Time is running out. We fly out of New Zealand next Monday and we want to be up-to-date by then so we can concentrate all our brain-cells onJapan when we get there.

So back to Te Anau

The Kepler Trail

After our day on the Milford Sound we decided to have a go at the Kepler Trail which starts across the lake from Te Anau.  A suggested half-day walk was to cross the lake by water taxi and return around the bottom end of the lake, so we decided to make a day of it by combining a bit of both.

 We dutifully arrived at the wharf for the 930 taxi and stood next to the sign saying “Kepler Water Taxi  930”. At 930 prompt we the watched helplessly as the taxi picked up his passengers from the jetty at the centre of town half a mile away and headed across the lake.

 

We caught him on his return and fortunately he was happy to make an extra journey. Peter suggested that perhaps a lot of people might make the same mistake  but his reply was that it was only the English.  Must be something to do with bus stops & words that say what they mean but we let it go as by this time he was heading across the lake at full throttle.

 

Our perseverance was rewarded by a great climb through native forest populated a wealth of birdlife. In particular we were accompanied for a while by the aptly-named fantail and a silver-eye, a type of wren. Lack of fear of New Zealand birds really is remarkable but unfortunately our camera doesnt have the lens for widlife photography unless they actually stand on your foot so you will have to take our work for it.

We climbed as high as some limestone bluffs, the first point from which you could actually see  anything over the trees and got a great view across the lake to the town. By the time we returned to the lake shore it was time for a swim and then lunch followed by a trek around the bottom of the lake. 

 As you get towards the town there is a bird sanctuary, with only a handful of birds (a god thing presumably as it means no birds are in need of sanctuary, but a disappointment to those who had made a special trip) However there was one fascinating enclosure with a Takehe, a bird that was thought extinct but recently re-discovered. He was intelligent enough to be able to operate a raised plastic feeding tray with a lid and he was accompanied everywhere by a duck that couldn’t reach the tray and a  Pukeko that shared the enclosure but was too dumb to operate it. Both were happy to pick up the seeds that fell from the tray. Since the Pukeko and the duck are not in danger of becoming extinct I expect there is a lesson in there for all of us, somewhere.

Although it had originally been intended to be a relatively gentle walk it ended up about six hours and we were pretty exhausted by the time we got home. So, our last day was spent lazing around - catching up with our domestic chores, doing the laundry, a session in the local library on the Internet followed by a  gentle wander up the lake shore. We need to do this now and again to avoid travellers overload, especially as the next day we had to drive back to Queenstown.

More photos on Flickr- let Peter know if you want to see them and dont know how