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travelouge

A travelogue chronicling the adventures of Shane & Julie - a husband and wife seeking to travel out of the country every year of their marriage

Filtering by Category: Excursions

milford sound & te anau // new zealand

Julie Murphy

Milford_Sound

Milford Sound isn't convenient to any major city nor is it on the way to anywhere else. The road there is a dead end. Yet its majesty and grandeur have made it arguably New Zealand's most famous tourist destination, a winner of TripAdvisor's Traveler's Choice Destination Awards, and even acclaimed by some like Rudyard Kipling as the eighth wonder of the world. Naturally, we had to see what all the buzz was about.

You don't just "hop over" to "check out" the Milford Sound. It is nearly a 4 hour drive from Queenstown with the last hour being almost exclusively made up of hairpin turns through mountains. The views are absolutely stunning. It's during this last stage of the drive that you get your first taste of the sheer-faced mountains that continue on to the sound and the waterfalls that seemingly pour from the clouds. At the peak of the Milford Pass where you begin your decent to the sound, you drive through these rock monstrosities in a kilometer long, single-lane tunnel that has been roughly cut out as evidenced by the streams of water that pour down its inner walls. Once you've begun the descent, give your brakes a rest and check out The Chasm that will be signed well on the left-hand side of the road. A 1o minute walk takes you to footbridge over a river where the turquoise glacier water has creatively sculpted the surrounding rock. 

There are dozens of tourbus companies that can take you to the sound from Queenstown and back in a single day. However, we would argue that renting a car and driving there yourself is half of the experience and would be cheaper than most tours. This autonomy also gives you the ability to stop as you will and time your arrival to avoid hundreds of fanny-pack-flaunting tourists (no offense to the fanny-pack). Just maybe don't go overkill like we did...

We had gotten some funny looks back in Queenstown when telling people we would be spending 3 nights in Milford Sound (we cut this back to 2 nights once we arrived). Our naive thought was that a place this epic probably deserves at least this much time. Little did we know that, while Milford Sound is naturally rich, it the home of only 150 residents, 2 hotels, 1 restaurant, a gas station, 0 cell reception and the most outrageous internet prices around. As a Unesco Heritage site, all hiking and kayaking in the sound requires a guide and their rather expensive rates. However, for those with a slim budget like ours, there are some great free hikes in the area like the 3 hour roundtrip trek to Lake Marian. The trail is certainly steep but crossed over a great suspension footbridge and a series of waterfalls before eventually open up to this tranquil lake cradled among glacier peaks. Well worth the sweat!

The worthwhile benefit of spending the night in Milford Sound was the ability to catch the first boat tour of the day before any of the buses could make it into town. We spent our nights at The Milford Lodge (whose spartan and expensive rooms were unimpressive) and they were able to offer a discount when booking for an excursion with Southern Discoveries. As an added perk, a complementary buffet breakfast was offered for the first cruise of the day and served on the boat. Thanks to the nearly constant rain we had while there (just plan for being wet--they average rain 360 days a year and over 30 feet annually), hundreds of waterfalls came alive and spit from the cliffs into the sound below. To add excitement the captain would navigate us close enough to many of the major falls to feel their rumble and see the seal colonies that fish around the base. 

Instead of spending our originally planned third night in Milford Sound, we packed up and made our way the hour out of the sound to the scenic, lakeside town of Te Anau. In hindsight, this would be our recommended launching point to into Milford as it still has a quaint, small-town feel but with the luxuries of food and insect repellant. Te Anau is certainly less rainy than its counterpart but was still a little chilly so we enjoyed some delicious sandwiches and soup at both The Sandfly Cafe and The Olive Tree Cafe. We had a little extra time after exploring around Lake Te Anau and headed 20 minutes east to the small town of Manapouri that sits on its own equally as stunning (if not more) lake. Devoid of tourists, it was here that we found one of our favorite locals' spot at Pearl Harbor, a tasty pub/restaurant that was constructed out of various pieces of churches collected from around the south island. Don't be intimated by the group of kiwis that will certainly give you a curious look as you walk in the door. Simply pull up a stool at the bar and order and a Tui I.P.A. as you spark up a conversation with these friendly chaps.

What are some travel planning mistakes you've made that you wish you could pass along?

glenorchy & paradise // new zealand

Julie Murphy

Glenorchy & Paradise // New Zealand - The Murphy Atlas

Glenorchy & Paradise don't typically make it on the itinerary for most New Zealand venturers but this short day trip from Queenstown was an absolutely stunner. We like to leave at least one open day in our schedule for each destination to allow for some whimsy and recommendation from locals. When we asked our Airbnb hosts how to occupy this time they, without hesitation, recommended the beautiful, 45 minute drive up the east coast of Lake Wakatipu to these peaceful, rural towns. 

Make sure to pack the Dramamine for this one, kids. Similar to the winding, cliffside paths of The Great Ocean Road, the drive hugs to the edge of the lake and offers breathtaking views (and reflections if you're lucky!) of first The Remarkables mountain range and then the Southern Alps. For those willing to geek out a bit, its along this drive that Peter Jackson set up the location for The Lord of the Rings' Amon Hen with this amazing lake as the backdrop. 

The tiny town of Glenorchy serves as a quaint gateway to the Southern Alps at the most northern tip of the lake. With only two roads and a local population of 200 (no, I did not forget any zeros...200 people), the eating options are quite limited. Our recommendation would be to grab lunch at the tasty Glenorchy Cafe which looks straight out of the wild west and then picnic on the local wharf overlooking the lake and the mouth of the Dart River...you won't regret either decision. 

Just up the road from Glenorchy is the perfectly named, Paradise. The farm, dirt roads go back for miles into the forest and mountains otherwise referred to as Middle Earth. This area was the LOTR filming location for Lothlorien, Isengard, and a butt-load of Ents but also starred in the Chronicles of Narnia. You can almost smell the orcs...or it could be all the sheep. Even without all that, it's just plain awesome. If you have extra time and an affinity for trekking, the Routeburn Track starts nearby and is considered to be on of NZ's more incredible hikes...and that's saying something.

Right before this little day trip I had the best idea EVER: Buy an aux cord, get a free trial of Spotify premium, download the entire LOTR / Hobbit movies soundtracks and BLAST them as we drive through Middle Earth. It made our drive even more epic and we proceeded jam out to it for the next three weeks in NZ (that and the newest Lone Bellow album when we needed a break from Hobbit tunes.) We seriously recommend making custom playlists for your travels and Spotify makes it so easy -- we first started doing this in Iceland and it blew our minds.  

What are some of your favorite road trip / adventure jams? Lord Huron is definitely one of our standards for exploring new places. 

queenstown // new zealand

Julie Murphy

Queenstown New Zealand City Guide - The Murphy Atlas

To say that we were excited about New Zealand would be an Orc sized understatement (sorry we aren't sorry for the Lord of the Rings references that will pepper our upcoming NZ posts). Self-proclaimed adventure capital of the world, the small city of Queenstown has no shortage of adrenaline-fueled activities for all interests, making it the perfect place to kick off our time in this stunning country. The town's placement sets that stage, nestled up against the massive Lake Wakatipu (over 110 sq. miles) and under the shadow of The Remarkables mountain range. Sure does make for an awesome backdrop. 

The global, amped-up crowd that this extreme town attracts creates a decidedly college-town feel for Queenstown. When it comes to lodging, definitely take this backpacker vibe into consideration. We were drawn into our first hostel of the trip at Base Backpackers thanks to a $15/night deal we snagged from NakedBus.com. While it was great for the budget, we realized that we enjoy the finer things in life like sleep, clean sheets, and not residing above an all-night dance club...call us old-fashioned. Regardless of where you lay your head, definitely make sure to join the group that congregates on the beach to hangout and watch some of the most amazing sunsets you will ever see. 

As you walk through Queenstown's quaint and cultured downtown, every third store advertises a different wild adventure: jet boating through canyons, cave diving, parasailing, paragliding, mountain biking, ziplines, heli-tours, luge, and the crown jewel...bungee jumping. Considered to be the birthplace of throwing your body off tall things with an elastic tied to you, we knew that we couldn't miss out even despite Julie's hesitation.  In all fairness, she normally loves jumping off things but was afraid that her lunch would maintain its course when the rest of her body changed direction. We chose to go with AJ Hacket's Ledge jump because of their epic views of the city, lake, and mountains. IT. WAS. AWESOME.

Of course we had to take the GoPro with us! Check out the first person view in case you're not sure if bungee jumping is for you...hopefully it will change your mind (but make sure to select the settings wheel and choose HD)!

Still giddy from our bungee, we took our time exploring the sights at the top of the mountain that The Ledge perches from. We had taken a $30 (NZD) gondola up for the bungee, and the views overlooking Queenstown were amazing! (Note that the gondola ride is not included in your jump ticket - there is a path to hike up if you don't want to pay, but we were short on time and needed to make it up for our 4pm booking.)

After the bungee splurge, our wallets were shrinking quickly (food in Australia and NZ is expensive, ya'll!) so we were on the hunt for some tasty cheap eats in Queenstown. Highlights include the infamous Fergburger (delicious burgers bigger than my head - would recommend going at some crazy odd time of the day if you want to skip the insane long line), Johnny Barrs (soup, salad, sandwich joint), Bob's Weigh (tasty & hearty breakfast), and @Thai (the hidden gem of a Thai spot with huge and tasty dishes).  

After two (long) nights staying in our downtown hostel (good riddance, to be honest) we were so thrilled to make the short 10 minute sunset drive to the sweetest AirBnB you ever did see! If you are staying in Queenstown and are looking for a comfortable bed, private bathroom, delicious breakfast and beautiful countryside views (ohh, and the friendly alpacas!), we would absolutely recommend staying with Me Ae and Wayne in their beautiful home! They were interesting, gracious hosts and Me Ae was even kind enough to take care of our laundry while we were out adventuring!

Have any other Queenstown recommendations that we missed? Which adrenaline activity would you pick (or have you already done)? We LOVED bungee jumping and are also looking forward to skydiving with our family once we're back in the States!