Fiordland National Park

---

The road that carried us from the interior to the southern stretch of the Fiordland was, quite honestly, boring. The land lost its grand mountains and lakes and became simple farming land - flat and featureless terrain. It continued on like this for a couple of hours and then - thankfully, we reached Te Anau. As we approached the town it was reminiscent of Lake Taupo on the north island, what with the beautiful clear lake being bordered on one side by mountains and the other by the town itself (a much smaller population however). As was tradition, and it being mid morning, we stopped by the side of the lake for a drop of tea before dropping in at the DOC centre to investigate possible walks in the area.

Discovering that, although this was prime mountain area, there were relatively few day hikes we could partake of as most tramps were multi-day - something we just were not prepared for. Instead, we decided to drive along to a wildlife sanctuary nearby and spent an hour looking at all the amusing rescued birds, including our first glimpse of the notorious but endangered bird, the Kea. These are large birds (the size of a big parrot) who have dull green feathers on the majority of their body but a beautiful multicoloured sheen on the underside of their wings - only visible in flight. They are rather bold and are not afraid - it is reported - to steal food from picnicers and and shoes from unsuspecting hikers! I was almost grateful the one I was looking at was behind bars....

As it was mid afternoon and activities in the town were limited, cracking on to find a free campsite before the border of the National Park seemed the only suitable idea. The route remained fairy picturesque while we were by the lake, skirting the forest areas at times and affording stunning views of distant mountains. Our hunt for a free camps site was fruitless though. The authorities, as with Wanaka and other tourist happy places, had sewn up all possible areas leaving only the paid DOC sites. I really object to having to pay for a night at a site where the facilities are so simple that they would have been classed as basic 'free' sites on the north island - obviously paying for the privilege of camping rather than the service. Nevertheless, as we reached the border of the park it became obvious that this was going to be our only option, so - after popping into a couple and being put off by the proximity to the road (there are several along the stretch into the fiords - Ka-ching!) we settled on the last available site, nearest to the main stretch before Milford.

The lake had disappeared a while ago and had been replaced by tall mountains either side but a rather bland valley in the centre, with a small river meandering through it. It may be that we had been spoilt elsewhere in NZ, but this area was not as spectacular as we had imagined it would be. However, our hopes were restored when we pulled into our camping spot as it bordered a lake 450ish metres above sea level and reflected the now rather more impressive peaks surrounding it. With only a couple of other vans to share the view, we spent an hour or so enjoying the scenery before dark came.

With the dark came the campers who wished to avoid paying site fees (we had put our money in the envelope and deposited it in the metal box earlier on) by coming late and leaving early. It was amusing at times, watching the campervans drive through the gap in the trees where we were parked as in the darkness you could not tell the lake was there, so they were clueless to the limited parking and turning space so had to awkwardly reverse back through the trees, often doing 2-3-4-5 point turns. The small 'overflow' area in the woods quickly filled up and some prat came and parked directly in from of us (at least it was dark) so in the end it was the busiest DOC site we had encountered. Crazy! It was back to the original 4 vans when the sun came up by 8:30 though......cheaky scumbags!

Our plan that morning was to climb a nearby mountain which promised great views of the surrounding valleys but, our luck with clouds followed us even here and hovered menacingly overhead, threatening to be blinding to any view by the time we reached the summit. Taking this in our stride (being used to such things by now) we carried on along the mountainside pass, taking corners carefully due to their sheer nature and stopping for a couple of Kodak moments, including a coffee stop overlooking one of the aforementioned valleys with views of snowy peaks on several sides.

We descended into a steep sided valley but it was obvious that we were still at a decent altitude as snow was lining much of the side of the road and the sides of the mountains glowed in the morning light. It really was beautiful, being surrounded by such sheer edifices - these continued all the way to the Homer Tunnel. This tunnel works during the day time by traffic light which, at 15minute intervals, allows vehicles from alternate sides to pass through. After 6pm though, the automated system is switched off and cars have to make up their own minds when to enter. It is fairly well lit and plenty wide enough for 2 cars to pass, but since the route to Milford Sound is extremely popular with coach groups (you can take a day trip from Queenstown!) I would not want to be around when 2 coaches entered....

As it was early morning we avoided any undue risk and made the initial tunnel descent, breaking out of the other end into rather duller weather than we had left - strange how one side of the mountain can vary so different from the other! The road snaked slowly downwards through woodland (not too bad after I had overtaken someone who took every slight bend at 20kph) and past a couple of viewpoints towards sea level and our destination: Milford Sound.

Milford Sound is a small place which, on initial inspection, seems to have no inhabitants - the few habitations that exist are slightly apart from the harbour area so go almost unnoticed by daytrippers. The main hive of activity is of course the water's edge where a nice new-looking terminal caters for the 4 main boat companies who in turn offer tours to the tourists who flock to see the splendour of the sound.

We were grateful for the fact we had left early and had arrived before any coaches, allowing us to get quotes from all the operators before choosing a reasonably priced trip (with free tea and coffee!) without being hemed in by crowds. After only a 15 minute wait we boarded our boat and were delighted to discover there were only 8 of us taking the cruise! A company member walked past us all and apologised for the conditions, but they were not expecting so many people........love the Brit like Kiwi humour! With space galore, we found a corner with good all round views and admired the scenery until departure.

Heading out onto the sound, we quickly decided the best views would actually be from outside on the deck so we grabed a seat and bundled up in our hat, gloves and waterproof - it was bloody cold! The captain gave us a running commentary of the features that we passed, including the iconic 'Mitre Peak' (the mountain that looms over the sound and is said to be similar in shape to a Bishop's hat), various waterfalls (including Stirling) and the formation of the sound itself. The sound that is, in fact, a fiord - but names are hard to change after a century or so. It was wonderful seeing the misshapen, tree and scrub covered mountainsides: spotting where trees had lost their grip on the thin soil due to too much rain water and slid down the side, stripping all the greenery beneath it away on its downward path; hearing how fresh water pours into the sound and creates a layer on top of the salt water that is unique - amazing.

The boat made it out almost as far as the entrance to the sound then began its journey back, pausing to almost drench us all under Stirling falls and show us the platform that allows both diving and people to descend into the water via an underwater staircase to view the rare black coral - amongst other things. The hour and 45 minutes on the water was great, but we were both glad to be back on dry land and to be able to warm up again after a rather chilly experience!

As we made our way back to the car it was obvious that the weather was really closing in: the clouds had yet again descended and the drizzle had begun. Glad we had made the best of the good weather, we began our ascent of the road that would take us back though the tunnel - but not before a stop at 'The Chasm'. In the now pouring rain, we donned our waterproofs (including newly acquired waterproof trousers) and followed the short path through the trees to a raging torrent of water that disappears into a series of eroded pools and drops - finally into the largest hole, the chasm. Impressed but wet, we trudged back to the van and completed our ascent, and afterwards carried on until we reached Te Anau - I even let Warren have a shot a driving!

On our return to the town we found a place to call my family from the next morning then drove around the outskirts for 20 minutes until we found a place to cook dinner. Once darkness had fallen, we parked up (with several others, including a van spray painted like a cow) at a DOC car park at the head of a popular multi-day hike called the Kepler Track. That night the heavens opened and made a great sound on the roof of our van!

Early the next day we visited the internet place earmarked the day before and made contact with home then continued further south a bit until we reached part of the previously mentioned Kepler track that we were going to do as a day hike. It proved to be an amusing walk: the track was easy, winding through forest and parts of marshland before finishing by the lake, but turned into an unofficial mushroom spotting quest! I have never seen such a variety of fungus in one place, and the colours and shapes were outstanding!

As the car park was quiet, we both had a wash (my hair needed it by this point as well) although typically, as soon as I took any clothing off a car would miraculously appear! However, scrubbed and ready to go, we headed to Manapouri - a small lakeside town - for lunch before continuing on to a free DOC site by another lake (Monowai) for the night: a wooded area with glimpses of the water. The van was parked on a tilt that made cutting veg for dinner entertaining! It was a peaceful night though - always better in an official site!

---