I pushed on to Te Anau in the end, as it’s a deceptively long way all the way to Milford Sound from Queenstown (over 300 Km) and I’m glad I did in the end, Te Anau is in a beautiful setting on a lake and I got a lakeside motel room complete with family-sized private jacuzzi. Had a small shocker in the morning when I learned that a big dump of snow had hit the mountain pass between Te Anau and Milford Sound, but off I set anyway, having equipped the Mazda with a set of snow chains. The road only opened at 10am, but by the time I got to the worst part they’d done a pretty good job of clearing the snow so it wasn’t too bad. There was am rather annoying delay of an hour or so whilst you queue up waiting for a bloke to check that you’re carrying chains, otherwise he sends you back.
Took a cruise down the Sound once I eventually got there, it is certainly a lovely spot, but cold. My limited winter clothes I’m carrying were just enough to keep my vaguely above freezing point, along with endless cups of tea. The good news is that the rain held off and it was mostly sunny, which apparently is a rarity in Fiorland, they get 6 metres of rain a year! Drove back to Te Anau to the same motel, as I fancied a bit more jacuzzi action, and today I’m on my way probably to Twizel which is close to Mt. Cook. I’m in Queenstown again at the moment, it’s a glorious day here too and tempting to stay, but time is against me so I have to move on.