Milford Sound is one of the most beautiful places in the world. It’s not quite possible to explain with words just how stunning it is there, but I will say that there were several occasions where I would involuntarily yell “holy shit” in the car when something came into view. The featured image is of Looking Glass Lake on the way into Milford, during sunrise.
I got up before sunrise to drive to Milford from Te Anau. Driving along the road during sunrise was… incredible. I arrived and took a walk around the main park area, and scheduled a kayak excursion. The kayak trip wasn’t until the afternoon, so I made coffee and a sandwich and just relaxed until the 1:30 departure time.
The kayak trip was a bit of a splurge purchase, but it was absolutely worth it. It was just me and a 19 year old kid from Bretagne that signed up. They ferry you out to the end of the fjord, practically into open ocean, and you kayak all the way back in.
We were lucky enough to also be joined by a local half Maori writer and historian who was doing an investigative project for his next book. His plan was to retrace the ancient journey, where Maori people collected greenstone from a special bay at the opening of Milford Sound, and carried the stones to ancestral land further inland via ancient footpaths. We picked him up at the bay where he harvested the rocks, and he and his friend joined us for the kayak trip back. Along the way he and the guides shared a few interesting stories and insights from Maori culture. One of the more memorable is the story of the origin of the sandflies, which are really horrible. Basically the goddess of death saw that Milford was too beautiful, and created sandflies as a way to remind the residents of their mortality and of their impermanence as residents both of the sound and of creation…
The whole experience of kayaking Milford Sound was just… ridiculous. Kayaking under waterfalls in the fjord, tasting the freshness of the falls and the brackish slightly salty/tangy mix of the bay, watching clouds blow by, listening to your voice echo across the water…It’s pretty special.
One of the more surreal moments was when a cruise ship came by. It was a huge Holland America vessel, making it’s way up the fjord with zero wake- thankfully for those of us in kayaks. The scale of the fjord can kind of get lost sometimes; it’s weirdly helpful to have something like a cruise ship to give you a reference point. The cruise ship dwarfed us in the kayaks- but in reference to the rock walls and water, the cruise ship seemed pretty insignificant, almost like a toy ship in a bathtub. (It also made me feel simultaneously thankful and smug to be in the kayaks… I’d maintain that seeing the Milford sound in a kayak is better than in a huge boat where you can’t smell, hear, taste, and feel it all.)
Our trip took a longer than expected, so I didn’t get back to the van until around 7:30. The battery had died in the van, so by the time I got it jump started, it was dark. I headed out towards Te Anau, but when I started driving up the first big hill, my fuel gauge blinked orange. Which was stupid, cause it was just under a half tank when I was on flat ground. I suppose that’s what you get when you try and save money… a van with a shitty battery and a fuel gauge that varies by a half tank depending on whether you’re on a grade or not. So I turned around to get gas from the the emergency station in Milford. While I was filling up, some park staff came by and told me I could just stay there for the night for 20$- which sounded great to me at that point. It was also a good call- the whole night and next morning was non-stop heavy rain. I just sat in the van and ate Hormel chili out of a can. It was nice to have a taste of SE Minnesota…
I didn’t leave Milford until around 9:30 the next morning, but the drive was spectacular. All the rain had caused thousands of waterfalls to appear on the walls of the fjord. The whole drive out, I was surrounded by thousands of waterfalls… it almost looks like lace or a fractal or something- on rocks that stretch thousands of feet around you in 360 degrees.
About halfway to Te Anau, I had to stop because of a tree that had fallen and blocked the whole road. There’s only one 2 lane road to Milford. I was the 4th car back… so the tree had just fallen maybe a few minutes earlier. It took over 2 hours to get cleared- so I made some coffee and a sandwich and talked to some folks. It was a nice break.
I stopped in Te Anau for some soup and wifi, and decided to make my way towards Dunedin that afternoon.
The drive there was kind of insane. I had found a park to stay at, located at the mouth of the Taeiri River. More about this place in the next post…
I punched the address into the GPS, and figured it would just route me through the main roads. It did not. The GPS directed me through rural unpaved roads that I’m pretty sure are used more by sheep than cars. At first I figured there would only be a short stretch of unpaved road, but it turned into hours…
The drive was an experience… and would have been a blast if I was in like a Subaru Impreza or some other all wheel drive rally modified car- with a racing seat and 6 point harness. The roads really felt like a rally course, which was awesome. I was driving a 1996 Toyota Previa with a mattress, gas stove, and table settings/silverware for 4 in the back. Not awesome. Every corner feels like your gonna roll the van, while your ass is shifting around uncontrollably on a threadbare seat cover and 20 year old foam that gave up about 5 years ago. There’s a soundtrack for the unpaved sections of road too: the soothing sounds of about 30 pieces of silverware and cookware rattling around with melamine plates, a pot, a pan, a stove and 3 tanks of propane. It sounds like someone put a steel bucket full of nuts and bolts into a paint mixer every time you hit a rough patch.
That being said, the drive was pretty ridiculously fun and the views were stunning. Definitely a highlight of the trip.
I made it to Taieri Mouth, and went for a walk on the beach during sunset. Not bad.
Milford is one of my favorite places in the whole world! AND – I also was there overnight in a big rainstorm once and got to wake up to the surround of waterfalls, one of my most favorite memories. Other than the friend I was with, I’ve never talked to anyone else who got to experience that, I’m so excited you saw it that way too! Can’t wait to talk more in person. And by the way, good choice on the kayak trip – I tried both the kayak and a big boat and much preferred the kayak.
Yeah, it’s pretty surreal. I’ll be back next week! =)