New Zealand - Milford Sound

Milford Sound is one of those place you have to visit. I could sit here and write all day about how stunningly beautiful it is, how peaceful and quiet it is, but you just have to see it for yourself. I will try to do my best to describe it here.

After our one night at Te Anau, we made our way along the highway to Milford Sound. It's only 120km between Te Anau and Milford, but it's a windy road that takes you into the mountains, so it takes a bit of time to drive it. That, and it's a beautiful drive, so we were always stopping along the way to take pictures! The highway from Te Anau is the only way to get to Milford Sound, and once you reach Milford, you're at the end of the road. The only way out is to turn around and drive back to Te Anau. Knowing this, we left Te Anau fairly early so we could beat 'traffic' and get there with plenty of time to explore. We planned on staying 3 nights at Milford Sound so we could do some hiking and kayaking. I wouldn't even call Milford Sound a town. The only things there are: Milford Lodge (which is basically a lodge like backpackers), The Blue Duck (a cafe/pub) and the cruise terminal for the boats that take you on a cruise around the sound. That's it. No souvenir shops, no internet cafe, no grocery store, no gas station. Nothing. I think we were both a bit surprised at this, but I think it's what makes Milford so amazing. There is nothing there. Most people just come from Te Anau for a day trip, but we had wanted lots of time to explore, so I'm glad we stayed at the lodge. By the time we arrived, it was pouring rain outside, and with nothing else to do, we pulled out the crib boad and the Uno cards, bought a bottle of wine from the reception desk, and occupied ourselves for the rest of the day. We had a busy day planned for the next day, so it was kind of nice having an afternoon sitting inside, looking out at the rain and the mountains, drinking some wine, and playing some games.

The next morning we woke up bright and early because we had a kayaking adventure waiting for us!! We had booked a 5 hour kayak tour of the sound for the morning, and in the afternoon we had booked a 2 hour cruise of the sound. The kayak tour was amazing, but so tiring. It was good to do it in the morning because the water was quite calm to start and only got a bit rougher near the end of our tour. We were picked up from the lodge at 8am and then driven 5 minutes down the road to where the kayak company (Rosco's) was. We were provided with thermals, a fleece, raincoat, spray skirt and lifejacket. We were in double kayaks, so Chris was in the back steering and I was up front trying to direct us! It was just us, another couple, a young guy and the guide, so it was a great group. We kayaked around the sound where we saw Sterling Falls from quite a distance (9km away), The Lion (a mountain), Mitre Peak, Bowen Falls, and Deep Water Basin. Halfway through our kayak, the sun started shining, the cloud lifted and it was absolutely beautiful! We got to get up really close to Bowen Falls (160m high waterfall) and Chris and I got stuck on the rocks and bit and I started to panic, but of course Chris stayed nice and calm and got us turned around onto the right track. The kayak trip was a full 5 hours, and we were both exhausted by the time we finished. We were driven back to the lodge where I climbed right into bed because I was wiped! Chris made himself some lunch and then had a nap too. We woke up around 2:30 and chilled out for a bit before it was time to get ready for our cruise of the sound at 4:00pm. We were booked for a two hour cruise with Mitre Peaks, a smaller cruise company. We were really lucky because the sun was shining and there weren't too many clouds blocking the peaks. Also, there were only 18 people on the boat, so we had great views. The cruise was lovely, taking us all around the sound and into the Tasman Sea. We got up close to Sterling Falls, saw lots of fur seals, and had amazing views of the mountains! We took lots and lots of pictures!! Once we finished our cruise, we went back to the lodge where we made some pasta/grilled cheese and then turned in for the night. It was a pretty tiring day!

The next morning we woke up with grand intentions of doing a 3-4 hour hike before doing another 5 hour kayak/hiking tour. But, when the alarm went off at 6am, neither of us was in the mood to go tramping, so we decided to sleep in and spend the morning planning some more adventures for New Zealand and Australia. At 2pm, we were picked up by Rosco's so that we could kayak Deepwater Basin towards Sandfly Point and the end of the Milford Track where we'd do a 3km return walk to Lake Ada, and come back to our kayaks and paddle back to Deepwater Basin. Unlike yesterday, which was sunny and warm, our afternoon started off overcast with a light drizzle. But that was okay with us because we were hoping to see some great waterfalls. There was only 4 of us, plus the guide and his friend, so another small group, which was great. The water was so calm and peaceful, so it was a great day for kayaking. We paddled around Deepwater Basin and saw about 4 or 5 young male sea lions playing in the water. We were so close to them, it was amazing! We kayaked to the end of the Milford Track, which is where we started our 1.5 hour walk to Lake Ada. It was a really lovely walk through some wonderful rainforest. The rain was starting to come down quite heavy at this point, but we had good rain gear on, so weren't bothered by it. Our guide Luke was very knowledgeable about the native plants and showed us a bunch of neat ones along the way. We arrived at Lake Ada, but the sandflies were out in full force, so we didn't stay too long before heading back to the kayaks. By the time we reached the kayaks it was pouring down with rain, but still the water was nice and calm. Plus, with all the rain coming down, we were able to see some amazing waterfalls that only appear when it rains. We had a good paddle back to the launch area and then were driven back to the lodge. It was nice to get out of our wet clothes!!!

Milford Sound was definitely a highlight of our New Zealand adventure. It's such a beautiful, peaceful place. Unfortunately, we didn't get to do as much hiking as we would have liked, but I guess that will just give us a reason to return to Milford Sound one day!

P.S. It rains A LOT in Milford Sound. It rains 8m (yes, 8m) a year and 200 days a year. So, each day that it rains, that's an average of 40cm in a day. CRAZY!

Kayaking Day 1

Sterling Falls - 150m high

Bowen Falls - 160m

Kayaking Day 2 - Gotta love Chris' water-proof hat. Stylish and functional!

New Zealand - Te Anau

After 3 days in Invercargill, we made our way to Te Anau for one night before we headed to Milford Sound. Te Anau is a beautiful little town that sits beside a lake of the same name. It didn't take us long to drive there from Invercargill, so we were in good time to do a hike along Lake Te Anau. Te Anau is the starting point of two big hikes: the Kepler Track and Milford Track. Kepler Track is a 60km circular track that starts at Te Anau and goes into the Kepler Mountains. It's a 4 day hike with huts to stay at along the way. The Milford Track is one of the most famous in the world and is a 53.5 km hike that starts at Te Anau and ends at Milford Sound. Since it's such a popular route, you have to follow a one-way, 4 day itinerary.

Our little walk that we did was the first bit of the Kepler Track. We walked from the starting point at the end of the Lake to Brod Bay (5.5km) and then back. It was an easy hike along the edge of the lake, but kept you in the rainforest for most of the way which keeps you sheltered from the sun. If you were to continue on from Brod Bay, the hike starts to make a steep ascent into the mountains. We weren't that adventurous, so we ate our lunch along the lake at Brod Bay and then headed back to the start of the track. Once we were done, we headed into town so we could book some activities for Milford Sound at the i-site. After that it was a beer on the patio of The Moose pub before we headed to our hostel for some supper. We met a nice Czech couple at the hostel who were starting the Kepler Track the next day. The husband was all excited, but the wife didn't seem too gung-ho about the idea of hiking for 4 days. I hope they had a good time.

Beginning of Kepler Track - to Brod Bay

Brod Bay

The drive to Te Anau

New Zealand - The Catlins

We stayed in Invercargill for 3 nights so that we could explore The Catlins, a regions between Invercargill and Dunedin filled with lush farmland, forests, and beautiful ocean bays. There are numerous walks and sights to see all along the highway, so we decided we'd drive east to Nugget Point and then make our way back towards Invercargill, making sure to stop to do our hikes and walks along the way. The drive is quite beautiful, but very windy and hilly, so it took us awhile. We stopped to stretch our legs at McLean Falls and did a 30 minute return walk to see the falls. It was a nice walk and the falls were quite lovely, though the water was sort of brownish.

After that, we stopped to visit Tunnel Walk, a short walk that took you to this old railway tunnel that was built by hand in the 1870s. It was so dark inside, and we didn't have a flashlight, so it was a bit difficult to see, but still quite impressive. It's hard to believe that people tunneled through rock with nothing but picks and wheelbarrows.

After Tunnel Walk, we made our way to Owaka to get some info from the i-site on the best way to get to Nugget Point. The wind and rain were so intense that we ate our lunch in the car parked on the road by the i-site. It was still lovely! After lunch we made our way to Nugget Point, the farthest east that we wanted to go, in order to see the lighthouse and the cliffs. It was incredibly windy!!! But, the sun was shining for a bit, so that was good. It was a 1km walk from the car park to the lighthouse along a path that was right on the edge of the cliff, so we made sure to pay attention to where our feet were going! We were able to snap some great pics before we made our way back to the car. As soon as we got in, it started to pour, which seemed to be how the rest of the day would go. It would rain while we were driving and clear up just as we were doing our walks. The wind would howl the entire time.

After Nugget Point, we made our way to Purakaunui Falls where I really wanted to take some photos of the water cascading over the rocks. We were really lucky on all of our walks because no one else was around when we would show up. Same with Purakaunui. We were able to set up the tripod and get some great photos.

We then headed to Jack's Blowhole. A massive hole in the ground, 200m inland from the ocean, where water enters in through a cave...kind of hard to describe. The hole was 144m long, 68m wide, 55m deep, so it was quite impressive! There was a little platform you could stand on and see down into the hole and where the water entered from the ocean. The walk to and from the blowhole was stunning. You walked through farmland where sheep were grazing and you had amazing views of the ocean!

After the blowhole, we headed to Matai Falls and Horseshoe Falls, a 30 minute walk where you could see the lovely falls. By this time, we were quite tired, so the walk seemed a lot harder than it actually was!

We weren't quite done our day just yet! We wanted to see the Cathedral Caves, but since you could only go at low tide, we had to wait until the very end of the day. Low tide was at 7:40pm, and you had one hour on either side of that to see the caves. We got to the car park around 6:00pm and decided to just sit for a bit and rest before we headed down. It was raining and windy, so it was nice to sit in the car and have shelter. Around 6:30pm, we paid our $5 each and made our way down towards the beach to see the caves. It was a downhill walk from the car park through the forest before you got to the beach, then it was another 10 minutes of walking until you reached the caves. It was well worth it though!! The caves were amazing. There were two of them side by side, connected to each other by a passage at the backs of the caves. They were so high and very dark in the back! The water was coming into the start of the second cave (the opening was closer to the water than the first cave), so there were a few times where we had to jump on some rocks to keep dry! We really enjoyed the caves and they were well worth the wait! The walk back up to the car park was exhausting though!! We didn't make it back to Invercargill until after 9pm. We made a quick dinner and then played some card games before it was time for bed. Another wonderful, but tiring day!

Nugget Point

Purakaunui Falls

Cathedral Caves

Cathedral Caves

The walk to Jack's Blowhole

New Zealand - Moeraki Boulders

30km south of Oamaru you'll find the Moeraki boulders (Te Kaihinaki). Scattered along a stretch of beach, these perfectly spherical boulders look completely out of place on an otherwise empty beach. I'm not too sure of the history behind these massive boulders, but they sure were neat to see. Some of them have split open, so there are chunks of broken boulders along the sand. It was an interesting site to see.

New Zealand - Mount Cook

After three great days in Christchurch area, we woke up super early so we could drive to Mount Cook and do some hikes there before heading to Oamaru for a night. It was a 4.5 hour drive from Christchurch to Mount Cook and then another 2 hours from Mount Cook to Oamaru. We knew we had a busy day ahead of us, but were really excited to explore Mt Cook, the highest mountain in Australasia at 3000m. The drive to Mt. Cook was beautiful (like all our drives so far!). We stopped at the i-site (information kiosk) at Mt.. Cook to buy a $1 guide for all of the walks to do on the mountain. We decided to do the 3-4hr Hooker Valley walk that takes you over 2 swing bridges that cross the Hooker River to get to the base of Mt. Cook and where the Hooker River begins. It was an amazing, but challenging walk as a lot of it was over large rocks and boulders. After the second swing bridge, we stopped on some rocks to have our sandwiches and take some photos. We were going to turn around just over halfway through because it got very overcast and rainy and we didn't think we'd see the mountain, but we decided to finish the walk...we didn't come all this way to quit! And we were rewarded with amazing views at the end!! The weather cleared up and the sun came out, so by the time we reached the end of the hike, at the base of the glacier/mountain, we were able to see the entire 3000m of mountain! It was amazing! We stopped and had some apple for snack and sat and enjoyed the view. Chris stuck his hand in the glacier water, but pulled it out pretty quick!

We walked quite briskly on the way back because we wanted to do another walk to the Tasman Glacier. By the time we were done the Hooker Valley walk, we were tired, but wanted to keep going. So, we got in the car and drove to the car park where we could do the Tasman Lake/Glacier walk. It was only a 50 minute walk, but after walking all morning, we were quite tired! The walk was through a boulder field, so not quite as picturesque as the walk to Mt. Cook, but still enjoyable. The lake was massive and had iceburgs from the glacier floating in it. We sat and enjoyed the view for a bit before we headed back to the car park. Once there, we got ourselves organized and ready for the drive to Oamaru.

The drive to Oamaru was really nice and not too long (~2hrs). We arrived in the town at about 7pm and pulled up to our hostel (Empire Backpackers) which was in a really neat building which was constructed in the 1870s. It was a small place, but lovely and nice and quiet! Once we were settled, we made some dinner and then relaxed for a bit. At 9:30pm, we walked down to the ocean to see the penguins come in for the night, but we only saw one little guy sitting on the rocks, and it was getting pretty dark, so we headed back to the hostel. It was an absolutely amazing day, but we were exhausted by the end.

The start of our hike. Hooker River and the first swing bridge.

The cloud started to lift and you could see a bit of Mt. Cook

We made it! And the sun came out and the cloud started to go away!

The beautiful Mount Cook