Fiordland National Park
Posted: February 27th, 2011 by Scott
After Queenstown we drove to the Fiordland National Park, which is a series of fiords on the southwest of the south island. The most famous is Milford Sound (its really a fiord). After spending a night in Te Anau, the closest town to the National Park, we set off down Milford Road to the Sound. The drive to Milford Sound was almost as exciting as the fiord itself with lots of towering mountains and beautiful valleys.
On the Road to Milford Sound
Since we were going to take an overnight cruise in nearby Doubtful Sound we decided not to take a cruise of Milford Sound, but we did take a short walk around the fiord and to a lookout.
Mitre Peak
That evening we stayed at the Milford Sound Lodge, which has been our favorite campground so far since it was set in a valley in between towering mountain peaks, waterfalls and a river. It also had a great lounge room and kitchen. It was just what we were looking for in a relaxing afternoon.
The following morning we made our way back to Te Anau for another night before our Doubtful Sound overnight cruise. To get to Doubtful Sound was quite an adventure. We started off with a 45 minute boat ride across Lake Manapouri, then a 45 minute drive over a mountain pass before we reached our boat in the Doubtful Sound.
Deep Cove
The Sea Finn
Soon after we boarded the boat we were treated with local crayfish (rock lobster) for lunch. The weather was foggy and a bit rainy, but we spent the afternoon fishing and enjoying the scenery.
Scott's big catch
Would you like this for lunch?
Its like the Deadliest Catch
While out on the Sound we not only caught the wildlife, but saw a bit more too. We saw a pod of dolphins playing around, a lone Crested Penguin out for a swim and one lazy fur seal sleeping on the rocks.
After some more cruising, dinner was served and included sea perch sashimi and steamed blue cod which we caught that afternoon and local venison that Chris, our skipper had hunted near the Sound.
The next morning the clouds had started to part and we got a beautiful cruise back to the dock.
A beautiful day on the Sound
It was a wonderfully relaxing trip and I was impressed with the food, as well as how calm the waters were. I didn’t even need any motion sickness medicine. Much better than the sailboat in the Whitsundays.