12:15am, Barnyard Backpackers, Te Anau
Up late again packing, this time for the Milford Track. Seems like I have the much more free time while on a tramp, since there's no driving, and no packing then… Up with the 6:50am alarm. A bit tough to get up, but we have a big day ahead, hoping to take advantage of the fine weather to cruise Milford Sound. Pretty morning skies out the window. Wendy makes eggs for breakfast, along with veggies prepped last night. I cook up some oatmeal, on a hopeless quest to finish off all the oat blend I packed from the US before we leave NZ. Wendy prepared a lunch of sausage, hard boiled eggs, carrots, and sweet potato salad.
We hit the road shortly after 8am, and arrive at the DOC to pick up our tickets for the Milford huts, as well as re-schedule our cruise on the Sound (originally scheduled next Tuesday at the end of our hike) to today, since the weather was gorgeous, and we had an extra day thanks to the car shuttle after the Routeburn. We got our $132 refunded, and decided to make the 2hr drive to Milford and browse cruise options there. Meanwhile, the weather forecast for our Milford track looks absolutely dreadful. Rain, heavy rain, gale winds, for the next 4 days. Ugh… Gotta enjoy the good weather today….
We drive up the highway, 126km to Milford Sound. At 85km, we reach the Divide, where we exited the Routeburn track. Wendy slept a lot in the car. Pretty scenery across open fields with low fog draped below the mountain peaks. Soon we drove into the fog, and lost all visibility of the mountains. We paused a bit at a car park, and waited for the fog to thin before continuing on, staring up at towering mountain cliffs, and marveling at waterfalls. Very scenic.
Breakfast, before driving north to Milford Sound (heading towards the mountains across the fields)...
A gushing waterfall/stream, from the car. I stopped to wait for the fog to thin, since it seemed on the verge of clearing up. I didn't want to miss out on the stellar landscape...
Good thing I waited ~10 minutes. Got to see this mighty cliff and waterfall...
We entered the Homer Tunnel, and descended the last 26km to Milford Sound. There were still clouds lingering, but we knew they'd burn off soon. The road was very curvy, which is a rarity for NZ. For some reason, NZ doesn't build many roads like this, though there are tons in Norway and Iceland. I guess it takes the beauty of Milford Sound for them to construct one...
We arrived ~10:15am, and checked out some cruise options. We ended up picking a 3hr cruise (longest option), that included a visit to the underwater discovery center (viewing platform 33' below water), and a BBQ lunch buffet. Best value, though most expensive at $114/person. Only problem was that Wendy already packed a lunch, which we'd have to leave in the car (took the sweet po' salad with us though). We had some time to kill, so we strode along the forest walk to a view point across the Sound. The famed Mitre Peak was beginning to show from the clouds.
We walk around for ~20 minutes before our cruise. The sandflies were pretty bad here...
Then we walked to the ferry terminal, boarded our boat at 11:35am, and immediately hit the buffet as the boat departed.
The buffet was quite good and well stocked. The only problem was that the more you ate, the more you missed being out on the deck watching the scenery. Still, Wendy and I, both accomplished eaters, made well at the buffet table. Over the course of the voyage, I downed 5 burgers (at least quarter pounders), 4 drumsticks, and a sausage, along with plenty of salad and veggies. Still managed to get out for the amazing scenery. Skies were blue, and visibility was 100%.
Views of waterfalls out the window as we eat lunch...
There was a guide who spoke about the geological features along the way, and pointed out fur seals. Mitre Peak is over a mile tall, and is the largest mountain in the world to rise directly out of the ocean. Milford Sound is actually named incorrectly, since a sound is a river carved valley, and this place is a glacial carved valley. It should be called a fjord. But all these "fjords" are called Sounds in NZ. Milford Sound wasn't discovered until the early 1800s. The early explorers kept missing it while surveying, since the opening is so narrow.
Looking back at the big waterfall near the harbor, and ahead to another...
Interesting colored rock in the cliffs...
Some fur seals lounge in the sun...
So many waterfalls in Milford Sound. Also impressive is the amount of vegetation growing on the steep cliffs...
The boat was able to approach very close to the cliffs, since the Milford Sound is so deep...
Wendy and a rainbow...
Looking back at the waterfalls we had just visited...
After turning around in the choppy waters of Tasman Sea (the ocean), we headed back and got super close to a huge waterfall. Wendy stayed outside and got soaked, along with several others, who were promised a memorable experience by the tour guide (I took the warning and went inside).
Some fur seals on the rock to the left...
Making our way back into Milford Sound. This time we'd stay near the left side of the Sound...
Our next waterfall to visit today...
Looks like a wet encounter is in store...
Several people stay on the deck, for a soak, at the suggestion of the captain...
A look back at the waterfall. Clouds appear to be gathering at the sound's mouth...
We stopped at the underwater observatory, and had the opportunity to view black coral. It's actually white while alive, and this is the only place in the world to view it, since it usually lives too deep in the water, but somehow survives here just 30' below the surface. There were other fish and plant life around too.
Then we loaded back on the boat and return back to the port. The terminal was much busier now. This is the top tourist destination in NZ, with 500,000 visitors each year.
The mighty Mitre Peak...
Returning back to the harbor, where the massive waterfall lives...
A couple of pics of the waterfall...
One last look at Mitre Peak, and a look towards the end of the Milford Track (2nd pic), where we'll emerge from in a few days after our tramp...
We walked back to our car, and drove out, stopped at a car-park signed "Chasm", which led to a narrow water carved canyon. There was a long wait at the one-way Homer Tunnel, and we drove back to Te Anau, arriving ~5pm.
The road to/from Milford Sound has stunning views. 2nd pic: Lake Te Anau...
We had originally planned to stop at the great fish n' chips place we ate at yesterday, but we were stuffed from the lunch buffet, and headed to the wildlife natural center in town instead. There were several birds on display. Pretty good exhibit, and free. Some colorful birds native to NZ.
Then we drove back into town, and walked along the main street. We were on a mission for another deck of cards, since there would be a lot of downtime on the Milford track, given the heavy rain forecast. We needed another deck for some 2 player games. We checked out gift stores, and stumbled into a yarn shop, where Wendy bought some merino wool yarn, in hopes that my mom can knit a scarf with it. Then we wandered to the library, to take advantage of the free wi-fi, and research some Hump Ridge info for after the Milford (if the nasty weather doesn't destroy our will to tramp).
All of a sudden, I realized it was 6:45pm, and we needed to be back at the hostel to get our ice cream out of the freezer before 8pm (and preferably eat dinner before that). We were still quite full, but figured a dinner of salad would do nicely. Wendy walked to the grocery store, while I headed back to the car, and bought a deck of cards. By the time I reached the grocery store, Wendy was outside, ready to be picked up with a bunch of veggies. 15 minutes later, we were prepping the spinach, lettuce, tomato, and cheese salad. It was our quickest meal by far (and another meal without yams, which we will be hard pressed to eat up before leaving here). I added some of the hard boiled eggs Wendy had packed for lunch.
After many platefuls of salad, we retrieved the remainder of the half gallon Boysenberry Ripple Ice Cream we started yesterday, and ate it outside on the picnic table, admiring the 8pm evening skies, and enjoying the pleasant weather. NZ ice cream is a bit fluffier than US ice cream, and we found ourselves finishing container. Great way to spend $4.50 on a lot of good ice cream over 2 days.
Back in the kitchen, I washed dishes, and Wendy prepped for some food to bring on the Milford Track. We decided to go all out and bring some real food to cook, at least for the first day. We're bringing big salads, and a bunch of ground beef to cook up and sprinkle on the salad. We're also bringing a ton of eggs, hard boiled and raw to try cooking. I rigged up a egg container by effectively folding some egg cartons on top of each other, stuffing them with toilet paper for cushioning, and wrapping a rubber band around the outside. Wendy bought 30 eggs yesterday. Somehow, 18 of them are already eaten or accounted for the hike.
After finally straightening out food plans, it was back to our room to tackle our strewn out gear into some orderly fashion for the tramp. I made some PBJ w/ banana tortilla wraps. They are heavy! We're bringing a ton of food, but we'll need good food to combat our wet, dreary, hiking over the next 4 days.
Awesome location and lots of room in our cabin. If only it had a stronger shower...
Yikes, already 1am. Our gear is in pretty good order, but still more to do tomorrow, before our 10:30am boat that takes us to the start of the Milford track. At least we won't have to get up super early.
There's only 1-1.5hrs of hiking on the first day to reach the hut, so we'll have lots of time to relax tomorrow…