Am. rain/drizzle. Queenstown - Milford Sound, amazing drive down lake W. & through some plains up to Te Anau - lunch at Sandfly Cafe. Got to MS for 3pm. Walked around harbour. On boat at 4.20pm - in room 11. Nearly all Americans - tour group. Set off & waterfall - Bowen Falls? Pete in kayak - penguins, saw dolphins. Quiet night at anchor. Meal with Americans. Hot in cabin.
Yesterday in Arrowtown had been a beautiful late summer's day. Sadly, we had learned over the past few weeks that the only thing you could sure about as regards New Zealand weather is that it was something you never could be sure about. The next few days were forecast to be very wet indeed. For us it was a disappointing prospect. Was entire trip had been designed on a shoestring budget, but we had allowed ourselves one extravagance, an overnight cruise on Milford Sound. The cost for one night as much as we usually spent on motel accommodation in a week.
We booked out of our Queenstown bunker first thing, it was a long drive to Milford Haven and in order to join our cruise we needed to reach the dock by mid-afternoon. The hotel receptionist attempted to cheer us up as we handed the keys in by asserting that many people preferred to see Milford Sound in the rain as it was more 'atmospheric'. We remained unconvinced.
For first 30 miles or so Highway 6 followed the southern leg of Lake Wakaitipu through a narrow valley. Beyond Kingston for most of the way to Te Anau the landscape was flatter, as we crossed the south west edge of the Otago. I suspect on a clear day you would see mountains in the distance. All you could see today was not very much - rain and mist.
We paused for lunch at Te Anau. The Sandfly Cafe was busy, an obvious stopping-off place on the way to Milford Sound. I suppose guaranteed custom and little competition rarely produces outstanding food, and this place was no exception. As well as the cafe, Te Anau has developed into an adventure sports centre. Like many places near the Southern Alps, the place specialises in helicopter tours. None of the others had managed to come-up with quite so ominous a strap-line....
After lunch the cloud lifted and the steady downpour became intermittent drizzle. The road north skirts Lake Te Anau for a while then heads towards the Eglinton valley. 'Hauntingly beautiful' is a hackneyed phrase, but sometmes you stumble across the archetype behind the cliché. Rationally speaking, no landscape can be more authentic than another, but you would have to be utterly soul-less to assert that sometimes palces have an extraordinary, visceral presence. This surely is the case in relation to the small lakes a big forests of the Eglinton valley.
Our mid-afternoon boat meant we could not linger for long. We managed a short walk from a picnic spot, a way marked path through the Beechwoods. It took less than 15 minutes but I will remember the place's profound quietness forever.
We pressed on, climbing upwards through the pass between Mount Christina and Flat Top Peak. Both the weather and the road deteriorated, visibility was minimal, as we drove through cloud the became road narrowed and pot-holed. Every so often our progress was slowed by single track unlit tunnels. They were controlled by traffic lights and sometimes there was a considerable wait. It was good that we had given ourselves an hour or two's leeway when we planned the journey.
In the event we arrived in Milford Sound about 45 minutes before we needed to present ourselves at the cruise company's ticket office. Time enough for us both to record our thoughts on the Facebook group site we had set up for friends and family to follow our progress.
Even though the sky was overcast the sound looked magnificent. Perhaps the receptionist had a point, the place might look equally stunning in rain or shine.
What can I say about the Milford Sound cruise. Milford Sound itself was magnificent, even in the pouring rain. I went out in a sea kayak (oldest person I reckon) got up close to seals and penguins. From the deck we spotted dolphins. Gill was confronted by a serious amount of geology and on an epic scale that you rarely find in Europe. I got the impression that the young seals more as interested in the humans as we were in them.
For some reason we seem to have very few photos of the cruise. Not sure why, maybe given the wet weather we failed to take many or perhaps they were 'mislaid' when I uploaded the photographs to our computer when we returned home. We did take some video, some during the evening when we were wildlife spotting and early the next day when the ship headed out from the calmer waters of the sound into the swell of the southern ocean. The purpose was to enable us to see the sunrise over the mountains, sadly there was no chance of that at all. As you felt the strength of the swell below the boat the power of the Southern Ocean's 'roaring forties' was palpable. Looking west I wondered if you sailed at this latitude where would you make landfall. Google Maps to the rescue, at 41 degrees you are a little south of Tasmania and far south of Capetown. In fact you would not see dry land again until you reached the coast of Argentina, just north of the Falklands. That is about 14,000kms, an almost inconceivable distance.
Was the cruise worthwhile? Yes, Milford Sound is magnificent even in the rain. Maybe a daytime trip would have sufficed, I am not sure what you gain by staying overnight - fewer tourist boats on the water I suppose particularly in the early morning. You pay hundreds of pounds more for the privilege, I am unconvinced it is worth it especially as for most of the extra time you are asleep. Furthermore, the company of your fellow travellers ensures that it is not exactly a soulful experience. In fact the other people were quite annoying, mainly retired like us, predominantly American couples exuding wealth and a sense of exceptionalism. At dinner, and around the decks they talked incessantly of where they were from back home and tried to outdo each other with tales of investment ploys and money making schemes. Occasionally they might glance at the scenery and declare it 'awesome'. The experience reinforced my impression that the pair of us would make the worst cruise passengers in the world and for me, the experience would feel more like a punishment than a holiday.
