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| Nadine Enjoys Lunch - Eglinton River |
We had been told that the two hour drive from Te Anau to Milford Sound was almost as beautiful as the sound itself, so we left in plenty of time to enjoy the scenery on the way to our 4 pm departure on the overnight cruise. Our lunch in this beautiful valley was divine - although we probably had applied heavy bug spray!
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| Where's the Beach? |
Although we were headed for the ocean, this being New Zealand, there were sizeable mountains between us and the water.
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| Dead End? |
In fact, we came to a rock wall - but happily, they built a tunnel through it. Called the Homer Tunnel, it was built in 1954. There were many signs saying avalanche, rockfall danger and sometimes it does get blocked by rockfall. Although it's wide enough for two narrow lanes, it has a traffic light to allow safer passage - one might need to wait ten minutes here, as long as there is not a long line.
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| The Milford Mariner - Our Home for the Night! |
The Milford Sound Visitor's terminal is like Grand Central Station - a large building with many people passing through. An average of 400,000 people pass through each year, arriving by bus, car or plane. We were pleased to see our trusty vessel - the Milford Mariner - which awaited us. It is built to resemble a traditional trading vessel, but the sails are not used other than to look good in photos. It has 28 cabins, so the number of passengers was not overwhelming.
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| Looking South From the Visitor's Terminal |
The Maori name for Milford Sound is Piopiotahi. The Maori legend explains that said that all fourteen fiords were created by a godly figure called Tu-te-raki-whanoa to provide shelter from the rough Tasman Sea for his people in their canoes. While chanting a prayer he used his adze to hack at the rocks and carve out these valleys. He started in the south where the fiords are wider and have more arms - his aim was sloppy. As he worked north, he perfected his skill and by the time he got to the most northerly fiord, Milford Sound, he created the most beautiful one, with its straight walls and no extra waterways off to the sides.
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| Mitre Peak |
The fiord is only ten miles long and about 2 miles wide. One of the most beautiful features of this body of water is Mitre Peak, which rises to a stunning 5,560 feet, rising straight out of the water not far from the Visitor's Terminal. You can see the clouds nestled around the highest of its five peaks in this photo. It is an iconic part of this place and much photographed. I suspect you may see more of it before we leave here!
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| Bottlenose Dolphins Alongside |
Within a short while of our departing the dock, the onboard naturalist summoned us to the deck to see the couple of bottlenose dolphins surfing on our wake. You can see here how very dark the brackish water is - no blue seawater here.
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| Stirling Falls off Hanging Valley |
As you might imagine, I was thrilled to see another, finer, example of a hanging valley, shortly after the dolphins went their way. This one has a waterfall emerging from it - Stirling Falls. It is one of only two permanent waterfalls in Milford Sound. All the other falls one might see on wet days dry up a few hours after the rain stops. This is why it doesn't matter what the weather is like for visiting - it is beautiful in fine weather and wet. This Falls are a little over 500 feet high, which puts it over a 100 feet higher than Niagra Falls!
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| Closer View of Sinclair Falls |
Here there is another tourist boat at the base of the falls to give you some perspective. You see it has three decks, so it is not a small boat! Nevertheless it is dwarfed by the landscape.
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| Up close and Personal to Stirling Falls |
We were told that if one is touched by the spray of these falls, you would wake up looking ten years younger the next day. Well, I tried it, but it didn't work - LOL! I think they tell you that to make you get wet! I enjoyed watching the sunlight catch the sprays of falling water.
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Tree Avalanche Scars - Waterfall Paths?
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Of the many temporary waterfalls, many seem to follow the scars on the rockface left by the tree avalanches. The New Zealanders want to claim some as the longest in the world, but are getting pushback saying that they are not true waterfalls, but are, instead, vertical rivers!
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| Fur Seal Sunning on the Rocks |
We were fortunate to see a few fur seals sunning on a rock not far from us. This one looked happy.
The other animal I had hoped to see was the Fiordland crested penguin, which are little black and white guys with big yellow 'eyebrows'. We were taken close to the area where they land, but apparently they are moulting at this time of year. It's called a 'catastrophic moult' as they lose all their feathers at once. The process of losing and re-growing the feathers takes around three weeks. The naturalist told us that when they do this, they walk for several miles into the forest, because they are at their most vulnerable and can't enter the water without their insulating and waterproof coat of feathers! She also said they look very ugly and pathetic. I was sorry that we weren't able to spot one.
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| Gull Bobbing on Golden Waters |
The ever-present gull was with us, but less common was the beautiful golden and blue reflections from the sun as it lowered in the sky. The evenings run late here, being so far south, and sunset was generally 9:30 pm or later. As the sun got lower the water took on these lovely colors around the gulls.
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| Mt. Pembroke |
After cruising halfway down the fiord, we turned back and moored in the only sheltered spot off the main waterway - Harrison's Cove, with Mt. Pembroke looming above us. We were told that this is only one of two places in the world where one can see a glacier, with rainforest below and then the landscape falling to the sea. The naturalist on the Mariner said the other place is in Patagonia, but she didn't say where. Let me know if you know where the Patagonian equivalent is.
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| The Mariner's Tenders Were Lowered |
The tenders were lowered to allow us a chance to have a closer look at the land that surrounds us.
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| A Superb Place for Boating |
It was a delightful excursion.
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| Tree Roots Hanging on for Dear Life |
In particular, we were urged to notice how the trees had no soil to dig their roots into. This is the reason they often fall in the tree avalanches like the ones we had seen in Doubtful Sound.
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| A Very Beautiful Mooring |
We were given the chance to take a photo of the Milford Mariner with Mt. Pembroke in the background. This is where we will spend the night! Rough life, eh?
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| Toward the Tasman Sea |
The sun was getting low in the sky, it was time for dinner and so we returned to the ship. It was a delicious meal. Once it was dark, a number of us gathered on the top deck to look for stars. Although this is not a dark sky reserve, we were able to see Orion, the Milky Way and the Southern Cross. It has been a number of years since I've seen that familiar constellation. It was a very pleasing way to end the day.
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| Dawn in Harrison's Cove |
The waters had been completely calm all night and I woke to a beautiful morning glow. Surrounded by such high mountains, one really doesn't see a sunrise, but more a sun glow. It was lovely to see it unfold, especially with an almost full moon in the sky.
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| The Captain a the Bridge |
It was an open bridge, so I popped in to see what was what. This ship was clearly not as sleek and modern as the ones we had used in Doubtful Sound, but I loved its character and appreciated its beds! People started to stir and the plan was to motor out to the ocean as we ate breakfast.
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| We Were Not Alone |
Watching another ship ahead of us showed the incredible scale of these valley walls which run close to 4,000 feet on either side.
Here, too we could see the scars showing where trees had fallen off the rock faces in an avalanche.
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| Tasman Sea |
The Tasman Sea was calm on this day, but once again, it is an awesome thought that there is nothing between here and Argentina!
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| St. Anne's Point Lighthouse |
This little, solar powered and somewhat 'Dalek'-looking' lighthouse sat on the southern shore of the sound. It's called St. Anne's Point Lighthouse and is 87 feet above sea level and, 18 feet high. We were told it is not unusual for it to be swamped by waves.
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| Headed East Again - Homeward Bound |
As we turned back to the visitor center, we could see why Lieutenant Cook completely missed this sound. He actually sailed past it twice in 1770. The point jutting out from the left (north) hides the entrance, unless one gets up close. The European who first discovered and named it was John Grono in 1812. He was a Welsh explorer who named it after his home town, Milford Haven. The name was later changed to Milford Sound.
(My sister, Toni Hood tells me that John Grono is my Great, Great, Great, Great Great Grandfather, through our maternal grandmother, Jessie Stirling's family....so there you go! This land IS in my bones, after all - along with a spirit of adventure. However my adventures are much tamer than John Grono's were!)
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| Back to Mitre Peak |
Oh, my, it was time to leave this magical place. The sky was blue, the clouds floated at various levels around the valley and there were inklings of reflections in the water.
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| East Entrance to the Homer Tunnel |
We still had a two hour drive back to Te Anau. This time I did get a photo of the tunnel's entrance. We were still wowed by the scenery as we drove, but a surfeit of beauty led to fewer stops and we wanted to rest up before our glowworm cave visit in the evening.
We did stop at Mirror Lake, which did a good job of living up to its name. I hope the video doesn't make you dizzy. In case you're wondering which way is 'up', it begins and ends the right way up.
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| Sunsetting Another Marvelous Day |
We did our trip to the glowworm cave on Lake Te Anau in the evening. There are no photos, as it was pitch black and we were not allowed to use anything that created light - and that includes camera screens. It was magical - very Lord of the Rings, being pulled along in a boat by chain, in complete darkness and silence, save the many little dots on the ceiling, showing the presence of glowworms.
We learned all sorts of interesting things about them - they are crazy wild creatures. But you are tired by now, as am I. Here is a link to one article about them.
Perhaps you'd like to take a break and come back and read it later.
Otherwise, here is a video from YouTube. The music is annoying, but the video captures their beauty and is not all sciency!
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| Aahh! Red at Night, Shepherd's Delight! |
We had worked hard these last few days. Tomorrow was the last day Nadine and I would travel together, as I moved on to my singing experience in Queenstown. We have had two rather wonderful weeks together and this seemed like a fitting end to the adventure we shared. Both of us were tired and glad to call it a 'night'!
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