Milford Sound

Dang couldn't get into the driver's side of the car this morning.  I managed to crawl in from the passenger side.  The parking spots were very skinny at this hotel and the hotel was full.

It was a cold morning, and I was glad I had packed my puffy coat. It might look a little funny, but it was warm. 

The plan this day was to drive to Milford Sound, take a cruise and return in time for our next scheduled activity.  It's a 2-hour drive if you don't stop but we had several scenic stops planned for the drive so we had to get an early start so we could make our 11:00 am cruise.

 

Map of the drive split between this photo and the next.

There aren't any towns between Te Anau and Milford Sound.

Our first stop.

Nice boardwalk along a swampy area. 

This was the first hint I had of how far New Zealanders will go to eradicate all invasive species.  Well I should have figured it out when I learned how strict they were on what was brought into the country.  They are in the process of hunting down and killing all the stoats, rats, deer, and many other animals that have been brought to the country over the centuries.  The same is true of invasive plants.  Quite an ambitious plan. 

That's a big knot.

Our second stop was Knobs Flat, named for the kames and hummocks which have been left by retreating glaciers at the end of the last ice age.   But once we got there, I didn't see any information about the kames and hummocks.   If you want to know more about these glacier-made features, go to the August 2015 section of this blog and check out the Kettle Moraine State Forest post.  That's in Wisconsin.  

This stop did have information about the types of mistletoes that grow in New Zealand. 

We continued on our way and climbed higher into the mountains.

Entering Homer Tunnel

Looking back at the tunnel entrance and waterfalls coming down the mountains.

One of the places we wanted to stop was fenced off.  I think due to the possibility of an avalanche.

Being the cheapskates that we are, we parked in the free lot a 20-minute walk from the cruise dock.  The closer, but yet not close, parking lot costs $20.

The trail started out a bit narrow but became boardwalk in some places. 

It was still chilly outside, so we spent most of our time inside the boat instead of on the outside decks.  That's why you see the two stripes at the top of the photo. That's the lighting above the seats in the boat.

The narrator mentioned that the cruise line hired the best naturalist they could afford to talk to us about what we were seeing... Then he introduced himself as the narrator and captain of the boat. 

Milford Sound is just one of 14 fjords in Fjordlands National Park, and it really isn't a Sound, it's a Fjord.  A Sound is a submerged river valley.  A Fjord is a glacier carved valley.  Sounds are V-shaped and Fjords are U-shaped.

Twin waterfalls that we are going to approach.  I think they are Fairy Falls and Bridal Veil Falls.  

The captain got the boat up really close to the waterfalls so we could see the rainbow. 

We sailed to the mouth of the sound but didn't venture out onto the Tasman Sea. 

The Māori name for Milford Sound is Piopiotahi

Seal Rock is where the juvenile seals hang out.  We did see a couple, but they are really hard to see in this photo. 

Hanging Valley waterfall

The glacier on Mount Pembrook used to come down to the sound. This is one of the rare places in the world where a glacier abuts a rainforest.  

As we entered Harrison Cove, a crew member spotted a Crested Penguin so the captain sailed the boat up close to the shore so people could see it. 

This is Lady Bowen Falls.  It is 162 meters (531.5 feet) high and is the water supply for Milford Village. 

Our cruise boat.  There were a few boats at the docks but our boat was only about 10% full.  There was a bigger crowd waiting at the dock when we got back. 

This is the huge parking lot that is only for buses.  There were only a few buses there.  That gave me some clue as how busy this place would be when it hits peak tourist season.  Most of the places we visited during this trip were experiencing low numbers.  They had just recently reopened to tourists.  

I'm so glad we were here early enough in the season that the sandflies hadn't emerged. 

A kea looking for food in a parking lot 

Fjordlands National Park.

Milford Sound is a 10-mile-long glacial fiord with extremely steep bedrock walls extending up to 6,500 feet above sea level and dropping to nearly 1,000 feet below sea level. This diagram shows what a cross section of a fjord would look like.  The water has different temperatures, oxygenation and salinity at different depths.

On the middle left of this photo, is Mitre Peak.  It has a smaller, forested peak in front of it.  At 5,560' it is the tallest sea mount in the world and falls over 3,000' straight down into the water. 

Plants I associate with warm weather with a glacier in the background.   

Don't know what this plant is but it is interesting how the leaves line up.

Of course I had to pick up a rock. 

The abundance of ferns reminded me of the Pacific Northwest of the USA.

We had to stop in order to take our turn going through the tunnel on the way back to Te Anau. 

I had read beforehand that we needed to watch for these cheeky parrots which would steal things from your car if you weren't careful 

One of the cars in front of us had attracted a parrot. 

When the light changed and we could proceed, the people got back in the car and the parrot was trying to see if they would open the window and give him something.  The parrot stayed on the car as it moved toward the tunnel and flew off right just as the car got to the entrance.

Back through the long tunnel

View at Monkey Creek

Information panel at Pop's View

View from Pop's View

Nephrite jade is a green gemstone that the Māori have prized for centuries. For the Maori, pounamu objects held great spiritual significance. Hei-tiki, pendants carved from pounamu, were passed down for generations. The Maori also had a long-standing tradition of gifting pounamu to others and used it to seal bonds and show gratitude. The importance of this material was also reflected in the Maori language. The Maori concept of tatau-pounamu, a “greenstone door,” meant a peace agreement between warring parties. Each party chose a hill to symbolize a door that would remain closed to those who wanted violence.

Māori names for various geographic features.