Fiordland and Milford Sound

As I sit typing today’s blog it is now 10:30 and it’s still not dark outside, We are in Te Anau tonight which is a town of around 1,900 permanent residents, but in summer it swells to about 6,000 people. Situated on Lake Te Anau, New Zealand’s second largest lake (Taupo being the largest), Te Anau is well known for it’s crayfish, which are live exported to Asia, but also as a wilderness stepping off point for those that like to camp, hike (tramp), hunt and fish. We had a storm come through this evening and afterwards the lake looked amazing.

 

 

Earlier today we left our ‘digs’ at Lake Hayes to drive ultimately to Milford Sound. We got away before 8 am and drove along the other end of Lake Wakatipu, leaving Otago and entering Southland. We stopped at a roadside cafe for some breakfast and immediately knew we were in Southland because of the Keith Urban music and the availability of Cheese Rolls (a Southland favourite). We stopped in Te Anau briefly on the way through to buy insect repellent as Milford Sound has it’s own unique breed of sandfly that is best avoided. There are a few stop=offs on the way, however we actually did them on the way back as there were busloads of Chinese and American tourists crowding the sites on the way out to Milford. The first is the the view of the Eglington River valley looking towards Milford.

 

A little further down the road are the Mirror Pools. These are clear freshwater pools that get very little wind on them due to the protection of the surrounding mountains, There is a family of ducks also living in the pools and the ducklings seemed very good at diving for food. The Mirror Pools are best visited in the morning before the wind gets up.

 

The next spot worth stopping is the waterfall at Falls Creek. Most of the buses can’t stop there due to the limited parking.  The falls are fed from a glacier, so when you get near them you really feel the temperature drop.

From there is was on to Milford. The road steadily rises and offers some amazing views that pictures or descriptions cannot do justice to… think locations used for the Lord of the Rings. Eventually, you reach the Milford Tunnel, which goes for 1.2 kms under the Darran range. It was originally conceived as a depression project, with construction staring in 1935, however water seeping through the rock hampered efforts and a power station was built to power pumps that evacuated 40,000 litres of water per hour. The construction was completed in 1953.

I’d previously been to Milford on a blue sky day, so today’s experience was quite different with lots of clouds and showers about. This is Mitre Peak … the best known picture in Milford Sound.

We took the obligatory cruise up the sound almost to the Tasman Sea. There are a number of waterfalls, but only 2 are permanent (fed by glacial ice melt), the rest rely on rainfall. Stirling Falls is 155 metres, 3 times the height of Niagara Falls, but looks smaller due to the mountains on either side.

And up close….

There is an abundance of wildlife with Deb sighting some dolphins and we saw a pod of New Zealand Fur Seals basking on the rocks. These seals were almost hunted to extinction, but happily their numbers have largely recovered

The views back into Milford Sound are amazing … even on a grey day. I took many photos and it was hard to decide what to post, but I think this one captures it well.

Our final point of interest was the view of the Pembroke Glacier which was largely obscure by the clouds, but it is between the mountains in the middle of the picture below. The Pembroke Glacier is unique because it is rare for glaciers exist and grow at sea level, according to the captain of the ship, however I didn’t have a whole lot of confidence in the accuracy of the commentary. (disclaimer!)

So with our boat trip over, I reflected upon Milford Sound and the fact that I’ve been there twice and had two different experiences with the weather. No matter what, Milford should be on everybody’s ‘must see’ list. Almost 20 years since my last visit had dulled some of the details, but I enjoyed this visit as much as my first…. Highly recommended.

We had coffee to provide an opportunity for all the buses to clear out, prior to making our way back to Te Anau for dinner. We found a restaurant that served a fresh crayfish platter for us to share and it was excellent. The crayfish industry is a major contributor to the local economy with prices rising to $120 per kilogram during Chinese New Year when the crayfish are flown directly to China. Normal price is about $50-$60.

Anyway… we are heading back to Central Otago tomorrow for a little more family time

Until tomorrow!