Milford Sound

Early rise this morning for our tour of Milford Sound. There was a lovely sunrise though so it made it a little easier to get up.
Our transport was a very nice Mercedes van with leather seats, not too many people, just 13, which meant less time faffing waiting for people at photo stops.

The morning was overcast in Te Anau where we departed from, it made for very moody skies and the tinted windows helped make for a nice scene. The first part was mostly hills and a farm, owned by one family for quite a few generations and home to thousands of sheep. This was flanked by mountains apparently but it wasn't all to clear at this point due to cloud.

The landscape changed as we headed into the national park and we drove through lots of beech forest. There was red beech and silver and the whole forest and park is protected so that they mustn't be touched for wood, even if they have fallen from natural causes. They have traps for pests like possums (there are over 70 million!) and stoats, which kill the native ground birds, so as to try and return the area to a more natural state too.

We stopped at Mirror Lakes, some very small lakes/ponds which if it is still enough reflect very well. We had some wind so not perfect, but they are more sheltered than Lake Matheson so saw the effect a bit better. Another couple of buses of tourists though which makes getting a snap more difficult. Thankfully we were actually on the road earlier than most tours so where we only had to compete with a couple of buses, at times there can be around 30!

Next stop was one I remember from last time I was here. It is where are huge Valley opens out, formed by a Glacier, and it is covered with golden grasses as far as the eye can see, with mountains shooting straight up around it so that it feels quite enclosed. It's a very dramatic landscape here, especially with the clouds.
We stopped at Knobs Flat further down the same Valley for a break, I just wanted a picture if the sign to be honest though.

There was a lot more cloud as we headed through more of the mountains and toward the fiordland so again we found ourselves missing a lot of the view. We could see just forest and bush and then mist. The driver told us there are over 20 avalanches a year on this road, which is insane considering it is a rainforest! Just can't really imagine there been snow up top and jungle and ferns down here. Very odd.

Another stop was to see a large Chasm that one if the rivers has carved. Again a sight I remembered from before. It was through some beautiful forest, the trees all moss covered and lush green. The chasm had lots of interesting shapes where the water and stones had eroded the rocks to make holes and wells all curved in shape. The water was gushing despite not being at peak levels.

As the mountains are mostly rock, barely any soil, the waterfalls here come and go very much with the rain and it has been dry up until yesterday here for quite a few days. We are glad the rain arrived as it wouldn't have looked the same otherwise.

Next was the Homer Tunnel which was very long and built in the 1930's during the depression as a way of accessing the Sound by road. It was mainly to create jobs and took over 20 years. It was an awful job, very little pay, and was dangerous too. Avalanches, cold weather and minimal sun in winter due to the mountains.
The tunnel itself is very basic too, just one lane, no bare and rugged rock walls and very dark, with the few lights just from the cables that run along the ceiling. Pretty cool as far as tunnels go.

The weather the other side was very different too, apparently often the case. We still had cloud but we could actually see the mountains now and it was beautiful! Huge peaks of grey stone and mossy bush with waterfalls running down the sides. The cloud that was there looked awesome and eerie as it moved over the tops and down into the valley. Beautiful.

Next stop Milford Sound. We boarded our boat and got our buffet lunch to begin with. It was mainly Asian style food which is kind of annoying, even the ice cream was ginger and lime, so you can see who the main tourists are.

Once fed it was up top for the rest of the trip where Rob found out open hot drinks on a windy boat are a bad idea when his went all down his arm, oops!

The mountains in this Fjiord (it is incorrectly named a sound) are awesome, so so high and they just tower out of the water. Until you see another boat it is hard to judge the scale. The waterfalls are beautiful, some very big, some very small, some that are so small that as they fall.they catch the wind and the water loops back up and onto itself again.

The narrow part of the sound was very windy, actually making it hard to breathe, but we stuck it out and headed to the front. When we got to the Tasman Sea it got choppy and was really fun, lots of lurching up and down and stumbling a little.

Heading back from the sea it was easy to see how Cook missed the sound. It us very well hidden and the entrance only appears as you get much further inland. It is breathtaking when the view down the Fjiord opens up though.

On route back we passed a large cracking in the mountains where more water pours from, this is actually a fault line which is pretty awesome!
We also headed for a waterfall 150m high that the boat took us right next to. He warned of the water but the people on the bottom deck were too focused on pictures of the boats bell and soon got a surprise!
It was awesome, so much water!!! The spray absolutely soaked us, very refreshing and again, beautiful. Also Maori legend says we should now feel 10 years younger tomorrow....yay!

Our journey back from the sound was more direct, just another couple of stops, one on the other side of the Tunnel as the clouds had now gone, an old Bridge and a waterfall.

We were all pretty zonked to be honest, although I tried to keep my eyes open for the gorgeous views of the hills and mountains that we missed on the way in. The mountains now looked liked shadows, all different shades of purple grey as they overlapped. With the golden grasses and moody sky it looked very dramatic. (everything here seems be beautiful, stunning, dramatic, breathtaking - can't help but overuse the words!)

After the trio we drive to our current camp, a free camp near Invercargill. Very open and flat landscape, lots of cows and sheep and again more eagles. We saw another one clip a power line! I wondrer if they eat wood pigeons, they gret drunk as berries ferment in their berries so maybe the eagles like it.

Rob got some nice photos on route, can't wait to choose them for our walls eventually and the last half an hour was just like being back home, rolling low green hills and sheep, felt like the dales!
Now we are in the camper in the rain, having fortunately had time to enjoy dinner before it arrived. Rob is fast asleep despite the time (20:56) and tbh I am about ready for bed too.Read more