It Happened Down In Fiordland (June 24 – 27)

As we mentioned in an earlier post, as we were in glacier country the roads in the southern part of the South Island were in a bit of a rough way with ice and snow. It was so bad that we were considering retracing our path up north since the Haast Pass through the Southern Alps south of the glaciers was said to require chains. However, while we were at Lake Matheson on the morning we were set to leave the glaciers, we met an American and a group of Germans who said they figured the roads couldn’t be that bad (most of the tour buses were planning to travel through that day), so they were heading south. This got us all to thinking. Maybe it was peer pressure, groupthink, or that we just really loathed the idea of backtracking all that way, but we all pretty much decided then and there that we should at least try to go south.

A beautiful view from Lake Matheson on a clear day at the Glaciers. The roads to the south can't be that bad, right?

In retrospect it was perhaps not the most prudent choice, but driving that day we found the roads to be altogether manageable and pretty much worry-free, so maybe they’re a little cautious in road management here? We can say that now, but we’re pretty sure we did see the American from Lake Matheson sitting on top of his luggage alongside the road with a philosophical, far-off look on his face that suggested his rental car may have gone off the road. If you asked him, he might have a different opinion on the whole thing.

Andrew, Becky, and Marie happy to have made it safely through the Haast Pass

Driving south beyond the pass we actually had fantastic weather as we got through Wanaka, where we stayed the night. It was funny being back in Wanaka again, for our third and hopefully final time. We went back to our old haunt, the New World grocery store, and who did we see but our former landlady-for-a-week, Shelley. It was funny because earlier we’d been talking about how we always ran into people we knew at this particular store, and how perversely likely it was that we’d run into her there. Spooky.

Alex enjoys the beautiful day from the shore of Lake Wanaka

In the meat aisle Shelley spotted me and came over and said “Well look who’s in town,” to which I replied “Hey there, we’re just back driving through town.” She must’ve figured that we still lived there and were just trying to avoid her, since she gave me a wide sidelong grin and said “Riiiiight,” like she’d just caught me in a huge lie. Luckily she didn’t make a big fuss or anything, since I probably would’ve been tempted to channel my inner JC and say something like “Cleaning lady, pick up after thyself!” Becky was luckier; she saw Shelley without being spotted and walked through the store with her scarf covering most of her face.

From Wanaka we drove through Queenstown to Te Anau, taking Marie and Alex to see people bungy jumping from the Kawarau Bridge, which is really pretty entertaining. We felt badly for one guy who stood at the edge for about five minutes before having to have someone push him off, followed by him sitting at the bottom of the gorge with his head in his hands for another ten minutes. It’s not really an activity for everyone. We also hiked up to the Queenstown Skyline again, and while it was unfortunately windy and overcast, the luge (actually an alpine slide) course at the top was really good fun and worthwhile. After another few hours in the car (where everybody slept but me) we arrived in Te Anau at the foot of the Milford Road, and stayed at a cool backpackers on a deer farm. Deer farms still kind of blow our mind, and probably aren’t going to get old for us here.

Alex plays nature photographer at our backpackers in Te Anau. Sadly, no venison could be purchased on the property.

To drive into Milford Sound in winter you need to carry chains, and if you don’t they’ll hit you with a pretty sizable fine. Apparently they get tired of pulling people off the side of the road there. Driving on Milford Road, you could see how this regulation makes sense, as the mountains above are generally very steep, leading to many avalanches. Although I have to think that if an avalanche hit you, you wouldn’t be going very far, chains or no. In any event, the cost of renting chains for a couple days began to quickly approach the price of buying them, so we all chipped in and bought a set, which we felt good about for at least an hour.

Marie looking very unhappy to have not found any hobbits in the woods surrounding the Sound

However, driving into the world-famous Sound, the weather was infuriatingly great and there was nary a sign of ice or snow on the road, meaning that only a freak storm would cause the roads to be anywhere near chain condition. I suppose that I should be happy for the good weather, but it seems axiomatic that because we bought chains we would then have no need of them. Oh well. During our few days in the Sound we indeed had terrific, clear weather, which was really lucky since it’s in the Fiordland region, which averages rain every 2 out of 3 days. We found out that it hadn’t rained there in almost two weeks, which is considered to be a long drought there, which slowed the normally thundering waterfalls to mere trickles. It was good though, as the nice weather allowed Alex to get some amazing shots of snow-covered peaks and the fjords from the shore.

One of the few remaining waterfalls in Milford Sound after two rain-free weeks

The impressive Mitre Peak from the shore of the Sound

That night we stayed in the only hostel in the Sound, and it was generally fine except that they turned off the power at 11 pm. This meant that the heaters shut off then, making for a bloody cold night in the Sound! After shivering our way through the evening we took a cruise through the Sound with one of the many tour companies. It was amazing to us that they each ran several large boat cruises a day, despite not having more than a handful of people on each cruise. We decided that maybe they use the off-season to train new employees; the commentary we were subjected to on our cruise was so amateurish that we can only hope they were trainees. We would recommend a cruise though, as it really is a great way to appreciate the size and beauty of the fjords. We especially liked how the captain was happy to show off and maneuver the boat within a foot or so of the fjord walls since they plunged straight down into hundreds of meters of water.

The Milford Sound on a fresh winter morning

Unexpectedly, the highlight of the cruise for us occurred just before the end of the cruise as we were approaching the boat terminal, as a group of bottlenose dolphins swam along in front of our boat, jumping and swimming upside down through the water. They seemed to enjoy the attention from the passengers on board and swam along the hull of the boat until we came close to shore. They really were some hammy dolphins.

Bottlenose dolphins following along with the cruise boat

We typically aren’t big fans of this sort of touristy activity (in the summer, dozens of ships would be traveling through the Sound, filled to capacity with travelers and their cameras), but that’s the beauty of traveling in the off-season. There were very few people on board with us, so we were able to appreciate the beauty of the Sounds (especially with the beautiful weather!) without the typical crowds. Alex didn’t need to jostle anyone for his share of picture taking space in the bow of the boat, and we all had plenty of room to spread out inside when the weather turned too cold to stand on the deck outside.

Alex looks relieved to finally take a break from his photography post on the front of the ship

With our camera cards full of majestic fjord awesomeness, we made a final trip down the Milford Road and back through the Homer Tunnel, where this time, fortunately, they had left the lights on. We joined the Southern Scenic Route towards Invercargill, “The most beautiful city in the world,” according to Kiwi speed-demon Burt Munro. Well, that’s certainly one opinion!

A beautiful spot at Mirror Lake on the drive into the Sound