Blogs from Fiordland National Park, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 25

I have just spent the last two days debating who is coming off worse in the battle of sandflies vs Morgan. Admittedly there must be plently of plump and fully nourished sandflies jumping around in Dountful Sound; My 30+ rapidly swelling bites give testimony that I have been an unwilling blood donor. However, today I experienced the ultimate delicacy- tomato, cheese and sandfly tortillas............. Ive spent the last two days once again spending good money to scare myself silly and undergo various forms of torture. This time kayaking Doubtful Sound. Another 5am alarm call- this is worse than working!! 8 of us jumped into a mini bus and began a 3 hour journey by minibus/boat and minibus again to our launch station at Deep Cove. The kayaks were 2 man high spec sea kayaks- with ... read more

MILFORD IS SOUND Milford sound, or MILF Sound as I like to call it (as it is definitely NANG!) was apparently named after Milford Haven in North Wales. To my surprise I discovered that it was actually not named after Stifflers mom. Weird. Anyway, Matt (wearing his new "express yourself" hat) and I headed there to catch a cruise through the sound. It was about $70 each for a 2 hr cruise but worth every penny. It was a bit pot luck on the weather but as it happened we seemed to catch the cruise just when the sun began to shine through. Though a hail shower did pass overhead, which was hillarious. The upper (outer) deck that had been chocka with Oriental amateur photographers, saw them flee like bunny rabbits when the chunky hail started ... read more

OK, this is almost too much for me to handle. Like a heroin addict dipping into a back alley and finding a fix, here I am being told that we have more time (!) in this little internet cafe in the middle of Queenstown (Melissa is putting some pictures on her blog entry and the slow computer is giving her fits). So, I thought I'd take the opportunity to start writing about our trip to Milford Sound. This will be written by both melissa and me, as I am also working on uploading some photos... Milford Sound is the most well-known of the fiords in New Zealand's Fiordland National Park. Its a World Heritage Site (others include the Grand Canyon, the Pyramids, etc). Check out this link for more info: http://www.fiordland.org.nz/Explore-Fiordland/Milford-Sound/Default.asp Fiords are created by the ... read more

The last few days Michelle and I were on the Milford Track here in Fjordland. The track itself starts from the top of Lake Te Anau and follows the route that the original explorers took trying to pass a pass from Te Anau to Milford Sound. It's been called "The Finest Walk in the World" but in the interest of full disclosure, that was said around 1950 I think. It's still a fantastic "tramp" as the kiwis call it; probably one of the best in the world. Here's a quick summary of the 4 days: Day 1 The first day is really short and easy. You only travel 5 km on easy terrain. I think they make it easy for the day hikers that are allowed on the trail at this point. You have to take ... read more

Left Queenstown to make our way to Milford Sound. Weather en route was great, clear blue skies and bright sunshine. We stopped off in the car every 2mins to take a closer look and short walks, including Mirror Lakes (reflect the mountains perfectly), Hollyford Valley lookout (amazing moutains/valleys etc), Homer Tunnel. We stayed at the only accomodation in Milford Sound, Milford Lodge. It was very remote - we were back in the wilderness again - no TV - the place ran on a generator that cut out at 11pm everynight and started up again at 6.30am. Lights out time!! Because the weather was so good - in a place where they get something like 250 days of rain! - we wanted to get on a Milford cruise that evening, and luckily managed it. The cruise was ... read more