Day 74 & 75 Queenstown, Kingston, Te Anau, Milford Sound

Monday morning we said goodbye to Queenstown for a few days. We will be back here later in the month.

Queenstown



We didn't know it at the time but we were going to be treated to two days of pretty amazing scenery. It's not that it is any better than what we have seen to date, just different. The day started with us heading south on Hwy 6 towards Kingston and following another arm of Lake Wakaitpu. This made the first part very similar to the drive we made to Glenorchy yesterday.



Road to Te Anau







We stopped for lunch at a little town called Kingston which is at the very end of the lake.  Another fine bowl of soup.  Kingston is famous for  “The Kingston Flyer Steam Train” which still runs today.  The original Kingston Flyer was a passenger steam train that operated between Kingston and Gore on the South Island from 1878 to the mid 1950’s.  Today it operates on a fourteen kilometer stretch of track with 120 years of history. 





Kingston Train Station and Cafe



The drive from Kingston to Te Anau has us following Hwy 6 until we reached the Mossburn Five Rivers Road.  This road was a shortcut to Hwy 94 which took us right into Te Anau.  The remainder of the day’s drive was much easier for me as the roads were wider and straighter than most. This gave me a chance to look around a little more and what I saw was very pleasing to the eye.  It was pretty much farmland, both agriculture and livestock, until we reached Te Anau.   We must have been following a valley or travelling between two mountain ranges as there was always a mountain in the distance.

We arrived in Te Anau and checked into the Holiday Park. We ran into Bernd and Pam whom we had met in Queenstown.  They are two very nice people on holidays from Australia.  We spent a good part of the evening chatting with them.  They are planning a trip to Canada in the future and it would be good to see them again.



Bernd and Pam Fichtner



Tuesday, we planned to get up early and be on the road for 9AM for the much anticipated drive into Milford Sound.  We set the alarm, got up when it went off, rushed getting ready and left at our usual time of 10AM.  Go figure.

The drive into Milford is only 120 kilometers but we were advised that it would take us at least 2 hours to make the trip.  We were also informed that we needed to fill up with petrol and to make sure we had enough food for the three days.  There was nothing once we left Te Anau.

We followed Lake Te Anau for the first 30 kilometers before turning inland and heading into Fiordland National Park.

Lake Te Anau



Lake Te Anau



Lake Te Anau

There were a couple of sights along the route we wanted to stop and have a gander at or maybe take a picture or two.  The first was Mirror Lakes, they weren't very big but they were as advertised.  You could clearly see the Earl Mountains reflected in the water.



Mirror Lake and Earl Mountains



Mirror Lake and Earl Mountains



 

After leaving Mirror Lakes we crossed the 45th South Parallel which put us half way between the Equator and the South Pole.  We then started to climb as we went through The Divide, which is the lowest east to west pass in the Southern Alps, until we came to Key Summit.  The two viewpoints, Key Summit and Hollyford Valley Lookout provided spectacular views over the Eglinton, Hollyford and Greenstone Valleys as well as the Darren Mountains.







The sign at 102 kilometers into the trip read Homer Tunnel, elevation 920 meters. 



Homer Tunnel



The tunnel and the building of the tunnel is another one of those feats that just makes you shake your head in awe.   When first reading about the tunnel, I couldn't help but compare it with the Alaskan Highway which we read about so much last year.  The hardship under which the men and women lived and worked to make this happen is beyond belief.

The tunnel was first proposed in 1889 and agreed to in 1890.  However, it was not until the depression years of the 1930's that work started on the road.  The tunnel was started in 1935 and was not completed until 1954.  Twice over that period the production was halted for six months each time due to weather conditions.  Avalanches were very common.  Production was also stopped for 9 years between 1942 and 1951 for World War ll. 

The tunnel is 1207 meters long, a little over 1.2 kilometers and drops 70meters in elevation.  It is one lane controlled by stop lights between 6AM and 9PM, after that you are on your own.  Good Luck.

We stopped just before the tunnel for lunch and a quick stroll around the area. 



Then it was into the tunnel for the last stretch that would take us into Milford Sound.  When we exited the tunnel we immediately started to descend the 850 meters down to sea level.  It was a very steep and very quick descent to the valley floor where we stopped for a walk out to a ravine.  When we got out of the van and looked around it was stunning.  We were completely surrounded by mountains, rugged, jagged peaks no matter where you looked.  As I said, it was stunning.

It was only a couple of kilometers down the road that we came to Milford Sound.  It has two resorts, one restaurant/info centre, one landing strip and the dock for the cruise ships.  Pretty remote, however it is one of the busiest airports in New Zealand.

We had a quick look and then headed for the campsite which was at the Milford Sound Lodge.  We got settled in and just relaxed for the evening.   Tomorrow we are cruising.

View from our Campsite.

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