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Published: November 20th 2011
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Milford Sound
View down the sound The trip on the steamship Earnslaw included a tour of the Walter Peak High Country Farm – which was very interesting - feeding the lambs, sheep, deer and Alpaca (although they were very aloof and did not seem to want to be friendly to the tourists). There were two lambs that were just the opposite – putting on the cute faces and following people looking for goodies. It may seem a bit too touristy but it was well worth it – there was a sheep shearing demonstration and the shepherd rounding up the sheep with his dog – who was being trained and so added some enjoyment as the shepherd tried to make him do all the right things for the audience. We would recommend this for all ages especially if it is a wet day – it even included tea and scones in the farm house – you could have a barbeque lunch but I would avoid that as you miss out on the farm tour.
That evening we went for a meal at the skyline restaurant overlooking Queenstown – you have to take the cable car to the restaurant – it was a surprise for Anne and had been
Doubtful Sound
View going down the sound bt weather was pretty badf recommended by a Kiwi who had worked at Hermes, well worth it – we arrived early, seating is on a first come first served basis and so we had a front window seat(prime spot) – the meal started at 8:15 pm so we saw the sun go down over the mountains and the whole of Queenstown lit up as the night progressed. It was a buffet meal that was excellent – we left feeling very full. Highly recommended as treat.
Next day Friday 18th drove from Queenstown to Te Anau – took about 2.5 hours. In Te-Anau we booked the Milford Sound trip, Doubtful Sound and The Glow Worms Cave tour.
Saturday 19th – drove the 120 Kilometres to Milford Sound for the cruise on Milford Sound- a long drive but as always wonderful scenery. The boat trip was fantastic although we did miss out on the Kiwi Barbeque as we had just had breakfast – just shows you should check the full itinery. The trip up the sound was breath taking- it was one fantastic view after another – Southern Discoveries do the longest cruise on the sound (3 hours) and I think it is well worth it –
Tasman Sea
End of Doubtful Sound into Tasman Sea it include the barbeque lunch, a visit to the discovery centre and the underwater observatory. The skipper was very informative and you get ample photo opportunities – we saw crested penguins, seals and the natural beauty of the sound. We were even taken so close to waterfalls that you thought we were going to crash into the rocks –there was even a Kiwi joke about the Sullivan falls giving youthful appearance if rubbed into the skin – this encourages you to get wet! Once again we were very lucky with the weather – they told us that Milford Sound gets rain on 220 days of the year – but today we had sunshine and clear skies. Even the dreaded sandflys seemed to stay away.
Tomorrow the Doubtful Sound tour.
Sunday 20th November – Doubtful Sound tour – this starts with a one hour boat trip across lake Manapouri followed by a visit to the hydro electric plant built into the mountain – a great feat of engineering – we have visited a similar set up in Snowdonia Wales that was more spectacular (you saw more) but this was built with no roads to it (all equipment, men etc. had to
Dolphins
Dolphins from side of the boat be shipped in), it was built using dynamite and picks not drilling machines plus it rains so much they had flooding problems – so you understand the scale of the project.
After the hydro tour a one hour bus trip on gravel roads to pick up the boat at doubtful sound. It had rained all night and continued to rain throughout the day – so you could not get the same sense of size as at Milford Sound (tops of mountains hidden by cloud) but the waterfalls that were the result of the rain and the wildlife made up for this. We saw crested penguins, fur seals and Bottlenose Dolphins – these were the highlight of the tour – they came close to the boat and even swam ahead of the boat – I managed to get some good videos of the Dolphins alongside and in front of the boat.
It was a long trip – we set off at 8:15 am and got back approx 18:15 – so it was straight to the restaurant for a pizza and drink. Overall we preferred Doubtful Sound to Milford Sound but that maybe due the dolphins..
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