In Karen’s research for this trip she discovered that the road from Te Anau to Milford sound was an interesting drive with lots of trails and sites to see, but could easily get clogged with buses and camper vans since there is only one road to get to Milford Sound. The recommendation was to get going very early before the tour buses get on the road. We were on our way about an hour before sunrise; it was about 40 degrees and raining. Since there was virtually no population along the way there were no security or street lights, it was pretty dark, therefore no pictures.
To get from Te Anua to Milford sound, was about 120 Kilometer drive on a windy two lane road. We saw one other vehicle in that entire distance, but 30 minutes after we arrived, the parking lot started to fill up quickly. I guess we made the right decision to get an early start. As we drove in that morning we noticed that the air temperature was dropping the further we drove. When we got to the landing it was 34 degrees and still raining. It never did get much warmer.
These photos were taken on the walk from the parking lot to the building and dock where the tour starts.
Since we got to the landing early we had a chance to talk to the staff who confirmed that though the weather was quite messy, they have this kind of weather about 60% of the time and they operate 365 day a year rain or shine. We were glad we brought rain gear.Milford Sound is one of several such places along the south west coast of New Zealand. This one is an excellent example and is fairly accessible. Technically the name Sound is incorrect. The geologic formation is a fjord. The mountain and valleys between were shaped by glaciers. The valley floor is round bottomed, rather than flat or “V” shaped. Since going to see the fjord has always been one of Karen’s dreams, we sort of got a bonus.
The excursion we took was on a medium sized vessel that had plenty of room to move around and observation decks to get good views, assuming you don’t mind getting wet. There was an enclosed cabin, but we didn’t spend much time in it.
Once on the boat we headed out into a world of steep slopes of gray mountain masses stacked up in the gloom.
It’s hard to get a good perspective on the scale of the area from the photos, but this boat at the base of this mountain is dwarfed by the size of the mountain.
As usual we try to get some “we were here” pictures
This one shows the rounded shape that is sort of what the valley below the water line might look like. The depth of the water is about as deep as the height of the mountains above the water line.
After a while we moved in close to one of the shore lines and got some close up shots of the rock formations and the typical vegetation.
The guides explained that the rock of the mountains is very hard and that there is virtually no soil. Lichens form on the rock slopes which hold some moisture.
Eventually other plant types get established and form an intertwined root mass that becomes a huge mat of vegetation all laying over the rock slope like a big thick carpet.
Eventually some large tree, or group of trees get so big that their own weight begins to tear loose from the mat.
This eventually causes a vegetation slide that cleans off a whole section and sets up the opportunity to start the process all over again. A little further on in this post is a photo of a vegetation slide that actually had the road closed for a couple of days, until it could be cleared.
Another interesting thing, that you would expect in an area that has a lot of vertical dimension and lots of rain, waterfalls. There were dozens of waterfalls just about everywhere you looked.
The boat got really close to the waterfalls and in a couple of cases cleared the decks with plenty of water.
When we first got to the landing we asked about what we should expect to see in terms of wild life. They mentioned that at certain times of the year penguins, seals, and birds are seen, rarely a few dolphins find their way into the bay. How about whales? Not in the two years he had been there had anyone seen whales. Whale spotting is another on Karen’s big dreams. Well, wouldn’t you know it, another bonus. Two humpback whales were just cruising around in the bay, the captain and crew really got excited about the opportunity to spend a little time hanging out with these guys.
After a while we headed off to make the rest of the trip out to the open Tasmanian Sea. On the way back we spotted a small pod of dolphins swimming along one shore. The guide explained that the dolphins were actually in sleep mode. Apparently they can shut done half of their brain and just cruise along, surfacing to breathe and diving a returning to surface to breathe etc.
We got back to the site where we had seen the whales earlier and found them rolling up on their side to expose a flipper and tail and then diving.
We spent quite a bit of time just following this part of whales around.
At one point the boat was following right behind a whale just as it surfaced to blow. Whale breath is not all that pleasant.
A little while later we spotted this young fur seal sleeping on a rock.
More waterfalls.
The picture above is the last picture my camera was able to take. Ap it got too wet and just quit working. I have subsequently tried to get it dried out and had it to several camera shops who all say the same thing, “these cameras are not supposed to get wet”. Oh well I did get some pretty cool pictures. Maybe some day I will buy another camera.
After getting back to the dock we walked back to the parking lot and spotted this interesting bird.
We had lunch in the restaurant and headed back to Te Anau this time in the daylight, albeit rainy daylight.
We stopped at a couple of points of interest along the way, this dock harboring the fishing fleet, a rushing mountain stream.
Rain forest vegetation
Karen wasn’t exactly enjoying the rain all that much.
We took a trail back to a spot where there was an interesting vertical drop in a mountain stream.
We saw evidence of snow left from winter.
Switch back road system that started climbing the mountain to the point where the tunnel is located that cuts through the mountain.
The tunnel has actually on been open for a few years. Before the tunnel was constructed the only way to get to the Sound was by boat.
We stopped at this site an saw some rather dramatic view of the mountain pass.
This bird is apparently a real pest. It will eat anything including the rubber seals around the windows of cars. It sort of looked like a thug.
Here is that vegetation slide that I mention earlier.
Another mountain stream.
Tree covered road that we had not seen in the dark on the way in the morning.
Back at our hotel in Te Anua there was a lake right across the street that had these sailors trying to get back to shore without much help from the wind.
Another view of the lake from the front lawn of the hotel.
The excursion we took was on a medium sized vessel that had plenty of room to move around and observation decks to get good views, assuming you don’t mind getting wet. There was an enclosed cabin, but we didn’t spend much time in it.
Once on the boat we headed out into a world of steep slopes of gray mountain masses stacked up in the gloom.
It’s hard to get a good perspective on the scale of the area from the photos, but this boat at the base of this mountain is dwarfed by the size of the mountain.
As usual we try to get some “we were here” pictures
This one shows the rounded shape that is sort of what the valley below the water line might look like. The depth of the water is about as deep as the height of the mountains above the water line.
After a while we moved in close to one of the shore lines and got some close up shots of the rock formations and the typical vegetation.
The guides explained that the rock of the mountains is very hard and that there is virtually no soil. Lichens form on the rock slopes which hold some moisture.
Eventually other plant types get established and form an intertwined root mass that becomes a huge mat of vegetation all laying over the rock slope like a big thick carpet.
Eventually some large tree, or group of trees get so big that their own weight begins to tear loose from the mat.
This eventually causes a vegetation slide that cleans off a whole section and sets up the opportunity to start the process all over again. A little further on in this post is a photo of a vegetation slide that actually had the road closed for a couple of days, until it could be cleared.
Another interesting thing, that you would expect in an area that has a lot of vertical dimension and lots of rain, waterfalls. There were dozens of waterfalls just about everywhere you looked.
The boat got really close to the waterfalls and in a couple of cases cleared the decks with plenty of water.
When we first got to the landing we asked about what we should expect to see in terms of wild life. They mentioned that at certain times of the year penguins, seals, and birds are seen, rarely a few dolphins find their way into the bay. How about whales? Not in the two years he had been there had anyone seen whales. Whale spotting is another on Karen’s big dreams. Well, wouldn’t you know it, another bonus. Two humpback whales were just cruising around in the bay, the captain and crew really got excited about the opportunity to spend a little time hanging out with these guys.
After a while we headed off to make the rest of the trip out to the open Tasmanian Sea. On the way back we spotted a small pod of dolphins swimming along one shore. The guide explained that the dolphins were actually in sleep mode. Apparently they can shut done half of their brain and just cruise along, surfacing to breathe and diving a returning to surface to breathe etc.
We got back to the site where we had seen the whales earlier and found them rolling up on their side to expose a flipper and tail and then diving.
We spent quite a bit of time just following this part of whales around.
At one point the boat was following right behind a whale just as it surfaced to blow. Whale breath is not all that pleasant.
A little while later we spotted this young fur seal sleeping on a rock.
More waterfalls.
The picture above is the last picture my camera was able to take. Ap it got too wet and just quit working. I have subsequently tried to get it dried out and had it to several camera shops who all say the same thing, “these cameras are not supposed to get wet”. Oh well I did get some pretty cool pictures. Maybe some day I will buy another camera.From this point on the pictures all were taken with the point and shoot camera that we bought for Karen to have on the trip.
After getting back to the dock we walked back to the parking lot and spotted this interesting bird.
We had lunch in the restaurant and headed back to Te Anau this time in the daylight, albeit rainy daylight.
We stopped at a couple of points of interest along the way, this dock harboring the fishing fleet, a rushing mountain stream.
Rain forest vegetation
Karen wasn’t exactly enjoying the rain all that much.
We took a trail back to a spot where there was an interesting vertical drop in a mountain stream.
We saw evidence of snow left from winter.
Switch back road system that started climbing the mountain to the point where the tunnel is located that cuts through the mountain.
The tunnel has actually on been open for a few years. Before the tunnel was constructed the only way to get to the Sound was by boat.
We stopped at this site an saw some rather dramatic view of the mountain pass.
This bird is apparently a real pest. It will eat anything including the rubber seals around the windows of cars. It sort of looked like a thug.
Here is that vegetation slide that I mention earlier.
Another mountain stream.
Tree covered road that we had not seen in the dark on the way in the morning.
Back at our hotel in Te Anua there was a lake right across the street that had these sailors trying to get back to shore without much help from the wind.
Another view of the lake from the front lawn of the hotel.
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