be paddling into the wind tomorrow. 35kt headwinds were expected.

We carried the kayaks out to the beach, then helped carry some wood further into the forest where they are in the process of building a compostable toilet unit. It amazes me that with as much use as the place gets that they have everyone dig their own toilet holes.

Finally we pushed off into the water. Once again, we were bug free.

The wind was starting to pick up and we were paddling right into it. From time to time the waves picked up and came up over the deck. It made things a bit more interesting.

Lunch time was a nice break. Pam didn't like the large, well, huge, bees chasing her around but on the positive side, it did provide entertainment for the rest of the group.

Afterwards we pulled out and started paddling back to the pickup point. It took a while, but we made it. The gear was stowed and climbed into the Toyota for the ride back over Wilmot Pass.

Another boat ride & bus ride and then we were "home". Well, back in Te Anau.

Gave the bottle of champaign to Stu - he did a good job and we wanted to show our appreciation.

We drove on to the other park in town - the Mountain View. I had been thinking about the Fish and Chips for two days, so we returned to the Olive Tree. Another awesome meal.

At this point we were exhausted and slowly walked back to the RV. It was time for some serious sleep.

Our strategy this morning was to go to the Olive Tree once again for breakfast. We arrived at 8:15 to find that it opened at 9. I'm not sure what amazes me more - that they do this, or that they can apparently maintain a successful breakfast business while doing so. We opted to walk to another cafe.

Walked around Te Anau for a bit and did some shopping. It took about 20 minutes to get our fill.

A few cars cut me off as I was pulling out of the campsite. Strange driving behavior in these parts, I thought.

We drove up to Queenstown to just check things out. Stopped at a cafe for coffee and hot chocolate. Nasty stuff. Instant coffee and watered down chocolate.

Got to Queenstown. The lake was still noticeably high, but nothing seemed to be flooded. It was far too touristy for us. We had planned on walking around, but we agreed that just driving through this town was enough.

So many hotels. The shops were geared towards booking your next adventure. We stopped at a cafe outside of town for lunch.

Fully refreshed, we motored on to Omarama. They have a ram statue on the one major street corner.

Parked. At this point we've realized that we don't need power hookups if we are driving all day. This allows for greater flexibility when parking.

The setting sun was very impressive on the snow covered mountains.

Awoke to another great day. We put the wet clothing (shoes, polypro stuff which had not gone into the dryer the previous evening) in the sun to dry. There was a slight breeze blowing as well.

After breakfast we loaded up and pulled out. The goals today were simple. A quick stop at the local hydroelectric facility then on to Mt. Cook National Park.

The tour did not start until 11, so we pulled in to the local cafe (near the statue of the ram). A cup of coffee for me and some hot chocolate for Pam.

I lost track of the time and only looked at my watch at 10:36. We quickly ran to the motorhome and set out. If I made good time we could still catch the tour. Since the country appears to ignore general standards of protecting tourists (compared to what I've seen in the USA), I was hoping for a most exciting time. Ideally we would be filling out "next of kin" forms prior to starting the tour.

Over the roads the RV flew. We were pushing the limit of how fast we could go. The RV shook and rattled, while the engine made an unusual sounds. It bore a strange resemblance to the USS Enterprise in the original Star Trek series when Captain Kirk ordered a high "warp factor" number. I could almost hear Scotty crying out that the engines could not last much longer.

We arrived at 11:01 and caught the start of the tour. There were 3 other tourists there to take a look at things as well.

After a short video we walked over to the main facility. The hydroelectric facility has 6 main turbines and 2 small ones. The large ones produce power to be transmitted out while the little ones produce power for the station itself. It's the 2^nd largest in NZ at 530 MW. Lake Manopouri @ 575 is #1, and it will go to 700 MW output in the next year or two.

The only really interesting thing that we saw was an actual turbine shaft turning. Without question, the Hoover Dam tour was much more interesting.

After the tour we drove to the top of the dam for a walk. It was interesting in that there was no one else around. We walked along and admired the view. It's worth noting the blue-green color in the reservoir and spillway. The color comes from sediment contained within the glacier runoff.

We left the dam and drove north. The route took us through Queenstown. On the way down we had been in a hurry. Now was a good time to stop and take a look around.

Our idea was to stop and walk around for a bit. Driving through town, the following were noted: Many, many motels. Many places to book adventures. The waters of the lake were still quite high.

The first and second items were especially notable. Driving through town, then back out we agreed there was no reason to actually stop, so we continued on to Frankton for lunch.

After lunch we drove on to Mt. Cook National Park.

The view going to the park was very impressive. There is a large lake that you drive along, with snow-covered mountains continually in front of you. Along the side of the road there are many purple and pink flowers.

We stopped at the visitor's center to get some information. The ranger there recommended to us a 3 hour trail, and told us there was a car park we could stay at, but it had no power hookups. Since we were no longer plugging in at this point anyway, this was not a problem.

After parking at the campground and paying the NZ$10 fee, we set off to do the hike. It was pretty flat. We crossed a few suspension bridges and made our way around a ridge so that Mt. Cook was directly in front of us.

At the end of the trail we stopped and enjoyed the late day sun lighting up the mountain. Took some pictures of each other as well.

	On the trail - pretty nice view, eh?
	At the end of the trail (and the last wilderness experience we shall experience here).   That's Mt. Cook in the background.  I was in no hurry to leave...
	Pam thought the backpack also made a nice pillow.
	One of the nicer campsites we had on this trip.  In front of us was a huge valley extending for miles.

Got back to the RV around 9pm. Had some soup for dinner and went to sleep. The stars that night were very impressive to see.

That night the wind started blowing very hard. It made it hard to sleep because it felt like someone kept kicking the bed telling us it was time to wake up. Also, since the RV has such a high profile, it raised concerns about getting blown over onto the side. This was not likely to happen, but I kept worrying about it anyway.