(Ewe)phoria
We'd planned to drive into Milford Sound, and so we had accommodations planned to stay in the closest town, Te Anau, along a lake a few hours away. The original plan was to stay one night, but we had shifted our itinerary a week before leaving because we figured we'd want more time in this area. Well, considering the Milford change of plans, we then had more time in Te Anau than we may have needed, but it was a beautiful lake and a much-needed chance to relax a little from the fast pace of the trip over the preceding few weeks. When we decided to add a night in Te Anau, we met a bit of a dilemma in that the hotel we'd already booked was full and couldn't add an extra night. So I started looking around for other options and found this beautiful home on Airbnb that was technically meant for 10 people but since it was around the same price range as the fancy hotel, I booked it. Our host, Pam, was one of the nicest people I have ever met while traveling, and she welcomed us happily into Loch Vista for the night, built us a fire to prepare for the cold and rainy night ahead, and biked back up to her home nearby. While she was checking us in, we all got to chatting and wound up talking for a good hour or so about all sorts of things, including the fact that this house was situated on part of her sheep farm. I mentioned that I'd never met a sheep before and she immediately, without hesitation, asked if I'd like to feed her lambs. Did I ever! I have a very prevalent inner child and situations like these make her exceedingly thrilled. Ironically, I didn't realize when I'd booked it that the fancy hotel we were staying in the next night was literally one driveway away from Pam's. So, we made plans to stop by the next day after our tour nearby to feed the lambs! We woke up super early the next day for a tour to Doubtful Sound (another fiord that was misnamed a sound) and afterwards, as we drove back to the fancy hotel for the night, we stopped at Pam's.
You wool not believe how cute those sheep were! I was truly ewe-phoric to meet the little lambs, can't you tell? Sheep in New Zealand outnumber people 6 to 1 -- I guess you could say I got a taste of the real New Zealand experience. The lambs' names were Kanye and Mint (as in mint sauce on lamb) and I could not stop laughing when Pam told me. I guess you could say she had a great sense of ewe-mor! Alright, I'm done with these baaa-d puns...
The next place we were staying, the fancy hotel, is called the Fiordland Lodge. It is a beautiful property overlooking the lake, with paths around the property to explore and chairs set about to relax and take in the view. We spent that afternoon relaxing there a bit, then headed into the town for about an hour just to see it (it was pretty small but quaint and built right alongside the lake), then had dinner at the gourmet restaurant overlooking the scenery. The following morning, on our way back to Queenstown, the manager was able to direct us to some fields of lupins nearby so that I could frolic for a little while. Obviously, a very necessary detour.
