Te Anau: The Highlights

Driving away from Invercargill was like leaving a black and white film and driving into the world of technicolour. I think our opinion was biased slightly by the weather: we drove away from 4 days of rain, grey skies, and gloom, into sunshine, blue skies, and the feeling of weight being lifted off our spirits. 

The road was lovely as well. We passed a lake bathed in sunlight before making a few stops next to the sea. I love the sea. It felt so good to be stood in the sun with the sounds of waves crashing only a few feet in front of us. 

We arrived in Te Anau sometime in the afternoon. It ended up being more grey skies than blue while we were there but hey ho, I guess if the place is good you won't mind the weather so much! 

We both wished we had had slightly longer there. One more night would have been perfect for giving us time to have a proper wander around. Plus it would have meant one less night in Invercargill! 

*

There was no rest for us on the day we arrived. As soon as we dropped our bags off in our hostel room, we went out for food before catching our ferry to the glow worm caves. It was all systems go! 

Can you tell I'm obsessed with lakes and mountains? We might have had bad weather but it didn't make what we were seeing any less impressive. 

The glow worm cave was spectacular. It was one of the most magical experiences of my entire life, seeing those little beads of light covering the pitch black walls. It felt like we had fallen through the night sky. 

We treated ourselves to a proper restaurant meal one evening (obviously it was the only Italian restaurant in the town, and it made both of us horribly homesick for Europe) and we were even given a table outside, to let us enjoy the brief spurt of good weather. Buuut the sun was shining so much we asked to be moved inside because we just couldn't handle it! (Shit tourists, remember?).

I took this photo as we walked home. This was directly opposite our hostel and I stood mesmerised for a few seconds before pulling out my phone. I thought it looked so calm out there.

The sun came out as we were leaving for Queenstown, just two days after we had arrived. Tom was shoving everything in the boot when I ran across the road quickly to take this photo. Look at those shadows!