3/12: Magnificent Milford Sound Cruise & OMG Drive to Wanaka!

I am simultaneously finishing a travel blog about the fantastic 4.5 month long trip Steven and I took last fall to Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, much of Central Asia and then the final six weeks in Spain and Portugal. If you're interested in checking that exciting adventure out, here's the link:
www.bergersadventures6.blogspot.com

My friend Diane and I left the small town of Te Anau on New Zealand's South Island at the ungodly hour of 6 am for the 118 km long drive to Milford Sound in the heart of Fiordland National Park so we could be at the Sound for a two-hour cruise leaving at 9. Though it was fewer than 75 miles away, we'd been advised that the drive could take 2.5 hours as we might have a long wait at the very long Homer Tunnel en route. Another thing we kept in mind were the constant billboards telling tourists that "Driving in New Zealand is different; it takes longer."

I was thankful that Diane agreed to drive as it was pitch black when we left and only got partially light well after 7:30. The views, though, in the early morning were very striking and more than a tad eerie with low lying clouds drifting in and out of the mountains. 

There were lots of lookouts that we could have stopped at along the alpine highway but we wanted to make a beeline for the Sound and 'do' the hikes, etc on the way back later.

As it got lighter, we had glorious views of mini waterfalls streaming down the mountains.

We were very lucky getting literally the 'green light' going through the one-way, almost a mile-long Homer Tunnel as drivers often get delayed there by up to thirty minutes en route to Milford Sound. The tunnel at an altitude of 945 meters above sea level was located about a dozen miles east of the Sound. It was started in 1935 but not completed until 1954. Diane and I were surprised at how very bare bones the tunnel was compared to tunnels through Colorado's mountains. 

The tunnel emptied out into Avalanche Creek which was a rather scary name. It made sense when you realized the countless number of signs we'd just seen before entering the tunnel warning of falling rocks onto the highway and especially for walkers to be aware. 

I could well appreciate why the Milford Road from Te Anau to the Sound had earned World Heritage Highway status for its beauty and scenic variety.

From the parking lot, we had a picturesque walk through a rainforest to the dock. Our cruise would be on a much smaller boat than this behemoth, luckily!

During the Ice Age a great glacier ground its way to the sea, creating a spectacular valley. When the glacier melted, the sea flooded and created Milford Sound. The glacier that flowed down the Cleddau Valley was up to 2,000 meters deep and left behind some of the world's highest sea cliffs in Milford Sound. 

Maori legend tells how a god-like ancestor, Tu Te Rakiwhanoa, dug out the fiords with his mighty ko or digging stick. He achieved his greatest work at Milford Sound.

Because we'd been lucky getting right through the tunnel, Diane and I had enough time to wander down by the dock and look at all the other boats lined up to take people out on cruises on the Sound.

The tiny boat coming toward us was our Go Orange ship. We discovered soon enough it was ferrying passengers from the much larger cruise ship we'd seen earlier to the dock so they could transfer to land transportation to the interior.

It had been raining and misting ever since we'd left Te Anau almost three hours earlier but we were fortunate that, though it was still chilly, the rain had largely stopped. We were both glad, though, we had our raincoats handy as they came in very handy soon enough!

Before making reservations months ago, I'd learned that we'd lightly see far more waterfalls on the morning cruise but would have more rain then, so it was definitely a toss up as to when to go. We didn't have much choice other than to go on the morning one because afterward we needed to retrace our drive from the day before back to Te Anau, then all the way to Queenstown, and finally north to Wanaka.

Some people may have been disappointed by the ever-present clouds on the fiord but they just added to the grandeur of our cruise in my opinion. 

As we neared Stirling Falls which dropped 480 feet into the water, I don't think any of the boat's passengers had a clue exactly how close we'd get to them! The Hanging Valley Glacier created the falls when the glacier eroded down to the beginning of the falls and then receded.

Years and years ago, Steven, our four children and I took a Maid of the Mist tour which got very, very close to Niagara Falls where we had so much fun even though we got pretty drenched. Being here was a little bit like that long-lost memory. 

I was relieved I'd been content to stay on the upper deck unlike so many on the lower deck who got drenched as the boat got almost right under the falls. It was a hoot watching so many Asian tourists trying to 'collect' the water by extending cups out!

We reached Dale Point at the entrance to the Tasman Sea, the turnaround point for the cruise, and, I think, the westernmost part of New Zealand. The next landfall was Australia!

The rainforest was visible from the boat as we neared the shore.

As the clouds partially cleared, we had a greater sense of how very high the cliffs were.

These were called the Disappearing Falls.

It was fascinating to see how the waterfalls ranged from trickles to torrents. We were unbelievably lucky seeing so many waterfalls that morning as other people mentioned friends who'd only seen two waterfalls the entire cruise. High waterfalls meant that there was a 10-13 ft. layer of fresh water above the underlying salt water. 

We were lucky that we were able to spot a few fur seals sunbathing on the rocks as we came close to the shoreline. We weren't, however, lucky enough to see either Fiordland crested penguins or any dolphins that morning. 

I spent almost the entire cruise on the top deck but Diane preferred to see the marvelous views from the dry seats inside. I chatted for a good part of the trip with this lovely couple from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, who were spending six weeks in New Zealand. 

Bowen Falls dropped 530 ft. into the Sound here. We knew the captain would try and get as close as possible to the falls again based on our earlier experience at Stirling Falls!  

The Sound's most famous landmark was Mitre Peak, a 5,550 ft. high pyramid-shaped mountain that rose straight from the deep fiord.

I would recommend in a heartbeat for anyone contemplating going on a Milford Sound cruise to go with Go Orange or another smallish outfitter like that as there were only 80 people on our boat compared to some others that fit 300 plus on board. 

How much fun it would have been to join the group of sea kayakers as they hugged the shoreline but it was no doubt pretty hard work. 

It had been worth every moment of our long drive yesterday to Te Anau and then getting up bright and early this morning for the long drive from there to the dock for the breathtaking cruise on Milford Sound. If Steven and I ever are lucky enough to make it back to New Zealand, I hope we'll either go on this same cruise or possibly on one instead to Doubtful Sound, also in Fiordland National Park.

These signs everywhere in the country were directed toward Asian tourists.

Since we were no longer in a hurry to board the boat, it was a more leisurely walk back to the parking lot along the Milford Walkway and through the rainforest.

There were lots of viewpoints and hikes along the Milford Road on the way back to Te Anau so we took advantage of stopping at some of them even though it began drizzling again. The first was The Chasm described as having dramatic views of a rock chasm and waterfalls formed by the rushing waters of the Cleddau Valley.

If you ever want a 'free' perm, I suggest you go to the southern part of New Zealand because of the high levels of humidity and/or rain!

After being amazed by so many varieties of beautiful ferns on this walk and others, Diane and I joked that "New Zealand was Colorado but with a rainforest and, of course, the ocean on all sides!" She added that our brief time on the North Island had reminded her of all the trips she and late husband, Ron, had made to Hawaii.

It was easy to see how the Chasm had been sculpted by water and stone when, after heavy rain, flood waters rush downstream picking up pebbles and gravel. The stones that came to rest were swirled around by the current which, over centuries, ground out the fantastic pothole shapes that were such a feature of The Chasm. 

We were again lucky not having to wait for an extended period of time at the Homer Tunnel having literally gotten the green light to go through. 

We had much better views of the Upper Hollyford Valley going back toward Te Anau as it was no longer dark out. The swirling clouds were among the most spectacular cloud formations I have ever seen. 

We stopped next at Monkey Creek hoping to obtain clearer views of the Valley but weren't successful. 

We looked while at the creek for kea birds as they were NZ's national treasure and unique to the country's South Island but we were out of luck. The highly intelligent, inquisitive and friendly animal was the world's only mountain parrot and were an endangered species with fewer than 5,000 living in the wild.

Lina: Here was another of the cute slogans on a Jucy van that made us smile!

The next point of interest was The Divide, the lowest east-west pass in the Southern Alps at 531 meters. It marked the beginning of several tracks or treks for us non-Kiwis! 

Diane trudging along in the rain! Luckily neither of us minded the rain, especially as there were so few other walkers out, the trail was magical and the vegetation was so lush.

We came across an animal trap but for which one we didn't know. 

Back on the Milford Road again, there was soon another sign cautioning foreign drivers to be extra vigilant. I had never seen any signs like that were directed to non-residents in any country Steven and I'd been to.

Lina: Another adorable Jucy slogan for you to smile about! 

There was a sign indicating South Island robins might be nearby but, alas, we were again out of luck trying to catch sight of the birds that looked like red robins back home.

We'd been looking forward to also stopping at Lake Mistletoe but, even though we had a map indicating where all the tracks or trails were on the way back to Te Anau, it didn't help much because so much of the signage was so poor with either insufficient advance notice of upcoming hikes or they were absent altogether. It was so surprising and frustrating even though we'd experienced the same issues with lousy signage many times elsewhere in the country. 

The Eglinton Valley was one of New Zealand's few extensive lowland areas of mixed southern beech forest and home to plants and wildlife found nowhere else in the world, some with an unique and ancient ancestry. The beautiful valley, between half to two kilometers wide, was 'glaciated' with steep sides and a flat floor.

More than 30 species living there were either rare, threatened or endangered. Population declines were due to predatory stoats, tree-climbing rats and possums, the country's nemesis. More than 25 years of research have contributed to an understanding that was now helping the Department of Conservation to develop, target implement predator control that was able to make a difference. 

Not far away was the turnoff for Mirror Lakes where small tarns or mountain lakes provided outstanding mountain reflections with views of the Earl Mountains. Even though it was overcast, Diane and I were both spellbound by the idyllic views. 

Mirror Lakes and the Eglinton Valley were part of an UNESCO World Heritage Area and of the largest system of inland waterways in New Zealand. Intact river systems, like these found in Fiordland National Park are becoming increasingly rare on an international scale. Many NZ plants and animals that lived there will not survive unless the special character of their freshwater environment is safeguarded. 

The lakes were  a feature created by the Eglinton River as it flowed through the valley. The river starts at The Divide about 30 kilometers behind us and flows down the valley to Lake Te Anau where we'd taken the cruise just the afternoon before. 

Diane and I both found the Mirror Lakes to be quite magical, perhaps because they were so very different from all the rain forests we'd walked and hiked through already that day.

At some point, the river shifted its course and abandoned these deep pools. Deposits partly filled the channels which left isolated ponds called oxbow lakes. The lakes were particularly rich in biological terms as they provided a habitat for many animals that relied on water for part of their life cycle.

What was beneficial about signage in New Zealand were the occasional arrows like these in the road by parks that reminded drivers to stay on the correct side of the road when they returned to their cars. 

We retraced our steps all the way back to Te Anau that we'd left at six that morning more than nine hours earlier. From there, we headed north alongside the gorgeous Lake Wakatipu toward Queenstown. As cloudy and stormy as it had been that morning, the late afternoon was as perfect as could be with the sun shining on the lake.

Unlike the US and Canada, there were no signs indicating when someone entered or left any of the country's national parks. We only knew of a park's existence when we saw information boards and lookouts which referred to a specific national park. We thought that was quite odd. 

North of Queenstown we left the Southern Scenic Route behind and began heading north for the first time all trip toward Wanaka, our destination for the night which meant we only had a few days left in New Zealand before heading to Australia on March 15th. Of course we had no idea then that our flight out that late afternoon to Melbourne wouldn't happen because of the tragic events that unfolded at the two mosques in Christchurch that same day. That resulted in our returning to Queenstown for what turned out to be the third time on March 16th but I am getting way ahead of myself. 

From Queenstown, we took the Scenic Alpine Route north which turned out to be a superb choice as the views were again fabulous. How creative and imaginative someone had gotten with painting flags on the corrugated iron 'bumpers' or whatever these were called!

The panoramic views over the valley were so striking. Diane did a fabulous job driving our little putt putt up and around the endless hairpin turns - I was impressed! I couldn't blame her for wondering, though, after navigating so many tight turns whether this road had been the fastest one we could have taken to Wanaka. 

But I am sure she agreed in the end that the Crown Range Road, the highest, sealed road in the country, was a darned pretty, if somewhat hair raising, drive! The road connecting Queenstown and Wanaka had only been sealed since 2000.

From the summit, it was naturally all downhill to Wanaka! Hill after hill all the way into town was filled with tussocks as the New Zealanders call the clumps of grass. 

It was almost mind boggling trying to remember all the different types of environments we'd encountered in just that one day - from the mountain passes, to the fiords, chasm-formed rocks, rain forests, crystal clear lakes, valleys, mirror lakes, tussock-covered hills and I'm sure many more. It had been a really long day but also one of the most thrilling in terms of natural beauty which, in my mind, is the paramount reason to go all the way to New Zealand.

If, and that's a big if, we'd had more time on our trip, it would have been better to spend an extra night again in Queenstown or, better yet as it turned out, in Wanaka rather than having to rush on again the next morning. That would certainly be my advice to anyone planning a trip to New Zealand!

Next post: Another day of fabulous scenery n route to Franz Joseph.

Posted on April 16th, 2019, from our home in Littleton, Colorado.