Milford Sound
Posted by Sarah O'Neill , Monday, 2 May 2011 01:47
On Thursday we got up early and drove to Milford Sounds. The drive was really different, lots of up the mountains and down the mountains, with amazing views! There was lots of snow on the tops of the mountains and mist descending which made it even more beautiful! We stopped at some really cool places,including 'Mirror lakes' where the reflections in the water are really clear when it's so still. Part of the road is through the Homer Tunnel, which is really long and goes straight through the mountain, downhill! There are lights to only let traffic go in one direction, and the wait can be up to fifteen minutes! We were waiting about ten, which gave us time to take in the scenery. The tunnel is really dark and long, and has lots of water dripping down it! We got through the other side and then began driving down some very very windy roads! We got to Milford and drove to the campsite we had booked the day before, which was lucky as it was fully booked! We drove down to the water to find where we were catching the boat from, and found that Milford was a really small place! Basically there is the port for all the tour boats and a campsite, and that’s about it! Milford Sounds is a big tourist attraction as it is the most accessible Fiord, you can only get to the rest of the area by boat. It was actually incorrectly named a ‘Sound’ instead of ‘Fiord’, which is a valley that was carved out by a Glacier. We checked our booking, which we got buy one get one free for being Jucy customers which was great!
So we had a quick lunch and then got the shuttle bus down to the port. The weather had 
been a bit iffy all morning so it wasn’t looking good, but then the sun started to come out! We took some nice photos and then boarded the boat. Sadly the sun went away and the cloud came, but it was still very beautiful and picturesque! We went all the way down the valley to the Tasman sea, and then back again. On the way back we were lucky enough to see a few bottle-nose dolphins, and then they started to swim at the front of the boat, riding the bow wave, it was brilliant! I was right at the front and had an amazing view, it was so cool! The dolphins were so much bigger than those we have seen before, our tour guide told us that they are so big as they live in such cold water and need to put on weight to keep warm. We headed back to the port, and then walked back to the campsite. Had a nice evening in the van watching a DVD and eating a yummy stew Ben made!
The next morning we drove back to Te Anau for another free night at the campsite. The weather was pretty nice when we woke up, and for the first part of the drive, but the minute we came out of the tunnel the other side it was awful! It’s amazing how much the mountains protect areas from the weather! We spent the day catching up on the washing and chilling out, went for a short walk and got some supplies at the shops, but a nice day doing not a lot!
What a picture!! WOW!!