Lord of the Rings Land!

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• Entry from Fongorn Forest, Fiordland, Milford Sound

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  Fongorn Forest, Fiordland, Milford Sound, New Zealand
Monday, November 7, 2005

Thursday 3rd November 2005
Leaving Queenstown, travelling to....not sure!

Last night it was really windy so we woke a few times but overall not a bad night. It was miserable weather when we woke up, a big change from yesterday (English Weather!)so after a shower and breakfast we decided to spend today travelling towards Te Anau where we planned to stay for a night. On route, Andy had been reading his 'Lord of the Rings' location guidebook that he had purchased so we took a detour to Mavora Lakes situated off the main Five Rivers Te Anau Highway. It was a 45 minute drive to Fongorn Forest. We stopped and walked about 250 metres (Andy with his gps machine) to a spot where Eomer and the Riders of Rohan burnt the remains of the dead Orcs after the battle in Lord of the Rings. Now I haven't actually seen any of the films (I'm making a BIG effort to sit and watch them when I get back!) but Andy and Dan were so excited

1. Kayaking Milford Sound

! We drove a bit more and found another spot 150 metres into the forest where we were looking for a tree stump, here Merry and Pippin hid from the Orcs and one of the large trees shielded Frodo from the Urak-Hai??? The slopes we were walking on were used to portray Lurtz and his band running through the forest to Nen Hithoel? Then last stop 200 metres further down to where the campfire was lit prior to the breaking of the Fellowship and where Frodo and Sam were filmed crossing to the Eastern Shore for their journey to Mordor.
It was really wierd visualising over 160 crew camping in the fields nearby to film.
We decided to camp right here tonight next to Lake Movora although the sandflies were just sooooooo annoying! They were biting shreds out of us and there was just no getting rid of them! We kept getting in the front door and climbing over into the van so they didn't get in as they swarmed in whenever we opened the door! We went for a walk along the shore and Andy was doing a spot of fishing AGAIN! Dan arranged a campfire with some seats (photo will follow as he's dead proud) and when it went dark we lit the fire, just us 4 in the middle of absolutely nowhere, the shadow of the lake and the mountains and not a person in sight with an hours driving to civilisation! We sat listening to the Lord of the Rings soundtrack Andy had bought with him, it was actually quite a moment!

2. Kayaking Milford Sound

Friday 4th November 2005
Travelling through Fiordland

We woke up this morning about 8.45 am and got ready to leave, it was a nightmare with all the sandflies flying around. Dan drove and we headed off towards Milford Sound. The more sheep we see the cuter they get, the lambs are so cute and every time the camper van drives down the roads, they run off from the fence! We also saw 2 black lambs today. It wasn't long until we arrived in the small town of Te Anau next to the huge lake. It was a cute little town with a few shops. It was a bit overcast today again so we nipped into the Visitor Centre to find out about things to do and walks to go on and whether there would be any free campsites on the way up to Milford Sound. We had a walk around the shops and got some bread and milk and we stopped off for a hot chocolate next to the log fire. We then decided to drive on up towards Milford Sound and find a campsite on route. We stopped for a picnic lunch at the Five Mile Lookout, the clouds were low but we could see South Fiord and Lake Te Anau. After lunch and a few kilometres down the road we stopped off at McKay Creek, a view of Eglington Valley where we sat and watched Andy do a spot of fishing. We weren't too far from Lake Gunn where we pulled on to camp the night, it was a Department of Conservation site (a hole in the floor toilet!) but it was so nice to wake up to the lake for $5 each

3. Kayaking Milford Sound

. The sand flies were REALLY annoying us and there was just no escape! The view from where we parked the camper was just so gorgeous, huge mountain drops and a clear blue lake running off into the distance. As it was late afternoon and it had started to dribble with rain we sat playing scrabble and reading books, just chilling out after the driving. We decided on a walk to do tomorrow on the Hollyford Track. I also got bit on the bum by a sandfly today (Not Happy).

Saturday 5th November 2005
Fiordland, Milford Sound

We got up extra early this morning to get ready for a full day of walking on the Hollyford Track, on the way to Milford Sound. We were up about 8 am. It had been raining for the majority of the night but was okay in the morning when we got up. It was a nice enough morning and a nice day for walking. By 9 am we were parked up at the start of the hollyford track. We passed some wild deer on the drive along the dirt track which was nice. The walk started crossing a swing bridge and it was marked up as 2 1/2 hours to 'Hidden Falls' and 2 1/2 hours return journey. The walk itself was lovely. We could see in the distance the mountains and the cliff faces with all the huge, thin waterfalls from the melting glaciers

Dan on the Kayak in Milford Sound

. The track was fairly flat and we were walking through woodland. At points we would be in the middle of what seemed like the jungle! We would cross small bridges with waterfalls and then cross streams climbing over stone boulders. We walked for just under 3 hours passing walkers who had spent 4 days or so walking the whole track which took them right up to the coast. The DOC (Department of Conservation) provide huts for walkers and charge about $10 a night to sleep in. We arrived at 'Hidden Falls' which was just an amazing waterfall or the most powerful one we had seen and as we walked up to get a closer look we got absolutely drenched from the spray of the water hitting the bottom! We crossed the swing bridge and walked an extra 15 minutes to the hut itself where we stopped for our packed lunch. It was one of the more modernised huts and had two large bunk beds for travellers to sleep on and a nice log fire, all wooden furniture.
After lunch and on our way back, we passed the little log hut where the logs for the fire had been chopped so we all had a go at chopping wood the right way! I didn't manage it that well and Andy is still going on about how funny it was! We continued walking and it took us about 2 1/2 hours to walk back to the carpark. The weather had held out and it was definitely good exercise!! We were so pleased we did it as we got to see so much more.
We then started our drive to Milford Sound itself, the BEST place we have seen yet and we are so pleased we went

Dan's impressive campfire!

. As we got closer to the Homer Tunnel (the tunnel that runs through the mountain to allow you get to Milford Sound by car) the mountains seemed to get bigger and we seemed to get smaller. The waterfalls streaming down the cliff faces looked like threads of cotton there were so many of them. It was just amazing. The odd mountain would be covered in snow. The clouds were low but it was still as beautiful and we were hoping that tomorrow would be clear so we could see more. As we waited by the entrance to Homer Tunnel (15 minute signals) the Keas (birds) were jumping on the roof of the cars, they are like big parrots. We drove through the tunnel to the other side and WOW what an amazing view which would only get better...
We arrived at Milford Sound Lodge, the only site with showers. We couldn't hook up to power but the fact we had a shower was good enough for us. After a long day walking we decided to go to the local one and only bar restaurant, treated ourselves to some food not cooked in the camper van and a few drinks. We booked ourselves on a sea kayak trip early in the morning to kayak in Milford Sound.

Sunday 6th November 2005
Milford Sound......WOW

Alarm was sounding at 6.15 am so we got ready, got up and packed a lunch for our sea kayaking trip

Driving from Milford Sound

. Well what a morning! We opened the camper door and stepped out to the most glorious day so far!!! The sky was so blue and not a cloud in sight. We couldn't believe just how lucky we were! We arrived at the lodge for 7.15 am where we got a free shuttle to the water edge. Although we were still on land we could see right into Milford Sound, the water was so calm and still and it was just so peaceful.
We got kitted up with thermal pants, tops and fleeces along with sea spray skirts and life jackets. After a short practice we were ready to hit the water!
It was 2 people to a canoe so the lads sat at the back steering and we sat at the front navigating. The basin they called it that we kayaked out of was really calm and we could see Mitre Peak rising really high in front of us although it wasn't the highest peak it was HUGE! The lonely planet guide says that the best way to see Milford Sound is from the level of a canoe and I have to admit it was one of the most amazing things I have seen in my entire life and Dan says the same thing! We were like small tiny pin heads in this huge place and every ridge we paddled round we saw another amazing sight. Snow lined mountains and the clearest biggest waterfalls I'd ever seen. Every so often we would 'raft up' bring our canoes together and just take it all in. We sat rafted up eating lunch and drinking fruit juice. All we could hear was the sound of the water lapping on the side of the canoe

Hidden Falls!

. The odd helicopter would fly past and looked like the size of a fly! One waterfall we were looking at was 8km away from us! Unfortunately we didn't manage to see any penguins or seals but the fact the weather was so amazing we weren't too fussed! We kayaked for about 6 miles in total so we have done a total of 12 miles in 2 days! The guy Tim who was taking us out on the canoes looked like Tom Cruise, especially with his sunglasses on (or sunnies as they call them over here) so when he said 'Let's cruise on' we couldn't stop laughing! The paddle back to the basin was nice and calm thankfully as I wasn't looking forward to tipping out!. Today has been a real experience for us both and one we will never forget. It has definitely been 'a moment' and we are so glad we took the extra time to travel to Milford Sound. After a good hot shower we had some lunch and left Kate and Andy to head on our way to the East Coast. We drove for about 3 hours and then stopped off at a little town called Gore, we parked up at a small nature reserve for $5 each which thankfully had a flushable toilet! We were the only ones on the campsite but it was nice and we had a good nights sleep.

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

Kate and I inside a tree!	Lake Marion	Leaving Milford Sound	Lord of the Rings Spot 1
Mavora Lakes	Mavora Lakes Lord of the Rings Spot 2	The drive from Milford Sound	The first hut where we stopped for lunch
The Kea's by the Homer Tunnel	The waterfalls walking on the Hollyford Trail	Tree Stump! Lord of the Rings Spot 3!

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