Early the next morning, we rose to a chilly morning sunrise, gathered our gear, and walked into Te Anau to catch our bus. Being early, we grabbed a coffee and a snack to kick-start our day while perusing the gift shop. When our bus pulled up we took our seats while the passengers from Queenstown got some breakfast. Before we knew it, we were on the road heading from an already rural environment to a practically untouched landscape except for the road and a few signs. Paddocks were replaced by yellow plains surrounded by mountains of lush green forest with a cloudy frosting at the peaks which occasionally spilled down the mountainside. I also take this point to apologize for the quality of some of the pictures. The bus was comfortable and provided a great view from its windows, just wasn't the best for taking pictures through.
That being said we did make a few stops, the first being at Mirror Lakes, a few relatively deep bodies of water bordering the lush beech forest and the plains beyond. These lakes were crystal clear, with the remnants of fallen trees still visible below the surface. It was the stillness of the water however that created a mirrored affect along this surface though, reflecting the mountains on the opposite side of the plains.
A short but beautiful diversion from the long trip left ahead of us, we had just long enough to admire the lakes reflective properties and take in a little of the beech forest that predominates this landscape. Once again, New Zealand showed its many shades of green as moss, lichen, and ferns covered most available space on rock and tree.
Back on the buss we went through Knobs Flat and an area known as The Divide, alongside more lakes and now waterfalls as the mountains seemed to start encroaching on the road. This eventually gave way again, as the signs of glaciation became even more apparent. Hanging valleys from smaller glaciers met with larger ones were periodic reminders that were were travelling in the ancient path of what would have been an enormous glacier.
Once more we stopped just to get out and stretch our legs. Like most I took the opportunity to capture the mystique of this land that had originally been carved by ice and continually reshaped by avalanches, rock slides, and water. The early morning light was beautiful as I scurried around with my camera taking pictures of the mountains, trees, rocks, and just about anything that caught my fancy; something my Father and I share in common.
Back on the bus we went, meandering upwards into the mountains as the vegetation diminished. Landslides were frequent along this route, and as our guide mentioned, some had required bulldozers and even explosives to clear when they had crossed the road. One had even been so much effort that they just rebuilt the road around it. The road eventually came to what appeared to be a dead end. This was the entrance to the Homer Tunnel, cut through the granite rock of the mountain. We waited for our turn, most of which I spent trying to take a good picture of this waterfall but to no avail.
Into the darkness, the headlights of the bus providing the only clue to where we were as we watched the shadows dancing along the road and the granite walls. Eventually, as we would all hope, there was a light at the end of the tunnel and we arrived on the other side. A few hair pin turns down the mountain side, across the same river multiple times, and through an increasingly lush forest and we finally arrived at our destination.
We exited the bus to a large boat terminal which seemed oddly out of place in this incredibly rustic environment. It put the Saint John Airport to shame really in terms of how nice it was. We went outside again to the wharf and passed all the huge luxury boats till we got to our quaint metal boat which thanks to it's diminutive stature would allow us to get closer to many of the wildlife and waterfalls throughout the sound. Despite its size, it was a very comfortable boat, and we sat down to some lunch as the boat set off on the second leg of this day's journey.
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