More Bumps Than The Scenery

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Now That's Saying Something When You're In Fiordland

Everything I'd ever read on New Zealand prepared me for the beautiful scenery, the welcoming people, and the abundance of activities available to do in this amazing country. What they didn't mention was that they have their very own Dracula!!! My ankles are not the most desirable thing on the planet usually but to these blood suckers it must be nirvana. I now seem to have my own model of the mountainous terrain that is so famous on the west coast of the South Island. The Black Sand Fly is a scourge on the country... and they seem to congregate in the most beautiful areas. So much so that there are even landmarks named after them. One such landmark in Sandfly Point in Milford Sound.

The drive to Milford Sound from Te Anau is only about 120km but takes over 2 hours (and that's if you don't stop to see anything on the way) because of the fact that the road goes from valley floor to glacial valley to snow-capped mountain pass to one lane tunnel straight through the mountain and back to sea level all in this tiny little stretch.

Following the Eglinton River north, the pasture land soon becomes rainforest, with winding roads that hug the valley edge. Lakes dot the area, with some so still that they reflect the backdrop perfectly, earning them the name Mirror Lakes. Further along and the hiking trails become more evident and range from a leisurely couple hours along the river shores all the way to the Milford Track and Routeburn Track with their alpine crossings and a minimum of 3 days in the wilderness.

Following the route of long gone glaciers, you can still see the evidence of their passing in the great mounds of rocks (called kames) that they left behind as they retreated back up the slopes. By now the vegetation alternates between rainforest on the slopes and grassland on the flats with tussocks being buffeted by the wind through the valleys.

With only 30km to go, the mountains now loom all around, often looking like they are crying as the snow melt runs down their barren rock faces creating a myriad of waterfalls and cascades at every turn. The Hamer Tunnel buries you under millions of tonnes of rock as you pass through the mountain. One lane.... steep descent.... constantly wet from water seeping through the stone.... and almost pitch black with single lights spaced far apart.... what an way to captivate the senses when you emerge from the dark on the other side, to sheer cliffs weeping with water from the peaks. One such rivulet, The Chasm, has cut a 22 foot deep gorge through the side of the valley as it rushes to it's destination.... Milford Sound.

So, 4 hours after leaving Te Anau, I arrive at my destination. Carved by a glacier from the last ice age, Milford Sound stretches over 5km long, from Sandfly Point on the eastern end to the Tasman Sea in the west. With sheer rock sides (that still show the impact of the ice and what it was carrying) reaching up from the waterline all the way to the top of Mitre Peak at 1683m, there are not enough words to describe the utter majesty of the area.

Jumping on one of the many cruise vessels to head out onto the water, I chose the company with care and went out on one of the smaller vessels that didn't cater for the bus loads of tourists pouring through the doors every minute. This meant 3 things....


• More personalized service
• More room for photo taking without having to "stick the elbows out"
• The ability to change plans when something amazing happens


Seeing waterfalls with high grade copper running in the rocks behind them, penguins, and fur seals were just the beginning. As we reached the mouth of the Sound a great black cigar shaped object rose out of the water vertically about 1000m out to sea. Hurrying to the captain, I mentioned that I'd seen a whale breaching of the coast and he told me that a fisherman about 2km south had just radioed that he'd seen it too. Plans changed and we heading out to try and see if we could spot them a little closer. Within minutes we had a mother Humpback whale and her calf surfacing just of the side of the boat and the captain even said this was rare. He'd been operating in the area for 15 years and only seen it twice... and the assistant hadn't seen it at all in the 2 years she'd been working there (I think she was even more excited about it than we were). An amazing experience but unfortunately, if anyone has ever tried to photograph whales before you'll know how hard it is. You either just miss them or it just looks like a rough patch of water in the pictures.

This country seems to keep giving me these brilliant finds.

So all up.... not just another day.

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Comments

[Dancing Dave]

Milford Sound
Unreal part of the World...what a thrill to cruise these amazing waterways. When I was there my kids joined some mad Englishmen swimming at the base of a glacier...great memories revived in your pics.