Day 77 & 78 Milford Sound, Te Anau

We left Milford Sound and the sand flies Thursday morning with plans to hit the highlights missed on the drive in.  We had missed Mount Tutoki and wanted to get a picture of the highest peak in Fiordland at 9042 feet.



Mount Tutoki

However, we missed the very small cut out where you can get a picture so we had to turn around.  The first available place was the Chasms and as we pulled in we spotted a Kea.  We have been hoping to see one since we hit the West Coast.  I guess I should miss more turns, who knows what we might have found.



Kea



The Kea is a large parrot growing as tall as 19 inches high and weighing 2 - 2.5 lbs.  They are called "the clown of the mountains" as they will investigate backpacks, boots or even cars, often causing damage or flying off with smaller items.  They became protected in 1986 when their numbers fell below 5000. 



They aren't shy



Our next hurdle in getting back to Te Anau is the tunnel.  When we were on the cruise the narrator told us that Fiordland gets around 1000 earthquakes a month. The last big one was in July 2009 when it reached 7.8 on the richter scale.  She then told us to think of that as we were driving through the tunnel.  Thanks alot.



The tunnel is somewhere straight ahead???
















The road to the tunnel





Waiting for a green light at the tunnel



We made it.

We saw the story of Homers Rope when we were in Milford Sound.  The sign posts says it all but you can see from the picture where we are waiting for the light at the tunnel how daunting of a task it would have been.

We stopped on the other side of the tunnel and had a look at where the village was situated when the tunnel was being built.  It was pretty harsh living as they received no direct sun light from May until September.  It was certainly a different generation,  I complain when I can't get internet service.

The remainder of the drive was enjoyable, as there wasn't much traffic which enabled us to pull over a few times and take pictures.  We also hiked up to Marion Lake Falls but it was only a half hour return trip. 



Marion Lake River
















Marion Lake Falls



Track to Boyd's Lake





Gertrude Valley



We arrived back in Te Anau in time for a very late lunch and to do a few chores.  Our friends from Australia, Bernd and Pam, were back from their cruise into Doubtful Sound so we spent some time with them before calling it a night.

Friday, Day 78, was a pretty relaxing day.  It was raining when we got up so we hung around the camper for the morning before heading into town for some lunch.  We did a little shopping and headed back to the park dinner before taking a walk along the lake front. We wanted to watch the sun go down over the lake and see if we could get any good pictures.



Lake Te Anau


 

Sitting on the dock of the bay.



Tomorrow we head for Doubtful Sound.

 

Day 76 Milford Sound Boat Cruise

Today we are scheduled to take a cruise of Milford Sound which leaves at 11:30AM.  We decided to leave the camper at the resort and walk down to the loading docks.  The walk was quite nice and since we were not in a hurry I was able to stop and take a few pictures.

Mitre Peak



We had a few minutes before the boat boarded so we stopped for a coffee where we met a young couple visiting from Calgary.  Brook is a Kiwi and Heather is a Canuck who are here visiting Brook's family and doing a little touring as well.  They were a fun couple and we enjoyed spending the day with them.  We plan to get in touch with them the next time we are heading north.

Brook and Heather

We were going aboard a boat named "Lady of the Sounds'.



Lady of the Sounds

The cruise was about to start and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day.  There was hardly a cloud in the sky which allowed us to see all the surrounding mountains and peaks.  The cruise was narrated and as a result we learned a few things we did not know.

-There are only 80 days without rain or snow in Milford Sound.

-Milford Sound is incorrectly named.  It is actually a fiord.

-Rudyard Kipling called it “The 8^th Wonder of the World”

-Milford Sound (Fiord) is 15 kilometers long.

-It is a finalist in “The New Seven Wonders of the World”

The trip today took us through the Sound until we reached the Tasman Sea. We passed Mount Kimberly, aka the Lion along with numerous waterfalls.  We entered the narrowest part of the sound as we passed Hurricane Corner. It is called this as winds can, on occasion, reach 120 knots. We passed St. Anne's Point and were treated to a little longer trip as we ventured out into the Tasman Sea.  Normally the weather is not condusive to taking the cruise boats out that far.  We turned around and headed back with a stop at “ Milford Deep”, which is an underwater observatory, before returning to the dock. 

The weather was good, the company was great and the scenery was absolutely phenomenal.  You have to imagine tilting your head back and looking straight up at the cliffs that rise perfectly horizontal for over 1000 meters.  Waterfalls that are over 500 meters falling straight down with snow covered mountains in the background.  There is no way the camera, at least my camera, could capture what we were witnessing today.  It was truly sensational.

The Falls





The Animals

The Views

The Lion  aka  Mount Kimberly

Elephant Peak



Hurricane Corner
















Tasman Sea



View from Tasman Sea, almost invisible













Entering into Milford Sound from Tasman Sea

Heading back in




St. Anne Point

 



 





Cascade Peak

 


Narrowest Point of Sound

 

The one stop we did make was pretty interesting. Milford Deep, an underwater observatory is 10 meters below the surface and is strictly for observation.  They are not allowed to interfere with the natural habitat in any way, shape or form.

Milford Deep Underwater Observatory

Once under the water the beauty of Fiordland continues below the sea. Milford Sound contains unique and beautiful marine life, and this is the perfect way to get up close and observe it.  The reason it is so unique is Fiordland gets so much rain.  The tannins from the forest color the layer of fresh water that is laying on top of the sea water.  This combined with the narrow shape of the fiord causes a phenomenon known as deep water emergence where light is not allowed to penetrate past the fresh water.  This creates a similar environment to the deep ocean at a much shallower depth, basically fooling the aquatic life.



Black Coral



It wasn’t very long after leaving the Observatory that we were back at the docks and the end of our cruise. We said goodbye to Brook and Heather and after stopping for ice cream we walked back to the camp. 

We hunkered down inside the camper for the rest of the afternoon and evening mainly to avoid the sand flies.  They are pesky little buggers that are members of the black fly family.  When they bite you, when the female bites you, she leaves a saliva that gets very itchy.  Extremely itchy, scratch till you bleed itchy.  The trick is not to scratch.

In spite of the sand flies it was one heck of a day.  A perfect day weather wise and a unbelievable  spectrum of mountains, waterfalls and marine life.  It’s good to be alive, it’s even better to be alive and retired.

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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