Milford Sound and our last Day in Te Anau

After a quiet, somewhat rainy day, we took a drive out to Milford Sound, about 2 hours from Te Anau. The drive winds up into the coastal mountains until you get to the 1.2 km Homer Tunnel that goes through the Darren Mountains. Started in 1935, it was finally opened in 1953. Originally a gravel road, it was eventually paved, and in 1977 it was opened to year-round traffic. When we were in here in 1999 the tunnel was 2 lanes, and a bit nerve racking with opposing traffic. It’s now reconfigured to one lane and controlled by traffic lights at either end, a much better idea!

The facilities at Milford have grown significantly since 1999, with a VERY busy cruise boat terminal and all new docks. We walked down to check it out, unbelievably busy. Lots of tour companies come to Milford and operate vessels to view the Sound but after our Doubtful Sound cruise earlier this week, we had no intention of doing this one! There are a number of walking trails along the shore, so off we went (after spraying ourselves liberally with insect repellant, the sandflies are voracious here). Got lots of good photos and had a quiet lunch looking out over the sound (and no sandfly bites!).

We were glad we went to see Milford Sound again, but also happy to leave, a bit to crowded for us. That being said, if you’ve not been there, and get the chance, it’s absolutely worth it.

On the way back, we stopped at a few places along the road to try and capture the absolutely stunning scenery. There are lots of great walks in this area, and while we did some, we’ve left a few for the next time we here!

Milford Sound was our second to last day in Te Anau. Our last day started very early for me, I was up at 12:30 AM booking campsites at Gros Morne and Terra Nova National Parks in Newfoundland for our camping trip there in June/July. Registration opened for these parks at 01:00 NZ time and you have to be in quick to get a site. We got reservations, so all good. I’ll post more on that trip as we get closer.

We spent the morning with long walk along the lakeshore out to the Te Anau Bird Sanctuary. Not a lot of birds left in the enclosures, and no tours due to staffing shortages, but still a great place to wander around. We did get to see a couple of Antipodal Parakeets that are unique to this part of the world. They are also home a couple of Tekapo’s, part of the breeding program to re-introduce them into the wild. All in all a nice walk, and a nice way end to our time here. We’ve done lots, seen lots, walked lots, and now it’s time to move on and head south to Invercargill for a few days. I’ll leave you with a few bird pictures and some final pictures of Lake Te Anau.