Milford Sound Magic

Eglinton Valley Lookout

Today we are doing a cruise on Milford Sound. It is a 1 3/4 hour drive from Te Anau not including time for the many gorgeous stops along the way in Fiordland National Park.

Our first stop is Eglinton Valley Lookout. Truly spectacular. This is where they shot some of the Fellowship of the Rings…Misty Mountains.

Mirror Lakes, Lake Gunn and Pops Lookout

The next stop is Mirror Lakes. This is also breathtaking with the Earl Mountains mirrored in the calm lakes below.

We stop again at Lake Gunn for more photos.

Pops View and Hollyford Lookout give us great views for looking into the valleys below.

Homer Tunnel

As we near Milford Sound we must pass through the 1.2 km Homer Tunnel. The tunnel only has one way traffic which switches every 20 minutes. We only need to wait 5 minutes before the light turns green for us. The tunnel was built-in 1953.. it took 20 years to build due to its dangerous location and three workers lost their lives.

Milford Sound

Soon we are at Milford Sound which is really a fiord. The whole area is stunningly gorgeous and reminds me very much of the Canadian Rockies. They even have a Mount Kimberly. (Its the dark brooding mountain in the picture). Click here for a short video of this area.

Fortunately we have a beautiful clear, sunny day for our cruise. We learn that yesterday it was raining with winds over 100 km/hr. This area gets 180 days of rain a year so we lucked out on the weather.

Mountain cliffs soar up from the water almost 1 km and numerous waterfalls tumble down from above. We see sea lions and fur seals.  Click here for a video.

Best of all, a pod of bottle nose dolphins swim beside the boat for awhile. Click here for a video.

Every direction is like looking at a picture perfect postcard.

Trip Back to Te Anau

On our way back to Te Anau, we stop at The Chasm for a short hike, Gertrude Valley Lookout and Monkey Creek. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see any Keas which are a rare New Zealand mountain parrot. They are said to frequent Monkey Creek and often will even go into parked cars with open windows to steal food. There are warning signs all around the park not to feed them. Please note, the parrot picture is one I took of a postcard.

Our last stop is to Falls Creek where I see a perfect rainbow in the waterfalls.

Evening at Te Anau

Tired of eating out, we make supper in the large, well equipped kitchen at the holiday park. We watch the sunset on Lake Te Anau in front of our accommodations.