Te Anau - Mar 20 & 21, 2020

Te Anau was our jumping off point to Milford Sound.  We basically slept and ate there.  Lots of people start in Queenstown and do Milford in a day.  (most people on our cruise had done that which makes for a really long day)

Te Anau, the town, is on a lovely lake with the same name.  We went on a short hike that overlapped with the Kepler Track (kiwi for hike or walk) it is a 60 km walk with a few huts along with way.  We also saw traps for stoats which have decimated the native song bird population.  At one of our stops we saw a song bird and our guide said that not that long ago one would never have seen this species so the trapping was working.  The part of the hike that we did, was an out and back on a fairly level trail.
The first night that we were here we went to a tavern and had great beer but opted not to eat there.  We started outside sitting on the patio, partially for social distancing but also, because it was a nice day.  While out there we met a dog who after conversation we discovered was the same breed as our dog.  But these people called Poppy a Spoodle.  Huh, I knew there was another name for a Cockapoo.  I think I prefer Spoodle.  (following #spoodle on Instagram and think that these tend to be big dogs than ours and also more pointed faces but that's just me...Is there a subtle difference?)

	Couper now known as a spoodle at his favorite farm/kennel not in NZ with us!

We had a really nice meal at Redcliff Cafe but (and here's my first Covid19 reference but not my last) there was sign that we had to present our passport to prove we had arrived in NZ before the mandatory 14-day quarantine.  This restaurant was a tavern in the front and dining in the back.  It was in a very small pass-thru that we had to sign in (they didn't actually ask for our passports).  It was very congested and impossible to social distance so I felt they were doing the big picture thing but NOT the basic small things.  In spite of the sign in snafu, it was a really nice restaurant and we all loved our meals.