Te Anau

A few hours southwest of Queenstown is Te Anau, the last town on the road to Milford Sound.  Unless you tour Milford Sound by air, there's no avoiding Te Anau...and I feel bad for those who don't see it, because it is such a charming and inviting little village.  We loved staying here.  Our new friends, the Joneses, recommended we stay at the Te Anau Lakeview Holiday Park, where they had stayed on their way to Milford Sound.  It was a nice place, with lots of grass and well-kept facilities.  We set up in a big corner spot with beautiful trees and a great view.

My tree-climbing kids were in heaven!

This is probably a great time to mention how MUCH we enjoyed having Steve's parents, Ray and Danita, along for the trip.  They were so awesome and helpful and had really great attitudes, especially when the weather was uncomfortable.  We love them so much!

We were grateful for the chance to really clean up (we hadn't showered in over three days), cook in a kitchen, play on the playground, and do some laundry.  

The weather was chilly when we arrived, and partly cloudy, but soon turned cold and rainy.  We spent a lot of time in the kitchen near our campsite, playing on/charging our electronics, but mostly just staying warm!  

We tried to take a little fishing excursion...

...but the fish weren't biting, and we were freezing, so back to the kitchen we went!

We visited a small welcome center in town, and arrived just as this sweet old man was feeding the ducks.  He let the kids help.

On the evening of our second night in Te Anau, the skies cleared and the sun came out.  Yahoo!  We celebrated by taking a bunch of photos...hey, we had to make up for all that time spent huddling in the kitchen!  A little warm sunshine made us all a bit giddy:

Luke...

...and Landon.  

I sure love all my cute boys!

Te Anau, nights 6 and 7.  Man, this trip is really flying by!