Te Anau

This is easily the most beautiful place I've been to since arriving in New Zealand, and unfortunately I can't upload pictures so you'll have to take my word for it. I'm right on the edge of New Zealand's second largest lake (Lake Taupo being the largest) and towering mountains are all around. Today was exceptionally windy, and you could almost see the nasty weather coming off the Tasman getting hung up by the mountains on the other side of the lake. Indeed, I think they had forecasted severe weather throughout Fiordland (that's the southwestern region of the south island) today. It made for a cool effect with the sky turning a dirty golden color - a bit like what you'd expect when a tornado rolls through. This is good news because I'd rather it come through now than when I'm walking the Milford track. The shielding effect of the mountains here is incredible - they receive about 1000mm of rain annually here in Te Anau and just on the other side of the mountains that surround the lake the average rainfall is 8000 mm!! So I'm still expecting rain on the Milford track, but hopefully it won't be too severe.

Things are remarkably untouched here in Fiordland, and 99% of people just come through Te Anau on their way north to Milford Sound. So there's an amazing number of tour buses, but not too many people walking around. Today I walked quite a ways on the Kepler Track - it's one of the other "Great Walks" in Fiordland, but I don't think I'll come back to do it fully.

Yesterday was a travel day, and it took about 11 hours to travel from Christchurch to Te Anau - with stops of course. It was actually a very nice ride because the bus had two levels and I was able to sit at the front of the top level and get a driver's view of the landscape. One leg of the trip took us through two towns called Clinton and Gore - this section of the road was named the "Presidential Highway" around the turn of the millenium when it was still possible that Al Gore was going to be president. Yes, it's sometimes easy to forget that I'm actually in New Zealand.

When I arrived, it was about 1km to the campsite and there I met 5 guys from Invercargill who were very friendly, so I spent the night with them (hence why I wasn't able to post). They were good fun, but pretty redneck for lack of a better word for it. They knew more about American sports than I do, although I suppose that's not saying much. Unfortunately, people always assume you know a lot about US sports when you tell them you're American.

Speaking of the States, I forgot to mention that during my last day in Christchurch I made a point of visiting some American food chains to compare. First was Starbucks. The coffee was more expensive than any other coffee in New Zealand, and the size of my drink (I ordered a cappucino) was much larger than any other coffee I've gotten here. Also of interest, they have a short size (smaller than tall). The quality was the same as in the States. Next was Subway. I ordered a six inch turkey and ham, which is usually more than enough food for me, but the portion sizes were PITIFUL. Only 2 slices of turkey and 2 of ham - in the States you get a whole handful. The extras (onion, tomato, lettuce) were also put on sparingly. And this reminds me, while I'm on the subject, that I saw Clif bars for the first time today. I was very excited about bringing them on my next tramp until I saw that they were selling for $4.50 NZ (~2.90 US) a piece. I suppose it's because they're imported.

Tomorrow will be a supply day and I think I might also be parting with a few small items as I'm unable to store gear for this next tramp and I'll need to carry 7 days of food.

-Brian