Couple beeched on road to wedded bliss

DAVID RUSSELL/The Southland Times

THEY'LL REMEMBER THIS: Newly married couple Neville and Louise Hall had their Milford Sound photo plans brought to a halt when they discovered this tree blocking the Milford road last week. Several busloads of tourists, including these Koreans, also had their plans delayed as they waited for the tree to be removed.

An Invercargill couple found an unusual impediment to wedded bliss when a massive red beech tree blocked their path to Milford Sound last week.

Keen trampers Neville and Louise Hall planned a quiet escape for their wedding in Fiordland on Wednesday.

A helicopter took them to a mountaintop overlooking lakes Te Anau and Manapouri for the service and they then headed by car towards Milford Sound for more photos.

But about 15km from Te Anau Downs they came across a large red beech blocking the road.

"The leaves were still settling when we got there," Mr Hall said yesterday.

"I thought someone might have been trapped underneath it. I got out and had a look for a vehicle."

Once it was established no-one was trapped, and with a queue of mainly tourist buses beginning to form on either side of the tree, the Halls decided to drive back towards Te Anau to get cellphone coverage so they could notify police.

EDI Downer workers armed with chainsaws and a loader had the tree removed within an hour.

However, the Halls had made the decision not to head to Milford Sound because of the lost time.

"Instead of going to Milford and getting photos at all the obvious places, we had to find other places and we found some beautiful spots.

"Now we've got unique photos," Mr Hall said.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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