Day 14 - Milford Sound

Monday 18 Apr.

Happy Birthday Jackie, 60 today. Hard to believe though!

First, they are not Sounds at all but in fact they are Fjords.  Apparently Sounds are formed by rivers while a Fjord is formed by glaciers and, believe me, we are in glacier country here. Lovely flat valleys, beech forest on the surrounding hills, all formed by the action of the glaciers gradually grinding their way down. Eventually they melted leaving these flat plains (where the moraine has settled) or deep valleys, usually with either a river running through or else the beautiful lakes

Breakfast was cereal. NO COOKED BREKKIE! I felt quite hard done by. I am used to my hash browns and scrambled eggs with some tasty bacon and mushrooms on the side and real coffee. We are definitely in budget country here. The dinners are not that inspiring either, still the scenery is fabulous, the bed is comfortable and the room is warm but VERY cramped. Anne reported, on our first night, that the shower pressure was so poor that her knees were getting cold water on them while she washed her shoulders and my experience has been the same. However, enough complaining.

The day started with a trip to town to buy lunch to take with us and then we were off. Yet another brilliantly fine day and the view of the lakes and mountains were stunning. Not a lot of traffic on the road. Heading North on Highway 94 - hard to get my head around the fact that Te Anau is halfway down Fiordland, and Milford Sound is close to the top.

We stopped to view the Mirror Lakes and shortly after, the obligatory "comfort stop", a very nice facility, privately owned, and designed for the 80 or more coaches which traverse this road every day in summer. A $1-$2 donation is suggested. We had parked out the back and Ellen and Wayne produced bikkies, Thermoses, and tea and coffee. Ellen says she normally bakes scones for the occasion but the oven in the lodge she uses was broken so it was packet bikkies instead.

The scenery is overwhelming. I wish I could describe it adequately. All I can do is recommend that those who have not yet done a South Island trip think very hard before they next plan a trip to Bali or the Pacific.

We went over The Divide, the fourth pass across the Southern Alps (the others are Lewis, Haast & Arthur's, in case you haven't been paying attention). By 11.30 we were turning left at the Hollyford Valley, having stopped several times for photo opportunities. There are still the odd patches of snow on the higher mountains, and some glorious waterfalls. 

Monkey Creek & Monkey Bend were so named because the early explorers had to swing from tree to tree to get along. We stopped at a mountain stream and were able to fill our water bottles, it is so pure.

The Homer Tunnel was reached by 12.30, and we pulled off the road for a stretch and photo stop before we went through it. 

There are several plaques on the side to those who died while it was being made. It is 7.2m in diameter, and 1260m long. The rock has not been lined, and water still trickles through (but is managed). Traffic lights control the one-way traffic, and dim lighting was added about 2004. There is a long zig-zag road down, beside a very busy stream with glorious colours in it. 

Through the Cleddau Valley, and over the Tutoko River, more stunning scenery everywhere. 

Arriving at Milford, we had about 45 minutes before our boat left, so I walked up to the Information Centre and back, then ate my sandwiches while we queued to board. The Unique party had a good booking on the upper deck and close to the bow, with complimentary tea and coffee included. Most of us very soon abandoned that for the top viewing deck, open to the elements, and spent the 1hr 40m trip there.     

Milford has five permanent waterfalls, and we went so close to two of them that those in the bow were getting wet. I can only imagine what it looks like when it has rained, and all the hills are covered with temporary waterfalls, but this was quite glorious enough. One had a very low-down rainbow, which just added to the beauty. Mitre Peak stood out well, the sun shone, the commentary was interesting, and everyone enjoyed themselves. 

Rainbow

 

At its widest point Milford Sound is 1.3km, and is where the cruise ships come in to before turning back. The narrowest point is 600m across. The Sound is 14km long, we went 13km before turning, and the waters were meeting the Tasman Sea, so there was a slight turbulence. There is a wide black line just above the water, which puzzled us, but turns out to be mussels. On one large and sunny rock, three young seals were basking.

Mussels at the tide-line

Young seals

We were back at the dock by 3.30, and apart from one comfort stop, headed straight home. I think many others were like me, and too weary or 'mountained out' to really enjoy the scenery on the way back. We had time for a very quick cuppa before dinner at 6.30, and were more than ready for an early night.