Blogs from Milford Sound, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 27

We are writing this from Queenstown, where we have come back for some Food. So we don't die. They have no supermarkets you see. We have just had the most amazing few days down in the Fiordlands. We have made the pilgrammage down to Milford Sound - through the valleys and mountains of this stunning area. The Mountains and Valleys would make all of Wales green with envy - it would be difficult for us to put into words just how epic the scenery has been. The drive from Queenstown (where they have food) to Te Anau is nearly 3 hours, and is only roughly halfway still to Milford Sound - so you have to be careful how much petrol, oil and food you have onboard! We stopped about an hour from Milford on our first ... read more

I had read a lot of great things about Fiordland National Park, but I purposefully looked at very few pictures. My expectations were quite high, which usually sets up a disappointment. Well, this time I was certainly not disappointed. Today I saw the most stunningly beautiful natural scenery that I have ever seen in my life. Both the drive up along the Famous Milford Road, and our time cruising on the fiord itself provided us with example after example of mind-blowing New Zealand natural beauty. We had also scheduled the day properly, so unlike Australia’s Blue Mountains, we had no negative influence from the human element. We left our hotel in Te Anau Downs at 7:00am. We then drove two hours, including many quick stops along the way for pictures, before we arrived at Milford Sound. ... read more

The end of the year was celebrated with a trip to the Milford Sound which for those who really want to be accurate is a fjord. The five hour bus journey was amazing in it's own right, travelling through scenery ranging from Jurasic jungle where you could imagaine T Rex and others about to pop out from behind a tree, to the valley's created by huge glacial erosion. These valleys make you realise just how small we are in the scheme of things. They are steep sided, craggy and are twice the size of Ben Nevis. The Hommer Tunnel which goes through a moutain was awesome to you descend a 1000m meters in half a mile drive! At the tunnel entrance there are birds called Kia's who were playing on top of cars and general mischeviousness. ... read more

Today was a great day. The weather was sunny and the views were incredible. This IS what we'd been expecting from New Zealands scenary! Having arrived at Te Anua in the morning, we picked up the Milford Road which ziz zagged its way through u-shaped valleys which had been carved out by glaciers (many years ago!). Around us where countless snow capped peaks. The road crossed single-vehicle-width bridges over raging rivers. The most exciting section was driving through a long tunnel with barely any lighting - it was like driving through a mine! Eventually we arrived at Milford Sound, a sea-filled glacial valley with huge vertical cliffs on each side with many waterfalls. The views were absolutely amazing! Best of all the weather was as good as it gets; apparently 2 out of 3 days are ... read more

Slept really well, but awoke too early at 5:30am. We are booked on a kayaking trip at Milford which is a two hire drive down the road. After a quick breakfast, shower and making sarnies (trying hard not to wake the rest of the house) we set off about 6:30am. The cloud was initially high, and the view of the snow capped mountains was captivating. The drive to Milford is on a twisting road which has some amazing views of rivers, lakes and gorges. On the way we passed through "Knobs Flat" which has to be a set up! Made the journey passing though the Homer Tunnel where there is a late night naked tunnel race. Luckily dodged the Kea Parrots without losing too much rubber car trim. Made it down to Milford City (sense of ... read more