An early start with the tour bus picking us up for the 2-3 hour drive to Milford Sound. We stopped at Mirror Lake along the way, and the reflection would have been perfect except for some pesky ducks causing ripples on the water. The road to Milford Sound is very windy, and surrounded by high and steep mountain ranges. We saw evidence of avalanches and landslides along the way. We then drove through the Homer Tunnel, which took over 20 years to build around the time of WW2. The 1.29 km tunnel goes through the mountain range, and has only one lane in most parts. We went on a lovely sailing boat to cruise the length of Milford Sound. The impressive height of the fiords and numerous waterfalls is difficult to describe. We even saw a chasm which is a minor fault line called the Pembroke-Tatoko Fault Line. Then we past the edge of the Pacific and Australasian tectonic plate, which runs through the fiords, however there wasn't much to see in the landscape except for a little gully. There were quite a few NZ fur seals basking on the rocks.
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| On Milford Sound cruise |
Highlights:
MK: Seeing the Kea chewing on the windscreen wipers on a car
MJ: Majestic Bowen Falls (3 times height of Niagara Falls)
MH: Cute duckling ducking under water on Mirror Lakes
Logbook:
07:00 (1495 km) Nutella and toast for breakfast.
07:30 (1495 km) Got picked up by bus to go to Milford Sound.
08:00 (1495 km) Tour centre. Mirror Lakes. Homer Tunnel.
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| Kea - very tame! |
10:30 (1495 km) Boat ride into Milford Sound. Lunch of ham rolls. Impressive high cliffs and really tall waterfalls. And some waterfalls disappear as they fall, being blown away by the wind. Saw (and smelt) lots of seals. Some cliffs look like they were overhanging the water!
13:00 (1495 km) Back onto the bus on the way home. Stopped at Homer Tunnel and saw a kea pulling apart the rubber seals of a car. We also visited the chasm where the forceful water had created an intricate pathway through the chasm. We stopped by a stream from the mountains had an ice cold crystal clear drink from the stream. Everyone was filling water bottles.16:30 (1495 km) Back to Te Anau,
19:30 (1495 km) Dinner of pasta with tomato ham sauce.
20:00 (1498 km) Shopping.