So while our main goal was to hike 2 of the great walks in New Zealand we did have a second week in New Zealand that was quite a bit more low key. Our activities included:
1. Glow worm tour, Te Anau
I don't have any photos of the glow worms but it was pretty cool looking up at what you almost mistake as a starry night sky. Also the boat ride from Te Anau was beautiful to the entrance of the cave. This was really easy to set up since the dock is in Te Anau.
View from the boat on our way back from the glow worm tour
2. Doubtful Sound tour, Manapouri
We knew we were going to be in the Milford Sound at the end of the track so we decided to do the Doubtful Sound tour instead. There were very few waterfalls when we did this tour since it hadn't rained in 3 days. The seas were uncharacteristically calm and we were able to go out into the sea a bit. We saw dolphins and seal from the boat. At one point they shut off the boats engines and told us to be quiet and we listened to the sounds of the birds for several minutes. I would recommend booking this tour in advance. We went with Real Journeys and were quite happy with them. We would have loved to do an overnight trip but everyone was sold out.
Watching the sunset in Manapouri. Where the Doubtful sound trip departs from.
Early morning sailing towards the Doubtful Sound
Brilliant sun which is quite rare in the Doubtful sound
Doubtful Sound
3. Wine tasting
We did a bit of wine tasting around the South Island of New Zealand. The odd thing we found was that even though the place was a winery and they had a sign listing their hours, didn't mean they were open. So we ended up going to the major touristy places. My favorite pinot was wild earth. Quite pricey but my husband said we should get it and wait to open it until I started a new job. Which I'm happy to report was this week. One winery we went felt more like we were taking an exam. If you are going to do wine tasting, I would recommend maybe doing a tour so that way you know where to go.
Wine sampler at Red Cliff restaurant in Te Anau. I didn't take any photo from the few wineries we stopped at.
4. Driving around
If you are renting a car in New Zealand, I would also recommend just driving around. We stopped at one view point, walked down to the lake, and went swimming.
Stop along on of our drives
5. Hooker Valley, Mount Cook
On our last full day in NZ, we took the Hooker valley trail to get the views of Mount Cook. I tripped on a rock and skinned my knee and shin on the trail but the views at the end were beautiful.
Sunset on Mount Cook