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Rain or sandflys?????
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Up early and aware that a really bad front was going to hit in the next couple of days we made some calls and booked ourselves in on tour of Milford Sound for 4pm today and for Doubtful on Sunday. The drive up to Milford was going to be 6 hours in good traffic, with no tourist buses blocking our way, so we hit the road soon after 9. Already the clouds were looming and the van was being blown all over the road, speed was not an option, so we prayed for the tourist buses to be on our side. After about an hours drive, we pulled into Colac Bay, a point over looking the sea, just off the road, where we could see the the waves battering the coast, as well as the dark menacing clouds looming over mountains which make up the network of Fiords all the way up the lower west coast. The rain had started and after taking some pictures and being blown around a bit we jump back in the love bus and continued our journey. We reached Manapouri by 11.30, just less than half way, and the sun was out, although we could see the weather over the mountains slowing coming in. Lake Manapouri is the only route into the Doubtful Sound (there is a road, but the route takes days over and through impossible terrain). The lake was thought to be the deepest in New Zealand for many years until another one along the way was measured in the 1980's and found to be deeper. After a quick stretch of the legs and time pushing we carried on, this time arriving at Te Anu, which is where the world famous Milford Track begins from. A lovely sleepy little town, catering for hords of toursits daily who are doing either the milford or doubtful cruises. The main street is lined with Cafe's, eateries and walking shops, and so we decided to fill up on pie's and fuel (the last petrol station before Milford is here, and about the half the price of the fuel in Milford, allegedly). Back on the road, the journey began taking us through amazing forests, with tunnels of trees coving the roads, giving the area a mystical feel, the sun was still on our side and the traffic was light so we decided to push on, all the while in awe of the views of the mountains, shrowded in many colours of grey from light to dark, you can see why New Zealand has been used for so many films. We began to climb up into the mountains, along narrower and narrower roads, until finally we reached a tunnel. There was still snow on the ground in places up here and with the traffic lights on Red to enter the tunnel we took a couple of minutes to look at the scenary. We were in a bowl, with the valley disappearing behind us from where we had come and the mountains on all side ahead of us. The light finally went green and we entered the tunnel. This was not like any other tunnel we have ever seen or been in before, it looked like it had been carved with a spoon and fork, with the road full of pot holes and it dropping downhill at a steep angle, with very little lighting, it was an experience in itself, although wide enough for 2 way traffic, the road was so bad you understood very quickly why they only let 1 way traffic through. Before the tunnel was built the only way into Milford was up and over the saddle or by sea. The postman used to come once a week, climb up and over the saddle in all weathers (usually rain or snow) and hope that someone was there with a horse to meet him. The tunnel was then built, and remains the only road route into and out of milford. Through the tunnel and the road widened slightly, enough to allow 2 way traffic again, and wound steeply down and down, with hairpin bends and awsome drops off the side of the road. The rain began almost immediately upon leaving the tunnel, the rain is something you have to get used to when visiting Milford - that and the Sandflies!. We finally arrived at Milford at 3pm, giving us an hour to kill before our cruise. We stopped off for a coffee to warm ourselves, praying for the rain to stop, it didn't, and actually seemed to be getting worse. We headed to the port, which sits right at the end of the Sound and checked in, it was quieter than we had expected and we were releaved to see some many of the tourist buses now leaving. The lady at the counter was really friendly, and after a quick chat she even said that as the weather was so bad, she would give us a voucher which we could use for a second tour the following morning, incase the weather improved overnight. Brilliant ! The tour we had chosen, we had chosen for 2 reasons, 1 it was cheaper than most! and 2 it was smaller than most, enabling us to get closer to the sides of the Sound and get into the smaller rivers that branched off. It rained throughout the cruise, which lasted about 2 hours, but it was well worth it. Thundering waterfalls flowing down the mountain sides into the water on all sides - we were told that there were only 3 permanent waterfalls along the sound, today we had hundreds. Being on a small boat the captain took us right up and under some of the falls, and with the rain being so relentless and everyone being soaked, no one minded getting more wet ! the force was amazing. We saw some fur seals hiding on the rocks in places trying to keep as sheltered as possible, although they seemed to want to play with us as we pulled up along side. Drenched but happy we got back on terra firma and had been tipped off by the lovely woman at the ticket booth that although it wasn't really allowed, we could free camp the night in the back carpark, just off the main road and behind the pub come tourist centre - the choice up until then was a 30 dollar a night campsite, which was about twice the price we were used to, so we found a secluded place and decided that as it was still raining we would head to the pub for a beer and warm meal and try and dry off a little. Within 5 minutes of arriving who should be sitting in one of the booths but Danish Dan with a couple of Irish girls, Sarah and Lisa, whom they had met Queenstown. It was great to see him again, and after nipping off to get Kris, the 4 of us were reunited again. Although it had only been a couple of weeks, we decided to pick up where we left off and began drinking in earnest - well there is nothing else to do in Milford on an evening when it is raining !! It was late and blurry when i finally made it to bed, i had watched Rach head off sometime earlier to the Van and stayed to try and whip the danish boys at pool. No sooner had i got into Bed, rachel had sat up, poked her head out of the window and bought up the fish and chips, plus jaggermister and various other drinks from the evening - what a waste !
We were woken fairly early by Kris who had pulled his van up next to ours whilst waiting for the Irish girls who had gone out on the first tour of the day. We still had time if we wanted to take advantage of the free tickets we had been giving the night before, but Rachel was in not fit state. After a lovely cup of Earl Grey (thanks Kris) and a Bacon and Egg sarnie from the Cafe, Rachel had mustered enough energy to get up, and even though she insisted that she would be okay to drive, i feareed for my life, and said - Don't worry Honey it's fine, I'll drive today!!
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