Milford Sound: Rain, Rain, Rain

  Te Anau, New Zealand
Saturday, March 31, 2007

One of the biggest attractions in New Zealand are the Fjordlands on the southwest coast. These were carved out by glaciers long before humans roamed the earth and are quite remote to the rest of the country. Back in the depression a road was built and a tunnel was dug in order to make Milford Sound (a fjord, not a sound, but no Norwegians were around back then to correct them) accessible to cars. It now gets a visit from most of the tourists coming to New Zealand. The other reachable fjord is Doubtful Sound, which was named when Captain Cook sailed by and reported that it was "doubtful" that anything was back there. Seriously. That one is double the price because you have to take a bus then a boat through a river.

When we ask people which we should visit they say that they are both beautiful but in different ways. We decided on Milford. Dad heard some horror stories about the road and didn't want to go. He was also needing a day to lay around and read newspapers. That was fine with us. We headed off to Milford the next morning with the campervan park's private bus. We were in a small group of 10 with a delightful bus driver. Not only was he delightful, he had a voice for radio so it felt like you had an NPR host giving you travel commentary.

The road wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. It was not nearly as bad as Otago Peninsula in Dunedin or many of the west coast roads we would face later in the trip. Those who scared us were driving it themselves in the summer, when hundreds of buses are cramming the lanes. This time of year it is no so bad (plus we weren't driving!).

When we arrived in the Fjord we boarded a large boat with quite a few other tourists who drove down themselves. It was raining but this was expected because the area is a rainforest. It rains almost every day.

The fjord was pretty impressive. The rain and wind pounded us the whole time but we still could enjoy the scenery. Some tourists have said that it is the most spectacular thing that they have ever seen. We wouldn't go that far, at least not today. 

Getting soaked by the waterfalls

 Being from some spectacular areas (Pacific Northwest and Tanzania) and seeing some of the world's most spectacular spots over the last 7 months, our standards are a bit high. But it was certainly worth the trip. Also, they say when the waterfalls are pouring full force it really puts in a show. The boat captain did dunk us under the falls that were there, a very refreshing experience!

On the way back from the Fjord we stopped by the Chasm, a river-made gorge that I thought was also quite spectacular. Signs all over say "Stay on trail! Rocks slippery!" Our driver told us of a woman who was on another bus when he was there and she stepped out onto the rocks to get that one perfect shot. She slipped off the rocks into the river and was not heard from again. Perhaps an "old drivers tale" but we heeded the warning.

Back in Te Anau mom and dad went to a glow worm cave so dad had some activity to do that day.They both enjoyed that a lot. Dad also found a good hamburger stand in town so we could enjoy the food of home. The next morning we were heading back north to visit Queenstown one more time.