From the Mountains to the Sky Act 6: Fiordlands - Milford Road

It was the Queen's Birthday long weekend here in New Zealand so we decided to go for a long trip to the Fiordlands minus JC and IN who had gone to Auckland for the weekend. Leaving Friday at 4:00 we arrived in Te Anau at 12:15 Saturday morning...quite a trip. The map below shows our travel for the whole weekend.


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In Te Anau, we stayed at the YHA Te Anau, which is by far the best hostel yet. It was spacious, clean, and filled with friendly people. Definitely worth the low price of admission.

Saturday morning, we left to drive the Milford Road. This drive is famed as one of the most beautiful highways in the world and it truly was spectacular. We stopped at all of the lookouts and natural attractions along the way including the Mirror Lakes...

Lake Gunn...

and The Chasm (no picture available).

Along the route, we also stopped to tramp up to Key Summit, a small peak only 945m above sea level...I say only but it was quite a long way up. The view from the top was gorgeous. This track was probably my favourite part of the entire weekend. I wish that the rest of the group was a little more interested in hiking (although JW seems to have caught the bug). Here is two pictures from the top of the mountain.


After Key Summit, we continued along the road, passing through the Homer Tunnel and descending towards Milford Sound. The Homer Tunnel is a 1km long unlit tunnel passing through the Homer saddle down towards the sound at a gradient of 1 in 10. Quite steep. Arriving in Milford, I was surprised to find it quite empty of people. It is supposed to be a top tourist destination. I suppose that it is wintertime here in NZ, which makes it less busy. We didn't go on a cruise in the sound, but did have a good time playing on the beach and climbing some trees.

Returning to Te Anau, we went out for dinner at the Red Stripe Cafe, recommended by Lonely Planet. This restaurant turned out to be quite upscale and we were left surrounded by a large number of wealthy middle-aged people enjoying our meals. I tried the southern delicacy of Pork Belly. It was rather curious with the skin still attached but quite tasty. Afterwards, we went to bed in preparation for a busy Sunday.