Milford Sound
When reviewing the map, a day trip to the majestic Milford Sound looks to be only a short drive away. However, Google Maps will quickly set you straight and alert you to the circuitous route you must take in order to see this natural wonder is nearly 4 hours.
Figuring this would be the closest we would get to Milford Sound (and we used a picture of it as the title page on the blog), we headed out to Fiordland National Park and made a couple days of it.
About 30 minutes from the sound, you reach the Homer Tunnel. If lucky the resident Kea will entertain you as you wait for your turn to enter.
The endangered kea is the world's only alpine parrot, and one of the most intelligent birds. In New Zealand, they are known for causing all sorts of mischief: turning water spigots, locking trampers in toilets, moving traffic cones and entering domiciles through cat doors.
They can also be quite destructive and show a fondness for wiper blades, door gaskets and any piece of car trim they can get their beak on. When a Kea lands on your car you need to keep a watchful eye. Even though they are quite a handful, the Kea sure do attract everyone's attention and seem to enjoy the spotlight.
After traversing the Homer Tunnel, you arrive on the other side of the Darran Mountains and begin to gain a sense of the grandeur of this region.
At the head of the sound (it is actually a fjord, but you are not here for a geology lesson) there is a harbor with a number of tour outfits that will cruise you along the 16 kilometers out to the Tasman Sea. This proved to be the ideal way to view the waterfall strewn 3,600+ foot rock faces that lined the sound.
With an annual rainfall of nearly 7 meters, Milford Sound tops the rainfall meter of New Zealand. Even on a dry day, the walls of the sound are laced with waterfall after waterfall.
At the end of the tour, we stopped off at the Underwater Observatory to learn more about the history of Milford Sound and to see some the wildlife living below the waves. With so much rainfall a 20-foot layer of tea colored fresh water sits on top of the sea water. This, in turn, blocks out much of the natural sunlight and makes the sound uniquely ideal for deep-sea life to thrive even in shallow waters.
Thanks to the Kea, the kids were pleased we had added a few more road hours to the trip, with a visit to Milford Sound. The scenery on the way down and back wasn't too bad either.
Lake Wakatipu
Eglinton River
A Waterfall We No Longer Remember the Name Of. Let's go with Cascade Falls.
Lake TeAnau
