Magical Milford Sound
After a long drive from Dunedin we arrived in Te Anau which is the gateway to Milford Sound and all the national parks within the surrounding area. The town itself is fairly small, set against a stunning blue lake. We initially looked around for a place to camp around town, but found campervans were not permitted to stay overnight. Instead we headed off to a DoC campsite which was free and found ourselves a lovely spot just by the river.
The following day we had a lazy start, but managed to get ourselves booked onto a last cruise of the day around Milford Sound. The Milford highway is widely regarded as one of the most scenic drives in New Zealand. The terrain changes rapidly as you pass through an amazingly flat plateau carved out by a glacier, then pass crystal clear lakes perfectly reflecting the mountains above and the many waterfalls lined the way as you descended down the steep winding road to the wharf. Basically there were too many stunning views to stop in all for photos, however this was nothing compared to the jaw-dropping views we were treated to during our 2-hour cruise of the Sound.
Again we had been lucky and the heavy rain had cleared for us that afternoon. The sun was out and all the waterfalls around the Sound were at their full flow with the rain waters of the last few days. There were seals hanging out by the rocks and so many birds and it felt like we were in a David Attenborough documentary. We found out Milford Sound is not a sound at all but a fiord, which means it's carved out by glaciers millions of years ago. As the glacier slowly melts into the sea a very deep valley is left behind.
That night we camped in another DoC site, but we were too late to get the amazing lakeside spots by Lake Gunn. Instead we headed further south and camped by the water listening to the fast flow of the river. The whole area is protected national parks and full of walking and mountain biking trails. We had an early morning walk around a short looping track to lake and surrounded by the enormous beech trees covered in bearded moss we felt like we were in a Lord of the Rings set (Lothlorien or perhaps even Fangorn forest). Such a shame though we didn't see a single wood elf.
