Milford Sound to Te Anau

This morning we woke up the quiet calm and low hanging clouds on the Milford Sound.  We enjoyed our breakfast while cruising out to the Tasman Sea, then we turned around and slowly cruised back up the Sound, watching the cloud layer burn off, the fur seals feeding in the rocks along the cliff walls, waterfalls cascading down hundreds of feet as if from out of the clouds, and admiring the sheer cliffs walls thousands of feet tall from the peaceful calm water.  We even saw a few fiordland crested penguins briefly in the water before they saw us and dove underneath the surface, and we got up close and personal with the Stirling Falls.  

After we disembarked, our group made the quick journey over to Deep Water Sound for some more sea kayaking.  Now that we are all pros at this kayaking thing, we quickly got our bearings then headed out across the Sound and its hundreds of feet depth to one of the many spectacular waterfalls on the other side to enjoy some morning coffee and a biscuit.  

We pulled up our kayaks up on the beach, and hiked through the thick vegetation to the waterfall.  Just as we were emerging from the bush, a helicopter flew up the river and right up to the face of the waterfall, even touching the runners of the copter down on the pool below.

Then we got quite another show - some campers who set up their tent right near the waterfall and got awakened by the helicopter stumbled out of their tent to take a quick rinse in the downstream waters, and stripped their clothes off to do it before realizing we were there.  In the words of our guide Josh, “We have a nuddie!” 

Clearly we got more of a show at this stop than we bargained for!  After enjoying our coffee we paddled back across the Sound with Mitre Peak as our backdrop.  

Without a doubt, kayaking on the Milford Sound ranks up there as one of the coolest things I’ve ever done.

Just on the other side of the Homer Tunnel we did a quick stop for our box lunch.  I sat in a dry riverbed on the boulders, looking up at the sunlight reflecting off of the 4 different glaciers on the peaks in my field of vision.  Lunch with a 5 star view.

After lunch we stopped for a hike up to Key Summit on a potion of the Routeburn Track, one of NZ’s Great Walks.  This was truly a magnificent hike.  At just over 5 miles and around 1300 ft. elevation gain, it’s an out and back hike offering incomparable 360 degree views of several mountain ranges, including the Darren Range.  

We sat for a long time enjoying the splendor of this view, paused for a group pic, then made our way down and back to the bus and Te Anau.  It’s very sad to leave this area, and I wish we could linger longer.  The scenery is so stunning most of us were silent for this portion of the bus journey, just taking it all in and reflecting how fortunate we are.  

Once we reached Te Anau, our guides treated us to a surprise - a Chinese dinner and a 30-minute movie about Fiordland playing at a local theater.  It featured much of the scenery we had just witnessed for the past 2 days, and more that we didn’t have a chance to get to.  The movie itself was great, but they also sold wine at the theater, which made it AWESOME!  I sat there sipping my wine, watching the views on the big screen and thinking, “this has been an incredible day, and I am one very happy girl.”

Tomorrow - on to Queenstown and more adventures!