Day 87 – Milford Sound Lodge
Two hour drive from Te Anau to Milford crossing the Southern Alps. This road often closes due to avalanche risk. In fact, the day we entered Queenstown while it was flurrying there, the road was shut. The tunnel that breaches the mountain range is at a 10:1 slope. It took 100kg of explosives to blow though each 25cm of rock, wow! We stopped at another mirror image water pool, a huge glacial formed flat expanse, and in a canyon to get a full appreciation of the surroundings. We pulled into Milford which is conidered part of a national park so there is one hotel for people finishing the Milford Track, a boat wharf, an airport, a bar/cafe and another Lodge where I stayed.
We boarded the boat to go into Milford Sound and dip into the Tasman Sea a bit. The cliffs were severe and made for a stunning trip. One waterfall we passed is 3 times higher than Niagara Falls, wild. Stopped at an Underwater Observatory. Since the shelf drops off so quickly due to Fjords, there is sea life not found so close to the shore anywhere else in the world. This observatory was custom built and dropped to view the unique marine life. We were greeted by frolicking dolphins as we left the research area.
The bus left me behind and I went to the Milford Lodge to get myself settled. There was some acoustic musicians playing at the cafe that evening, a rare event, and it was a big night as all the seasonal summer workers were leaving and just the winter diehards remaining. As I walked the 20 or so minutes back to the lodge, in the pitch black night – I could see a million stars. This rivaled some of the destinations I have been stargazing – being situated 2 hours from anywhere. bounded by Fjords and Sea there is not a heck of a lot to pollute the sky especially since the Lodge’s electricity generators are shut off at 2300.
Tags: Travel
dunlewey
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