Advertisement
Published: August 6th 2007
Edit Blog Post
A Sound, A Fiord, or an Inlet: They All Seem Similar to Me
Milford Sound The whole reason we chose to stay in Te Anau was to visit nearby Milford Sound. This body of water is one of the more famous destinations in New Zealand up there with Queenstown and Franz Joseph Glacier. This cove is not a sound but actually a fiord, which is defined as an inlet formed by abrasion at the bottom of a moving glacier. When originally discovered by Europeans this phenomenon wasn’t really known by the discoverers so they misnamed Milford as a sound and the name stuck.
Milford is about a 2 hour drive from Te Anau so we got an early start on the day and set out by 9am to ensure that we could get there for the 11:30am tour. After a rather grueling drive following multiple bus loads of Japanese tourists, we arrived at the fiord/sound in time to catch a smaller, non-tour bus tour.
We were lucky enough to book on a ship the was very under booked which was probably due to the fact that it’s the off season here. Our ship, which
could fit more than 70 people, only had about 20 on board for the 11:25 tour which meant that we could easily find space on deck with a good view. Despite the cold weather (temperature was about 45 degrees), we chose to sit on the front deck of the boat to get a good view.
The hour and a half tour took us through the sound and out into the Tasman Sea and then, of course, back again. Throughout the journey we had the chance to see a ton of waterfalls which are caused by the almost constant rainfall in this part of the country. Interestingly enough the constant water movement on the bordering mountains long ago washed away all of the top soil so the trees which grow on the cliff sides are only holding on due to their interlocking tree roots. Sometimes the trees lose their tenuous hold on the mountain sides and tumble in what’s known as an avalanche of trees. At points you come across a stretch of the cliff where all the trees have fallen due to these avalanches. Pretty wild, huh?
With the cloud cover and rain came some slightly rocky surf
once we made it out of the sound and into the Tasman Sea. We tried to gut it out on the front deck but were both getting soaked from the cold ocean spray whenever the boat would crest a wave. After about ten minutes we called it and went inside the boat to warm up and dry off. We stayed inside for the rest of the cruise which provided us a funny view of other people who went out on deck after we reentered the sound. As we approached one of the last waterfalls of the trip, the captain warned anyone outside that they might get wet. This provided us a ton of humor as a whole British family stayed outside and got drenched by the waterfall. People who don’t heed warnings can be really funny!
Milford Road With the big part of the trip behind us we could take our time heading back to Te Anau. The Milford Road is known for having some of the most spectacular scenery in this part of New Zealand. The New Zealand DOC (Department of Conservation) has capitalized on the nearby national parks by creating many short hikes that people
can take advantage of in order to get away from the crowds and see a little more of the Milford area.
Our first stop on the way back was the Hollyford Track. As with many of the tracks in NZ, this one was a little more than we planned on accomplishing as it was a four day hike over the mountains. But the first part of the track has a side trail which headed to a large waterfall within about 30 minutes of the parking area.
I had really hoped that we would be able to walk right up to the waterfall maybe even close enough to put our hands in it. Kel and I were both excited about the waterfall which helped us overcome the 30 minute straight uphill trail. Sadly, when we arrived at the waterfall, we were at a viewing area about a quarter of a mile from the falls. I guess we could both be pleased with the fact that we got some good exercise…
We stopped again a little further up the road to take another hike to some waterfalls near Lake Mirrian. While we were not close enough to put our
hands in the falls, these were much prettier. Due to the mossy rocks and ferns around the falls the area glowed with a green hue. This was what I had hoped to see earlier, a stretch of absolutely gorgeous white water falls.
With a couple of hikes behind us we headed back to Te Anau for the evening. We grabbed dinner in an Italian restaurant which was pretty good and then called it a night.
Hope you’re doing well back home!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.124s; Tpl: 0.028s; cc: 11; qc: 25; dbt: 0.0899s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb