Then on through lovely countryside to Te Anau for two nights on excellent but near-deserted roads.
Our guides told us to wish for “rain overnight with a fine day to follow” and that is exactly what we got as we set out next morning for Milford Sound, through stunning scenery of mountains, waterfalls and lakes, stopping at Eglington Valley and Mirror Lake.
Just after emerging form the Homer Tunnel, we stopped to take photos, and right on cue the clowns of the high country, three noisy keas, arrived and proceeded to show off like professional entertainers much to our delight.
Arriving at glorious Milford Sound we boarded the Milford Mariner for lunch and a great voyage out to the open Tasman Sea and back past towering waterfalls spilling down after the previous night’s rain.
While driving back to Te Anau on almost empty roads, our farmer/bus driver told us her sister had a cafe at Milford Sound, and it was not unusual — in pre-Covid days — to have up to 43 busloads of tourists a day through as well as other visitors.
Throughout the tour, and especially on the coach segment, people were constantly thanking us for coming and helping their devastated tourism industry.
Next morning many of us had an early start on a frosty morning, boarding a boat to take us across Lake Te Anau with the dawning sun turning the distant peaks pink.
We were heading for the glow worm caves. This was quite an adventure as we crept up a rock tunnel in the cave, bent double, and boarded a small raft, our guide taking us back and forth in the darkness with the loud roar of nearby waterfall behind us. Afterwards we had a short forest walk and an interesting lecture before returning to Te Anau.
Meanwhile other tour members had been to visit the takahe.
We set off for Fairlight where another steam train treat awaited us.
At the start of our tour it was announced that Pounamu Tourism, who arranged our tour, had just bought the famous and magnificent Kingston Flyer, built in the 1870s, which had been out of action for eight years — and that we would be travelling on it. Huge cheers!
Our group on its anti-clockwise tour was the first to travel on the wonderful old train since its return to service a couple of days before us, with extensive publicity on radio, TV and in newspapers.
We boarded the Flyer, with its beautifully restored old green carriages( including one sleeper car) at Fairlight and had a lovely journey through the countryside, bright with autumn leaves, to Kingston, where our coaches were waiting to take us to Queenstown.
There was a special treat at dinner that night. Peter Hillary, Sir Ed’s son, was guest speaker and gave a very entertaining and informative speech about his life and climbs, including of course Mt Everest and trips to the South Pole. We were lucky enough to sit opposite him and had a good chat. He told us he is very keen to climb Mt Hikurangi.
The next morning, we all visited historic Arrowtown with its lovely autum -tinted trees and quaint historic buildings. We spent a most enjoyable hour or more at the excellent Queenstown Lakes Museum and art gallery. The gold rush displays were especially interesting. We discovered a special gem while we were exploring the town — a vividly colourful old-style sweet shop packed with every kind and colour of sweets to tempt visitors.
Then we returned to sparkling Queenstown to potter or rest on a free afternoon.
In the evening we cruised across Lake Wakatipu in the grand old steamer, the TSS Earnslaw, for a magnificent dinner/barbecue at the beautiful new but old-style visitor building at Walter Peak Station.
We ran into Peter Hillary again, and asked if he had had good day. He said he had climbed a nearby mountain, naturally! He had a gorgeous day for it!
After the meal we watched a very good sheepdog demonstration at the nearby new “half dome” stadium.
It was a frosty foggy morning as we headed for the West Coast via Cromwell, first stopping at the Jones Family fruit stall to see and buy the wide, colourful and tempting selection of fresh and dried fruit, nuts, chocolates, special local thyme-tasting honey, and peach and apricot wines and liquers.
Then on past Lake Dunstan and Lake Wanaka in clear weather with lunch at Makaroa (where we loved the delightful sheep signs on the loo doors) and on through beautiful beech forest to the Haast Pass, again the road almost deserted.
We stopped at a sweeping West Coast beach with rows of huge rocks as a retaining wall to try to stop erosion from the fierce winds and tides driving in from the Tasman sea.
Our last night was at the lovely Te Waonui Forest Retreat hotel at Franz Josef, a beautifully designed modern hotel nestling in the forest with nearby hot springs. The lovely ferns were only inches from our bedroom windows,
Next morning we headed north to Greymouth to board our last train, the TranzAlpine for our journey back to Christchurch, arriving there after dark and a spectacular sunset .
Next day we all went our separate ways and headed home. It was a great trip — very well organised and most enjoyable.
