Fjord Fiesta Sounds Great
Trip Start
Nov 12, 2007
1
24
40
Trip End
Aug 01, 2008
Te Anau,
New Zealand
Sunday, March 2, 2008
We had 3 whole days here, so we decided to do both Milford and Doubtful Sounds plus a trip to the glowworm caves on the other side of Lake Te Anau. There is a debate about whether Milford or Doubtful is better so we wanted to do both to form our own opinion.
I should point out at this stage the difference between a Fjord and a Sound. The former is a valley formed by a glacier gouging out the rock and the sea then fills it up, a Sound is formed by a river creating the valley before it is filled by the sea. If you are still with me, I will now confuse matters because both Milford and Doubtful Sounds are Fjords but historically were labelled Sounds and the names were never changed
Doubtful Sound
.Milford is the more accessible one. It was a very scenic drive to Milford. We left at 7am to beat the coach parties. We had been warned by friends who had visited NZ that we would have to travel through Homer Tunnel that had been chiseled out of rock with hand tools and was one way, unlit and unlined. This did give us some concerns but when we got there we found that there were new traffic lights in operation and there was some lighting inside. The drive, although wet and windy was not as bad as the books had made out. En route saw the sun rise over the mountains and we also stopped at the Mirror Lakes. More like a river, with the mountains reflected in the water. As we were there early it was peaceful and the light was good. We also stopped at The Chasm which consisted of unusual rock formations and the river Cleddau (?) being forced through narrow rocks.
Milford gets a lot of rain and earth tremors - up to 1000 a month - most are not noticeable. (We didn't learn this fact until we had gone through the tunnel and had to go back home through it!) The other issue in this part of the world is sand flies. They are a nuisance but once you are on the Sound itself, they are not a problem. So padded out in lots of warm waterproof layers and smothered in insect repellent we climbed out of the car at Milford and walked round the foreshore to get some excellent views of Milford Sound in some rare sunshine. We then did a 3 hour cruise up and back down the Sound.
As expected, the rain came down, but it only added to the atmosphere, especially with the low cloud on the mountain tops. At the end of the Sound the boat ventured out into the Tasman Sea and things were a little bumpy, but the Captain assured us it was a calm day. I definitely wouldn't want to see it on a rough one.
On the way back, we stopped off at the underwater observatory. This was excellent and worth the extra money. Without sounding like David Attenborough, the Sound is special because on top of the sea water is a layer of freshwater caused by all the rain. Marine animals live in the lower salt water but as the freshwater is darker because it runs through the vegetation/ rock etc it means that the marine animals come closer to the surface under the dark freshwater layer. The observatory allows people to walk around a floating enclosed area and look out into the lit water to view the coral and fish which would not be normally found so close to the surface in the sea.
It was great just looking through the large glass windows at the colourful fish and plant life. A gigantic aquarium which really appealed to me.
The next day, we had "a morning at leisure" and then went on the afternoon glow worm excursion. By our standards this excursion was short, only 2.5 hours. I'm still not sure what I felt about this whole experience or whether I enjoyed it or not.It involved a short 30 minute catamaran trip across to the other side of Lake Te Anau. We were then divided up into small groups of about 10 people and at different stages were taken through the cave system to the glow worms where we had to board a boat to see them.
It was all a bit rushed. Our group were taken straight through into the caves. The entrance was through a low, long rocky tunnel, no hard helmets and we just had to crawl through. Unfortunately, it was dimly lit so most of us clunked our heads on the rock going through, not realising we weren't in the clear. The guide marched us through the cave areas but the sound of the river gushing through the caves meant you could not hear anything he was saying to the group. What we saw of the caves looked quite impressive, but there was no time to linger. Before we knew it, we were boarding the boat. The noise of the water and lack of real light meant we were all taking a leap of faith. When I use the word boat, I use the term loosely. From what I could gather it was the size of a large rowing boat and could just hold the number of the people in the group. We all wobbled in and sat virtually on each others lap. The next 10 minutes (?) or so were amongst the most surreal of the holiday. The guide pushed the boat off and (apparently) used a rope to pull the boat through the caves. Now my Mum and Dad will recall from my childhood that I hated to be in completely pitch dark rooms and always slept with the curtains ajar if there was no artificial light at night. I'm still the same. Needless to say, I was a little concerned as we floated along in complete darkness with the sound of rushing water fading gradually to silence (otherwise you disturb the glow worms) with no idea how deep the water was, what direction you were going in and praying that none of the complete strangers (or me) would suddenly panic and start moving and have the lot of us over.
With all that said, the glow worms were good. There were a lot of them, clustered in large groups like constellations. It was a magical moment if you could ignore the whole being disorientated in the darkness while drifting in a boat which didn't feel stable but probably was. What in fact we were doing all this for was to look at Fungus Fly larvae with their backside glowing to attract moths and insects so that they would get caught and consumed for food. Well you have to do these things, we couldn't do it in Lower Earley could we?!
Once back at the landing point, like bewildered sheep we were led back along the dim boardwalk and left at the cafe for a complimentary beverage and to watch a brief film on the glow worm life cycle before getting back on the catamaran that was dropping off the next herd of tourists.
I did feel a bit shell shocked like I'd be sucked into a dark cave, chewed and spat back out into the sunlight. I asked one of the other passengers on the catamaran whether she had enjoyed the trip. Her reply was that (being claustrophobic) she had not enjoyed the experience but had glad she had done it. Sentiments I could echo. (E)
Not sure that "glad I had done it" would be my comment on the worms. Anyway it was off to Doubtful Sound the following day. It is much more inaccessible than Milford and so much quieter. We had to drive out to a lake where a boat takes you across to the lower part of fjordland where there are no public roads. You land at a large hydro power station and a brief tour is included as part of the day. We went down into the bowels of a mountain (always fun in an earthquake zone) but there is not much to see as it is all automated and there is only one permanent member of staff.
Next a coach took us on a scenic drive along a long gravel road towards the Sound. There were various stops for photos (whether you want them or not) including one stop at the head of the valley with a wonderful view down the fjord. We were very lucky as because of cloud cover the view is apparently only visible 1 day in 3 and the cloud cleared as we arrived.
We then had 3 hours on the water. It was fairly clear most of the time and Doubtful is much bigger than Milford with more islands. There is a real atmosphere especially when they turned off the boat engine and floated in silence for a few minutes. The valley walls are enormous. We saw dolphins (again) a lot of seals basking on rocks and even two rare penguins with yellow head markings performing on a rock.
Most people who have limited time choose to do do Milford Sound but we both preferred its less famous quieter neighbour.(R)
