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We arrived in Te Anau, driving from Queenstown, the evening before. Te Anau is quiet and small... even with it being the height of tourist season and everything booked up, it was still calm. I guess they only have a very limited capacity of hotel rooms.
Te Anau is at the edge of
Fiordland National Park (the largest national park in NZ and one of the largest in the world) and next to Lake Te Anau. It is a favorite spot to stay before heading into Fiordland.
In the morning, we were picked up by a large van by
Fiordland Wilderness Experience for a sea kayak tour of Milford Sound. I think we were the last ones to be picked up and I ended up sitting in the middle front seat between our two guides (made for interesting conversation about NZ).
During the drive, they told us about various things related to Fiordland and NZ. They also played contemporary NZ music for most of the trip.
The drive on Milford Road took over an hour and a half and we made a few rest stops along the way for tea/coffee/hot chocolate and cookies.
At one of the stops we got
The Lion and The Elephant
With Stirling Falls falling from the valley. Also, notice the cruise ship for perspective. to see a
Kea, one of the few alpine parrots in the world -- it is also quite intelligent and known for ripping apart rubber on cars (windshield wipers, rubber around windows, etc.). The Kea was clearly looking for food and hopped around the top of the van and on the ground hoping for us to throw it something; however, there was a sign at the overlook stating emphatically to NOT feed the Kea's. When we did not give it food or enough attention, it started pecking at the rubber around the van doors... which certainly got the attention of our guides. 😊
Most of the trip up, it was foggy and we were concerned it might be overcast, foggy, and/or rainy for the kayak trip; it rains in Milford Sound about 182 days of the year and it one of the wettest places on Earth. However, further along we cleared the fog and there was plenty of sunshine the rest of the day.
Just before arriving in Milford Sound, we stopped at a local shop and bought some bug repellant; no mosquitoes but plenty of sandflies... which can draw blood and results in an itchy red bite
spot that takes a few days to heal; the bug repellant was pretty effective all day long and we had very little problems with the sandflies.
Milford Sound is a sight of sights. It is one of the most beautiful and highly revered places in the world (ranked as the
number one best destination in the world in the
2008 Travelers' Choice Destination Awards by TravelAdvisor and once called the eighth wonder of the world by Rudyard Kipling). Also, note that Queenstown was second in the world. 😊
Milford Sound is surrounded by mountains carpeted with rainforest and has sheer rock faces rising up 3,900 feet (1,200 meters) out of the sea. There are numerous waterfalls ranging from small streams pouring down cliffs to big waterfalls gushing from the mountains into the sea.
After arriving in Milford Sound, and while taking in the amazing beauty of it all, we helped unload the sea kayaks and gear, changed into kayaking wear (mainly fleece, waterproof shirt/jacket, a spray skirt, and a life vest). We split into twos for each kayak (two person sea kayaks) and put in.
I was paired with a guide and Robert and Vanessa had a kayak to themselves. In our
whole group, there were eight kayaks and we split into two groups (one guide with each group).
As we paddled along, I got tips from the guide on paddling technique. I was on the front so I didn't steer; later I switched out with Vanessa and practiced steering with Robert in the front; I didn't want to miss a chance to learn more about it as one day I hope to do more sea kayaking.
It was somewhat windy and the water was choppy. We paddled maybe a couple of miles into Milford Sound. Along the way we could see a few of the big waterfalls. One of the waterfalls, Stirling Falls, drops 480 feet to the sea from a valley between two mountains (The Elephant and The Lion). Some cruises were out and about and were dwarfed in size by the waterfall and mountains. Another big waterfall was Bowen Falls, which cascades out of the mountains 525 feet into the sea.
We were initially paddling into the wind. Since the wind was with us on the way back, the guide took it as an opportunity to sail / surf us back by us all holding the
kayaks together and catching the wind with a small sail. One person in each of the four kayaks was responsible for holding side ropes on the other kayaks to keep us together. The other four people were responsible for holding on to one of the four ropes attached to our green and red sail.
Once we had the sail catching the wind, we could feel it pulling us forward. As the wind was creating mini-breaking waves, some of the waves would catch us and pull us along for ten or 15 feet... which was the surfing part of it.
We made our way to a little beach near Bowen Falls, pulled the kayaks onto the beach, and had lunch with the other group. It was a great place to rest and look around Milford Sound; it also had a perfect straight-on view of Mitre Peak.
We then paddled to and around a cove area and saw where the
Milford Track ends. Milford Track begins at Lake Te Anau and takes four days to trek. It is considered one of the best walking tracks in the world and I would one day like to trek it.
We then
paddled back... during which we passed a sheer cliff with about of dozen tiny little waterfalls. The guide said that on a rainy day there are even more.
Once back at the put-in spot, we pulled the kayaks in, changed clothes, loaded up all of our equipment, and headed back to Te Anau.
Our trip in on the spectacular
Milford Road had been fog covered. However, now it was clear and we could clearly see the beautiful landscape.
Along the way we stopped at The Chasm to go for a short hike into the rainforest and see a little river which cascades through a chasm area and swirls into small tunnels in the rocks (creating whirlpools).
We then drove through the Homer Tunnel and into a valley with large mountains on each side; signs warned of avalanches (this was late spring so no worries for us) and the guides mentioned how NZ has people that go around in helicopters (while the road is closed to driver), dynamite the snow to create an avalanche, and clear it out... this way there is less risk of an avalanche occurring while the road is open.
The next stop was
at Mirror Lakes, which is a nice scenic spot in a valley in front of lakes that reflect the mountains in the distance.
We then continued to Te Anau.
After getting dropped off and cleaning up, Robert Vanessa, and I walked around Te Anau and had a very good dinner (I forget the name of the restaurant). We then watched a beautiful sunset overlooking Lake Te Anau.
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