Campervaning in New Zealand & Motoring in Australia: Milford Sound

Fiordland Crested Penguins.

Yesterday we drove over the Milford Road from Te Anau to Milford Sound in Fiordland National Park (the largest National Park in New Zealand). The road was so scenic that it took a long time because of the many stops for the view and photos. On the way, we had to wait at the Homer tunnel for about 15 minutes for traffic in the opposite direction. The tunnel is 1,200 m (3,940 ft) long and slopes steeply down to the Milford side. While waiting we enjoyed watching the antics of the Kea bird plus people walking in the snow.

Milford Sound is a true fiord carved out by massive glaciers with sheer mountain walls. The mountains rise up from below the water line so most places there is no shoreline and the cruise boats can go very close to them. On our ride the boat went so close that the waterfalls drenched us (of course we had fun with our raincoats on). Many of the lower mountain sides are covered with lush green plants since this is in a rainforest that gets 8-9 meters (over 300 inches) of rain each year. There are only a couple of permanent waterfalls, but when it rains, dozens of waterfalls appear as if by magic and seem to be everywhere. We did not have any rain on our trip, but it did rain right after we got off the boat and rained all the way back to Te Anau - so we got to experience the mountains covered with larger and ‘new’ waterfalls that we had not seen on the way to Milford.

On our cruise we were able to see seals and penguins and we also visited the Underwater Observatory to see the unusual black coral, red coral, anemones, starfish, and fish that live in the fiord. High rainfall means that there is a 3-4 m (10-13 ft) layer of fresh water above the underlying salt water. We also saw seals and our first penguins on some of the few rocks that line the fiord in places.

Today, we drove the Southern Scenic route into Invercargill on the southern part of the South Island. We passed thru beautiful areas of grazing land and it seemed like thousands of sheep seemed to be everywhere in their paddocks. We also saw some domesticated red deer herds that they raise for their meat and also for the velvet on their antlers (which is used for medicinal purposes). This area is ideal for raising sheep and deer that 4% of the population in New Zealand produces about 20% of the exports from this country.

Water drenched rainforest walls in Milford Sound

Kea – The only alpine parrot in the world. They are very playful, but can also be destructive when they peck away at rubber parts of a car - such as the rubber around the windscreen (windshield).