New Zealand: Milford Sound

The weather forecast held up and we had a beautifully clear morning for kayaking in Milford Sound. Nate woke got up early enough to catch the first light coming into Milford Sound, but Ashley chose to 'sleep' in for our 7:15 kayak meet-up.

The name Milford Sound is actually a misnomer, as it is in fact a fjord carved out by glaciers. Mitre Peak dominates the left side of the view at 1600 meters tall, nearly a vertical mountain face. It is the second fastest rising mountain from the sea floor in the world (behind Mauna Kea in Hawaii). To help further provide a sense of scale, our pictures of Milford Sound include what appears to be a small waterfall on the far side of the view. This is Stirling Falls, one of the two year round waterfalls in Milford. It is 450 feet tall and is nearly 10 kilometers from the visitor parking lot in Milford Sound.

Rosco's Kayak Company met us and 8 others in the lobby of the Milford Sound Lodge and gave a debrief on what the day would be like. They max groups at 8, so there would be two guides today. One more person was supposed to be coming in from Te Anau in 30 minutes, and because we were eating breakfast still we were volunteered to be the pair to wait. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Our guide Emily showed up shortly after the rest of the group left and immediately began chatting with us. After 15 minutes of waiting, she made the call to head down to the boat ramp and start getting dressed while we continued to wait. Rosco's provided a changing area (with flap for the ladies), poly's (thermals), spray skirt, and poggies (wetsuit material gloves that attached to the oar) if desired. Ashley of course asked for the poggies.

Emily finally got word that the last person was actually on a later tour, meaning she would guide just the two of us around Milford Sound. What luck! We were in our kayaks shortly after 8 and it was calm, clear, quiet, and beautiful. So much so that even Emily was commenting on how great a morning it was. After some quick checks to determine our experience paddling and steering she led the way out into the fjord.

We generally hugged the shoreline as we leisurely paddled slowly towards Mitre Peak on the left side of the fjord. Emily shared stories, myths, and facts about the area. She also became our personal photographer during the morning paddle.

We had gone about 5 kilometers before Emily turned us across the fjord to continue our loop. Slowly cruising through the middle gave us a perfect chance to truly appreciate the scale, magnitude, and beauty of Milford Sound.

Nearing the other side, Emily pointed out the underwater observatory and the snow capped peaks high above. From here, we would be turning back towards our starting point and paddling back along the cliff walls. As the morning had wore on towards afternoon, clouds were gradually becoming more visible over the mountains.

Unfortunately for Ashley, penguins were rare this time of year. Two months earlier was nesting season and they were regularly seen by the guides and groups. However, we were watching and hoping to see some of the juvenile male seals. We had caught a brief glimpse of one on a rock earlier in the morning, but we wanted more. Shortly after turning along the other side of the fjord we came across a young seal who was sliding back into the water. Kayaking, rather than taking of the scenic cruise boats, gave us the chance to see the seal (and any wildlife) up close and for longer periods of time.

We continued our kayak towards Lady Bowen Falls, the other year-round waterfall, which is also the source of power and drinking water for the residents of Milford Sound. These falls are visible from the township, especially on rainy and windy days.

We caught up to the other group on a small beach used to walk to Lady Bowen falls. Emily led us on a short but slippery rock to the bottom of the falls. The force of the water crashing into the rocks after a 450+ foot drop generated a heavy mist.

We stayed with the other group on the paddle back to the boat ramp. During this time the other guide Mark shared the Maori legend for the creation of the Milford Sound. The god Tu Te Raki Whanoa sculpted the Fiorland National Park, working his way north gaining experience with each fjord until Milford Sound was his last, but most beautiful design. It was actually so beautiful that the goddess Hinenuitepo feared that people wouldn't work because they would enjoy the natural beauty. In response, she created sandflies to prevent people from staying too long in one spot.

Now, we haven't talked about sandflies until this point, but we had already experienced them several times. Sandflies are like a cross between mosquitoes and gnats, but they have a much nastier bite that usually left a quarter sized red mark on the skin for a week. We had been warned prior to coming about just how nasty they can be, but the previous night's cold temperature had mostly kept them away. With a warm sunny day today, they were out in force on land. For our hike to Lady Bowen falls, we could only stand on the beach for a few seconds before a swarm was around us. Luckily, our chalet was well stocked with 'Goodbye Sandfly' oil, which was a unique Eucalyptus based bug oil. The lodge sold it for $15 for a 4 ounce bottle, so it was like gold in the area. Every time we left the room we had lathered up any visible skin (and our heads) with the stuff.

After a quick lunch at Blue Duck, we took a drive back through the tunnel on our way to the Lake Marian trail. Several locals and other tourists we had met on our trip had recommended this hike above any others. Lake Marian was a 3+ hour hike to a blue-green alpine lake surrounded by steep mountain cliffs. We arrived at the trail head shortly after 3, so we would have to move at a good pace in order to make it back through the tunnel by 7.

15 minutes into the hike we came across the falls. A boardwalk followed along several hundred feet of the falls, which were more like a steep series of rapids. Because of the difficulty and length of the hike to the lake, some only came for the falls and turned around.

Shortly beyond the end of the falls area was a sign stating that it was a strenuous mostly uphill 1.5 hour hike to the lake. That sounded like fun.

It was fun, but it was also a lot of work. The trail was literally hands over feet scrambling up and over rocks and logs at several points.

Fortunately, there hadn't been much heavy rain, but we still encountered several muddy areas that required caution. For added fun, there was even a rockslide section with signs that forbid stopping for 100 m.

It started to rain lightly just as we arrived at the lake around 5. The mountains around the lake still had snow and several thing waterfalls ran down the cliffs. They were reflected in the blue green water that was lightly disturbed by the rain drops. It was well worth the hike in, but the rain and our time constraints meant we only spent 10 minutes at the lake.

The hike back was easier than the hike in, but we still had to be cautious not to twist an ankle on one of the rocks. We made it through the Homer tunnel by 6:30 and ate another meal at Blue Duck. By now, the sky was grey. The forecast was expecting a light rain through the night and well into the morning. So we would hopefully get to the see the 'other' Milford Sound tomorrow - the one with hundreds of temporary waterfalls.

We tried to spend some time on our patio sipping wine, but the sandflies were too aggressive. We finished our glasses in the comfort of our room and watched the rain come down. Tomorrow we would be driving to Queenstown and spending the evening there before flying back home.