Up at sixish for an early drive out to Milford. This place comes with rave reviews so we were really looking forward to it. Grabbed some tucker on the run from the bakery and were away on the road before 7am. All the tour guides advise you to get going early as the tour buses leave Te Anau from 9am onwards. About 4oo thousand people visit Milford each year with the majority obviously going there in summer as the road is often closed in winter.
The journey from Te Anau to Milford and return (along the same route) is 240 km. Because of the winding road conditions the recommended travel time for the 120 km trip out was 2hrs 20mins. The first part of the trip was pretty ordinary by the NZ standards we were used to seeing. As soon as we neared the area known as Fiordland though the scenery was breathtaking with snow on the Alps, despite it being the middle of summer, waterfalls from melting snow and magnificient tree lined winding roads offering stunning views. We took time out for a few stops for pics including Mirror Lake, Monkey Creek, The Divide and a couple of others. People we had spoken with about this trip had suggested that you are better off doing the sightseeing spots and walks on the way back to avoid getting caught in all the traffic on the way there. We were well ahead of any traffic and made good time so we were able to stop at these places and virtually enjoy them by ourselves. On reflection this was a better idea as we found out on the way back just how busy this road gets.
After steady climbing we reached the Homer Tunnel. It was the opening of this tunnel in 1953 that allowed completion of the road to Milford in 1954. The tunnel, which had taken 18 years to build, is 945 mtrs above sea level and is 1.2km long. The tunnel has no lighting so you rely on your car lights. One of the major problems encountered during tunnel construction was from melting snow coming through the fractures in the rock at a rate of up to 10,000 gallons an hour. It is still very wet in a number of places and the walls & ceiling are lined in some places with what looked like a rubber matting to drain the water off the main roadway (you could actually hear the water running off the matting there was so much of it). Even so, we still had to use the wipers now and then. As a result of the road being continually wet the condition of the road surface was very poor with broken bitumen and a number of very large potholes. The car in front must have done some damage as he was stopped with his emergency lights on and the driver was walking back in the darkness towards us. (Either that or he had a fight with his co pilot and had abandoned her). The tunnel is controlled by traffic lights at the busiest part of the day (when buses use the tunnel) but for the rest of the time (eg when we went through it) you just take pot luck with on coming traffic. The tunnel was very narrow throughout and barely enough room to pass. After exiting the tunnel you descend quickly down for the run into Milford Sound. Got there with about 1and 1/2 hours to spare. Parking is about 500mtrs from the terminal. Some cruises were already underway and there were 2 large cruising cats, a smaller mono hull power boat & 2 large sailing boats (the overnight charters) all rearing to go.
We were booked to go on the "Milford Sovereign" operated by Real Cruises however as we prepared to board they changed us to the "Milford Explorer". The boat was brand new and well presented. Milford has a mean annual rainfall of 6,813mm over 182 days/yr. We were fortunate though with a cloudless sky and a comfortable temperature. This enabled us to take up a prime position at the front of the top deck for a great viewing position.
The sound is about 15km in length and reminded us a little of Nara inlet but 4 or 5 times bigger with a couple of large waterfalls, much steeper and higher cliff faces and sea lions laying about on the rocks. The water in the sound is not clear as the sediment is constantly in a state of suspension wth the fresh water runoff being 2 to 3 meters deep and acting as a light filter because of its disclororation. In effect the light at 1omtrs in the fiord is equivalent to 70mtrs on the coast. This means that marine life has had to adapt to live at much shallower depths. Marine life doesn't exist there after 40mtrs.
The waterfalls are quite spectacular and the skipper manouvered up to within 5mtrs of the Stirling Falls so that anyone on the lower decks got a good hosing down. At one point he manouvered up so close to an overhanging 2000ft sheer cliff that when you looked upwards it was overhanging the boat. The other falls that are situated just near the wharf are the Bowen Falls. The trip takes about 1hr 40mins out to the sea and back and costs between $65 & $75 each. Good value and a great experience which would have been even better if we hadn't experienced anything like it before.
Back to the car again and retraced the only road out of Milford. At least this time the traffic lights were working at the tunnel and traffic was only going one way and you didn't have to look out for oncoming traffic. Had a couple of stops on the way back with one being The Chasm. This is a short walk into a watercourse that has cut through the rock and falls away below. Interesting but did not compare with some of the similar sights in Canada. Part of the viewing bridge was closed which may have detracted from it as may have the 8 or nine bus loads of tourists who were trying to look at it at the same time. In fact it was much that way the whole way back so we didn't bother to stop most times. Our recommendation is to get going at first light & do your viewing on the way out. Stops such as Mirror Lake is much better viewed in the soft light of early morning than later in the day (we did both). The buses start to arrive in the first of the sight seeing spots by shortly after 9.30am and unless you want to be part of the stampede you don't want to be there with them. Also, drive yourself so you can pick & choose where you want to stop and not where the bus driver decides to open the doors & unleash the hordes. As a link you can check out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milford_Sound and www.fiordland.org.nz/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/homer_tunnel and
www.meysner.co.uk/index.html (good Pics)
Back to the motel, picked up the luggage and set off to Invercargill. Rather than take the main road (highways 6 & 94) we headed off on the Southern Scenic Route (Route 99). The Southland has the longest daylight hours in the South Island and with daylight saving it remained light till about 10pm. You should have seen just how faded all the curtains were down here.
This route passed through Manapouri on the banks of the lake which bears the same name. Jean took over driving as I was in need of a spell after the earlier driving of that day. The terrain changed significantly from the tight winding roads of Milford Sound and opened up into long straight roads through grazing land. An interesting feature about driving over here is the one way bridges which are prevalent in this part of the island. There is no consistency as to which direction has to give way and it just seems that there is no reasoning as to how they have come up with it.
A couple of stops (including Clifden Suspension Bridge) before we reached the southern coast section of the road. It's always a pleasant drive when you travel along a coastal road and this was no exception. Beautiful sea views and the countryside was magnificient bright green grazing paddocks right down to the sea. Stopped in at Colac Bay (an area with a long history of Maori occupation and a reknown surfing beach - though the waves were having the day off when we were there) and McCracken's Rest (a dolphin viewing spot - apparently on other days).
Riverton is a picturesque fishing village and holiday town and would normally deserve a look around and stop over but it was already late afternoon and we had been going for a while so we chose to press on. This part of the country obviously receives strong southerly winds and the macrocarpa trees are so windblown they looked like a witch's hair while she was riding her broom. Between Riverton and Wallacetown we came across something you don't see everyday (thank God!). Got caught behind a mobile slaughterhouse. Not a pleasant experience as the trailer it was towing was filled with lopped off sheep heads and intestines bouncing around in front of us for a few miles. I've never seen Jean drive so fast when the gap in traffic finally came.
Arrived at Invercargill early evening and went through our usual ritual of trying to find our hotel. Eventually worked out where it was (right around the corner from where we stopped to try to figgure out where it was). Pretty cold that night so we had a couple of dust clearers and dined in the hotel restaurant. Fantastic feed - lambs fry and bacon entree and the best rack of lamb so far. Obviously our earlier experience following the slaughterhouse hadn't put us off. A couple of drinks and a few minutes at the in house "casino" ended a long day.
Visit: www.invercargill.org.nz/
Mirror Lakes
Mirror Lakes
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