Blogs from Milford Sound, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 11

We had booked to take a cruise in Milford Sound from Te Anau while in QT but given the weather the night before and the fact that Milford has over 8 metres of rain every year (compared to only 0.6m in London) we were expecting a wash out...or at least a rather wet trip. So on a grey and slightly nippy morning we wrapped up in all weather gear and were picked up by Frank, the knowledgable ex-search and rescue paramedic. We now appreciate that when they say the weather in New Zealand can change drastically they are not exaggerating - it just got better and better and soon turned into a proper scorcher (the grey-skied pics were quickly deleted and replaced with these!). Having been to Norway's fjords and taken ships through them we were ... read more

Today is a bit of a race. Starting off in a luxurious hotel (hard not to pamper myself for just 10 more minutes), I need to drive to Milford Sound which is about 50km away, and arrive by 15:30. Sounds easy I know, but in between Queenstown and Milford Sound, there's just a great big mountain, and to date, the good people of NZ have not yet paid for a 50km tunnel to be bored through thr rock so that I can drive dirctly there. As a consequence of this, the only road to Milford Sound goes round the mountains for 300km and takes 4 hours to drive. If I want time to stop off on the way, that means no hot tubbing this morning. The drive starts along Lake Wakatipu with the road hugging the ... read more

Hi, We went to Milford Sound for the weekend, which is really a nice place! We even saw Yellow Crest Penguins!!! And Yellow Eyed Penguins at another place! All the best, Stefan... read more

I left Queenstown (I'll blog that place later) early one morning for a 2-hour boat cruise on the Milford Sound.... read more

We overheard someone say that the massive amount of sand flies present in Milford Sound is God's way of ensuring that the place is not destroyed by over development. It was an excellent idea because you simply couldn't live there for any length of time without the flies driving you crazy. The population of the village in winter is 30 people and only jumps to 100 in the summer months, mostly made up of crewmen for the various cruises and flights on offer. We left Queenstown early the day after our activity packed day out and made good time to Te Anau, where we stopped to have lunch by the lakeside. In Te Anau we were warned to bring good insect repellent with us to Milford Sound and to put it on before we got there. ... read more