Keas and Penguins and Sandflies, oh my!

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Fiordland National Park » Milford Sound
November 23rd 2005

Published: November 29th 2005

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Not too many roads in the world cross this...

We rose early this morning to allow time for the 2-hour drive to Milford Sound. It was a nice morning drive - banks of fog alternated with sunny patches for a series of ever-changing views. Early on we crossed the 45 degree south latitude line - actually the first of two times we’ll cross it northbound on this trip. As we got up higher in the mountains, the fog lifted for a number of gorgeous views of the snowy mountain peaks towering overhead. We stopped just before the Milford Tunnel to take some pictures and encountered a small band of keas (mountain parrots). They are completely unafraid of humans and it took some fancy footwork from Ben to keep them from nibbling on his gym shoes! We enjoyed another stop at The Chasm, where the Cleddau River has tunnelled through rock to create some unique waterfalls. Best of all, it being 9:15 in the morning we had the Chasm to ourselves for a short while before anyone else showed up.
We arrived at the dock early, and entertained ourselves by watching other people get devoured by sandflies (we’d worn insect repellent, knowing that today we’d be in sandfly world headquarters.) Our

Sun triumphing over fog

cruise left Milford Sound at 10:30 and we snagged a good table near the front. It was foggy over the Sound and they’d had a drought of 3 days with no rain (in the wet Fiordland rainforest, this does qualify as a drought.) Nevertheless, we got to see the beautiful waterfalls and enjoy calm waters both in the Sound and out on the Tasman Sea for a bit. And the ship turned out to have my beloved banana cake with chocolate frosting!
We even got to view 1% of the entire world’s population of Fiordland crested penguins. There are only 1500 of them and we saw about 15 - swimming in to shore and running up the beach, waddling down the beach to plunge into the water, and poking among the rocks. We also got to see some New Zealand fur seals, dozing on the rocks along the water’s edge.
On our way back in, we nosed right up to one of the waterfalls; the sheer vertical rockfaces plunge far beneath the surface so the ship can get very close. The roaring sound and drenching spray of the great falls were awesome.
Back on land, we stopped along the road

A duel

Ben: "Don't you dare eat my shoes!" Kea: "Dum da dum, just minding my own business..."

to take a short hike to a series of waterfalls, enjoying the various rainforest plants on our way. Then we continued through fields of foxglove back to Te Anau.
In town we did some laundry and then had our first truly bad dinner at Kepler’s. We were by far the youngest patrons of this crowded restaurant, and they made sure their food had nothing too spicy in it - like pepper or salt. My culinary treat tonight was lamb in a vaguely-Chinese-but-more-like-La Choy sauce. Gary promptly dubbed it “Lamb Choy”.
Now back at the hotel, winding down to the soothing sounds of arriving tour buses and mentally preparing for tomorrow’s 5-hour drive from west to east. It will be good to be back on the Pacific coast and hopefully seeing some penguins up close!

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