New Zealand Discoverer
Day Six – 2 Mar 2012
Weather: cloud, some sun, 13
Well, after yesterday, is it no wonder I slept like a log. I wasn’t sore or anything but felt like I needed to stretch a lot. I had breakfast and we loaded up for our ride to Te Anau. Milford Sound isn’t that far from Queenstown by how the crow flies but there’s no road so we have to drive south to Te Anau and will visit the Sound from there. We do get a cruise and the weather is looking cooperative. Given that Milford Sound is one of the wettest places on Earth at sea level, anything short of a 30 mm per hour rainfall will be a plus. It averages 6000 mm of rain a year.
That’s six metres.
The record is 9000 mm.
We drove to Te Anau and Nellie said we should pick up something to eat since there’s nothing between Te Anau and Milford Sound except a bathroom stop. As we entered the town, my eyes were drawn to the first hotel.
The Cat’s Whiskers hotel.
I kid you not.
We stopped at a coffee shop/souvenir shop and I went over to a supermarket to pick up a sandwich and that. Unknown to us at the time, John had gone over to our hotel and dropped off our luggage. This isn’t the first time they’ve taken advantage of being close to the hotel and dropping off the luggage so that it’s in our room when we arrive. Really nice.
We left Te Anau and as we pulled away, Nellie pointed out the name of the street where you can find the local Chinese restaurant.
Wong Way.
Seriously.
It’s a 121 km drive to Milford Sound. Nellie had it planned for three hours going down with photo stops. The road is so challenging with all its twists and turns that a sign at the entrance says to plan for at least 2 hours to make the 121 km.
Milford Sound isn’t really a Sound. It was mistakenly named as a Sound (as there are so many in the UK). It’s really a fiord and is a World Heritage Site primarily for its geological features, natural beauty and its role in demonstrating the evolutionary history of the planet. Cook had noticed the entrance to the fiord but didn’t investigate it. Sealers eventually found the fiord when looking for shelter from a storm.
We pass a lake near the entrance of the park and Nellie tells us that one can make a walk into the park from there. A boat picks them up and drops them off on the far side.
And wishes them luck.
A van picks them up wherever they come out.
A helicopter picks them up if they don’t.
As we enter the part, the trees return and you can see clear spots in areas. These are recovering from tree avalanches. Yeah, the trees are so large, they have avalanches. Pretty cool.
We enter the park and come across an area that Nellie says reminds people of The Sound of Music with the forest clad hills and the grassy valley.
So, as Nellie has been doing all along, she put on a song from the movie. (All her music has a reason whether it’s a batman theme while we go through a tunnel or Raindrops Falling on my Head when the rain starts or a really dramatic instrumental piece as we enter an area of really great scenery or my favorite – talking about the deer problem and then putting on the theme to The Deer Hunter…too funny). We get out for a photo op and Nellie and John run together through the grass for us.
A little farther up the road, we pass the 45 degree line of latitude south. Getting close to being the opposite of my town in Newfoundland from the north. (47 north)
We stop at the only bathroom before the Sound. There’s a gate at the entrance with $2 on it. Luckily, it was open. Otherwise we would have all been in the bushes.
And there’s no lack of them around.
Nellie tempted us back to the bus with cookies she said was named for a race horse.
No, not Seabiscuit.
Tam Tams.
It got everyone back on the bus in record time.
The scenery really picks up after this. We pass Mirror Lakes and the mountains get higher, grayer, more jagged and some have snow and small glaciers on them.
Nellie reminded us how lucky we were to see the tops of the mountains. The sky was overcast and the sun was teasing us all day – bright enough to be seen through the cloud, but we never saw blue sky. What a spot this must be under a sunny sky.
We went through a one way tunnel that drops us over 200 metres from 900m to 700m, give-r-take. Then we take a switchback down through an amazing valley.
At the bottom, we make a photo stop next to a river that Nellie said was clean enough to drink. We all refilled our water bottles and got some crystal clear, freezing cold water.
No one complained of tummy problems later.
Soon afterwards, we stop at a spot called the Chasm. It’s a short walk in on a trail to a waterfall. You might think “so what” but what a treat! This falls had carved out holes in the rock on the side of the river (holes the size of VWs) and it made a roaring drop below us. The pictures can’t do it justice.
Not long after this stop, we arrived at the Sound and boarded our cruise for the afternoon.
The captain told us that there is usually a lot of waterfalls along the sound but that only the 5 permanent falls were going strong. He blamed the lack of waterfalls on the drought that has lasted almost a full week.
Yup. To them, “rain” needs to be falling at 30mm an hour. Otherwise, it’s just drizzle.
As we went along, he pointed out a fault line and said they had an 8 pointer in the 80s but that the area gets a mega-jolt in the 10 point area every 300 years. He said they were overdue by 150 years.
Then he wished us luck getting back through that tunnel when we leave.
Nearby was a waterfall and the boat pulled up to it. Yeah, you heard me right. They pulled up close enough to get everyone on the bow wet.
He was only a few feet from the rock face.
But the captain assured us he was not Italian.
I took video of our waterfall encounters here, here and here.
We continued along the Sound and came across some sea lions having a nap on a rock.
They didn’t even blink an eye at the ship sitting 30 feet away. It wasn’t long before we were out in the Tasman Sea and it was easy to see there why the fiord was undiscovered for so long. You really had to get close to see it.
We returned on the left hand side of the sound and the ship made another visit to another waterfall, but the spray was so intense, it got everyone on deck in the front area of the boat wet.
Maori legend has it that anyone who drinks the water will wake up tomorrow morning ten years younger.
My glasses got wet, so I imagine that should be good for two or three years.
Or my vision might improve.
We got back to the dock by 4:45 and we made the mad dash back to Te Anau for dinner.
John did a great job navigating such a challenging road. We even made it through the tunnel.
Back at the hotel, I had chosen the earliest sitting since I had so much to do (and internet was free!). It was a sit down meal with three or four choices for the entree and main. I had a sweet potato soup and chicken for the main. Delicious. Definitely no complaints about the food here. Even the sandwich I had for lunch was really good.
I spent an hour on the internet and did a laundry. Tomorrow we go to Dunedin where we have an afternoon free. I chose to do the wildlife optional. Hopefully, we’ll see penguins.
Given that Dunedin is a university town, some of the single women had discussed whether there was a “Find a handsome 20 year-old” optional we could take.
Nadda.
Nellie nixed the idea of taking a sightseeing flight to the Antarctic too.
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