Milford Sound, the gem of NZ ? 4 March 09
We set off at 9am (after a fantastic breakfast -- huge fruit salad) and Viv had advised us to allow 2 hours to get to Milford Sound as there'd be lots to see on the way. We were lucky with the weather, it was a perfect day... and it's not often a perfect day in Fjiordland National Park I haste to add. In Te Anau they'd just had the worst summer in 20 years with '3 good days in a row in January'... and it does rain 7 meters of water per year in Milford Sound, so you just do not take sunny days for granted at all. I'd seen it on a glorious day once before (1993) and so felt really lucky to see it clearly twice in my life.
The air quality was great that day, really good definition on the mountain sides as we drove down. As in most places in NZ, the journey definitely was as beautiful as the destination. The scenery, in fact, got more and more beautiful and dramatic the further South we drove, and positively lusher too. We drove through some meadows that really had an American feel to it... rivers through the valleys, mountains in the background, countless fir trees, it could have been Colorado or Wyoming... amazing place for camping. The air smelt SO good. It felt very freeing, standing in the middle of this post-card like setting, with no one around.
We then stopped at Mirror Lakes, the best place for a 'mirror like effect' in the waters, but a few ducks spoilt the effect with their diving as it created ripples over the surface... but we'll forgive them I guess.
Our next stop was Lake Gunn. It was a gorgeous little lake, very serene, crystal clear waters (the lakes in the South are so pure that you can drink straight from them, they are 99% pure and you save on the 1% of chemical that you'd find in tap water!). There was a 30 mins loop walk around the lake that we decided to do to stretch our legs because it had lots of moss on the trees and looked like a Lost World, again.
We'd been walking for 10 minutes when I stopped to ask Janet to take my photo on a particularly nice tree (covered in such thick moss it was like sitting on a cushion, or walking on a thick carpet). I then noticed that a little robin had come down to inspect my camera bag. We walked closer to it, thinking it'd fly away, but our presence didn't phase him at all. In fact, unknown to us at the time, the NZ robin (white chest and dark grey feathers) has little fear of humans in areas where they aren't many.
Indeed, as I sat down to try and take some photos of him on the ground, he soon came to pick at my trousers (I had two strings at the bottom, so he must have thought they were worms?), then he tried to jump on my leg and later on my head. I was in awe... I hadn't seen 'fearless' birds since my Galapagos experience. But this was surreal. He was so friendly and inquisite, it was like having an 'instant pet'... so Janet nicknamed him 'Poppet' for the occasion, as all pets should have a name. We were SO taken by this precious little bird that we stayed with him a good 20 minutes. He never got tired of us, and we didn't get tired of him (we even made a few videos of him sitting 2 inches from us or less). For that experience alone, NZ went up by 5 points in my ratings ! :)) Because I SO love birds and this little robin behaved just like the blackbird I once had as a pet... (it was the same size as a black bird as well, bigger than our European robins). They are endemic to South NZ. I also grew to appreciate the diversity of NZ all over again, as the South is so different from the North (from what I've over-heard in conversations with various tourists, we all agree that the South is much more scenic so, in effect, we'd 'saved the best for last').
The next time we stopped, it was at a car park with the most amazing vista and again, within 2 minutes a kea flew down to come and check us out. They are such lovely birds too and I was impressed by the coach of Japanese tourists that pulled up minutes after we did as they did not try and feed it. There are signs everywhere that state: 'Please do not feed the keas. Help them remain wild by feeding themselves' but this would be wasted on whoever doesn't speak English.
We eventually reached Milford Sound, the icing on the cake, and it was a bit windy so Janet felt it was best to cancel our cruise in the Fjiord in case she felt really sick. We enjoyed a pleasant little walk around the vecinity instead, and some food and drinks in the cafe that overlooked Mitre Peak (THE most photographed sight there and probably the most recognised 'face' of NZ, a true icon in its own right). I took lots of photos ,needless to say -- so many textures, pebbles, rocks, moss, palm trees, ferns, etc. We stayed there a good two hours to take it all in then drove back slowly, to take some more photos on the way.
We found a few crystal clear streams with green-blue waters, though trying to get to them proved a bit difficult so I just went as far as I safely could and shot from wherever. We also went to The Chasm, a natural rock formation, carved over thousands of years by swirling waters... and back at Mirror Lakes to see if the ducks had finished messing about, but they were still diving and eating. But because they were closer to the walking boards this time we actually enjoyed watching them dive as the water was so clear, it was like standing over an aquarium.
The good thing also about standing still for 5 minutes is that another beautiful NZ robin came to say 'Hi' too. I would like to think that I attract birds like a magnet, but I'd be lying. It turned out that he was a smart little cookie who had worked out that tourists attract sandflies like magnets and that if he kept close to me, he'd get the sandflies that tried to bite me... So I sat down to make it easier for him and he had a great meal. Within seconds I was, indeed, covered in sandflies and, as my trousers were beige and they were black, it was so easy for him to spot them. He was so efficient that he caught 12 in just 10 minutes and I even managed to squash a few for him to make it an extra easy meal. At least I felt it was 'good healthy food' for him and better than crumbs. Once he was full, he just flew off.
We got back to Te Anau on time for dinner, tried another eating place and ended up sitting outside a quaint pub that happened to have live music that night (2 old guys with their guitars). And, as you may have noticed: you know you're getting older when you can't stand loud music (!), so sitting outside was pleasant, but inside would have been too much for our ears I think.
We set off at 9am (after a fantastic breakfast -- huge fruit salad) and Viv had advised us to allow 2 hours to get to Milford Sound as there'd be lots to see on the way. We were lucky with the weather, it was a perfect day... and it's not often a perfect day in Fjiordland National Park I haste to add. In Te Anau they'd just had the worst summer in 20 years with '3 good days in a row in January'... and it does rain 7 meters of water per year in Milford Sound, so you just do not take sunny days for granted at all. I'd seen it on a glorious day once before (1993) and so felt really lucky to see it clearly twice in my life.
The air quality was great that day, really good definition on the mountain sides as we drove down. As in most places in NZ, the journey definitely was as beautiful as the destination. The scenery, in fact, got more and more beautiful and dramatic the further South we drove, and positively lusher too. We drove through some meadows that really had an American feel to it... rivers through the valleys, mountains in the background, countless fir trees, it could have been Colorado or Wyoming... amazing place for camping. The air smelt SO good. It felt very freeing, standing in the middle of this post-card like setting, with no one around.
We then stopped at Mirror Lakes, the best place for a 'mirror like effect' in the waters, but a few ducks spoilt the effect with their diving as it created ripples over the surface... but we'll forgive them I guess.
Our next stop was Lake Gunn. It was a gorgeous little lake, very serene, crystal clear waters (the lakes in the South are so pure that you can drink straight from them, they are 99% pure and you save on the 1% of chemical that you'd find in tap water!). There was a 30 mins loop walk around the lake that we decided to do to stretch our legs because it had lots of moss on the trees and looked like a Lost World, again.
We'd been walking for 10 minutes when I stopped to ask Janet to take my photo on a particularly nice tree (covered in such thick moss it was like sitting on a cushion, or walking on a thick carpet). I then noticed that a little robin had come down to inspect my camera bag. We walked closer to it, thinking it'd fly away, but our presence didn't phase him at all. In fact, unknown to us at the time, the NZ robin (white chest and dark grey feathers) has little fear of humans in areas where they aren't many.
Indeed, as I sat down to try and take some photos of him on the ground, he soon came to pick at my trousers (I had two strings at the bottom, so he must have thought they were worms?), then he tried to jump on my leg and later on my head. I was in awe... I hadn't seen 'fearless' birds since my Galapagos experience. But this was surreal. He was so friendly and inquisite, it was like having an 'instant pet'... so Janet nicknamed him 'Poppet' for the occasion, as all pets should have a name. We were SO taken by this precious little bird that we stayed with him a good 20 minutes. He never got tired of us, and we didn't get tired of him (we even made a few videos of him sitting 2 inches from us or less). For that experience alone, NZ went up by 5 points in my ratings ! :)) Because I SO love birds and this little robin behaved just like the blackbird I once had as a pet... (it was the same size as a black bird as well, bigger than our European robins). They are endemic to South NZ. I also grew to appreciate the diversity of NZ all over again, as the South is so different from the North (from what I've over-heard in conversations with various tourists, we all agree that the South is much more scenic so, in effect, we'd 'saved the best for last').
The next time we stopped, it was at a car park with the most amazing vista and again, within 2 minutes a kea flew down to come and check us out. They are such lovely birds too and I was impressed by the coach of Japanese tourists that pulled up minutes after we did as they did not try and feed it. There are signs everywhere that state: 'Please do not feed the keas. Help them remain wild by feeding themselves' but this would be wasted on whoever doesn't speak English.
We eventually reached Milford Sound, the icing on the cake, and it was a bit windy so Janet felt it was best to cancel our cruise in the Fjiord in case she felt really sick. We enjoyed a pleasant little walk around the vecinity instead, and some food and drinks in the cafe that overlooked Mitre Peak (THE most photographed sight there and probably the most recognised 'face' of NZ, a true icon in its own right). I took lots of photos ,needless to say -- so many textures, pebbles, rocks, moss, palm trees, ferns, etc. We stayed there a good two hours to take it all in then drove back slowly, to take some more photos on the way.
We found a few crystal clear streams with green-blue waters, though trying to get to them proved a bit difficult so I just went as far as I safely could and shot from wherever. We also went to The Chasm, a natural rock formation, carved over thousands of years by swirling waters... and back at Mirror Lakes to see if the ducks had finished messing about, but they were still diving and eating. But because they were closer to the walking boards this time we actually enjoyed watching them dive as the water was so clear, it was like standing over an aquarium.
The good thing also about standing still for 5 minutes is that another beautiful NZ robin came to say 'Hi' too. I would like to think that I attract birds like a magnet, but I'd be lying. It turned out that he was a smart little cookie who had worked out that tourists attract sandflies like magnets and that if he kept close to me, he'd get the sandflies that tried to bite me... So I sat down to make it easier for him and he had a great meal. Within seconds I was, indeed, covered in sandflies and, as my trousers were beige and they were black, it was so easy for him to spot them. He was so efficient that he caught 12 in just 10 minutes and I even managed to squash a few for him to make it an extra easy meal. At least I felt it was 'good healthy food' for him and better than crumbs. Once he was full, he just flew off.
We got back to Te Anau on time for dinner, tried another eating place and ended up sitting outside a quaint pub that happened to have live music that night (2 old guys with their guitars). And, as you may have noticed: you know you're getting older when you can't stand loud music (!), so sitting outside was pleasant, but inside would have been too much for our ears I think.
posted by Sylvie at 4:27 PM
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