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I spent several days in Te Anau, a pleasant resort town surrounded by beautiful mountains, clear lakes, rolling farmland, and captivating fjords. My food supplies were running low, so I stopped at the grocery store in Te Anau the second day I was there and got restocked – carefully avoiding the mutton sausages that were my staple during my first week here in New Zealand (for my not-so-flattering description of mutton sausages, see News: January 1, 2002). That evening, after yet another fish and chips dinner, I strolled around town in my shorts and t-shirt and watched a beautiful sunset by the shores of Lake Manapouri. Te Anau is kind of a party town in the summer time (i.e., now) and there were lots of teens and twenty-somethings strolling through the streets having a good time.
The Doubtful Sound cruise, which I described in my previous update, was quite amazing. But I'd heard even better things about Milford Sound, so I decided to check it out, too. Doubtful Sound is pretty hard to get to, as I described, since you have to drive to the boat dock, take a boat across the lake to the bus, take the bus down to the sound, then take another boat through the sound. Milford Sound is much more accessible: basically, you just drive 119 kilometers from Te Anau to the sound, where you hop on a boat.
The next morning, therefore, I drove down to Milford Sound and took my second boat cruise in two days. Milford Sound, as I discovered, is quite different from Doubtful Sound. On the plus side, it's much more precipitous and, I think, more spectacular, but on the down side, its much shorter than Doubtful Sound and is a lot more crowded. Imagine half-filling Yosemite Valley with seawater and then adding lots of ferns and rain, and you'll get an idea of what Milford Sound is like. What made it even more fascinating was that it had rained earlier that morning and the waterfalls were plunging straight off the sheer granite cliffs. Because there's very little soil here, though, the waterfalls are ephemeral and were all dry later that afternoon.
The Milford Sound cruises are pretty popular and the staging building reminded me of an airport terminal with all the boats, tour buses, and people coming and going. But I'd definitely recommend taking one of the cruises. If you'd like an experience with more solitude, though, check out Doubtful Sound. Then again, if you're not sure (like me), do both. You won't regret either one.
Above left: Driving to Milford Sound in the morning to catch another cruise. Above center: The first stop at Milford Sound is the cruise terminal. So many cruises, so little time. Above right: The wharf at Milford Sound. Unlike in Doubtful Sound, where there's only one boat, you have your choice here. Of course, there are also a lot more people in Milford Sound.
Above left: Another day, another sound. This is Milford Sound, one of the most famous places in New Zealand. Although the sound (and the cruise) was much shorter than Doubtful Sound, it was even more spectacular – though it's also a lot more crowded. Above right: The sheer granite walls in Milford Sound plunge straight down into the water. This place gets so much rain that, even though this is the ocean, the top few yards are freshwater. Freshwater or saltwater fishing – take your pick.
Above left: Fortunately it had been raining for the past few hours. Because of that, the ephemeral waterfalls here were in full glory. Above center: I stopped at the floating underwater observatory in Milford Sound where a spiral staircase leads down to the viewing platform. Above right: From the underwater observatory you can observe all kinds of interesting wildlife – and even some that are in the water.
Above left: This is back at the cruise terminal. That's Mitre Peak, located at one end of Milford Sound. Above center: I picked up a couple hitchhikers on my way back to Te Anau. That's Idit from Israel with the red cap and Jan from Holland on the right. I ran into Idit again a week later at Fox Glacier and she was still wearing her red cap. Above right: Climbing out of Milford Sound, heading back to Te Anau.
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