Continuing our overnight cruise around Milford Sound ( Piopiotahi ), after breakfast the Milford Marina headed towards the entrance of the sound, the Tasman Sea. It was relatively calm. Apparently when Captain Cook visited he didn’t see the entrance to the fiord so called it Shallow Bay.
The rest of the cruise took us under the waterfalls again, showed us the shear fracture where geological stuff happens, and returned us to the dock by 9:30.
We had to wait for about half an hour before the convoy began its return journey to Te Anau. We had a final look at the fiord, from an elevated viewpoint on dry land.
Our driver had a replacement hands free microphone, so was able to continue his commentary. It was sometimes difficult to detect when he was telling porkies, though I particularly enjoyed his explanation of the light and dark seams in the Homer Tunnel.
Soon after being reunited with our car at Te Anau we were on the road heading north east, towards Christchurch. We stopped at the Dome Cafe, Mossburn, for a quick snack lunch before a long drive towards Lake Tekapo. From Queenstown we headed east to Cromwell, where we got a leaky tea from a Subway close to the Giant Fruit Sculpture, then north along State Highway 8.
At Omarama we started looking for overnight accomodation. Susan found a place on booking.com, in Twizel, called the owners directly and mentioned the special offer to get the bargain price. It was a great find.
That evening we shopped in 4 Square, then nipped across the road to 65 & Dine aka the Top Hut Bar & Bistro. As we were paying, Susan asked some other diners if they knew of any Templetons. One, a retired vicar, from Christchurch said there were quite a few.