Magic Milford

Up bright and early this morning after a peaceful night’s sleep. Dog walking in the early dawn so they would be settled while we were away today and well behaved for the dog minders Graeme and Di.

We were picked up from the gate by the bus and we were off.  The tour was really well organised and the driver, also Bruce, was well informed, knowledgeable and entertaining.

The first stop was at Te Anau Downs where there were wide, flat meadows of dried grass surrounded by bush. It looked lovely but the driver also told us of the fire danger at this time of the year, especially since there has not been any decent rain in the  area for 3 weeks now (until last night). Apparently 3 days without rain in Milford is a drought.

Next stop was Knob’s Flat, which had a well set up camping ground with good toilets for the busloads of tourists that come by. Our driver was able to get us in just before a busload of Asians for which we were really grateful.

We recognise that the Asians are tourists that bring with them a lot of money but Bruce and I find them a bit hard to deal with. They are loud and brash, and have no concept of personal space. They seem to believe they should be first for everything and will push and shove to get there. The Asian commentaries on trips / venues where we have had to listen to it are very loud and hard on the ears, and I have often come away with a headache afterwards.

Knobs Flat had the same meadows as Te Anau Downs but there were knobs of raised land scattered around, apparently left by the glaciers on one of the three ice ages this area has been through.

Once again on our way to Milford, the driver spotted a layby where three keas had made their appearance so he pulled in and stopped. Apparently these keas were juvenile males and were certainly not shy. One of them was determined to pull at the tongue of people’s sneakers. Every so often it would nip at foot instead of shoe which caused the person to let out a squeal and quickly shake the bird off.

The next scheduled stop was a magic place called the Chasm. We were dropped of at one carpark and the bus moved on to the next carpark, where the walkway came out, to pick us up. We had a slight detour though as there was a coffee cart set up in the carpark and Bruce could not resist the temptation of a fresh coffee. The driver had told us that if a coffee was purchased it had to be consumed before we got back on the bus, so Bruce had to drink it as we walked.

The Chasm is a series of deep holes bored out of rocks by the rapidly flowing river. The photos do not do justice to the depth of the holes, or the strength of the river rushing through.

There were also holes in rocks that no longer had water flowing through them which  gave some interesting pictures.

Our final stop before Milford came at the Homer Tunnel as we had to wait about 6 minutes for the light change. Traffic through the tunnel is one way at a time and this is all controlled by lights. There is also someone watching what is happening at the tunnel all the time (from a control booth) so the lights can be over-ridden if necessary. The Homer Tunnel was all man made, so quite a feat of engineering.

We finally got Milford and in true organised fashion our driver gave us a clear explanation of what boat to catch, how to claim our lunch, and so on.We were given 3 cards to hand in at various times, enough time to go to the loo (before the busloads of Asians again) and we boarded the boat and were off.

The commentary on the boat was also informative and interesting, and we learned a lot about the geology of Milford Sound, the nature of the environment, the plants and animals, and the geographic features. There was plenty of room on the boat so there were plenty of opportunities to take photos. I found it easier to be outside and was glad of my jacket and woolly hat for that reason.

As it had rained the night before, there were plenty of waterfalls to see, and the boat made sure that everyone who wanted to got wet under the Sterling Falls by nosing right into it. There were two different lots of fur seals along the way as well, and the skipper got the boat as close as permissable so we could grab some photos.

Once the boat got out to the entrance to Milford Sound the wind was very strong and the sea had some swell, so you could appreciate how sheltered the sound is. The sound itself looked quite magical with the mist and cloud hanging around the peaks in places, but with the blue sky trying to break through, creating different light patterns.

On the way back we were dropped off at the underwater observatory, which was a part of our tour. Again, the guides were informative and  keen to show off their little bit of paradise. It was a treat seeing black coral and some of the fish in their natural habitat. We saw several different species including blue cod, spotties, perch, terekihi, trevelli, and others I could not name. There were also several varieties of sea anemonies.

The trip back from the observatory was on a much bigger boat and this time we could not escape the Asians. We started off sitting inside but the noise of the commentary and those around us all shouting at each other was too much to bear so we went outside on the deck again.  We also felt compelled to move because one Asian lady decided she wanted Bruce’s seat and was almost sitting on his knee in her efforts to get it. Her strategy was successful – he couldn’t handle it and I couldn’t blame him.

Once back at the dock there was no hope of a toilet stop so it was back into the bus for the trip home. Normally there are no stops on the way back, but the driver was told of a possible delay on the trip so we stopped of at Knob’s Flat again to use the toilets. He basically advised us to go as he couldn’t be sure how long we would be held up for.

That was the only downside of the whole trip. Apparently a car had come around the corner on the wrong side of the road and crashed into a bus, wedging itself underneath. The car burst into flames, which also incinerated the bus. Unfortunately the occupant of the car died, but the busload of Korean tourists were all OK. There was nothing left of the bus when we finally got to go past about 90 minutes later.

A sobering end to the day, and one way to remind us all about the value of life. Our driver informed us that in the years he had been driving, there was not one trip where he did not come across something unexpected. The road to Milford can be very challenging, especially in the winter, and especially when there are a lot of foreign drivers on our roads. On one occassion our driver said he came around a corner to the sight of a man skateboarding down the steep road!

We were pleased that we did not have to worry about the dogs even though we were late. Our driver delivered us right to the front of our motorhome (drove the bus right on into the NZMCA park) and Di and Graeme had heard about the delays on the road so they expected us to be late and had made sure the dogs had received extra attention. We ended our day having a wine with them in their van, and vowing to keep in touch in the future.