Our next destination was Fiordland. I was really excited about this part, since the fiords were what I was most looking forward to seeing in New Zealand before I got here. Milford Sound, one of New Zealand’s most famous tourist spots, is reachable by car, but from Queenstown you have to take a roundabout way to get there. Te Anau and Manapouri are the main access points to Fiordland National Park and the sounds.
I have to admit I was confused at first about the difference between sounds and fiords. As I understand it, a sound is a more general term that describes narrow parts of the sea surrounded by landmass, whereas a fiord is more specific to a valley that has been carved out by a glacier, and is now filled with seawater and surrounded by steep cliffs. If you’re curious, you can read more about it here.
Anyway, the explorers who named the fiords of this region were evidently unfamiliar with the specific terminology, which is why they are known as Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound, Dusky Sound etc.
We left Queenstown on Monday morning and got to Te Anau early in the afternoon. While we were in Christchurch, Joey and I had already booked a boat for Tuesday at Milford Sound with Mitre Peak Cruises. So our plan was to hang out in Te Anau on Monday, and start the drive to Milford the next morning.
We booked a hostel for two nights, bought some groceries, checked out the Department of Conservation site, and walked along one of the nearby trails. But we still had the whole evening to kill, and nothing to do. So we decided to buy some cheap champagne and have a drink at the edge of Lake Te Anau. It was technically an alcohol free zone though, so we had to disguise our drinks in Nalgene bottles. It was also a chilly evening, perfect for breaking out our newly purchased, six-dollar New Zealand beanies:
We woke up the next morning to a picturesque view of the lake blanketed by fog, but with blue skies above. We couldn’t have asked for better weather. The mist on the ground just added to beauty of the place, especially on the flat portions of the drive to Milford. We made several stops along the way, of which my favorites were Mirror Lakes and The Chasm. You’ll have to look closely, but if you zoom in to one of the pictures below, you’ll see the upside down “Mirror Lakes” sign reflected in the water:
At Milford, our boat was the smallest and least impressive out of the half-dozen or so that we saw at the dock. That was fine with us. It was less crowded than the others, and we could move around from the observation deck above, to the back, side and front decks below. Perfect 360 degree visibility.
The scenery was spectacular and the ride was incredibly peaceful. Also, I had thankfully learned my lesson from the Shotover River. Though there were sandflies around, I was ready this time with plenty of clothing covering me up and bug repellent on exposed skin. They didn’t bother me at all.
On the topic of sandflies, I really like the Maori story describing how they came to exist after the creation of the fiords:
According to one Māori legend, demi-god Tu-te-raki-whanoa used Te Hamo (his adze) to carve the fiords from rock. Starting in the far south, Tu-te-raki-whanoa created a rough coastline and many islands, gradually perfecting his technique along the way. Piopiotahi or Milford Sound was his greatest achievement. When underworld goddess Hine-nui-te-po saw the fiord’s beauty, she was worried that visitors would never want to leave so she released the sandflies to encourage humans to leave the area.1
After the first half of the ride, we were perfectly content with how the day was going, and completely satisfied with the NZ$70 we paid for the cruise. It was much less expensive than the jet boat. And then we saw something that on its own might have made the entire trip to New Zealand worthwhile: dolphins.
I had seen a few dolphins before from far away at the beach in Sarasota, and in aquariums or Sea World or something like that. But never up close like this, and never so many of them at once. I can’t really describe how amazing it was to see them in the wild, swimming alongside our boat. The best I can do is give you an idea with the video below. If you like dolphins as much as I do, I think you’ll enjoy it:
Joey and I got back to land and felt elated. If nothing else went right during the rest of our trip, it didn’t matter anymore. The experience had already been better than we could have hoped for. It was the perfect exclamation point to an incredible tour of the island.
On our way back to Te Anau, we stopped once to get some pictures of the lush, mossy forest along the road. It was great, but to be honest, at that point I was probably still thinking about the boat ride.
We were really fortunate to have visited on a sunny day. Apparently, it rains during more than 200 days per year in Fiordland. Then again, I’ve heard that when it does rain, the cliffs around Milford Sound are filled with fresh waterfalls, making for another spectacular, albeit quite different experience. Just before we got off the Mitre Peak II, the captain told us: “be sure to come back and visit us on a rainy day.” If at some point I end up back in this part of the world, I will definitely try to do that…
Several Wonders 