We say goodbye to Queenstown Wednesday for a couple of days to see Te Anau and Fiordland, we venture further south then west only to drive north. Apparently a road extension from Haast to Fiordland was started in the 1940s but never finished, probably a quarter of the trip we are doing, but hey then we would miss out on the awesome scenery.
The snow capped mountains leading out of Queenstown are boarded by an amazing lake for about 30 minutes of the drive and very stunning
. We then move into cow, sheep, deer and spot the dead possum continued to be our driving game.
Also, as started early on in our holiday anytime we passed another motorhome we wave frantically in the hope they would wave back, thumbs up or at the least smile, those that did not partake in the said game were awarded 'the bird'. After they had passed of course! We waved at a Police car once and luckily they waved back.
Arriving in Te Anau is an opportunity to move out of the van and rest up on real beds before our coach tour into Milford, which we are told is miss named as its a Fiord not a sound. We saw mirror lakes (sadly the wind ruins the affect) but just as some rain clears we stop for a leg stretch and witness a full rainbow, of course Colin the driver says he planned it, well done!
Colin also challenges the group to answer whether we are closer to the equator or the south pole? Well it was a freezing morning so we didn't have to be Einstein, heading north and within 10 minutes the answer had changed. We start to climb the mountains, and at most stops, the Kea birds show up to wow us, they cause quite a bit of damage to the vehicles but very cute and colourful.
Part of our trip is a 1.2km tunnel through a mountain which was pitch black. Since the beginning of the drive we had reached 900 metres above sea level, a steep decent and we arrive @ Milford. Fantastic boats and tours to choose from and they all include drinks, lunch and fiord mountains that appear to be over 1000m high, just stunning. Also a chance to see seals, dolphins and penguins, we hit the trifecta.
Te Anau and Milford Sound cruise
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Milford Sound, South Island, New Zealand
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