Oct 31, Halloween… Milford Sound

Awoke in the am, coffee percolating in the French press was the first order of business. Returned to the town to check the tire pressures and refuel, as there’s no stations on the out-and-back trek where we’re going. We had enough, but I don’t like just having “enough”.

Overcast skies took over as we left town, giving us this bit of rainbow…




The road soon narrowed and began climbing, the rolling grazing lands giving way to steep pitches, the thick forest creeping up to the roadside.

Waterfalls everywhere, rainforest conditions. A heavy cloud layer/fog bank lay low the whole way, obscuring the mountaintops and intermittently drizzling rain on us.



We eventually reached the Homer tunnel at the top of the pass, a one way rough-hewn steep shaft through the rock. The traffic flow is regulated with automated traffic lights at the entrance on each side. We had the green light. Popping out on the other side, the topography was instantly recognizable as a glacier ground fiord, steeply angled smooth rock on both sides with a bottom of…. Why am I describing this? Here….





Switchbacking down the valley, we finally saw the water. Milford Sound. Three buildings, a dock, an airstrip. Tourist parking. A lodge. That’s all. Seriously.



Pretty, though…


Top of a fern tree soon to unfurl…



Unfortunately, the clouds had stayed with us the whole way, leaving the peaks firmly enshrouded, diminishing the full effect. Well, we knew it was probable that there’d be some precipitation, this being a rainforest and all. We had been thinking a boat ride to the mouth of the fiord would be cool, but not really worth it if the weather wasn’t cooperating. We parked in the campervan lot( N.Z. is really set up well for holiday/tourist/backpackers/R.V.’s…parks and amenities everywhere), walked the boardwalk and the docks, had a nice little lunch in the back of the rv, passing some time to see what happened weatherwise.

No luck. Marginally lighter fog but statistically insignificant for sightseeing. We headed back.

Multiple one way sections exist on the road, either narrow bridges or in spots where the road clings to a cliffside and/or has had a washout. Most are o.k., using the right of way signs I’d explained before, but in some places you couldn’t see the other side and therefore had to just go when you thought it might be ok. Fun.

The hillsides here are still polished rock, the trees and forest bush have a tough job finding purchase on the slick surface. But, being a rainforest, everything tries to get higher to get that elusive sunlight, growing slowly in an interlocking web of roots. Until, the weight grows too much, something lets go, and the whole hillside…trees, roots, animals, bugs, and all come sliding down in a huge organic avalanche, leaving the original slick rock surface bare again. Like this….



Apparently takes about 70 years to regrow.

Back through the tunnel…



and down the other side.

Here, we met our campervan companies’ namesake…





A kea. This brazen rainforest parrot certainly knew it’s target audience. As soon as we stopped for a few photos, it flew from it’s perch in the trees ¼ mile away, directly at us at about head height. Flaring it’s wings, showing the crimson hidden under the dull green/brown that blends in so well with the forest, it walked right up wanting it’s reward for showing off. The size of a raven. Cool animal.

Stopped at the crystal clear….



A series of small lakes where the valley widens and the small river slows. Lots of upwelling springs, lots of flies, lots of fish, like this big rainbow trout just hanging around…



Continued back to Te Anau, backed back into the same spot in the campsite we’d occupied the night before, plugged our trusty little heater back in, and off to bed. Not many miles, but lots of sights.

Tomorrow, to Queenstown.

G’night.