Te Anau to Milford Sound

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Geo: -45.4151, 167.718

Last night was the coldest yet at -2 degrees but our motel had underfloor heating and was very cozy. We stepped out onto the balcony to view the weather hoping that the Milford Road had opened. The sky was a little overcast however we were informed that our tour was on and that it would be busy because of the backlog.

We were picked up from our motel at 9.30 and when we tried to board the buss which had come from Queenstown there was all hell to play because people were swapping seats and god forbid if you sat in somebody else's seat. Please remind me never to go on a bus tour holiday or shoot me if we ever book one, at least today's trip is only two hours!

Finally on board the bus, we were surprised at how modern and well appointed it was, we had seats that were angled toward the large side windows and had a glass roof for the ultimate viewing experience and the Milford Road certainly did not disappoint. I would recommend this trip to anybody.

Today's weather was perfect and the bus driver commented that it was the best this year .......the weather gods are certainly looking after us so far. The road to Milford Sound is one of the worlds finest drives offering spectacular scenery. The bus stopped 5 times along the way to view impressive geological features and the Homer Tunnel was my highlight but Debi's scariest moment as this is where all the landslides occur.

On arriving at the main jetty we had been booked onto the nature cruise instead of the scenic cruise and Debi wondered why, but it soon become apparent that the folks at Real Journeys had our best interests at heart, as the scenic cruise was a much larger boat with 100 extra passengers mostly Japanese and the commentary was translated into five languages as it toured the sound. Hint....if you ever book a Milford Sound cruise book the nature cruise.

The cruise was spectacular with a nice lunch provided, We stopped at a number of waterfalls one named the Maidens Mist, where Debi stood under the spray and instantly looked ten years younger. We then spotted some rare Fiordland Crested Penguins playing on the beach before returning to the harbor and boarding our bus for the trip back to Te Anau. On arriving in town we had a beer at the Moose Bar then went out to an Italian restaurant for dinner.

It was a great day and probably the best to date.

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