Pack Travel Part IV

(This is part 4 of the holiday season South Island camping trip. For continuity, it will probably make much more sense for you to read parts 1, 2, and 3 before reading this...or not, do whatever you want.)

"He's still writing about something that happened almost two months ago?!" Yes. Yes I am. And just to spite you (reader that I adore for taking the time to peruse my adventure blog) this will be a very long and photo-filled post. I won't let your negativity affect me. Water off the duck's back:

And what a happy duck.

Following our one night beach-side camping excursion, we headed northwest up the coast of the South Island. This part of the country is known as Southland, and it's pretty big. The population density is a mere 2.8 people/km^2. That's small; for reference, Madison, WI is 1172.6. It makes sense as you drive through Southland because it contains Fiordlands National Park (FNP), which is really just a bunch of uninhabitable mountains and fjords and lakes and ohmygodthisisamazing scenery.

Before we started this portion of our trip however, we first had to celebrate New Year's Eve in Te Anau. This tiny town (pop. 2000) is at the southern edge of FNP. For this reason, it's relatively touristy and has a number of nice little shops and even a few bars. So for NYE we went to town and somehow stumbled upon this large bonfire in the town's main park:

Joe and Michael play a game of who can get closer.

The rest of the night consisted of watching 50,000 NZD worth of fireworks (people thought this was a lot of money for a fireworks display, scoff), going to every single (3 in total) bar in Te Anau, and taking over a dance floor that just would not play Hotline Bling for me. 

After nursing hangovers and watching a pitiful MSU football performance, we headed north into FNP along the Milford Road. This is a truly breathtaking drive, and we had our sights set on a truly breathtaking campground for the next two nights:

Sometimes you have to stop along the highway and lie in fields of Lupins.

Lee, Michael and Keegan prepare a meal around our communal hole. Our site was nestled in a dense forest, perfect for late night Sasquatch calling. 

Joe and I look on expectantly. 

Deer Flat Campsite. Just wow.

After a gin-soaked sleep in the tent, we drove into the mountains, stopping for a hike to Lake Marian. This was a pretty strenuous 90 minute climb past cascading rapids and twisting up a narrow track.

Okay so a boardwalk stroll along a babbling stream doesn't look strenuous, but like just after this picture it got tough.

At the top, soaring peaks surround an extremely calm lake. So calm that the mountains mirror across the pristine and silky water. This was maybe my my most zen place I've been to in New Zealand.

Lee captures the scene. Slight ripples let us know we are, in fact, in a dream.

"A man is but the product of his thoughts..." -Gandhi
"Shit this is pretty." -Eric

Another hour or so hike along the Routeburn Track brought us to Key Summit. This strangely flat terrain on top of a mountain provided 360 degree views of the surrounding region.

Atop Key Summit and Joe is holding an unidentified object up to his fa...oh right a camera.

Finally, after packing up camp, driving back into Te Anau for a rainy day/night of drinking and playing cards and eating frozen pizza and showering, we were set for the cherry (and whipped cream and drizzled chocolate sauce) on top of our South Island sojourn:  a kayaking trip in Milford Sound.

The day began very early - dark and dreary amidst a cold morning fog. Our guide, Andrew, picked us up from Te Anau's Event Centre parking lot and drove us in the waxing light of dawn the two hours up to Milford Sound. We had been there briefly a few nights before, and captured a quick appetizer of what our day on the water would bring us:

My version of Milford Sound.

Michael's.

Lee and Keegan's (the morning of kayaking). They got a sunny shot.

Joe's. No matter how you spin it, it's beautiful. But Joe wins.

So, yeah, we were pretty excited about getting to kayak. The day was just right - sunny yet cool, relatively calm waters, and just the right amount of sandflies to remind you that not even paradise is perfect. After suiting up in like 20 layers of awesome looking thermals and sun/water protective gear, and getting the appropriate paddling safety lessons, we set out. Because there were 5 of us, I got to team up with some random guy from Greensboro, North Carolina named Justin. Ex-army, no kayaking experience ("I got this Justin"), and a really talkative and interesting person - definitely a good kayaking companion. 

The next 4 hours is kind of a blur: light to heavy gusts of wind, Justin "accidentally" flicking salty sea-spray into my face over and over, the sun beating down on my neck, nearly smacking one of these little guys with my paddle as he chased a school of fish, aching arms and back, the approach to a ferocious waterfall, teaming up with other kayakers for a makeshift raft and sailing across the Sound, a barrel-rolling seal (apparently trying to digest his food), a seaplane landing on the serene water just beside us...the list goes on and on. I'll shut up and show some photos.

Smiles on top mask growing frustration with faulty steering mechanism... 

Justin and I display perfectly synchronized paddling technique.

And then I slack off a bit. I gotta get a hold of Justin's GoPro footage.

Just two peas in a pod.

Ungh.

And that was basically it for the trip, or at least I can confidently say it was the highlight. We headed back to Queenstown that night, ate some good food, partied (Michael and I) a bit, and slept in actual beds for the first time in nearly 11 days. Some of us got a little tuckered out before we even made it back to Queenstown:

Making memories is exhausting.

Cheers!

Bonus:  my next post will likely be a supplement to this series in which I just show all of the best of Joe's diligently taken photos from our very hectic and tiring and amazing trip. 

Thanks for sticking through it with me!

"Oh my God is that a kiwi?" No, just a Weka. Dammit.