Scenes from Milford Sound and Fiordlands National Park
When I decided to intersperse posts about the rest of our Southeast Asian travels with our current escapades in New Zealand, I didn’t plan to have back to back posts about Halong Bay and Milford Sound. But considering that Milford Sound reminds me of Halong Bay in many ways (minus the shoddy safety and karaoke), it is fitting.
Milford Sound is really a fiord carved out many years ago by glaciers. Fiordland National Park is widely considered the most beautiful area in New Zealand. As with Halong Bay, we experienced Milford Sound on a day that was cold and rainy and thick with fog. Considering it rains 200 days out of the year, with an annual rainfall of just shy of 300 inches, the weather we experienced was not a shock, but we were a little disappointed because we suspected the fog masked some of the area’s grandeur and scale. We made the most of it though, and ponied up for a cruise through the Sound to the Tasman Sea and back. On the 2 1/2 hour drive through Fiordlands National Park back to Te Anau from the Sound, we dragged ourselves out of the campervan into the rain at every viewpoint and short hike we could bear. It’s a beautiful area, even when it is ensconced in opaque whiteness.
We woke up early to get a head start before the crowds and got to see this sunrise over our campground. We thought the weather looked promising but the rain started falling harder the deeper we got into the Fiordlands.
The drive through the Fiordlands National Park is just as beautiful as Milford Sound itself.
Waiting for the light to change at the Homer Tunnel, we entertained ourselves by taking pictures of the keas (tropical parrots). You can see how thick the fog is; that's how the background really looked.
During our cruise, I had to retreat under the awning because the rain kept falling on my lens. At some point, we gave up and went inside to the warmth of the cabin.
One plus of being there on a rainy day is the streams of waterfalls. There were hundreds the day we visited.
Like this fantastic one.
One of the shots from a stop on the way back out of Fiordlands National Park.
Also carved by a glacier.
Towards the end of the afternoon, as we reached the edge of the park, the sun finally came out. This is the Mirror Lakes, named for obvious reasons.
Milford Sound is beautiful. When we were there, they were in the midst of a drought. I believe it had been a full 3 days since the last rain fall.
I was blown away by the tea coloured fresh water that floats on top of the salt water. I guess it rains so much that it doesn’t have time to mix in. The tea colour came from all the vegetation on the rocks.
Mike, I had heard about the tea colored water. We didn’t really get to see it. Perhaps because it rained so much?