Milford Sound

The cab was a few minutes late this morning, more like 5:28 than the 5:25 we were promised. Amelia was on the phone to them as it arrived, the stress levels were palpable. We were on the bus with plenty of time to spare and acquired excellent seats (lots of window for the views and next to the door for an easy exit at the various viewpoints). The humour the bus driver was debatable, definite dad humour, but sometimes just immensely cringeworthy, therefore still mostly hilarious (one joke about him being single failed to get a laugh). We’d opted for a coach trip to and from Milford Sound with a cruise once we were there. That way I didn’t have to bother to drive for 8 or so hours today and we’d definitely get in all the best viewpoints et cetera. The itinerary included a stop in Te Anau to stretch our legs and get any applicable snacks (strawberries, cookies, mars chocolate things), and multiple viewpoint stops once we made it to the Fjordlands National Park.

At 6am in Queenstown the weather was still pretty wet and overcast, but as we got to the Fjordlands it began to clear, we even got a glimpse of blue skies. After Homers Tunnel (1.2km tunnel in the national park) the clouds parted and we were met with glorious sunshine. So much so that we both speedily applied sun cream as we were leaving the bus to embark the boat. We initially got in the wrong boat queue, delighted thinking that we were right at the front when, in actuality, we were pretty much dead last. We still however got a pretty great seat upon the top deck (outside), but we soon moved to the bows of the boat (still outside) for a far better view through the mob of tourists cameras. 

Milford Sound itself is beautiful, probably the best of the natural landscapes we’ve visited in New Zealand so far. We were promised (In the most loose sense of the word ‘promised’) seals, dolphins and penguins, but we only got to see seals basking in the sun on a large rock. Thousands of small waterfalls appear on the mountains when a large amount of rainfall occurs here, of which they get a lot of rain, 8-9 meters in a year (they once got all of London’s rainfall for a year in one day) I digress,  but as it had been more than a few hours since it had rained (glorious) there wasn’t a huge number. But there a are a few permanent waterfalls, one of which we nuzzled the bows into to experience the power of a glacial waterfall. We were still residing in said bows at this time so got a face full of freezing cold water, said to take 10 years of ones complexion, so now I’m 18 again (that’s how it works right?).

Milford Sound as an experience is amazing, a definite must-see when visiting New Zealand. Especially when you get as lucky with the weather as we did. The journey back was uneventful, we periodically dozed and gazed at the beautiful landscape around us until Te Anau, when our dear driver put on a film. Some 1980’s film about a Kiwi chap from Invercargill getting his bike to the Bonneville salt flats to set a land speed record. His accent was highly questionable and seemed to just say ‘mate’ at the end of every sentence to emphasise his apparent Kiwiness. Odd. 

We stayed in the city for dinner, a pizza on a rooftop overlooking the, very small, city of Queenstown. A very good day.