Blogs from Milford Sound, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania

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Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Milford Sound November 18th 2022

Sand flies are the devil’s spawn! More on this later…. We had to check out of our motel in Te Anau (as a side note, we’ve discovered we’ve been saying this wrong, it’s pronounced “Tea-Ar-nu”) this morning as we’d not been able to extend our stay by the extra day we needed. We booked another motel, the Amber Court Motel, which is in the next road back for tonight but couldn’t check in until after our day trip to Milford Sound. It was a very grey, overcast, miserable morning and unlike other days which have looked the same as this but been surprisingly warm, it was also very cold! We met the coach just after 10am, and set off down the road we’d had a sneaky peak of yesterday. It was nice to be able to ... read more
Milford Sound Seaward
Fur Seal Cubs
Kissing Turtles

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Milford Sound May 26th 2020

Having lived in New Zealand many years ago and loved the countries beauty, I decided to go to its South Island, which I had never been to before and walk the world famous Milford Track. The Milford Track is quite short only just over 50 kms, so I decided to add the Routeburn Track to the trip. For ease of booking, I decided to book the trip with a local company called Ultimate Hikes New Zealand and their Classis trip which covers both treks. In this blog, I will cover the Milford Track part of the trip. So in November 2019, I headed off to New Zealand and after an overnight stop in Auckland, arrived at Queenstown. I stayed just outside the town itself and found it easy to get into the town by local bus ... read more
Milford Track
Milford Track
Milford Sound

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Milford Sound December 13th 2018

After a bus journey from Nelson to Franz Josef, during which we stopped at Punakaiki to see the “Pancake Rocks” (heavily eroded limestones) and the blow holes, we arrived at our hostel, Chateau, in the late afternoon. After checking in, we went for a lovely stroll in a beautiful forest on Terrace Walk. The walk included climbing above some dead trees that were blocking the path which made it fun! Franz Josef is one of the three glaciers at sea level in the world - Fox Glacier, near Franz Josef, is another one. You can only get on the glacier by helicopter and we chose not to. Instead, on the next day, we took a shuttle to the glacier main carpark and walked to Robert’s Point, the viewpoint nearest to the glacier. It was supposed to ... read more
Milford Sound and its impressive waterfalls
On the road to Milford Sound, Mirror Lakes
On our way to Robert’s Point, Franz Josef Glacier

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Milford Sound March 25th 2018

Plane to Te Anau Downs, bus to Milford Sound Quay and Boat out into the sound. Weather was a bit dull but it didn't spoil the scenery or day.... read more
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Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Milford Sound March 25th 2018

Today we have booked a cruise round Milford Sound. To reach the sound (which is actually a fjord) we have a 70 mile drive through the mountains - literally, as it includes a 1200 metre mountain tunnel. According to my guide book, sometimes the destination is the journey. And it is indeed a spectacular drive surrounded by mountains, lakes and waterfalls. We stop at Mirror Lakes where you can see the reflection of the mountains in the still water. The ducks haven’t read the script and their diving means the water is somewhat more rippled than in the brochure pictures, which obviously involved some serious duck scaring before shooting any photos. After 60 miles comes the Homer Tunnel, hewn through the mountain. On the other side of the mountain it is raining. Our cruise company has ... read more
Mirror Lakes
Mirror Lakes
Bird

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Milford Sound March 11th 2018

In the morning my voice was a bit raspy from the usual exuberance I exhibit while drinking, but I was otherwise fine. Nothing like the night after Wellington. A large part of our group were going jet-boating today on the Shotover River. The experience was excellent. Helen and I grabbed the front seats of the boat. We flew up and down the river, coming within a metre of the canyons walls and boulders sitting mid-stream. Just the kind of reckless fun I enjoy. My luscious head of hair, which I spend several seconds preparing every morning, was completely “ruined” from the spray rising from all the 360 degree turns. I had to jokingly apologize to Charlene sitting behind me, as my big, smiling head hid her from view of the on board camera. She wasn’t buying ... read more
American Gothic
Ice cream on the shore
Fjordland National Park

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Milford Sound January 4th 2018

Fiordland Firstly I was very lucky to get to Milford Sound today - a car ran off the road into my bus (before it got to me) and all those poor people (no one was hurt -thank goodness) had to give statements to the police and not get to go on their trip. Luckily for me the next bus (driven by the same lovely Irishman that brought me to Te Anue) picked me up and added me to their trip. How lucky am I the only one from that coach journey to make it to Milford Sound today !!!! Amazing views from the bus now I understand why they have glass roofs on their buses. Again we had many stories both Mauri and Blarney. We stopped off to fill our water bottles from the local ... read more
faces of Milford Sound
seals at Milford Sound
waterfall shower

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Milford Sound November 13th 2017

Was für ein Hammer-Tag! Er startet um 08:00 und wir fahren die letzten KM nach Te Anau, denn zunächst ist eine Besichtigung der berühmten Glühwurmhöhlen geplant – ach wenn das doch mit dem online buchen klappen würde *grrr* - zum Glück funktioniert es auch live Vorort und wir bekommen auch Diskont ? Mit einer flinken Fähre und der fachmännischen Einweisung von John (Schnee, dem Jungen, für alle nicht Kenner von Game of Thrones. Unser Führer sieht genauso aus wie ein Schauspieler von der Serie) geht es über den heiligen See zur Höhle und das Wetter wird immer schöner – heute Nachmittag erhoffen wir uns Kaiserwetter für den Milford Sound! Der Informationsfilm über die Glühwürmchen und die Höhle begeistern uns sehr – erstaunliche Viecher und der Fluss, Wasserfall und die dadurch erschlossene Cathedral begeistern uns dann wirklich ... read more
Überblick über die Clow Worm Cave
Lake Te Anau
Lake Te Anau

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Milford Sound June 3rd 2017

Le trajet de Wanaka à Quesstown est ... difficile pour notre Vanille, on a failli rester sur la bas-côté plein de gravier alors qu'on voulait laisser passer les voitures. C'est un devoir de laisser passer les voitures quand en montée on ne peut pas rouler à plus de 20km/h en frôlant l'explosion du moteur. Le brouillard épais n'arrangeait pas la situation non plus. Donc nous arrivons à Queestown tant bien que mal et ce, pour le week-end anniversaire de la Reine d'Angleterre (petit détail quand on se trouve dans la ville de la reine..!). Faute de reine, c'est le froid glacial qui règne sur la ville, à une semaine de la saison hivernale. La ville est sympa, même tons que Wanaka avec un style chalet en bois, maisons en pierres etc... un centre-ville truffé de boutiques ... read more
de Queestown à Milford Sound
de Queestown à Milford Sound
de Queestown à Milford Sound

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Milford Sound April 16th 2017

Milford sounds was as beautiful as it was last year despite the grey cloud and threat of imminent rain. We got off the boat feeling relaxed and having had a good dose of fresh air. One comment I would make is that there was decidedly less snow on the mountains this year compared to last. We jumped in the car and decided to make the long drive over to the opposite coast and make base in Dunedin for the night. It was a long drive, and at times we were the only car on the road with only fields for miles around- slightly concerning! We arrived late evening, had dinner and basically went to bed early after a long day- god we're getting old. The next day poured and I mean pored with rain, constantly! We ... read more
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