New Zealand Road Trip / South Island / Day 4 : Te Anau to Gore

Sunday 8th April, 2012

Not actually as bad as it sound!

Sate Highway 99 and State Highway 1; 242 km

This morning, there was an urge to leave the campsite and to be back on the road, so at eight-twenty, we said goodbye to what could have been one of the best locations to start a fiord adventure. Te Anau, on the lakeside, is the ideal base from which to explore the Fiordland region.

"Peaceful, lakeside Te Anau township is a good base for trekkers and visitors to Milford Sound, and an ideal place to recharge your batteries. There are plenty of activities on offer, and on a sunny day it's also a beautiful place to just chill and step off the travel accelerator for a while.

Lake Te Anau defines the boundary of two very different countrysides. To the east are the relatively flat, pastoral areas of central Southland, while immediately west across the lake lie the rugged forested mountains of Fiordland. NZ's second-largest lake, Te Anau was gouged out by a huge glacier, and has several arms that penetrate into the mountainous forested western shores. The lake's deepest points is 417m, about twice the depth of Loch Ness."

- Lonely Planet

From Te Anau, one can visit New Zealand's most famous tourist destination, the Milford Sound. Then again, somehow we skipped the less than one and a half hour drive to see this spectacular nature's wonder. I read about it and watched some videos on the area, convinced myself that this is one place not to be missed, yet we did missed it. Thinking back, I wish we were a little bit more adventurous that day, or have made a better travel plan! Nevertheless, pressing on, I could only hope that this be included in the next trip.


I entertained myself by enjoying the panoramic view of grazing sheep along the road.

At ten o'clock we arrived at Rakatu Wetlands. It was more because of intrigue that made us turned quickly into the off road. For three kilometres the little van rattled on the gravelled road. We walked around a bit. It was very quiet and though we saw some wild ducks swimming in the river, no other sign of life were anywhere to be seen. I took a moment to get some sun on my skin, and it felt so good...

After Rakatu, we drove on and I must say there were nothing much to be seen along the road. Nothing much to be enjoyed either. We did however, made a coffee stop at Tuatapere, and enjoyed a very warm welcome by the nice lady behind the counter of Yesteryears Museum and Cafe.


After that, the road ahead was right along the shore of Foveaux Strait, and it was raining heavily with strong wind that almost blown the van away. With that, Stewart Island was off the list for now. We decided not to go to Invercargill and continued on to Gore.


At mid-afternoon, we reach the campsite in Gore. I must admit that I was feeling quite unsure as to what to make out of Gore. I didn't like the name and with the afternoon getting colder, the sun fast setting and not many human being you could see around, the town was basically quite dead. After dinner at Gore Town and Country Club, I could not think of anything else apart from sleep.


I was hoping tomorrow would be a better day ...