What a long day! We were up at seven to get our coach to Milford Sound. We got our coach on time and then spent an hour driving around Queenstown trying to pick up other passengers which was slightly annoying to say the least. Our first stop on the 4.5 hour drive was at some mirror lakes. Unfortunately due to the torrential rain they weren’t mirroring anything but they were still very pretty. The next stop was Te Anau; a little town about halfway between Milford and Queenstown. The initial delay meant that our next stop, a wildlife sanctuary, was cut short to only ten minutes. It was only a small place; just about seven or eight pens with different native birds in them but it still would have been nice to have seen them all properly anyway. The next two hours from Te Anau to Milford were without a doubt the most incredible two hours driving ever. The Fjordland National Park is so beautiful and so rugged it feels totally untouched by humanity but for the small windy mountain road than meanders trough it. On one side the road is bordered by lakes so vast that boats appear like dots on their surfaces and on the other enormous snow-capped mountains rise up disappear into the clouds. Because it was raining so much the mountain sides were covered in hundreds of little (and some not so little) waterfalls which looked like little white veins. There had been lots of recent avalanches and the snow in some places on the road side was taller than the coach.
We stopped off just before Milford at a place called The Gorge which is a point at which five different rivers meet. To get to it we had to walk through some forest which was literally roaring with the sound of waterfalls. We passed two or three small ones which were really pretty; lush green forest, smooth rock and torrents of water made for some good photos. Then we reached the main Gorge and the noise from the water was almost deafening. I suppose it was a good side to the awful weather as the rainwater had swelled the rivers and the main waterfall was really spectacular. Where the main body of water fell it cut a massive hole in the rock and it was a really incredible sight. This part of the day was made particularly good for me personally because when we got off the bus we were greeted by a Kea. I don’t know if you know Keas but if you watched that programme on the Pacific recently they are the green alpine parrots that live in New Zealand. I thought they were really cool when I saw them on tv. There are only 200 of them left and there was one greeting us off the bus! His name is Harry apparently and he comes and greets the bus everyday. He was literally right outside the door eyeing each passenger as we got off. He gave a little “keeeeaaa” and went off to investigate the next car that came along. It was very cool.
So anyway, we got to Milford eventually and went on our cruise. It was nice – but the weather was complete crap which meant that the picture card views were somewhat obscured by cloud. However, the rain meant that the waterfalls here were very full too. Despite the rain though, it was still amazing to see – and the clouds gave quite an eerie feeling to the place. We got to see some NZ fur seals up close too which was cool. It’d be really good to go back in the future when the weather is better.
On the way home we stopped in Te Anau for dinner and then settled down on the coach to watch a film for the journey home. Unfortunately our driver (who was slightly on the senior side) couldn’t work the DVD so the movie didn’t happen and it was a bit of a long, slow journey home. A really good day though. Tomorrow we’re jet boating.
We stopped off just before Milford at a place called The Gorge which is a point at which five different rivers meet. To get to it we had to walk through some forest which was literally roaring with the sound of waterfalls. We passed two or three small ones which were really pretty; lush green forest, smooth rock and torrents of water made for some good photos. Then we reached the main Gorge and the noise from the water was almost deafening. I suppose it was a good side to the awful weather as the rainwater had swelled the rivers and the main waterfall was really spectacular. Where the main body of water fell it cut a massive hole in the rock and it was a really incredible sight. This part of the day was made particularly good for me personally because when we got off the bus we were greeted by a Kea. I don’t know if you know Keas but if you watched that programme on the Pacific recently they are the green alpine parrots that live in New Zealand. I thought they were really cool when I saw them on tv. There are only 200 of them left and there was one greeting us off the bus! His name is Harry apparently and he comes and greets the bus everyday. He was literally right outside the door eyeing each passenger as we got off. He gave a little “keeeeaaa” and went off to investigate the next car that came along. It was very cool.
So anyway, we got to Milford eventually and went on our cruise. It was nice – but the weather was complete crap which meant that the picture card views were somewhat obscured by cloud. However, the rain meant that the waterfalls here were very full too. Despite the rain though, it was still amazing to see – and the clouds gave quite an eerie feeling to the place. We got to see some NZ fur seals up close too which was cool. It’d be really good to go back in the future when the weather is better.
On the way home we stopped in Te Anau for dinner and then settled down on the coach to watch a film for the journey home. Unfortunately our driver (who was slightly on the senior side) couldn’t work the DVD so the movie didn’t happen and it was a bit of a long, slow journey home. A really good day though. Tomorrow we’re jet boating.
Love from us xxxx
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