Te Anau and Milford Sound 21-22 Feb

We decided to drive to Te Anau via a small diversion to Arrowtown. Arriving at 9:30am we were almost the first ones there and a quick visit to a cafe for very yummy hot chocolates set us up for a good hour's walk along the river Arrow. It was an interesting old gold mining town with buildings looking like they belonged on the set of a spaghetti western, it was also interesting to learn of the Chinese miners who were there in the late 19th century. After Arrowtown we continued our journey to Te Anau, another one with virtually empty roads. The first part of the drive along the eastern edge of Lake Wakitipu was, yes, you guessed it, simply stunning. After checking in to our Youth Hostel we thought one walk in the day wasn't enough so we did a really great two hour walk along the edge of Lake Te Anau. Sleep came easily later!

On day two at Te Anau, the day of our cruise on Milford Sound, we woke to a dry, fine day. It rains on 264 days a year at the Sound so you could say we were lucky, but I'd go further and say we were blessed. We made an early 7:20am start on the 72-mile drive and the cloud lying low in strips across the mountains was yet another insight into this majestic country. A highlight on the drive there was the raw, rugged state of the Homer Tunnel. No fancy surface or smooth walls here but instead rough hewn granite and water dripping from above. Absolutely loved it. And then came the main event, namely our Milford Sound cruise. It's very hard to put this into words but here goes - waterfalls three times higher than Niagara, mountains two kilometres high, sunshine, fur seals, dolphins, a great, knowledgeable guide, a glacier, a rain forest and so many photos taken. You had to be there.