Pictures from day four

Waking up the next day and being able to take a hot shower was heaven! I mean, really, I totally take running water, and hot water for that matter, for granted. It's not something I even think about until I don't have it. For the last two mornings, we'd had to get clean as best we could with mostly chilly water. Standing under the hot water jets that morning was the best! And putting on clean clothes! Yay! We were also excited because this was the day we were going to Milford Sound for the ferry ride and we were both looking forward to that.

The southwest coast of South Island is called Fiordland. It's basically a giant mountainous region with numerous outlets to the ocean. There are two that are the most popular: Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound. Today was the day we headed up to Milford Sound for our ferry ride. When Shannon was planning our trip, she asked me if I wanted to go to Milford Sound. I did a cursory look on the Internet to find out what it was and said sure, that'd be fun. I was not at all prepared for how amazing it would truly be.

There really is only one way to get to Milford Sound and that's through Te Anau. It's a popular destination, as we found out, and it seems the most popular mode of transportation is by tour bus. The road from Te Anau to Milford Sound is two lanes and very windy. When we found ourselves with three tour buses on our tail, it got a bit nerve wracking. The bus drivers don't really "drive" to Milford. They haul ass! It seems the point is to get there and back in the fastest time possible, preferably mach speed. Honestly, it was only slightly comforting that there weren't stories of crashed buses all over the newspapers or litte white "somebody died here" crosses strewn all along the road for the entire 72 mile length.

The drive itself was actually very beautiful. The landscape went from rolling farmland to plains to mountains during the couple of hours it took us to get there. At one point, there was a huge plain that would have made an awesome setting for an epic battle scene in some fantasy movie. We also crossed Latitude 45˚South which I didn't think anything about but Shannon was very excited. Eventually, we ended up in the mountains with the road winding first one way then the other up and up. There were several places along the way, too, where the buses would stop and tourists would come pouring out cameras at the ready. A few times we even got stuck at a parking area because the buses blocked us in.

One spot we stopped at was little more than a wide shoulder along the river. We hopped out and Shannon wandered off to snap pictures of the amazingly blue water. I noticed this parrot sitting there by the car just staring at me. I scooted over to it very slowly so as not to scare it. Turns out, I needn't have worried. These parrots not only love humans, they'll even eat your car if you don't shoo them away. The Kea is a parrot found only in forested and alpine regions of South Island. It's known for being extremely intelligent and curious. It'll carry off things people leave on the ground such as clothing and it will pull rubber parts off cars. The term most often used to describe it seems to be "cheeky" at least according to the info board up at the next pull over spot. We saw Kea everywhere we went the rest of the trip up to and back from Milford Sound. I thought they were really cute but I can see where they could certainly be a nuisance too.

Along the Te Anau/Milford Sound road is the Homer Tunnel. According to Wikipedia: "William H. Homer and George Barber discovered the Homer Saddle on January 27, 1889. Homer suggested that a tunnel through the saddle would provide access to the Milford area. Government workers began the tunnel in 1935 after lobbying by J. Cockburn of the Southland Progress League. The tunnel and the associated Milford Road were built by relief workers during the Depression, initially just starting with five men using picks and wheelbarrows. The men had to live in tents in an mountainous area where there might be no direct sunlight for half of the year. At least three were killed by avalanches over the coming decades. Progress was slow, with difficult conditions including fractures in the rock bringing snow flows into the tunnel. Compressors and a powerhouse in the nearby river were eventually built to pump out 40,000 litres of water per hour. Work was also interrupted by World War II (though the actual piercing of the mountain had successfully been achieved in 1940), and an avalanche in 1945 which destroyed the eastern tunnel portal. These problems delayed the tunnel's completion and opening until 1954."

Now first of all, I am just impressed as hell at somebody looking at the side of a mountain and saying "Let's blast a hole through that." I mean, this is no insignificant mountain and this is not an insignificant tunnel. It's just over a mile long and the region at the time they began building it could be called desolate and deserted. There was nothing out there for these people but cold, snow, and no direct sunlight for 6 months out of the year. Supplies had to be brought in on avalanche-prone roads. We stood at the mouth of the tunnel and looked out over the valley where these folks lived for years and seriously, these people were WAY tougher than I will ever be.

The tunnel is only one lane but it does have areas to pull over and let someone pass if you end up with oncoming traffic. During the day, this isn't a problem as traffic flow is regulated by stop lights. However, the stop lights go off after 6pm as we would discover later in the day. But for now we were able to get through without any problems. The other side of the tunnel took us down the mountain on switchbacks which gave us ample opportunity to see the view. It was gorgeous and eventually it led us right up to Milford Sound.

We parked ET in the lot and found Spaceships Kirk and Solar parked there as well. Spaceship spotting was really fun. There were so many types of campervans on the road. Another one of my favorites were called "Wicked." They had odd paint jobs and many of them had very unPC sayings on them. The one I remember said "If you throw a cat out the window is that kitty litter?" Another was painted to look like the General Lee and said It's only speeding if you get caught." These campervans are big business in NZ.

We were a tad early so we wandered around and checked out the scenery. Milford Sound is the end of the Milford Track, one of NZ's Great Walks. The walks are basically trails that go through some of NZ's most beautiful areas. They are usually a few to several days in length and have huts along the way where you can camp. They aren't for the faint of heart or people not up to tramping for several days. Someday, I'd really like to do one. The Milford Track is about 33 miles long and goes through Fiordland National Park. Definitely not an easy walk.

Our boat finally arrived and we eagerly boarded. Our fellow passengers were mostly older folks from the tour buses. We decided to stand up on top and thought we'd be one of the few people up there. Boy, were we wrong! I think the whole boat came up there. We had come prepared for cold and wind but, damn, not quite that much wind! As we took off up the sound, the wind was ridiculously strong. I had on my jacket over my hoodie with the hood pulled up over my head and tied securely and it still kept trying to blow off. My eyes were watering and my face burned. Seriously it was like being on the wrong end of a sand blaster, lol.

The scenery was beautiful, though. The sheer cliffs rising on each side of the waterway were covered in sparse, and extremely, hardy trees where there wasn't a waterfall flowing down the rock. Most of the waterfalls were small ending in spray as the wind lifted the water into the air. A couple of the waterfalls were quite dramatic. Huge amounts of water hurling down the mountains and crashing into the sound below. I was glad I wasn't the one with the camera because even in good conditions, I can't take good pictures. Shannon managed to get some great ones though.

Once we reached the mouth of the south, we chugged out into the ocean a little ways. With just a slight turn of the boat, the wind all but ceased and it was so calm out there. I was really surprised that any of the sea captains ever managed to find the Milford Sound area because once out in the ocean, the entrance was all but hidden. When we turned to head back in to the sound, the wind was at our backs and it was calm and peaceful again. It was nice being able to see the things I had missed because I'd had to close my eyes. The captain led us right up to one of the cliff faces where a huge waterfall cascaded into the water. On the rocks off to the side, seals lay about on their backs or curled up in balls basking in the sun. They seemed oblivious to the boatful of ogling tourists just a few meters away from them. He also took us into another little cove where, for an extra fee, there was the added attraction of climbing into an underwater facility and seeing the sound from beneath. It sounded really cool but we just didn't have the extra money. So, we chugged back to shore with the rest of the folks on our boat and were soon back on dry land.

The drive back to Te Anau was spectacular. The road leading back up to Homer Tunnel was all switchbacks going uphill. Little ET's engine worked so hard, we were afraid it wouldn't make it. At the bottom of one hill, a whole slew of bicyclists passed us flying down the hill. It looked so exhilirating but scary too. We wondered how hard it was going to be getting back up that hill until we saw their support truck. That would definitely be the way to go.

By the time we reached Homer Tunnel, the light had been turned off so we headed into the mile long tunnel not having any idea if anyone else was coming or not. It was a bit nervewracking but we made it through without seeing any other cars. We parked on the other side to get some pictures and there were some more Kea there. One of them climbed on top of the car and began chewing on the rubber seals. I tried shooing him off, but he would not get down. We finally had to drive away with him on the roof and just hope he got off, lol.

Another theme on our trip was Subway. We didn't eat out often. Usually, we ate soup, pb&j sandwiches, and the like. But every once in a while, we'd be hungry and want something NOW. Subway was our choice because it was cheap. We could get a 6 inch sandwich for about $2 American. As we drove into Te Anau, we were both starving and really not wanting to make anything. Shannon said a Subway sure would be nice and as we turned the corner, there was the Subway. Mmmmmmm.....

It was getting late but we decided to push on anyway. Up until now, we'd been settled in our nightly camping spot before dark. But this time, we decided we wanted to get to Queenstown and camp so we kept on driving. Eventually, we arrived at Twelve Mile Delta which was one of the places where they filmed a couple of Lord of the Rings scenes. We couldn't see a thing, of course, because it was pitch dark but we found a spot and set up camp. We were both exhausted and were soon out like a light.