Slope Point to Queenstown

From Slope Point we headed to Colac Bay as Invercargill had nothing worth stopping for (sorry Invercargill).  With the recent bad weather and cold nights the whole campervan thing was starting to take its toll so we decided to break our own “try to save money” rules and headed for a campsite.  We booked ourselves into Dusty’s Pub which had an attached camp ground (or it might have been the other way round), parked the van, located the open fire and promptly sat next to it with a beer in hand.  We ended up having a good chat with the locals and amused them no end trying to swing a hook onto the bulls nose (not a real bull just a local pub game).  We even pushed out the boat and had some pub grub rather than cook ourselves.  It was a much needed pick me up (nothing to do with the beer though).

The next morning was warmer and drier and with us generally feeling much happier we headed for the Fiordland region of New Zealand and Milford Sound.  As we pulled out of the campsite and started our drive you could see the massive mountain range ahead that was to now dominate our journey up the west coast and just beyond, clear weather….hooray! 

We headed straight for Te Anau, the gateway to Milford Sound.  As we made our way along the quiet roads looking at the scenery I spotted a very distinctive hill shaped a bit like a horses back and surrounded by snowy peaks.  As we drew closer I realised where I had seen it before…..LOTR (Twin Towers).  Beside the fact that the castle and village were missing it was, not surprisingly, identical to the scenes from the film.

Once we reached Te Anau we took the opportunity to re-supply the van and then headed out on the 120km road that connects Milford Sound to the rest of the world.  The road meanders up the Eglinton valley along some of the most dramatic scenery you could possibly imagine.  We stopped at a DOC campsite for lunch which was nestled in the woods.  As we pulled up we saw something through the trees and so walked the 10m or so whereupon we found a pebble beach bordering a very large glacial lake with green hills and the snow capped mountains of the Southern Alps behind.  We rushed back to the van to make lunch and then dragged our camp chairs to the beach for THE most spectacular lunch location you could get.

We continued our journey stopping at a number of incredible “brown sign” sights along the way to the last DOC campsite on the road before entering Milford Sound at Lake Gunn.  The site was small but instead of the million dollar view that we had become accustomed to, we had an even better money can’t buy view of the mountains surrounding the lake with our spot being just metres away from the water edge.  Unfortunately even paradise has its problems.  The weather was sunny and warm however it was impossible to enjoy the great outdoors as God had intended and eat our sumptuous meal outside due to the sandflies and these buggers bite.  As soon as you opened the door hundreds would enter the van and begin biting anything they could find.  Emma went on a killing spree to clear the van after a rather painful episode with one of the little blighters, sealing us in for the rest of the night.

The next morning we made the final hours drive to Milford Sound.  The road continued up the valley and we started to climb towards a very large mountain at the end.  The road signs warned of avalanches and instructed us not to stop and with the continued ascent of the road we eventually reached the snowline at nearly 1000m high.  Finally we could see our escape, a small tunnel entrance high in the side of the mountain called the Homer Tunnel.  As you reached the tunnel you could see that it had been dug out at quite a steep gradient down through the mountain.  The tunnel entrance looked like it was just big enough to get the van through let alone the hundreds of tour buses that make this journey every day.  Hoping that we would not meet anything larger than us we raced through the tunnel to the other side.

The road now dropped dramatically in to the next valley using switchbacks to lose the height we had gained eventually bringing us back to sea level and the Milford Sound.

Milford Sound is a very long and deep flooded valley nestled between snow covered mountains and open at one end to the Tasman Sea.  Before the road was built it was impossible to get here other than by boat.  Milford Sound is actually named incorrectly as sound means cut by a river, whereas Milford was cut by a glacier so it technically should be called Milford Fiord.  It was first discovered 50 years after Cook came to the area by Welsh whalers who named it after their home town of Milford Haven.  Because Milford was cut by a glacier the sides are incredibly steep and it is home to the highest sea cliff in the world at 1600m.  The area gets over 7m of rain a year thus guaranteeing many permanent as well as temporary waterfalls which cascade into the sound from the surrounding mountain range.  The fact that there are so many mountains this high and so close to the sea is what makes the New Zealand landscape so unique and this place in particular so incredible.

Being long and filled with water the only way to see the place is via a boat trip so taking the bible’s advice to get on the early morning trips before the coaches turn up, we selected a small tour company who only had 16 other customers and set sail quick before having to fight for viewing positions with the elbow nudging Asian tourists and their plethora of cameras.  The boat trip was 2 hrs in duration and sailed out to the entrance of the sound into the Tasman Sea giving you a Cook eye view of the place where he sailed right past.  To top off our sailing trip we were yet again visited by a large pod of dolphins who swam in our wake for a good 20 minutes wowing the tourists as well as the boat staff who said that this rarely happens.

  We left Milford the only way we could back through the Homer tunnel.  Feeling that there was more still to see of this impressive landscape we decided to climb to the top of Key Summit, a 3.5 hour walk with impressive views of the Eglinton valley and more views of the Southern Alps that were inaccessible by car.  We have to say that the Milford Sound and the surrounding mountains is one of the most incredible places either of us has ever been.  It definitely lived up to its reputation - a must see for everyone.

Next morning we headed for Queenstown, the journey not being too long in distance but was extended due to the constant stops to take pictures or just to stare open jawed at the epic scenery.  Queenstown sits on the shore of a very large, dog legged shaped lake called Wakatipu and is situated pretty much half way along.  Queenstown is not only NZ premier ski resort but is also the world capital of adrenaline fuelled activities.  The best or worst we saw (depending on your view) was a canyon swing, 200m up with a 150m freefall and doing about 150km/h.  Needless to say neither of us felt the need to experience that and felt happy just to explore the town and the surrounding mountains! 

We headed for the only campsite in town which also happened to be a 5 minute walk from all the pubs and restaurants.  Emma went to check us in returning with a face like thunder, not only was it the most expensive campsite EVER, but they also had the cheek to charge $2 per shower on top of the campsite fee.  To finally round off the picture the campervans were packed in like being in a Tesco’s car park.  Madame was not amused (the actual diatribe is unrepeatable but bar stewards was used a lot).

With so many mountains and walks right on the doorstep we planned our biggest and most adventurous walk so far.  Ben Lomond summit was 1748m high and thanks to the ski cable car which took us to the beginning of the walk we only had to do 1000m of the assent.  This was a 5 hr epic and one of the toughest walks in many a year with a full on 2.5 hr assent to just above the snow line.  However the views from the summit of a 360 degree panorama of snow covered mountains for as far as the eye could see was quite frankly breathtaking (or maybe it was the climb).

To celebrate achieving the climb and someone’s birthday in two days time we headed to the Cow restaurant.  The Cow was housed in an old cow shed (hence the name) and was famous for its Pizza & Pasta having the same menu since 1976.  And good pizza it was!

We spent a few more days in and around Queenstown with a small excursion up the lake to Glenorchy where we went for another hike, this time a 14km jaunt along the start of the Routeburn track which is very famous in NZ.  I also got to finally see my birthday presents which Emma had been hiding from me since Christchurch, although I have no idea how I am going to get any more stuff into my rucksack.  A perfect birthday indeed.

Next:  Continuing our journey North to the Franz Josef Glacier.