Fiordland

Everyone told us to visit Milford Sound. We weighed biking, day bus down, flight to get there. We opted to rent a car for a while and drive to Fiordland. We arrived in Te Anau (gateway town) and stopped by the iSite to plan. We opted for a kayak on Milford Sound and a cruise on Doubtful Sound. The kayak required us to be at the dock for 0630 am, and there was no accommodation in Mildford Sound. It was 2.5 hrs from Te Anau…. So we set out for a wilderness campground half way up the high way (Cascade Creek). It was Karen’s first camping experience without running potable water! We had to be up at 0430 the next morning so we tried sleeping in our car (a Rav 4). Karen slept well. Neil didn’t. And  by the time we rearranged luggage inside we’re not sure if it was any faster than putting away the tent.

Our car!

Kayaking was spectacular! It was amazing to be right beside the cliffs, and up close with seals. We even went under a waterfall! We opted for the full kayak experience, kayaking to the mouth and returning by water taxi. Absolutely amazing and highly recommended. Educational note: Milford Sound is a misnomer: as it was carved by a glacier and is connected to the sea it is technically a fiord. In the case of the fiords in Fiordland, they possess a unique ecology as with ongoing rain and a density difference, there is a layer of fresh water on top of the salt water. In addition, the fresh water is filled with tanins from the shore plants. This makes the water very dark and there is minimal light at 10m (closer to ~100m of normal ocean), resulting in very unique flora/fauna for the depth.

Kayaking!

 Seals!

Milford Sound

The rest of our Mliford Sound day was spent walking around and then backtracking down the road. We took a very leisurely scenic drive, seeing the sites we hadn’t had a chance to see that morning (too dark!). We saw the Chasm (a gorge cut by the river), and marveled at the Homer Tunnel (1.2km long through a saddle, built specifically to access Milford Sound).

Feeling leisurely we checked several other lookouts, and an 18km detour to a waterfall hike including dinner at a picnic shelter. Backtracking down the unsealed road passed a camp ground. As it was now raining quite hard we opted to stop if they had a cabin We spent the night in a cabin that was originally a hut for the workers on the road. Hollyford road originally was intended as a works project in the 1930s with a route to Haast. WWII started, labour dried up, and it was abandoned. The memory lives on as an 18km gravel road.

Our camp that night was unique: Gunn’s Camp. Originally a work camp, it has now become a campground which seems to often host long distance hop-on hop-off bus tours. Many other unqiue things at this site… Karen can add more I’m sure :)

Our Hut

Day 2 in Fiordland continued our scenic drive / hikes including a 3hr hike up to Key Summit at the Divide (East/West watershed divide). This included part of the famous Routeburn Track.

Day 3 was a cruise-bus-cruise through Manapouri Lake, across a pass, and out on Doubtful Sound. Pretty scenery, informative guide, but we preferred the kayaks on Milford. We did see an albatross and bottlenose dolphins here though!

From Manapouri we returned to Te Anau to visit the bird sanctuary which hosted Takahe, a bird that was once thought extinct but was found in the wild in 1948?

Speaking of birds, at several stops we met Kea – the world’s only mountain parrot. Super curious and intelligent, they would show no fear and come right up to us / our car. We saw them at all altitudes (including outside Homer’s tunnel where we watched some peck our tires, and one do a memorable dive).

Curious Kea

The bird sanctuary ended our time in Fiordland and it was off to the West Coast via Queentown!