Fiordland -- Milford Sound

So approaching Te-Anau it looks like it is this rolling green countryside, the trees are starting up again, and in the distance there are clouds. Then I realize that in the clouds there are the big, steep mountains of Fiordland. I hope the pictures I took turn out, because it is a sight to behold.

I was supposed to be at Milford Sound by 7PM, but the lunch with Peggy and friends went 3 hours, so I stopped in Te Anua to make sure that they would hold my spot for the vanette. (In Nelson we had a reso, but when we got there at 9, they were like, "Oh, sorry, full up, first come first serve." That turned out pretty ok since I met Aljosha at the place we ended up. But in Milford, there is only 1 place to stay in a camper van; when you see the pictures you will understand why.)

As I approach the entrance to Fiordland National Park (part of a World Heritage Area, which means severe restrictions, limited resource extraction, etc.) it is raining, of course, (it rains 360 days a year in Milford -- 8 meters of rain yes RAIN, a year), I have entered the clouds that I saw out on the "plains," there is one little patch of sunshine, and it creates a rainbow. (I know massive run-on sentence; kinda like fiordland tho; I'll make up for it with a bunch of little sentences.) First is is a partial rainbow. Then it becomes two partial rainbows. Then it becomes a full rainbow with a second partial. If this isnt a good sign of things to come, I dont know what is! (And it is ... story to come.)

I enter the park, and I am back to rainforest beauty. More trees draped in green moss, but somehow it is different....different moss? or just more of it? So far Fiordland does not disappoint. Even tho it is raining, the views are amazing and mysterious (as the tops of the mountains are all covered in cloud). The vertical rise of these mountains is incredible. They rise hundreds, probably thousands of meters in just a few. I mean, the landscape here is nearly truly vertical. I hope the pictures turn out, and convey how truly vertical it is.

There is a sign that says I have crossed 45 degrees south (i am traveling north now, so that puts Te Anau further south than 45 degrees). As I pass Lower Hollyford I get to a OMG series of waterfalls. I had heard that when it rains here, water comes cascading off these mountains and creates a zillion waterfalls, and now I am seeing it with my own eyes!!

And the further in I go, the more extreme the landscape becomes. There are frickin waterfalls everywhere, cascading down these sheer mountain sides (I would call them cliffs, but they are covered in green -- trees and all.) The water is falling for thousands of feet often in a single fall, and I am driving down the road, leaning way over the wheel, looking up with my mouth wide open. This is the most incredible landscape I have ever seen in my life!

I pass thru Homer Tunnel, the darkest, foggiest, wettest tunnel I have ever gone through, and the other side is waterfall city. This landscape is insane. It is literally insane. On the other side of the tunnel I find the steepest, widiest, downward road EVER, in waterfall city. I am way looking forward to tomorrow's cruise of Milford Sound.

I arrive at Milford Sound Lodge, and they have closed, but the harried looking staff is still busy working behind the closed gate at reception. I tell them I have a reservation for my vanette, and they kindly and politely roll the gate back up, take my money, and tell me I am in site 16. I walk over to site 16 to find no site 16. And there are three cars already parked there. taking up all the available space (presumably for campers who are staying in 17). I just tuck myself into the side of the carpark next to the bush, make myself a dinner of instant oatmeal, re-arrange the van -- make the bed (the bedding just got thrown in in our haste to make the lunch in Queenstown) and fall asleep.

It was delightful sleeping to the sound of the falling rain, and i get a nice restful sleep alone in the van where I can stretch cornerwise over the whole bed (at last my feet dont hang off the edge! Those of you who are tall can relate to what it means regarding back pain to have feet hanging off the edge of a bed.) The rain woke me up a few times in the middle of the night. It was amazing how much rain was coming down at those times. That bodes well for the cruise as waterfalls ought to be in abundance.

I awoke to sunshine cutting through broken clouds, but it turns grey after all. I head to the cruise after a breakfast that was the same as last night's dinner. The cruise guide on the small boat/extra time cruise, confirms that yesterday's 33 millimeters of rain per hour (!) will make today's cruise extra special, even if we cant see the top of Mitre Peak (tallest mountain in the world, if you start where it does way down at the bottom of the Sound.) Most of the waterfalls I will see, he tells me, wont be here in 48 hours. Also, the wind is not blowing 100 knots like it was yesterday, so god smiles on me and my trip, again!

The Sound averages 320 meters deep, and only 300 - 400 meters across. It is 70 meters deep at its shallowest, and only 8 nautical miles long. At one point, they brought us in our 120 foot or so boat right under one of the waterfalls that was 80 meters high (not the tallest one). It is wet and cold. Of course it is raining and the wind is blowing, if not 100 knots, still a good breeze. I am wearing every layer I brought, and once again think that I shoulda brought long underwear. ...... 60 or so cruise boats (big ones, like the Love Boat) visit in the summertime, and fill up the Sound.

So in a valley by Mitre peak, there are many species that only exist in this one valley, including 3 kinds of geckos and some lizards, and others. The 8 meters of rain per year in Milford Sound makes this rainforest the fastest regenerating rainforest in the world. After all, in winter they have avalanches that come straight down, ripping the trees, that cling to the sides off, exposing bare rock. The lichen acts as a glue, however, and because of all the rainfall, the rain forest can recover quickly.

The mouth of the sound is the narrowest point, and the swells off the sea pitch the boat rather robustly. It is fun (Ange would have loved it.) Our guide tells us a story that Cptn Cook came into the Sound, and that the Mauri (sp?) the native polynesians thought that the guys rowing the boat were aliens with eyes in the backs of their heads. They came out and killed the rowers. Cook then decided this wasnt a place he wanted to stay, and left New Zealand.

One of the big falls in the pictures (so many pictures I filled up all my cards on this trip to Fiordland in 3 short days) is palisade falls. It is 112 meters high -- a 55 story building (or something like that, it is still a little hard to follow the accent of the guide over the loudspeaker). Then we come to the tallest waterfall in the Sound that falls off the smallest mountain in Milford Sound, the Lion or Mt Milford or something like that. It is 700 meters tall! The first, wide waterfall in all the pictures generated all the electricity for the "Town" of Milford Falls.

The town consists of a small fleet of crayfishers, a small fleet of tour boats, a bar/cafe, one hotel, and one lodge -- that is it, no gas, no store, nothing else. Out tour guide told us that the road (the only way in or out) closed last winter for four days and there were only two things to do: watch tv or go to the bar.

So I left Milford Sound and stopped at every possible stop to take pictures (filling up the cards) and at one of the places, just past the Homer Tunnel, there is a giant car park before a very short nature walk. Now I undoubtedly timed this with all the tour busses (most people bus in from Te Anau or Queenstown for the 1hr 45 min boat ride, and return the same day.) The car park is completely blocked by the 40 or so tour busses as Japanese tourist take pictures of the indigenous green parrots that are looking for a free handout. So I park on the side of the road (perilous given the terrain), and before I even get 5 minutes into my walk, the car park is totally empty!

So on another stop I took a longer walk to Lake Marian, but I am thru uploading pictures (thru Monroe Beach Walk -- that's Mt Arthur, Hope Saddle, West Coast, Franz and Fox Glaciers, Pancake Rocks, and the beach), and that is the real time eater (that and all this writing!) At any rate, it is coming on 8PM and I need to go get tonight's campsite and make dinner before it gets dark, (which it does at like 9:15 or so).

So until next time,

NEWO OUT