Sunday, April 1, 2012

Milford Sound

After leaving the glaciers of the west coast (of south island) we headed inland in torrential rains. We heard there was 200mm rain in 48 hours from the coast inland. By the time we arrived in Wanaka, there was some sun but loads of new snow in the local mountains. Mt. Aspiring was nearby but not to be seen.

Next day was a pleasant drive to Te Anau, a resort town where we stayed in a YHA hostel for several nights. We had booked the Milford Sound bus and boat tour in Christchurch, arranged to pick us up in Te Anau at the hostel. It was a cloudy day with some sunny breaks, but no surprise after all the rain to have cloud hanging around, giving the mountains a moody look.

Of course we were looking forward to seeing Mitre Peak in the sound, but it barely peeked out through the showers and cloud. The 8 hour day included a bus tour (I think we were the youngest on the bus!) out to Milford, then boarding a boat, having lunch and chugging out to the Tasman Sea. We saw many waterfalls, some of which only appear after heavy rains, seals on the rocks, the fault line where the Pacific plate pushes up against the Indian plate. (the whole south island was formed from subduction of the tectonic plates causing the mountains of the Southern Alps of NZ to continue to grow, and we are told they are the youngest mountain range on earth - in case I have not mentioned it, the north island was formed volcanically). We viewed the furthest point on the west coast where the next stop is Argentina, a few fishing boats, crayfish (lobster) farms, albatross flying out on the ocean and other tourist boats on the sound. Milford Sound is a popular destination for anyone visiting NZ.



In Te Anau, we saw a film on a big screen recorded over 10 years from helicopter flights in the area. Amazing scenery and much like the Canadian Rockies in many ways. 

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