Leaving Franz Josef Glacier, we took a short break for a whitebait sandwich and a playground stop. Whitebait are small freshwater fish, and the west coast of the south island is particularly known for its whitebait...which in this case were served in an omelette-type sandwich. While the whitebait is small, it is served whole. I'm not a huge fan of fish eyes, so I'm not sure I'll ever need a second whitebait sandwich.
Another stop we made along the drive was a short hike to the Turquoise Pools, which were stunning.
Some brave (crazy?) guys were jumping off the bridge behind into the freezing cold pools, but we had enough just getting our feet wet. After about a minute my toes would go numb...I can't imagine splashing into this water or having to swim through it.
The drive was long but the scenery along the way was so pretty.
We eventually left the coast and headed inland, towards Queenstown. The landscape started to change quite a bit.
We took the Crown Range Road, which provided beautiful views at the summit.
This was Day 240 of our travels. Mom and Dad took a picture with our New Zealand sign, too!
We made it to Te Anau in the evening, after a long day of driving.
The next day we just took it easy and explored the small, peaceful town of Te Anau. Lake Te Anau was picturesque and calm.
The boys found a great playground that they returned to almost every day we were in Te Anau.
It had one of our favorite playground toys---a long zip line! The long length, combined with forceful starts from Dadada, gave the boys a bit of a slingshot effect at the end, which they loved. They hooted and hollered in glee as they rode over and over.
We got up early one morning to take a day trip to Doubtful Sound, which is part of Fiordland National Park. Many tourists make the trek to Milford Sound, which is a better known but smaller fjord. It is thus much more crowded, with thousands of tourists coming in hundreds of busses on a typical day. Doubtful Sound was a more peaceful alternative, and we were alone in the fjord for almost our entire time on the water. To get there, we took a bus from Te Anau to a small boat that ferried our group across Lake Manapouri. Then we took a second bus to Doubtful Sound, where we got on a bigger boat for the cruise through the sound.
It was a bit cold when we started out on the fjord, but it warmed up as the sun rose.
It could not have been a sunnier, clearer day.
As we approached the Tasman Sea, the waves picked up quite a bit.
We could see seals playing in the chilly waters!
Our boat was able to get up close to the rocks, where we could see the seals even better--including adorable babies playing in the tide pools on the rocks.
We warmed up inside the boat with hot chocolate.
And the boys eventually got to "drive" the boat, with the very patient captain explaining all the gauges and answering the boys' many questions.
When our cruise was finished, we got back in a bus to head to the Lake Manapouri ferry. The bus stopped at a viewpoint where we got some pretty pictures with Doubtful Sound in the background.
Even the ferry across the lake was a beautiful ride!
The next day, we rented bikes in Te Anau and set off on a leisurely half day bike ride. We biked past Lake Te Anau and along the Waiau River.
We stopped for a rest and some hugs before heading back to Te Anau.
At a hydropower station, we saw this funny sign.
And we finished off our beautiful, clear days in peaceful Te Anau with a beautiful, clear night sky!
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