Mulling About Milford Sound

Entering Fiordland National Park, I was immediately in awe of the massive, jagged peaks in every direction. The highlight of this park is the unbelievable Milford Sound, so the rest of the park gets a bit overshadowed, but it is nothing sort of amazing. Pushing the van up and down the hills and winding roads, I had trouble keeping my eyes on the road with all of the scenery. I was told that it was about two hours from Te Anau to Milford Sound, but my drive quickly extended into a four or five hour journey with the stops and inspiring views around every bend. I was also lucky to have perfect blue skies in an area that is known for its rain, with over 200 days of rain a year. At one point, I reached Homer Tunnel, a 1 km downhill tunnel with no lights carved through one of the mountains. Since the tunnel is dark and small, there is a stoplight on each side that changes every 15 minutes, so as I waited for the light, I noticed one other car alongside me taking pictures as some of the large green alpine parrots called keas came in and started playing on her car. These birds are supposed to be one of the smartest bird species, and there are only about 5,000 in the world, so they are protected species and are definitely not afraid of humans. They are renowned for picking through peoples' cars and bags while attended or unattended, opening backpacks, removing windshield wipers and such. Knowing their reputation, I hoped that they wouldn't bother me, but they quickly shifted their attention. In fact, they remind me a bit of the velociraptors from Jurassic Park as they turned and looked at me out of the side of their eyes, made a few bird calls, then two of them headed over. Not wanting car damage or any problems, I honked as they approached, but apparently they've seem that bluff before and continued walking around, examining the car. Luckily, they seemed more interested in the car behind me, and I saw one of them jump on top of the car just as the light turned green and I pulled into the tunnel.

So excited to see Milford Sound, knowing that I was just minutes away, I rolled down the hill through the dark tunnel, hitting bumps that I couldn't see, bouncing around, hoping no cars were approaching because I was driving way too fast for such a road with no sight ahead. Just minutes later, I made it to the sound and saw the sight that had inspired me so many times before to put this area way up on my Must See list - Mitre Peak at the entrance to the sound. The peaceful water is surrounded by towering peaks coming straight out of the water, many of them over 5,000 feet high, at impossibly steep angles. I took a few pictures before darkness came, and I was lucky to find availability at the hostel's carpark for my campervan, as I would have otherwise had to drive an hour out to the nearest pull-out along one of the other lakes that I had passed earlier. With such nice weather, I also booked a two hour cruise departing early the next morning, hoping to get more beautiful views of the fjord. I set my watch alarm and got up right at sunrise, in time to notice the great surroundings of the parking lot, next to the river and more huge mountains, but I hurried to the sound to see it as the sun came over top of the mountains. I scurried out onto the rocks that were revealed by the low tide and took a few pictures as my hands trembled in the cold morning and batted away a few of the pesky sandflies that the area is known for. I spent about an hour marvelling at the entire area and the great day that I had been given, with little to no clouds on the spot that the tour brochures call moody and mystical, so that visitors aren't disappointed when they arrive to find an area of rain and clouds, awe-inspiring nonetheless. Worrying that I hadn't recharged my camera in a while, just on cue, my batteries of one camera gave out after just a few pictures, and the spares hadn't been charged, so I headed back to the hostel to give them a 20 minute charge and a quick shower before speeding back to the boat dock for my 8:55 cruise.

I didn't really know anything about my cruise company, but it turned out to be quite a good one. Four or five different companies operate in the water, giving visitors a choice of about 20 or 30 cruises a day, though many of them book up quickly. Mine was the first one leaving in the morning, meaning that the water was still glassy and reflective, and we got to be a few minutes ahead of every one else, not having to be staring at another boat ahead of us the whole time. I also chose one of the smaller ones with only 75 people instead of 200, though we ended up with only about 30 people on the boat, so the trip was great. We headed alongside the huge mountains, stopping and cruising underneath the waterfalls, in disbelief of the size and grandeur of this place. The pictures can't do justice to the massive scale of everything in this park. We covered the entire sound (actually a misnamed fjord - stupid Welsh guy), reached the rough Tasman Sea about 900 miles East of Tasmania, then turned around for the return trip where we saw more and more unbelievable mountains, cliffs, overhangs and tranquil water and even a few more sea lions. One point called the overhang is a completely vertical cliff that rises over 2,100 feet straight up from the water. Amazed by the beauty of the park and luck that I had with such a beautiful day, I headed back out of the park for a bit of hiking.

One of the guides at the information center had recommended a place called Key Summit along one of the four day Great Walks of New Zealand, the Routeburn Track, which was supposed to provide great views of the whole area on a sunny day like I had. I grabbed my jacket (they say that the weather can change in minutes, even when it looks nice) and jumped on the trail, full of more thick forest, ferns, moss, and even a nice waterfall. After passing through that vegetation zone, I got into the higher elevations and thinner vegetation of mosses and shrubs, giving me a view of steep mountain peaks in every direction. Bits of this area seemed to remind me of pictures of the Swiss Alps with the exposed granite faces and forest below. I talked to a few people at the top (one couple from Rome, Georgia), and then I headed back, but I immediately started feeling dizzy and light-headed. I slowed down just a bit, but I think the problem was the resulting low from my sugar and adrenalin high after finally seeing Milford Sound and finishing off another bag of sour worms. Without incident, I made it back to the car and proceeded to make a sandwich and some chips before heading out of the park. Even after seeing so many pictures, the park was still amazing and unfathomable, leaving me in a state of awe.

(The towering mountains along the road leading in to Milford Sound)

(Milford Sound at early morning, before the cruise boats and sun hits the water)

(One of the numerous peaks along the cruise)

(Note the large cruise ship that's the tiny white dot in the front right corner of the picture to give a bit of perspective)

(I think this is the second highest permanent waterfall - thousands more appear when it rains)

(The face of Milford Sound and Fiordland National Park- Mitre Peak, somewhere around 5,200 feet high)

(The lush forest up to Key Summit on the Routeburn Track)

(The view from atop Key Summit and the surrounding mountains)

(Sheep are everywhere. Seriously, you do see a lot of them on hillsides.)