We got up early, well early for us and left in the light rain to Milford Sound. As we got nearer the rain got harder. Did we tell you that up to 7 metres of rain fall every year in this location and today certainly added to that amount?The journey from Te Anau takes about two and a half hours with rolling countryside at first then building up to the most beautiful mountains either side of the road. Did I mention the rain? Well it was still raining quite hard when we finally reached Milford Sound. You have to go through a road tunnel which has a steep gradient down and it has a one way system and so in the busy periods is must be very slow.
The clouds on the mountains were quite beautiful to see and together with the mist slowly spiralling through the mountain range the feeling of magic is in the air.
I am not sure if we mentioned that rain at all, but half an hour after we arrived at Milford Sound and finished supping an expensive cup of coffee the rain stopped for enough time to allow us to walk around the lower end of the sound and take some photographs. There will not be much colour but perhaps in black and white they might look good.
We had previously decided that we would not go on a cruise around the sound as it was raining, did I mention the rain, and as our Doubtful Sound trip was so great we felt that a trip on this Sound would be a let down.
We headed back to Te Anau via the mountain pass which rises to almost one thousand Metres through the clouds and back through the Homer (one way) Tunnel. Just outside the tunnel there is a parking area where a group of Kea (birds) are walking amongst the cars in the car park looking for free food. One bird perched on our car wing mirror and started calling for food and then moved on to the road and continued calling. We had to drive away slowly to make him/her aware of the fact that we were leaving and he needed to get off.
We stopped in another camp site which we had noticed earlier in the day which did not appear in our book and actually we did not like it and so believed we stayed in the best one here. We have looked at where the Camping & Caravan Club Overseas Tour operation recommend and they are not far wrong.
Following dinner of Lamb Chops and various other vegetables we headed down town to the internet shop to upload the latest photos and then visit the cinema to watch again the film we saw earlier in the week.
Finally, would you believe it’s still raining and the field is very wet and tomorrow somehow we have to pack up the tent and everything and hopefully head off to a warmer climate.
Note: The fires in Victoria State, Australia have claimed many lives and our thoughts are with those families who have lost family and their home and treasured possessions.
