Day 23: Te Anau: Milford Sound
Happy New Year! Oops, booking an earlier morning adventure on New Year’s day wasn’t the smartest given everyone else was up late to celebrate around us. We had no idea this little town would put on a huge fireworks show that would wake us up and that we could see out our hotel window.
With a 5 a.m. wake-up, we were on our way to Milford Sound. Google Maps says two hours, but everyone tells us it will take closer to three, and we have a boat to catch on the other end. Fortunately, traffic was super light this morning, so we were even able to sneak in some stops along the way. Fiordland is so spectacular–the scale of these mountains is huge and breathtaking.
As Nicholas noted yesterday, we essentially are doing an extra 10 hours of driving to ride on a boat for two hours. After experiencing it today, we would all still say it is worth it. The early morning low clouds/fog and quiet was mesmerizing.
One stop on the drive was Mirror Lake, where the weather cooperated so nicely.
Arriving at the cruise terminal, we learned we were on one of the smaller boats. This turned out to be fantastic, as our captain was able to get us very close to the seals resting on the rocks and a big waterfall (giving us a shower). The seas were so calm, we were even able to go out in the Tasman Sea for a bit.
On the way back to the dock the boat stopped by the underwater discovery center where you can see the fish and other animals in their natural habitat.
Once we were back on land, it was off to our final adventure in the area. These guys are so great at going with the flow and not rolling their eyes too bad when I tell them that the next goal is to find a swing I heard about somewhere in the sandy beach that can only be accessed at low tide. Once those photos and memories were captured, we were on our way back to Te Anau.
Props to Cooper for coming up with the idea to make a 2023! sign in the sand.
On the way back, waiting for our turn to go through the Homer Tunnel, we finally saw our first Kea (mountain parrot) up close. It was so cool. We had heard they are incredibly intelligent and like to peck at cars to pull out the rubber seals. Fortunately, our encounter was at a sign nearby and not involving our car.
On our RV road trip we took a picture by the 45 degree north parallel in Yellowstone park. Little did we know we would take one at the other 45th parallel less than two years later.
Once back at the hotel, we all chilled out after our early morning start and ended up not leaving the room again.
We finally highlighted our route on a map of New Zealand and showed the kids how far we’ve gone on this trip. It is quite impressive!