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Published: December 4th 2013
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Monday 2nd December, 2013. Milford Sound (Piopiotahi), Fiordlands, South Island, New Zealand
We had been advised that the drive down to Milford Sound would take between 2 - 2 and a half hours. We set the alarm, had an early breakfast and left at 7.30 am. We drove straight there, without stopping, as we would have time to do the stops on the way back. On the way we saw lots of road kill, birds, rabbits and possums (the locals apparently call them "squashums" according to our lake cruise guide yesterday!). We came through the Homer Tunnel which is an unlined road tunnel with a downward slope to Milford sound of 1 in 10. It was quite exciting travelling down through it. We arrived in plenty of time and had nearly an hour to wait for the trip to start. We strolled around the visitor centre and looked at some of the exhibits. We went outside and looked at some of the boats waiting to depart. The sand flies were unbearable. They are notorious in this area. The "Milford Wave" is the name given to the gesture that you see many people doing as they try to waft the little
blighters away.
The Fiordlands were the home to the critically endangered Kakapo. Seeing one of these rare birds is on M's bucket list. However, sadly, it is not to be. The last Fiordland kakapo was captured in Sinbad Gully (close to Milford Sound) in 1981 and transferred to the safety of Codfish Island. All remaining kakapo are kept on predator free islands off the coast of mainland NZ. There are only 60 odd left in the world. They have very erratic breeding habits and do not lay eggs every year. Scientists are still trying to work out how to mimick the perfect breeding conditions. Add to this that most of the remaining birds are males and you really do have a problem. There is one bird who tours the world so that people can get to see one, but he is on is holidays on one of the islands. The kakapo is a flightless, nocturnal parrot (for this reason it is also known as the Owl Parrot).
However, Milford Sound is also on M's Bucket List so at least she can tick that one off. Milford Sound is not, in fact, a sound at all - it is
a fiord. Sounds are river valleys flooded by seawater whereas fiords are glacial valleys filled with seawater. The sound is named after Milford Haven in Wales. Rudyard Kipling described it as "the 8th Wonder of the World". It is widely acclaimed as New Zealand's top tourist destination.
We boarded our boat which was a replica of a 3 masted traditional vessel called the Milford Mariner. We were booked on the Nature Cruise. There was an experienced nature guide on board. We left the harbour at the head of the fiord and headed towards the Tasman Sea. We cruised past the Bowman Falls which are one of the Milford Sound's permanent waterfalls with a drop of 160 metres into the water. This time of year there are also many temporary waterfalls caused by the snow-melt. We proceeded along the Sound and the guide pointed out rock cliffs to our right which are called Lion Mountain (because it resembles a crouching lion) and Elephant Point (because it resembles and elephant facing you with its trunk hanging down towards the water.) We passed a rock where there were 4 or 5 NZ Fur Seals (sealions) basking in the sunshine. On we went
until we came to a waterfall. The skipper of the boat put the bow of the boat almost under the cascading water. We could see beautiful rainbows as the water hit the sound.
It was a lovely sunny (albeit windy) day and we continued on past Mitre Peak which is a pyramid-shaped mountain rising 1692 m (5,550 ft) from the deep fiord. As we sailed we kept our eyes peeled for the rare crested penguins which are native to fiordland and should be just about to nest. We didn't see any ("maybe too early in the day" the guide said). Once we entered the Tasman Sea we saw some more NZ fur seals. These seals (they are really sealiions as they can walk on land using their flippers) were almost hunted to extinction as their fur was very sought after for making fashionalbe hats. Today they are protected. D mused the the New Zealanders had a habit of calling things the wrong names - sounds instead of fiords and seals instead of sealions - he has a point. We saw one huge Albatros while we were in the open water too. We cruised back up the sound where we
stopped at the Stirling Falls (146 metres high). We also stopped at the Lion Mountain and tipped our heads backwards and looked up - this apparently gives you a good idea of the sheer scale of these cliffs. We continued back to the wharf (and the sand flies!).
Once back in the car we headed back towards Te Anau. Our first stop was the Chasm or Te Papa Atawhai (another on M's bucket list) in the Fiordland National Park. This s an impressive rock chasm formed by the rushing waters of the Cleddau River. We followed the loop forest walk. The pristine forest was very shady and gave us fantastic views of the waterfalls and the sculptured rock formations. The rock formations looked a bit like Swiss cheese - full of holes that had been carved by the swirling water. We stopped at Pop's lookout point where we looked out at Mt Lyttle to our right and Mt Christina to our left. Apparently this is a glacial crossroads on a scale beyond belief. Here two glacial tributaries split carving out the Greenstone and Eglinton valleys.
We stopped for lunch at Lake Gunn and we in turn got lunched
on by sand flies. Next stop was the Mirror Lakes which are small tarns, very close to the highway, famous for their mountain reflections in calm weather. Needless to say it wasn't calm so there were no reflections - just ripples. It was a pleasant walk around though.
We returned to the Hostel and had lamb chops for dinner, followed by Coffee Cake, washed down with vino. Two ticks on the bucket list today for M - so it must have been a good day!
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Mopsy
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Critique
Really, really enjoyed reading all the entries today on my iPAd. Adriana is here and showed me how! You both look well and happy New Zealand looks fantastic.