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.
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| 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.
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| Kayaking! |
Seals!
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| 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 :)
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| 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).
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| Curious Kea |
The bird sanctuary ended our time in Fiordland and it was
off to the West Coast via Queentown!
