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milford Sound
fiordland, new zealand
TLDR: Amazing day trip, but the coach won’t be that exciting if you’ve already spent some time in Fjordland – maybe take a book for that part.
Getting there from Te Anau
We went to Milford Sound on a day-trip, again booking with Real NZ. Whilst people can and do drive (which gives you much more opportunity for exploring), we didn’t have a car at the time, so opted for the coach+cruise combination.
We got to the Real NZ building early, giving me time to leg it up the road and grab a lamb and mint pie for breakfast from “Miles Better Pies” – definitely worth the frantic jog.
We were in for a bit of a surprise when the bus arrived. We’d assumed that there would be a Te Anau coach but it turned out that we had the last two seats on a coach that had come all the way from Queenstown! Despite the driver’s efforts at getting us 2 seats together “we’ve got a honeymoon couple joining us”, we would up taking seats about 6m apart.
Whilst the driver was fantastic, the drive wasn’t great. I think part of this comes from having spent several days walking through a similar landscape (see Kepler Track) a few days before, which meant that experiencing the views with about 40 other people (and a few other coaches at the same spots) had lost their magic a bit. It’s also a long drive, I’m not sure how the Queenstown group coped!
However, the driver’s annecdotes and stories kept us going, and we soon emerged out the other side of the tunnel and descended down to the busy ferry terminal.
Fortunately, the boat ride was a lot of fun.
Milford Sound
Milford Sound’s walls rise more steeply that Doubtful Sound’s, with waterfalls plunging from up on high, being bent and twisted by the winds funnelled through the channel. We sat up on a faux-grass top-deck, with almost 360 views, for the first hour, before venturing out onto the bow as we neared the sea.
This proved great entertainment for the watchers on the deck above, as an unseen wave swept in, drenching both of us to our skin. Luckily, it was a fairly warm day, and we were able to dry ourselves in the sun back on the safety of the top deck.
The captain was determined to get us good views, pulling up close to the walls of the fjord, and pushing the bow close to the various waterfalls. The wildlife seemed elusive, but given that quite a few boats were out on the fjord, it wasn’t too surprising.
Spot the boat
Heading back into the Sound
Looking for wildlife
After several hours out on the sound, we arrived back at the dock, and strapped ourselves in for the coach trip. The sea air must have worn us out, as it seemed to fly past on the way back – we did get a few jealous looks when we were able to jump out at Te Anau.
The Kea at Milford Sound
You’re fairly likely to see Kea on this trip, as unfortunately they’ve become used to being fed by tourists on the route to Milford Sound. Some have famously learned to move traffic cones onto the road to stop the traffic. No matter how tempting, please do not feed the Kea. A lot of human food is poisonous to them, and risks causing them illness/death.
A Kea (taken at Arthur’s Pass, it’s a much better photo!)