Tuesday, April 26th:
We woke up at 5:55 a.m., ate breakfast in the beautiful dining room in the hotel overlooking the lake, and then left on the bus at 7 a.m. Today we had the longest day of the entire trip because we did not get back to the hotel until 9:15 p.m. that night!
We started with a drive through Cromwell district near the Kawarau River, which is typical Lord of the Rings territory. I am not a Lord of the Rings fan so I did not recognize any of the scenery, but that was a good amount of people on our tour that were oohing and awwing the entire time. The Cromwell district was absolutely beautiful though because we stopped in a valley that was carved out from glaciers. At one time, there were glaciers there taking up the entire space, but obviously that was a long, long time ago. It was amazing seeing how vast the area was and to picture huge glaciers once being in that area. We all took a ton of pictures there because the space was so wide open and picturesque!
Panoramic Views:
After taking in the beautiful scenery, we left on the bus and headed to Te Anau, where we admired the glacial Mirror Lake! Te Anau is the largest lake in the South Island, and the second largest in New Zealand. The Mirror Lake literally took after its name! Anywhere you looked, there was a perfect reflection in the lake. I had never seen anything like it before. It was beautiful!
The next stop where we were headed was Milford Sound! From Queenstown, it is about a 4 hour drive one way, which is why we had such a full day. Usually on our trip, you spend the night on a ship on Milford Sound, and then come back to Queenstown the following day. Since it was Easter when we went, it was the only weekend of the year where they closed the overnight ship down for the week. It was a little disappointing because I think it would have been a lot of fun, but you can't always do everything in life.
Along the way from the Mirror Lake to break up the drive, we stopped at a river that was runoff from a glacier. Since it was freshwater, we were allowed to fill up our water bottles and drink from the river! The water was SO fresh and cold that I probably could have drank about 6 water bottles. It was a good thing that I didn't, because I did not want to have to stop and pee every 5 minutes!
After we filled up our water bottles, we were on our way to Milford Sound! To get to Milford Sound, you have to pass through Homer Tunnel. William H. Homer suggested in 1889 that a tunnel through the saddle would provide access to the Milford area. Beginning in 1935 during the Depression, the government allowed 5 relief workers, including Homer, to build the tunnel because they were unemployed and needed a job. The 5 men only used picks and wheelbarrows to build this tunnel, which is absolutely amazing. The men had to live in tents in a mountainous area where there was no direct sunlight for half of the year. It took these men 20 years to build, and by the end of the 20 years, 3 of the men died from avalanches. The entire tunnel was extremely steep, but it was very impressive to see how these men only used picks to build a tunnel that millions of people travel through each year.
We also saw tree avalanches, which was something else I had never seen before in my life. Since there are mountains and steep hills, the trees grow on these mountains but have to have interlocking roots to be held tightly in the ground. If one tree falls down, since they are connected the ones below also fall down, forming a pyramid of fallen trees.
After 4 hours on the road, we finally arrived at Milford Sound! Milford Sound is a fjord within Fiordland National Park. A fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity. On the other hand, a sound is the same thing as a fjord except it is created in a valley carved out by an ocean. Milford Sound is actually a fjord, and not a sound, and therefore should be called Milford Fjord. The tour guide told us that a long time ago they thought it was a sound, and they still have not gotten around in changing the name. Here is what Milford Sound looks like standing on land:
Even though we were not able to spend the night on the boat, we were still able to take a 3.5 hour cruise around Milford Sound. We cruised from the beginning of Milford Sound, and stopped right before we got to the Tasman Sea. The entire boat ride was beautiful, because there were waterfalls everywhere! The boat was able to get literally 5 feet away from the cliffs because there are no rocks or parts of the cliffs sticking out under the water. The water is super deep next to the cliffs, so there would be no way for a boat to get stuck. This is how close we got!
The captain of the boat also went super close to the waterfalls, because he said that is the way they clean off the front of the boat. We were able to stand right on the bow and get the mist of the waterfalls. One of the waterfalls we went up to formed a beautiful rainbow, in which I got a picture!
The entire ride was very relaxing. We even got to see some dolphins and seals along the way with the Tasman Sea being so close to Milford Sound! It got really cold when the sun went down and when we were near the waterfalls, but overall I loved going to Milford Sound.
Getting super close to the waterfalls!
Once we left Milford Sound around 5:30 p.m., we headed straight back to Queenstown, and arrived around 9:15 p.m. Since we had such a long day, the 7 of us went to get Mexican food for dinner, and then hung out for a bit before we went to bed. We wanted to get a good nights rest because the next two days were going to be amazing being in the adventure capital of the world!
Heaps of Love,
Heidi
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