The day started early with a drive along one side of the very large and pretty Lake Te Anau, watching the morning clouds lift from the wild mountains on the opposite shore. Then it was up into the ancient glacial valley that led towards our destination for the day.
We had allocated four hours to drive the two hour journey, and just as well we did because there was just so much to stop at and ogle over that we only just made our boat on time. As always, we were very easily distracted by the utter grandeur that was all around us and kept taking little turn-offs to investigate. The New Zealand government has done a grand job of providing viewing platforms, walking tracks, public toilets, camping spots and safe pull-off points all along the way. They certainly recognise the value of tourism and have catered for it with good quality infrastructure.
The valley walls were steep and precipitous, the forests deep, dark and mossy and the water courses clean, bubbling and fresh. It was a true delight. The further we travelled the more spectacular the views became, more snow was glimpsed high atop the mountains, which themselves grew larger and steeper. The ancient mossy beech trees became more gnarled and heavily swathed in other lush and dripping plant life, and waterfalls abounded. Each rock face seemed to have multiple ribbons of water falling from great heights.
Then we arrived at what appeared to be an enormous sheer rock wall blocking our way, so we lined up with the other cars waiting for the on-coming traffic to come through the single lane tunnel before we could slowly progress into the depths of the mountain. Coming out the other side we were presented with an unbelievably huge ring of rock all around us before we moved down the zig-zagging road into the steep valley below.
We glanced at several lovely sights along the way, not daring to stop because by that time we were in danger of missing our boat due to having dithered too much already, but promising ourselves that we would spend longer at them on the return journey.
Milford Sound (not actually a Sound, it is really a Fiord) is an absolute wonder. The huge steep rocky mountains that plummet down to the calm sea water are so spectacular that I have no way to put their grandeur into words. We were lucky enough to strike a day when the Sun was shining so we could actually see the tops of everything and all the dramatic shadows. Also, because it was a warm day the notorious sandflies were at a minimum, which was an absolute blessing.
With every turn the boat took around each corner of the fiord we beheld yet another and even more grand and breathe-taking vista, multiple temporary waterfalls cascaded from the cliffs (we were fortunate that it had rained just the day before) and several groups of fur seals lounged on rocks in the Sun.
Of course Rod’s camera’s electronics played up, but Georgie took a million photos with her phone which we will share some with you. The return journey included a half hour loop walk to an astounding waterfall where the raging and boiling waters had scoured incredible sculptures into the rocks. It was a huge day of huge sights, and after only taking three hours to drive the two hour journey back we fell into our bed utterly exhausted.
Click to enlarge, and then scroll the wide panoramas
As fantastic as I remember xx