2003

The year is 2003 and Marg and I are back in New Zealand. This time we are really going to see Milford Sound! As before, we spend two nights at Te Anau. The map below shows the road from Te Anau to Milford, with some of the key sights marked.

Leaving Te Anau, the road follows along the shoreline of the lake for some 30 kilometres, before veering right into the Eglinton Valley. Here the road climbs gradually and almost imperceptibly. In the old days this gave rise to worries about engine performance, but modern cars handle the grade with ease. Our first stop is at the Mirror Lakes.

On a still day like today, the reflections are beautiful.

A little further on there is a flat area with car parking where one can meet the local residents. But beware! The friendly keas have a special liking for rubber windscreen wiper blades and other such delicacies arttached to visiting cars!

This is wonderful mountain country, good for taking a break ...

... and contemplating nature. ‘I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills.’ ... Mount Christina, I believe ...

A high point of this excursion is the Homer Tunnel. The tunnel is named after William Homer who discovered the saddle and first suggested a tunnel. The tunnel is straight and was originally single-lane and gravel-surfaced. The walls remain unlined granite. The east portal end is at 945 m elevation; the tunnel runs 1270 m at approximately a 1:10 gradient down to the western portal. Until it was sealed and enlarged it was the longest gravel-surfaced tunnel in the world. I must say that travelling through this tunnel was more of an adventure in 1960!

At the lower end of Homer Tunnel, the country opens out with a grand view of Mount Tutoko, the highest peak in the Darren Mountains.

Below us, the road descends steeply down the valley.

Soon we reach the Sound, and are entranced by the spectacle of Mitre Peak reflecting in the still water.

The photographer in me wants to record the image from every possible angle, and with every possible foreground. The tourist ferry takes visitors out to the mouth of the Sound, passing close to the flank of Mitre Peak.

Driving to the end of the road, a short walk along the northern side of the Sound brings us to the magnificent Bowen Falls. The Bowen River runs south towards the fjord for 8 km, before flowing from a hanging valley to become the 162 m (Lady) Bowen Falls, cascading into the head of Milford Sound. The falls are named for Diamantina Bowen, wife of George Bowen, the fifth Governor of New Zealand.

We stay as long as we can, trying to store in our minds the beauty of what we have seen, and then reluctantly set out on the return journey. Up through the Homer Tunnel, and then there is a turn off to the left up the Hollyford Valley. From the nearby lookout we take in a final vista of the Alps.

Returning to Te Anau, we agree that a visit to Milford Sound on a fine day is an unforgettable experience.