MILFORD SOUND WHICH IS REALLY A FJORD

But fjord was not in the English dictionary yet!

We decided to take a boat into the sounds as our one and only touristy experience on this trip.

It is a two hour drive in from Te Anau to Milford Sound.

Mirror Lakes.

A Kea found us in a car park. The kea is a very clever and very naughty bird – we adore them. Though if you are not careful they will steal the rubber out of your windscreen wipers and any shiny metal attached to the side of your car. Or your car keys! There are endangered but very adaptable and as NZ continues with its mission to rid the islands of rats we hope they will build their numbers again.

This one is in the wrong place but like I say they are adaptable and with the tourists I bet this guy is being illegally fed heaps!

After an hours walk from the parking area and out of sight on the right is the terminal.

Here is Sinbad our guide boat.

The Sounds were all carved out by glaciers that ground their way through here 20,000 years ago they had all melted by around 2,000 years ago I think and then the sea back filled into the resulting U shaped valleys. Very deep. In the Sounds it rains 200 out of 364 days on average. We got a dry fine day which was incredible luck.

Conservation is very close to the human condition in New Zealand so all this bush is native and original. And you may remove nothing. And leave behind nothing.

It is protected fiercely and shared generously.

Then two hours later – back on dry land.

I am going to send this to you now! Battery v. Low. Hold that thought.

I hope this vid of the tunnel goes through – The Sounds are incredibly isolated- which is good- and difficult to access – which is good too. Keeps out the riff raff! But also a very old fashioned place to visit.

This tunnel was punched through in 1954.

I am almost out of battery on my phone so more on that tunnel here and I will push Publish then go in search of my charger pack. I hope to come back to this post later today with more notes.

We shift the bus today – I am not sure where to but the pack up will take a while. I paid 5 dollars to have a shower in the Te Anau Visitors Centre yesterday, which was very welcome and hope to find a laundromat today! Bus life is not a clean experience.

Love love

Celi