Day 30: Glenorchy to Te Anau

Day 30: Glenorchy to Te Anau

Pics: Our room and bathroom at Blanket Bay, two (typical, nothing special) shots across the other side of Lake Wakitipu, pet at the River Café, our first spotting of a Prius, the room at the Te Anau hotel and villas

Breakfast of muffins, berries and yoghurt, and Spanish omelette for THB (well, only half of the omelette, THB maxxed out) and blueberry pancakes with bananas and bacon on top for DB. We buy a BB Lodge baseball cap for THB, and the total bill for the two nights comes to $350…oops, sorry, that’s what the GST (tax) comes to….the total for the two nights, with the breakfasts, dinners, pre-dinner drinks, snacks, wine with dinner (extra), lunch the first day (extra), and the hat (extra): $2750. Given the setting and the service and the quality of the food and the sense of being (for the most part) there on your own (even with 13 rooms), a splurge that met expectations. Chatting up TT, priceless!

Here’s the menu description of dinner last night:
Thai carrot and coconut soup, with crispy shallots and lime oil
Maple glazed Canter Valley Duck Breast with celeriac remoulade, beetroot, red walnuts, poached apple, pinot reduction, watercress
Mixed green leaves salad with pear, toasted pecan and seeded mustard vinaigrette
Prime NZ Beef Tenderloin with smoked kumara puree, braised oxtail and mushroom spring roll, shitakes, bok choy and hoisin jus
Pan seared Hapuka fillet with potato fondant, little neck clams, courgettes, sweetcorn, and saffron nage
Vahlrona Manjari terrine with macerated strawberries, hazelnut crumb, milk sorbet
Mint chocolate chip and peanut butter ice creams
Amisfield Pinot Gris

Book Review: The Seasons on Henry’s Farm, A Year of Food and Life on a Sustainable Farm, Terra Brockman, Kindle edition. THB includes the subtitle because it sums up the book, told in weeks numbered from 1 to 52 (yeah, it’s numbered, that doesn’t automatically mean that THB, on Day 30, is going to recommend it), beginning in November. Henry is the brother of the author, and the book is focused on his and his extended family’s extraordinary dedication to running a sustainable farm (Henry has not had the farm designated organic, though he farms organically) that’s income is solely based on selling at the Evanston (Illinois) Farmers’ Market and through subscriptions (weekly deliveries of boxes of produce) for approximately 9 months a year. The book is a revelation about what happens behind the scenes of the booths at the markets, well-told and without (much) sentiment, detailing the effort required to bring us high quality food. The author is clearly against non-sustainable practices (which pretty much equates to all industrial meat and produce production), and yet the book shows that the gap between Henry (labor intensive to the max) and the business of industrial farming (oil-chemical and mechanized) is so large that is hard to see how to get from one to the other. HIGHLY recommended (and THB has some other “farmer” books to recommend if you are interested)

We leave around 9:30, ending up at Te Anau, one of the main jump off points for Milford and Doubtful Sounds, around 2:30. The drive, as is always the case around here, is gorgeous. Lunch at the River Café, at the intersection of Highways 6 and 94, our turnoff to Te Anau. DB has the burger and fries, THB a chicken salad, soft drink, $35. From THB’s standpoint, we’ve seen a lot of these limited menu type places on the road. Seems pricy for what you get, or more likely it is just that THB’s lunch options at home seem so much more varied: burritos, freshly made sandwiches, pho, and various specialty trucks in the hood, all above average and under $10 with an iced tea (n/a around here).

THB does recognize that he just got done saying that his lunches have been slightly more expensive for the value for what we’re getting in NZ and spent the last two nights at Blanket Bay Lodge. Hmmmmmmmm…there will be a meditation on it at the end of the trip.

Dinner in town: a billy (bucket) of mussels with a salad for DB, sausages with kumara mash (a form of sweet potato), two glasses of wine and a beer, $75.

Day 29: Glenorchy, or the Hobbit habitue

Day 29: Glenorchy

Pics: So, can you identify the first three? A group from the Dart River trip, then two of what you see as you approach Blanket Bay Lodge, BB Lodge from the back (and the boat at the jetty) and the last picture is our room, the one on the top with the curtains pulled to shield us from the hot afternoon sun, Note: there aren’t pics from the water because while we were on the river the camera was deeply tucked into the dry bag, alas.

Breakfast alert: BB Lodge has moved to the top in two categories: best muffins in NZ and the best “Spanish omelette” anywhere! DB sticks with cereal and berries and yoghurt. THB goes to heaven…the omelette is a cross between a torta and a soufflé, with potato, ham and cheese, prepared and served at the peak of fluffiness and density (if that makes sense); it must have been in the oven for a bit for the final stage of cooking. What will THB do tomorrow, because they have pancakes with berries and yoghurt on the menu and there are going to be muffins and other pastries; THB sees a diet in his future (just not his immediate future).

Today is an all-day trip up the Dart River. We leave a bit after 10am after an hour of identifying and putting on several layers of water protection (and heat retaining) clothes. It is cold out, a bit too cold for THB’s ears, about the only thing not covered up. The first 35kms up the river is in a jet boat, complete with a number of 360 wheelies. Fortunately it is not too much bouncing up and down, so no wear and tear on our backs.

After the boat drops us off, we take a walk through the nearby forest, even more hobbit territory than the Routeburn hike of the day before. It is warming up (here that means the sun actually came out), and we are hiking in full boat uniforms. Makes for quite a sight (see pics) as the centipede winds its way through the trees.

After our stroll, we hit the river (now moving downstream) in a sturdy inflatable canoe (for you old time rafters, not near as interesting as using a rubber ducky) called a funyak, and after a few moments of poor teamwork, THB and DB realize that almost no paddling or steering are required, the river is very tame and moving just enough to make progress with no effort at all. And that’s just the speed we’re going. We’re in a group with two other pairs from Brisbane and a guide and the extra person in our little team (a helicopter pilot from the Arctic, this must really be boring for him: he sits in the front and barely takes the paddle off his lap).

Now the sun is out AND the clouds have cleared, and the vistas back up the mountains are reaching the off-the-chart spectacular scenery category (the river is a zero rapids category). We see 5 or 6 glaciers…even more amazing, we see the tops of the mountains!

A gentle float for maybe an hour, then a long (too long) lunch break (included) of make-it-yourself sandwiches and drinks and various cookies, cakes, and fruit. Most of the time is spent either trekking to a far off toilet (DB) or watching 7-12 year old boys skip and throw an endless number of rocks in and at the river.

Back to the river, finish up the float, help clean the funyaks, take a bus back to the starting point, disrobe, and we’re only 2kms from BB Lodge. Total: $235/person

Pre-dinner drinks, comparing notes with the groups that took helicopter rides up and over various mountains, including landing on glaciers and even having lunch on one (or was it just the top of the mountain). They picked the right day: their views must have been even more spectacular than ours….and more expensive!

Dinner is even better than last night: Thai carrot soup with crispy coconut, perfect mixed leaf salads, cold duck breast starters, fish for DB, NZ beef for THB, and this time DB has the mint chocolate chip and peanut butter ice cream scoops and THB has a dense chocolate terrine with subtle sorbet and an espresso. Three glasses of wine…and, we eat dinner outside, one of only two tables so blessed. At the other are Tom and Pauline and their son and daughter-in-law.

Day 28: Arrowstown to Glenorchy

Day 28: Arrowtown to Glenorchy

Note: THB decided to write this post in the order in which things happened today. This was the day of another devastating earthquake in Christchurch, and has dramatically affected the country and in a very small way our trip (though we aren’t sure yet how much) since we are due to fly out of Christchurch in 10 days. So, it is going to seem rather blithe, and for that many apologies.

Pics: A few in Queenstown, the rest in and around Blanket Bay Lodge, to/from the Routeburn Track hike (a very pretty drive by itself) and on the Track (note how modern the shelter looks at the beginning/end of the Track, a novelty here in NZ when it comes to architecture)

Breakfast at the B&B, including very good homemade yoghurt; total comes to $130. A short ride up the side of Lake Wakitipu and a walk around Queenstown. Then further along the lake to near the very small town of Glenorchy and one of two of our big splurge stays: Blanket Bay Lodge, owned by the former COO of Levi’s, Tom Tusher.

Needless to say, BB Lodge is fabulous: a great view across the lake to the west at sharply tall mountains striated with forest, green “pastures” (can’t tell, it is too far for these weak eyes to make out), bare rocks up in the heights. We get a tour of the place: where before-dinner drinks are served, the game room (including a giant TV with four remotes sitting on the table in front of the TV), various eating spots, etc. We have one of the lodge rooms (i.e., one of the cheaper rooms, which is scary…wait until THB posts the total bill!), which is lovely and a giant bathroom.

A lunch of pumpkin soup and warm baguette for THB and an open faced grilled chicken sandwich for DB, one soda, $32…with a view of the mountains (enshrouded as usual at the top) and the arrival and departure of two helicopters on the lawn just to the side of the lodge. One group gets out, greets another waiting on the lawn, the second copter arrives, they divide back into two groups and fly off.

The weather is actually damn nice: cool and intermittent sun (okay, mostly cloudy with a hint of sun and blue sky way off in the distance). So, of course, we decide to take a hike, on the Routeburn Track. This is normally a through hiking track, not that much of a daytripper spot, so we see many people with big packs on and a few like us, just out for an up and back. From this side, if you hike to the end in 2-3 days and catch a bus to the Milford Sound. This is the only place we see any number of French, strange because they are everywhere in India and Japan and the Southwest.

Another great hike!!! Two huge creeks crashing down either side of the mountain, suspension bridges, hobbit-like forests, and it is cool, unique in our NZ hiking history. It even starts to drizzle and then rain on the final leg, which feels great. See quite a bit of sheep on the ride to and from the hike, very picturesque on the lush green pastureland.

When we get back to BB Lodge, we learn that another earthquake has hit Christchurch, where we had planned to visit in seven days and fly from there to Sydney on the next to last day of our trip. We’re considering our options, including where it makes most sense to spend more time in place of Christchurch or even change which airport we’re leaving from. So, we’ve started soliciting advice on where to go instead and even if it still makes sense to fly from Christchurch. TBD…

We head down to pre-dinner drinks at 6:30pm, where we meet Americans that are just starting the trip (and somehow know other people staying here, even though there are only 13 rooms in the place), and other Americans that left Christchurch at 11:45am, probably the last to leave town via the air before the earthquake hit.

And we meet Tom and Pauline Tusher, the owners of BB Lodge, at the pre-dinner. Tom was at Levi’s for 28 years and THB 24, Tom retiring in 1997 as the COO and THB in 99, as just another worker in the tower of denim. We do some catching up (Tom is on THB’s ex-levi’s distro list, so in effect we’ve been staying in contact, albeit one way) and get a bit of the history of how Tom came to own the place, and that he also owns a well-known winery (Amisfield) that is renowned for the food. We had heard about it from other travelers. Ahhhhhh, bringing the Bay Area food aesthetic to NZ.

Dinner is very good, many courses including venison for THB, fish for DB, gnocchi, salads, tuna sashimi (probably the best course of all), and ice cream and lemon tart for dessert, and glasses of Amisfield sauvignon blanc and pinot noir.

Day 27: FJG to Arrowtown

Day 27: FJ Glacier to Arrowtown

Pics: Ribbonwood B&B, signs along the way, one of the few scenic shots that could be taken, DB scores some wool in Wanaka

Breakfast at Ribbonwood B&B: eggs and toast and ham (they call this bacon, which is different from streaky bacon) and muesli, included. THB says: if you are going to the glaciers, stay in their cottage. A bit pricy, $220 a night including breakfast, and one of the best places we stayed, rivaling the Desert Pearl outside of Zion NP for lodging near a tourist site.

Today was a driving day, and not just any driving day: you start with visions of the glaciers, then wind along the ocean, through mountain gorges with spectacular white water rivers, along lakes that rival Patagonia for beauty and color, visit small nice upscale resort towns (Wanaka), see fascinating plants and forest, and finally up and down through mountain passes that yield up unbelievable panoramic views of picturesque valleys way way down below (i.e., above the flight pattern of aircraft approaching Queenstown).

One of the top 5 all-time drives, rivaling the Dordogne Valley, around Bariloche, some of the red dirt southwest areas in and near the national parks. Awesome!!!!!! Unsurpassed, all in less than 7 hours.

Now, here’s what really happened to us today: it rained pretty much the entire first 6 hours, mountains were wreathed in clouds and fog, the outlooks and walks were no-go zones due to weather, you had to concentrate on the roads due to lack of straightaways (though not much traffic, phew!), and lunch was at noon in the only café for 100 kms in either direction. Salads, a soft drink, and a one week old NYT travel section (the cruise issue) and a one week old Chron Home and Garden section. $35

After 5 hours, we got to Wanaka and DB found a very nice wool shop (see pic) and bought some wool (being shipped back) and down the street some earrings at one of the first decent art galleries we have found (also being shipped back, the earrings should beat us, the wool probably not). Two Deep South brand small ice creams: THB has the hokey pokey, vanilla with little bits of caramel in there somewhere (skip this one) and DB some ultra chocolate flavor (good). Total: $5

The weather cleared as we neared the summit of the pass overlooking Queenstown and Arrowtown, and definitely worth a stop, and a detour to visit.

Now we are ensconced at the Arrowtown Lodge, a small, quaint room in a B&B less than 2 minutes from downtown Arrowtown, a very quaint too-touristy one street selling machine. It’s clear and we’re walking to dinner, 4 minutes away.

Saffron: a loud California-cuisine style. Starters of fig, pancetta, pomegranate seeds, cheese and bacon (very good and a slightly different type of fig than we get) and fried white bait (must be an acquired taste, these are sort of like thin soggy french fries). Main courses: a tangine with kingfish and prawns with sides of couscous and hummus, and pan-grilled blue nose cod (local fish) with Mexican samosas and a guacamole mousse, both very good. Two vodka gimlets (tart) and three glasses of wine, total $155.

A short stroll back to the B&B where we actually get a bit of a pink sunset…it’s 9pm. In fact, it rarely gets totally dark anymore, more of a constant deep twilight; just about any time THB wakes up it seems like it is after 6am (and most days it is after 6am, THB is breaking a record for sleeping in on this trip).