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msconductMilford Sound is probably New Zealand's best-known scenic spot. And with good reason, because it's amazing. It's about a two-hour drive from Te Anau, but I prefer getting someone else to do the driving, as not only is the road, um, challenging, it's also spectacular and I like having my attention free to gawk. We signed up for a "boutique" trip in a sixteen-seater van, and the joy of seeing NZ while the borders are closed struck again. Not only were we the only ones in the van, we were almost the only ones on the road. Considering you normally have to worry about congestion, this was fantastic.
The sound is beautiful, but the road to get there is no slouch either. We got to see fields of lupins (not a native plant, alas, but gorgeous all the same)...
...and views like these...
...before we got to the sound itself. Normally, it's busy with boats. At the moment, not. We were the only boat out there. Pretty great, but there's just one little problem: when you come here, you've got only a 50:50 chance of it not raining. I've seen it before when it wasn't raining, but this time I wasn't so lucky. They say the benefit of visiting in the rain is that you get to see the waterfalls, and it's true: there were waterfalls out the wazoo.
Here's someone else's photo of what you can expect on a sunnier day:
Despite its fame, Milford is actually my second favourite sound. I'll save Number One for another post.
The sound is beautiful, but the road to get there is no slouch either. We got to see fields of lupins (not a native plant, alas, but gorgeous all the same)...
...and views like these...
...before we got to the sound itself. Normally, it's busy with boats. At the moment, not. We were the only boat out there. Pretty great, but there's just one little problem: when you come here, you've got only a 50:50 chance of it not raining. I've seen it before when it wasn't raining, but this time I wasn't so lucky. They say the benefit of visiting in the rain is that you get to see the waterfalls, and it's true: there were waterfalls out the wazoo.
Here's someone else's photo of what you can expect on a sunnier day:
Despite its fame, Milford is actually my second favourite sound. I'll save Number One for another post.
