Milford Sound - 25/26 November 2011

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We headed for Lake Manapouri our next stop to explore the Fiordlands an area of outstanding natural beauty and one which we were really looking forward to see from the feedback we had received from Kerry & Cliff after their trip. What a surprise when we arrived at the campsite in Manapouri, which was the only powered site in this small lakeside town, so not a lot of choice if you want a ‘bit of luxury’ like toilets and showers! We were greeted by a lovely lady who must have been 100 plus, but seemed to be running the campsite by herself. She invited us into her ‘office’ which was also the shop, home for her collections of anything collectible which included a large display of old military uniforms from around the world. She said she had various power sites available, recommended various walks close by and was extremely friendly and chatty. Someone was waiting to buy something from her shop but she said that they should wait whilst she showed us around!! She duly ushered them out and locked the shop and proceeded to show us around the site, pointing out each area where we could park the motorhome. Around the campsite there were also other collections including quite a few ancient cars, boats, tractors, trailers etc and including in pride of place a range of morris minors of varying ages (see photo). We decided the best site was next to the ‘cars’ and settled into our new home for the next few days (a bit like being in the middle of a 1960s garage). Later we wandered across to the lake, a short walk across the road and walked along the lakeside which was beautifully framed by the Cathedral and Hunter Mountain ranges. We continued into the township which was quite small and consisted of a café, a hairdresser, a shoe shop, a garage and a general store but this did not have what we wanted so we thought we would drive to the next town in morning. We set off early for the short drive to Lake Te Anau the largest lake in the South Island and where there is access to some major walking tracks including the NZ Great Walks; Milford, Routeburn and Kepler Tracks. The attractive town of Te Anau lies nestled on the edge of the lake, with a spectacular backdrop of Mount Luxmore and the Murchison Mountains. We visited the DOC visitor centre to pick up details on local walks and then made a trip to the wildlife park where we wanted to see the rare Takahe (endemic to Fiordland) on the edge of the lake and then walked back into the town. This was a much larger township with banks, supermarkets and cafes etc so we were able to get most of the supplies we wanted. We called in at the local I-Site Centre to try and book a Helicopter flight with Milford Helicopters; this was a trip that Kerry and Cliff had kindly given us as a ‘going away’ gift. It was something they wanted to do when they were travelling a few years ago in NZ but did not manage to do at the time. However it did not look like we were going to be lucky either as these helicopters can only fly on clear days and Milford is synonymous with rain and is one of the world’s wettest regions, as it was this day and flights were grounded. As it was a two hour trip to Milford Sound by road our options were limited. However we noticed another company (Southern Lakes Helicopters) located by the lakeshore with a helicopter on a pad suspended over the lake. We called in to enquire whether they were flying to Milford Sound at all. They looked at their web cam of Milford and said it was really clouded so they would not be flying that morning either. We were really disappointed but they suggested we return at 1300 hours and pencilled us into the diary – just in case. We wandered around the town and had some lunch overlooking the lake before returning to see what the situation was. It was still extremely cloudy in Te Anau and as the helipad was empty we were not expecting to go but when we arrived they said Milford Sound had cleared and the pilot was on his way to pick us up – surprise surprise. Would you believe it but within five minutes the two of us were putting on our headsets and strapping ourselves into the helicopter (Paul beside Mark, the pilot and me in the back) and with a very smooth take off we were in the air and following the shores of Lake Te Anau to Milford. Milford Sound described by Rudyard Kipling as the ‘eighth wonder of the world’, is the majestic jewel in the crown of NZ’s hot tourist spots and we could tell straight away why it has the ‘x’ factor. The best known of all the fiords of the South Island West Coast, it measure approximately 22 kilometres from the head of the sound to the open sea, and is the only one accessible by road. It is dominated by the sheer weather-scuffed cliffs and peaks that surround it, in particular the stunning 1695m high Mitre Peak. We followed the Milford Road way above the tree line for a while before climbing over various huge mountain ranges and valleys. After about 15 minutes Mark smoothly landed the helicopter at the base of Mount Skelmorlie in a valley next to a small extremely clear lake. The lake was filled with melted snow water from the many waterfalls around and contained quite a few fish including two very large rainbow trout. We were completely surrounded by mountains and the silence apart from the sound of water pouring from the snow melt and waterfalls was so peaceful (hope we do not get stranded!). We did take off again a short while later climbing over more high ridges and continued into Milford Sound itself following the famous Milford Track. When we arrived at the Sound, Mark hovered the helicopter for ages over the place where you can take the ‘ideal shot’ and sure enough it did have an amazing vista – to beautiful to describe, just magical. He did a slow circuit of the world famous fiord and we knew we were so privileged to experience close up views of such an amazing place and indeed lucky enough to have an extremely clear view of Mitre Peak. We then flew over Lake Quill, the source of the Sutherland Falls and NZ’s highest falls. As we approached the huge waterfalls Mark glided the helicopter up the sheer edge so close that we thought we could actually feel the spray (my stomach was now goodness knows where!!!) After several minutes he climbed to 5000+ feet over the top of the falls and with a stomach churning drop went over the edge and landed softly on a very small rocky ledge overlooking the snow and ice covered lake that was feeding the falls. The snow and ice was slowly melting and as we proceeded to get carefully out of the helicopter Mark said to keep close to him, so we dutifully followed his foot prints in the snow to the rocky crater edge climbing over boulders with steep drops all around us and my knees were really shaking now…... Mark took some photos of the two of us and as he did so he started moving backwards to get a better angle and I shouted, ‘that’s far enough, take it from there, it will be fine’! We climbed back into the helicopter and Mark suggested Paul and I change places and even though I was not too keen I decided I would give it a go. We proceeded back to Te Anau crossing really closely to several high mountain ridges, you could see the sharp jagged edges of the tops of the mountains inches below you (must admit I did close my eyes a few times). We then followed the lake back to the landing pad at Te Anau and Mark made such a smooth landing you did not realise you were down. What a wonderful experience we had even though in parts it was quite scary it was a real thrill of a lifetime for us both. Mark stayed and chatted to us for a while; he was quite an experienced pilot and had undertaken many rescues in the mountainous area and told us stories of his time flying around the Sounds. This was undoubtedly an experience that we will never forget so thank you Kerry and Cliff for making it possible, we hope you also manage to undertake a similar trip in the future. We are now looking forward to our next destination in this area an overnight cruise to Doubtful Sound.

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