New Zealand, South Island - the landscape so far

So I've blogged a bunch about how cold I am but I haven't really given any info about New Zealand or much about what we've done. I figured today, after doing a 6 hour "scenic" drive along the southern half of the south island of New Zealand, was a good time to fill you all in.

NZ is not at all like either Evan or I pictured it. For the most part it's farm after farm after farm after rolling hilly farm after seaside farm (yes, the sheep have the prime views of the ocean) after lakeside farm after riverside farm after hilly-cliff farm. I've seen so many sheep that I saw 1 right after giving birth today (umbilical cord still attached) and another actually give birth AND both events were while we were driving by at 100kph. I've learned that lambs twirl their tails when they nurse but I have yet to figure out where the rams are. We've also seen tons of cows, deer (yes, fenced in deer), alpaca, ostrich, and some horses here and there. I can't figure out, however, why, with all this ready to kill meat, food is soooo expensive here.

Anyway, our "scenic" drive was mostly farmland. We did see a mom and baby sheep on the lam (get it?) away up in the hills. We saw the Catlin Forest which was amazingly lush with crazy twisty roads that made taking pics next to impossible. We saw a bit of the southern coast and we finally made our way to fjordland on lake Te Anau which is the perfect blend of beautiful lakes, green mountains and snowcapped mountains in the distance. So far, even compared to the turquoise waters of Lake Tekapo (where we spent our first night) this is the most beautiful scenery.

The problem with fjordland is the weather. Because it's on the west side of the southern alps it gets rain and/or snow 200 days per year and A LOT of it. Our initial plan was to do Kepler Track, a 4 day "tramp" in the Te Anau area. The probems: snow and rain forecast, low low temps, no heat in the cabins and avalanche advisories. Our new plan is to do a full day (8-9 hour roundtrip) hike tomorrow from Te Anau along part of Kepler Track and then roadtrip up to Milford Sound on Wednesday and see the national park and the fjords along the west coast (allegedly this drive is very scenic - if scenic = more sheep I'm going to steal a lamb and call it a day). We still may hit rain and snow and cold weather but at least we have a warm and well lit campervan to return to (yes, we got our RV cord and also a lamp for our cozy little van).

After my green-lipped NZ mussel dinner (complete with a mussel that had apparently eaten 2 mini-crabs) and a slice of actual Italian pizza, I'm about to play "grass" with Evan and try to sleep so we can hit the trails as early as possible tomorrow.