February 21, 2017
On Tuesday morning, we woke up early to head to Milford Sound in Fiordland National Park. We had to drive for about 2 hours to get to the area where we would board our boat.
Here are some images of Fiordland NP in a aerial view that I found online. Fiordland is a huge NP and lots of scenes from Lord of the Rings were filmed there.
Scene from the movie below. The soldiers in the scene are not really there.
A map of the National Park. Milford Sound is at the far north end of the park. The yellow words are all trails that are part of the park. Most of these trail take several days to hike. Lots of people hike with their gear and make previous arrangements to stay in a "hut" along the way. It is a studio-like room with lots of bunk beds in it and you pay for a bed. This type of hiking is very popular in New Zealand.
Below are some pictures of our drive to Milford Sound called Milford Road. Lots of flowing waterfalls and we were in the clouds. It was a rainy morning, but opened up by the time we got to Milford Sound so it ended up being a beautiful day to be on the sound. They get about 200 days of rain in Milford Sound a year so we were lucky to get a sunny day while we were there.
On Tuesday morning, we woke up early to head to Milford Sound in Fiordland National Park. We had to drive for about 2 hours to get to the area where we would board our boat.
Fiordland’s West Coast is deeply indented by 14 fiords spanning 135 miles of coastline. It is the largest National Park in New Zealand covering almost 3 million acres.
Fiordland has achieved World Heritage Status and of the fourteen fiords in the Fiordland National Park, Milford Sound is the most famous and accessible. The Milford Road is a spectacular alpine journey and is one of the world’s finest drives.
Here are some images of Fiordland NP in a aerial view that I found online. Fiordland is a huge NP and lots of scenes from Lord of the Rings were filmed there.
Scene from the movie below. The soldiers in the scene are not really there.
A map of the National Park. Milford Sound is at the far north end of the park. The yellow words are all trails that are part of the park. Most of these trail take several days to hike. Lots of people hike with their gear and make previous arrangements to stay in a "hut" along the way. It is a studio-like room with lots of bunk beds in it and you pay for a bed. This type of hiking is very popular in New Zealand.
Below are some pictures of our drive to Milford Sound called Milford Road. Lots of flowing waterfalls and we were in the clouds. It was a rainy morning, but opened up by the time we got to Milford Sound so it ended up being a beautiful day to be on the sound. They get about 200 days of rain in Milford Sound a year so we were lucky to get a sunny day while we were there.
LONG tunnel we drove through.
Just on the other side of the tunnel, we pulled over to get a good view of the area and we found some Kea finally. Alyssa had been wanting to see a Kea in the wild for days. We were so excited to finally run across some. They are not afraid of us, you should be more afraid of them. They are notorious for breaking things off your car, stealing you lunch or camera and other naughty behavior. They are extremely smart birds.
Some info on the birds I found online:
The kea is an unusual parrot. It is the only truly alpine parrot in the world, and gained early notoriety among settler farmers for attacks on their sheep. Innately curious, kea are attracted to people wherever they enter its mountain domain, and are a feature at South Island ski-fields and mountain huts. Their attraction to people and their paraphernalia is a two-edged sword, providing both new threats and new opportunities.
As soon as we stopped I rolled the window down to get a better look and a picture. This one wasted no time trying to see who we were. SCARY!! Quickly rolled that back up.
This one took a liking to our van and became "king of the hill".
Maybe he was thinking he was going to have some van parts for lunch so we decided it was time to get on the road. Plus the sand flies were out and hungry as well. They have a nasty bite that can itch for DAYS!!
We continued on our way and stopped at a small trail called The Chasm. It was a short walk that had a beautiful deep waterfall underneath the trail. You could hear the rushing water the entire length of the trail. So loud and beautiful sounding.
So much moss and ferns growing along the trail.
When we got to Milford Sound we found all the boats and waited for our turn to board. We were hoping ours was this one with all the pretty sails, but no... it wasn't. We still wanted some pictures of it. Kayla was quite obsessed with it.
This was our boat, still cool, but not AS cool.
We got settled on board. There was a downstairs where you could sit at a table and look out the windows, an upstairs where you could find a seat and look out some windows, and you could be out on the front deck or the back deck to enjoy the view, wind and water when close to a waterfall. Kayla was content up on the deck with Brady most of the time. The other 3 enjoyed playing cards in the bottom and occasionally coming up to the top deck.
The scenery was breathtaking and grand. The water was amazing and deep blue.
Can you see the waterfall in the background? We would be getting up close and personal later.
We caught up to the "cool looking sailboat" when we got out to the edge of the sound and into the open ocean. Kayla loved taking pictures of it.
The lighting was good to finally capture the beautiful blue hue of the water.
We found some snoozing seals.
Link to Milford Sound Waterfall 1 Video
We are about to get up close and personal with the waterfall. Time for hoods!!
It as an amazing cruise on the Real Journey's boat and we are so glad the weather cooperated with us. Now, back to Te Anau to play in the park while Dad goes fishing.
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