Milford Sound and Fiordland Part Two

This vintage "sail" cruise boat took passengers out
for an overnight tour of the Sound.

That's our motor cat behind me. I wore my
flannel lined shirt and jacket for the cruise and
was pretty comfortable.

 

Our bus driver guide got us to the boat dock right on time and made us all promise we would be back at the bus by 3:30 at the latest. After the boat docked we had to go straight to the bus! Turns out he was so right and everyone cooperated. We were one of the first buses/vans out of the parking lot and as a result had no wait at the tunnel or more importantly huge lines at our one bathroom/cafe stop. 

The boats all move in the same course, going up the left side of the Sound and back on the right
side. This photo is looking over to the opposite cliffs and the Stirling Falls. You can get an idea of the perspective by seeing the white dot to the left of the falls. That's a big motor cat like ours and we'll pass close to those falls on the way back.

We went quite close to the vertical wall of cliffs
on the trip down the Sound and saw many
seasonal waterfalls like these two

And this one. This was one of the rare beaches.

A view from the railing, It was sometimes
hard to get a spot at the railing!

There were a number of cruise boats waiting, smaller and larger motor cats and one large vintage craft. Ours was one of the larger motor cats with 3 floors and inside and outside seating. We chose the top priced lunch option - a buffet served on board and it was excellent! Scott and I got into the line for the boat early so we were able to eat right away and get up top to see the views. We had been warned by our driver that some people would try to cut into the line. He was so right. We and our neighbors waited 20 minutes in line and when two couples stood next to us I asked them if they were trying to board our boat. They were. So I explained about the line and where they needed to go. They didn't want to but everyone gave them the look! "We're not letting you in," I explained. They finally moved down the line to try to cut in somewhere else. I got lots of thanks for everyone. We were told by others in the line that they were Russian and this happens often.

Now you can see one of the cruise boats more clearly passing on the other side

We froze up top facing into the wind on the trip to the Tasman Sea so moved to the deck at the stern. That's our wake looking back to Milford Sound village where we began our voyage.

This seasonal waterfall took a meandering 
route.

Milford Sound is 9.3 miles long from the Tasman Sea and is surrounded by sheer rock faces that rise over 3,900 feet high. It has two permeant waterfalls, Lady Bowen Falls and Stirling Falls but a big number of seasonal ones. Since they had lots of rain recently we saw over 20 of them and several of those were quite heavy. The annual mean rainfall is 252 inches! So it is one of the wettest areas in the world. But not this day. 

Scott rarely has to bundle up but he did on
this trip, at least at first

It was very windy however and it was difficult to walk on the top deck. As you can see from the photos we had considerable clouds. We wore our sweaters and rain jackets with the hoods up!  After some time managing that we retired to the back deck which was more protected. It's jaw dropping scenery and hard to take a picture that conveys this. You have to be there - and I hope everyone who reads this will!

Again, those are large cruise cats over on the other side. Sometimes the clouds were mid mountain!

Our turn at Stirling Falls

We got pretty close!

On the way back we had the wind behind us and
we could move back up top.

As I mentioned first, we had an easy trip home and were able to walk to our apartment from the drop off. We had planned well with lots of leftovers for dinner. We had planned to do a boat cruise on the lake the next day before our 5:30 PM flight to Brisbane. But after checking out of the apartment at 10 AM we had to drop off the car at the expected time of 10:30 or keep it another day. It was a little overcast so we regretfully decided to just hang out at the airport until our flight. Of course, after we dropped off the car, the sun came out! But the small airport was really nice with inside and outside eating and sitting. So the time went pleasantly and so did our 3 and 1/2 hour flight. So good-bye New Zealand - next post, Mooloolaba, Australia. 

Heading back to Milford Sound village. This is one of the safe anchorages and once had a lodge here. You can see some of the snow or glaciers up on the distant mountain.

Lady Bowen Falls

Looking at the end of the Sound.

Back in our apartment just after sunset - looking down the lake.

Finally, the Milford Sound & Fiordland Part One

One of our longer stops was the Mirror Lakes where we were able to take a short hike along the
water's edge. As you can see it deserves it's name and we had the weather to enjoy it.

Another view of the lake with some ducks.

Guess who? Although the day was sunny it was
still quite cool, 

 

I say finally because it's been 10 days since we took the Milford Sound All Day Tour out of Queensland. Just before we flew to Brisbane on March 25th, Scott dropped his phone and broke the screen. We weren't able to access our photos (and other problems not having a phone because I didn't bring mine - bad girl). During our 8 day visit to Julie & Peter in Mooloolaba we were able to get it fixed, but not quickly. So we are now in Uluru and I'm finally getting it out. 

These golden fields with a stream running through them greeting us after our entrance into Fiordland National Park. The mountains around us include the The Elephant at 5,000 feet. Elsewhere in the park there are peaks over 8,000 feet. 

Fiordland covers almost 5,000 square miles - in contrast Rhode Island has about 1,500 sq miles

We're still on the trip to the Sound and although this lake isn't called Mirror, it still reflects itself. 

And it will be in two parts because there are SO many gorgeous photos. This trip was amazing and we had perfect weather, as you can see. We met our bus at 7 AM and got back to the pick up point at 7 PM and I only wish it had been a much longer trip - like a week. This area is so beautiful and deserves a lot more time. But no complaints...

The Milford Sound wasn't accessible by land
until the saddle between two rivers was 
discovered and the Homer Tunnel built.

 

Our driver was fun and chose our stopping points well,, especially for photos. The drive down to the Sound itself took just over 5 hours. The bus was comfortable and when our driver saw Scott, he put us in the front seat where he had more leg room. We stopped for snacks & bathroom stops, short walks and the scenery. The way back in contrast was only 3.5 hours with only one stop. In between we had a 2 hour cruise down the Milford Sound (Piopiotahi) but I'll cover the cruise in Part Two. So now - more photos!

Fiordland became a National Park in 1952 but a good part was set aside as a national reserve in 1905 and it is a refuge for many endangered species in New Zealand. One of the Park's glaciers is just
visible on the mountain in the distance.

The road was naturally twisty and steep as it wound it's way through the pass and down to the Sound. 

Scott wore a halo in a selfie. It was an
atmospheric image above the 
mountain behind him - clever!

Our bus stopped not far from the Homer Tunnel. This was 
started in 1935 with 5 men armed only with picks and 
shovels. It was finally opened for traffic in 1953. It is one
way and traffic lights direct the flow. 

Jet Boating on the Shotover River

The staff took this photo and the one below.

The Shotover looking up river.

One of the boats passes by the beach. You can
see how shallow the water is and how close they
come to the beach. 

A selfie on the boat during a brief
stop to watch other boats go by.

 

This is one of the iconic things to do in New Zealand and it deserves it's reputation. What fun! The overcast day didn't diminish the experience either. We drove ourselves to their headquarters on the river and joined the crowds waiting for their time slot. Two boats go out about every 15 minutes and it takes about a half an hour. They have this down to a science and thank goodness as it looks pretty dangerous. In fact they haven't had an accident for a long time and when it did happen way back, no one was hurt and it was a mechanical problem. The drivers really know their business. 

We stopped for a few minutes and watched another
boat come through a narrow spot and do "the spin".
We did a lot of these ourselves - fun!!!

There is a lot of screaming and laughing. We not only enjoyed our experience but watching the other boats. Well worth the money. We had some lunch back at our apartment and then drove down the long and winding road to Glenorchy.  The overcast weather continued but it was still really scenic. We stopped and had a nice hike up to Lookout Point with great views of the lake and the Tooth Peaks. 

It was still a gloomy day driving up to Glenorchy.

But still very scenic.

Looking inland from Lookout Point

The viewing platform on Lookout Peak looking
back to Queenstown.

That night ate the variety of leftovers in the frig. The day we arrived in Queenstown, after the Gondola trip, we had dinner at a Chinese restaurant a short walk away and bought groceries for breakfasts and at least one dinner. So we had lots of choices. Sunday started out with lots of rain so we did laundry and got caught up with computer things - several blog posts and settled our plans for Vancouver and on to NYC and Raleigh. 

There were several jet boat companies on the lake
but it didn't look as exciting as our trip.

A boardwalk extends along the lake through
town.

Scott loves to photograph birds and flowers.

Then the rain let up and sun came out. So we drove down into Queenstown and walked around. Our first impression had been poor as the main street is lined with souvenir shops etc. But as soon as we headed down to the lake, it brightened up considerably. Parks and wharfs line the lakefront with nice restaurants and pedestrian streets. We were surprised to see another White & Wong's, not realizing it was a chain. And our lunch was excellent once again and provided yet more leftovers. 

There was a big pond with tons of flowering
waterlilies.

There were several lake cruise options available but we decided to do one of them in the morning before flying out on Tuesday. So we just had a nice walk there and then over at the Botanical Gardens on a peninsula across from the town. As it was a Sunday many couples and families were out for a stroll. There was a big frisbee gold tournament going on and the bowling green had several couples participating. That's new game for us so we enjoying sitting a and watching a match.  

The beautiful bowling green.

This is the young couple we cheered on.

One of the golf frisbee groups checks on their scores. You can see Queenstown across the lake.

Finally we returned to our apartment, and later walked down to the local pub for dinner. Tomorrow was our big day - a 12 hour tour down to the Milford Sound and the Fjordland National Park. Which will be my next blog post.

Mount Cook National Park

The Church of the Good Shepherd and beyond it the mountains of the Mt. Cook National Park

As I've mentioned previously we changed our original plans to go directly to Queenstown from Christchurch due to the distance and added a stop mid way in Omarama. This had the additional benefit of allowing us more stops to look at the scenery and to visit Mt. Cook National Park. And what a day to do it! Bright sunshine and clear views. It was a delight to set out early with that day ahead!

Sheep, deer, cattle all graze over the endless fields

One sheep found the activities in our car park
quite interesting. 

Views of distant mountains followed us all the way from Christchurch to Omarama.

We stopped briefly in several of the pullovers provided pretty often (both for photos and to allow traffic behind you to pass) and then had a great visit to the Church of the Good Shepherd. This is a iconic scene shown often in photos of New Zealand. It's close to the Mt. Cook National Park and on one of the beautiful lakes, Tekapo, that make this Mackenzie District so famous. Built in 1933 it features a large picture window instead of the usual painting or crucifix. 

A view of Mt. Cook from the Hermitage

The Alpine Center had films, artifacts and lots of
history & photos of the area. 

The drive up to Mt. Cook is along the lake at first and then up to the head of the valley. There is a small community there serving tourists, hikers and winter sports. The Center illustrates the overall history of the area, especially mountaineering.  Glaciers cover 40 percent of the park and Mt. Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand at 12, 217 feet and was the training ground for their most famous mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary. This has been a popular spot since the first Hermitage Hotel was built in 1884. The current building is the third and finished in 1958. It houses the Sir Edmund Hilary Alpine Center. We sure wish we were able to stay there for several days!

The view from our table at the Omarama Lodge

Scott and I enjoying our wine before dinner.

But we were so grateful that our change in plans allowed us to enjoy this whole area. Our hotel nearby, the Sierra Motel, was very comfortable and walking distance from another great dinner choice - the Omarama Lodge. The hostess and chef were from Nepal and we had a nice talk with her and enjoyed his food very much - local grilled salmon on a bed of black chickpeas & potatoes with a Nepalese spiced sauce. As you can see from the photos - a lovely spot. 

The road up the Lindis Pass

Scott at the viewpoint over the Pass after our 
hike

The next day was beautiful again and after a huge breakfast at the Wrinkly Sheep (who knew they could be wrinkly?), we were on the road again. It took us through the Lindis Psss at 3781 feet the highest in the South Island state road system and second highest in New Zealand. We enjoyed a nice hike up to a viewing point and imagined how difficult it must be in the winter - stops to put on chains are a good hint. We saw them on the Arthur Pass as well and remember them from our trips to Yosemite at the Christmas holidays with our daughter Zoe and her family. 

The Shotover River from the bridge

The view from our table at Cloudy Bay Vineyards

Next we went by several lakes and made an abrupt turn at a sign for a wine tasting at the Cloudy Bay Vineyard. What a beautiful place! We opted for a glass of wine overlooking their pond and vineyards with a snack of pork croquettes. It was just a little early for lunch given the size of our breakfast!

Scott on one of the viewing sites

Queenstown was spread out below us.

We passed over the Shotover River where we would be jet boating the following morning and drove right to the Gondola in the center of Queenstown. We knew the weather was iffy the next day so wanted to see the sights here today. And it was so lovely and gave us a great idea of the area around Queenstown. We had a bit of lunch up there as well. This is Bob's Peak and the first access was a very steep rough road built in 1961. The first gondola was built in 1967 and a new gondola and building were built in 2023. It's quite a complex with hang gliding, bungee jumping, and several luge runs. We were actually tempted by the hang gliding but the price made us hesitant and then when we asked again, they had closed for the day. 

The view from the living room to the deck

One direction from the deck

The lake

Looking at the mountain at sunset

Our Airbnb was really lovely with views in 3 directions and was very comfortable inside. We didn't need two bedrooms but the deck and living area were really spacious for the two of us. We made breakfast each morning and had one dinner in. But more on all that in my next post.