Blogs from Milford Sound, Fiordland National Park, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 6

There is so much to see and do in the area, but most of it comes with a price tag. After a few paychecks have rolled in we were able to go out and explore. One of the highlights of the region is Milford Sound. Technically speaking, the area is a fiordland carved out as glaciers retreated thousands of years ago. The result is lush vegetation amongst massive sheer cliffs. We booked a day trip thorugh Mitre Peak cruises and got every penny's worth. The bus driver dueled as a tour guide and pointed out lots of interesting things along the 4-hr drive from Queenstown. We made a few stops along the way for short little walks and perfect picture opps. The road was very windy and narrow and was mostly traveled by tour buses, so ... read more

We rose early for the drive to Milford Sound and drove through the infamous Homer Tunnel through a mountainside on the way. It had rained all night (120 mm) and a morning mist filled the valley where we drove down the serpentine roads to the water. We boarded our boat for a morning cruise through the fiord. The Fiordlands were created by glaciers and are unique rainforest areas with 5-7 meters of freshwater atop the salt water coming in from the Tasman Sea; this area receives up to 7 meters of rainfall annually! This one-of-a-kind ecosystem draws unique opportunities to see black coral and other sea animals much nearer the surface than typical. We were able to see many neat sea creatures at the floating Underwater Observatory, which took us 8 meters under the water surface. ... read more

We can see snow on the mountains and the nights are getting colder. Have resorted to sleeping in the car on a few occassions and have found it to be kinder to our joints as well as being warmer.... Sandflies are still a major problem and we look forward to leaving them behind. The views have been amazing. Hopefully our photos do them justice. We did try to find a hotel when we reached Queenstown, but no joy!! Seems everywhere was booked solid. Queenstown reminded us of a massive car park, every street and pavement was littered with parked cars! However, we are still having a great time. Loving all the sights and looking forward to more adventures...................... read more

On New Years Eve, we traveled to our next outpost, Te Anau. This small resort town on a lake served as our gateway to Milford Sound. Any type of activity can be organized from here including plane or helicopter tours, fishing , diving, hiking, etc. Our funky motel, The Village Inn, is a variation of the traditional theme. Each room represented a different shop front in a fictitious town. Ours was located between the bank and the jail, “Nancy’s Fancy Goods.” (Sarah - Because I did all the plans for this trip via internet, I have only seen these places in a one inch frame. I am as surprised as the rest of the family when we pull up to our motels. This one I knew would be one of the more strange places to stay, ... read more

Well we went on a boat around Milford Sound which was stunning. There were a pod of dolphins which came up to which was pretty cool. We then headed back out got past homer tunnel then our gear box decided to pack up. Unfortunatly for us we probably couldnt have been further aaway from the AA. So we waited 5 hours for them to turn up! But they did take us back and then fix it at 7.20 ona Saturday night so cant really complain!... read more