Invercargill -> Milford Sound

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15th Feb 2009
We're in a bit of rush today so we grab breakfast at Subways and eat on the go. We head towards the mountains that border Fiordland. As ever the roads are empty and we make good progress at 100Km/hour, the national speed limit. We reach Te Anau at the half way point, it is the commercial centre of Fiordland, it seems this area survives on tourism and deer farming. Venison seems to be on the menu at most places, even venison pies. The road from Te Anau to Milford Sound stretches 75 miles and has world heritage highway status. It seems there is a scenic view around every corner. We stop at a point called the Mirror Lakes, when there is no breeze or rain the lakes perfectly reflect the mountains around them, when we are there there is a stiff breeze but we still manage a half decent photograph.

We climb on and on into Fiordland and reach the Homer Tunnel, it is 1200m long took 19 years to build and the traffic lights at each end alternate red to green every 15 minutes. The road in the tunnel drops very steeply and there are numerous potholes, wouldn't want to break down here. It is raining quite hard and we are driving between towering mountains. The heavy rainfall is causing a multitude of cascades to drop down the sides of the mountains and is quite spectacular.

We finally arrive at Milford Sound, it is atmospheric and simply stunning. The famous Mitre Peak is capped in cloud and the whole place has a sense of foreboding about it. We head back to our lodge, it is the most basic of places we have stayed in. A bed and a coat hook sum up the place. After dining at The Blue Duck Cafe & Bar we take to our beds, tomorrow we are off to Queenstown, the capital of activity sports in New Zealand.

We stayed at Milford Lodge

A map of our route

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Photos

Mountain Streams
Rainwater running off the mountains at Milford Sound

The Homer Tunnel
Waiting to enter the 1.2Km Homer Tunnel

Cloudy Mitre Peak
The Mitre Peak covered with cloud on a rainy afternoon