NZ Sailing Trip

The following was submitted by Rob in New Zealand
In March 2012, the summer veg having been brought to a sudden and premature end by a massive hailstorm, and the goats no longer needing daily milking, Jan and I took our boat to Lake Te Anau.  A lake it may be but at about 60km long, with fiords branching off to the west for about 25km, there's plenty of room.  The fiords are almost the mirror image of the coastal fiords of Fiordland, though not on the same scale.

After a dreadful summer in which very little was done by anyone in the mountains, we were very lucky and hit the first good spell of weather of the year, enjoying a week of sunshine.  The down side was that
there was very little wind for sailing, gentle wafting along on the anabatic winds being the best we could do.  We usually tied up for the night where rivers drained into the fiords, and the main excitement of the trip lay in avoiding trees which had been washed down by the river and lodged on the lake bed near its mouth.  Having fortunately  seen the 'African Queen' in my youth, I knew to hop in the water when the obstructions
became to numerous, and wiggle our boat through them to find a tie-up spot.

A stressful Moment

Washing Day

It was the time of the stag roar, and hunters were out in some numbers chasing them, so I wasn't inclined to venture far inland.  The bush is impressive and appears very healthy, but we found it distressing how little bird song there was to hear.  Captain Cook apparently reported the birdsong to be deafening in Fiordland when he was there, but rats, stoats, cats and ferrets have taken a huge toll, as the native birds have no defences against them.

We were on the lake for a week, but there are a couple more weeks' exploring to be done there, at the speed which we operate.

Rob