It’s
about a two and half hour drive up to Milford Sound from Te Anau if you do not
rush. We did consider an organised trip but they tend to leave early and
include a boat trip and its several hours on a coach which neither of us really
like.
 |
| Milford Sound at low tide |
So we took our own time and headed up the road to
Milford late morning initially through bendy but interesting views until later
on you end up climbing the mountainside for about an hour to reach the pass and
tunnel which connects Te Anau with Milford. This road is often closed in the
winter due to snow and so Milford is then not accessible at all. There is a
major outcry in te Anau as a investor want to build a huge complex on Te Anau Downs
which is about half an hour North of here and connect it direct to Queenstown
via a monorail. If this goes ahead it
could have a devastating effect on tourism in Te Anau as all traffic to Milford
must currently pass by here and in the event of the monorail then many tourists
will bypass this place.
Anyway after a lovely drive and a picnic lunch by the
side of the Lake we headed back to Te Anau and up the mountain one side and
through the very dark tunnel and down the mountain for about an hour. On the
way to Milford we entered the tunnel with bright sunlight outside and very dark
inside and I temporarily was lost as I could not see the road but then we
discovered that once you enter the tunnel it drops down so quickly and you are initially
looking at the tunnel ceiling and not the road.
 |
| The mountain pass |
On the way back we noticed there was a cycle race
planned which we avoided by about an hour but later in the evening when we went
back to town for a dinner of Fish and Chips followed by the cinema, yes again
you say, but this time we saw a film called August-Osage County with Meryl
Streep and Julia Roberts and other good actors and it is all about an American
dysfunctional family after the death(nee
suicide) of the father, well worth seeing for Streep and Roberts performance.
And so home to bed when overnight it started raining again heavily and with
more rain planned for today and overnight it confirms our decision to take a
cabin.
Tomorrow an easy day is planned.
