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Published: August 9th 2007
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Mitre Peak
Milford Sound Bob & Maxine's We arrived late afternoon in Te Anau (the jumping off point for the Sounds) after an all too brief stay in Queenstown (Blog:
Queenstown). We swiftly took the decision to spend our time exploring Milford rather than Doubtful Sound, mainly because the latter is such a pain to get to and we just didn't have the time for this. We only had a couple of days here, so acted fast to book our 2 hour(ish) cruise of Milford Sound. Okay, so this was one of the highlights tours (read : more basic than the others), but I didn't see the point in venturing out to the Tasman sea (on the longer tours) - we were here to see the Sound, not the sea. Plus, the only selling point I could see of longer tours was to see more wildlife e.g New Zealand Fur Seals, Sea Lions and perhaps a Dolphin if you're lucky. The former was why we were heading to Otago Peninsular (Dunedin) shortly, the latter I saw in the Whitsundays. And as for an overnight tour...someone was going to have to pay me to sleep on cramp, stinking, damp boat after Australia.
Anyway, our lodgings
for the next two nights were at Bob & Maxine's Backpackers. We'd had a tip off on this new and as yet, unrated BBH place. The tip off was a good one, our hosts were superb - they'd do anything for you. A small place this, but that's what made it so special and homely. A word of warning though : they might request your help in someway in building their house. They are living in their garage at present.
Milford Sound / Fiordland National Park We set off bright and early for Milford, allowing a good two hours to get there in plenty of time for our 10am cruise. It's not as far as that may make it sound, but you have to allow for getting stuck behind tour buses on some of the windy sections and time for the Homer tunnel. It was a very grey, cold morning so we prayed the cloud would lift a bit. Given the amount of rain this region gets, it wasn't likely. The drive there is incredible once you get past Key Summit, but we pressed on noting stopping places for the return journey.
Eventually we arrived at Homer tunnel.
Now how can I put this...the Dartford tunnel this is not! As we plunged into darkness, it was like a time warp. I felt like we were driving through a mine shaft, seeing the bare rock in all it's glory...at least maybe we would have done if the lights on the car had lit up our surroundings any better. Apparently the tunnel is largely untouched since it was carved out. No kidding! I'm sure I nearly broke the suspension on a pot hole we didn't see in the dark. Anyway, get out the otherside in one piece we did (talking back to front like Yoda I am?!).
We boarded our boat that holds 75 people. As we'd come before the bus loads of tourists on organised tours from Queenstown, there must have only been about 15 of us on this cruise. This is just the what we'd hoped for. We soon learnt from our Yorkshireman Captain that a Fiord is created by glaciers (where a glacier has guaged out a deep inlet to the sea), where as a Sound is created by the sea (where there is a large, deep sea inlet flooding a river outlet). Some dozy dollup
Jason and his trendy Pac-a-mac
The view as we set off on the Milford Sound Cruise had incorrectly classified Milford as a Sound and the name has stuck. It is in fact a Fiord - a point someone has tried to address by naming the National Park as such.
The towering views of Mitre Peak, a few waterfalls (it had been raining, so there was a little more than just the permenant two) and the New Zealand Fur Seals held our interest for a while. But, are you ready for this shocking admission that will stun a few people that have been there...? We actually found Milford Sound a little dull. Going as close as physically possible to Stirling Falls on the return journey and getting covered in spray did almost enough to keep us awake.
The drive through Fiordland is another matter, dwarfed by mountainous ranges and some interesting natural features as you are. We much preferred the drive to the cruise.
Key Summit The first stopping point on the return was The Chasm, where the roaring waters have eroded a deep chasm (like the Aussies, the Kiwis call a spade a spade!) and now roar even louder. Next, we just had to stop at Homer tunnel as this is a common
haunt for the Keas. Sadly, they weren't coming out to play, but the views were fab. We did Fiordland National Parkthe short nature walk here instead. After all manner of random stops to take in the views, we eventually arrived at our main walk of the day : the 3 hour return climb to Key Summit (part of the famous Routeburn Track). I'll cut to the chase - the views from the top were superb. Again, more mountains, some snow capped, and great valley views. The cherry on top was the view over to Lake Marian.
From here our return journey allowed us just about enough time to stop at the mirror lakes and to take in beautiful views of the cloud and sun descending - I haven't used the word sunset, as we were too impatient to hang around the extra half hour or so necessary for that!
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