Fiordland National Park - Part 3

Please know we are fine. The earthquake is a terrible tragedy.  Our hearts and prayers go out to the people of New Zealand.

Today on our drive to Milford Sound, we took a little side trip to Humboldt Falls.  It was a short hike to view the spectacular falls.

G at Humboldt Falls

To get to Milford Sound you must drive through the Homer Tunnel.  As you drive down the road, suddenly you are surrounded on 3 sides by the high granite cliffs.  There are more ribbon waterfalls than one can count.  At the bottom of the cliffs is a seemingly small hole – the entrance to the tunnel.  The one-lane tunnel to our surprise was not flat to the other side, but a steep hill.  When we came out at the bottom, we pulled over to take in the view.  A kea (an alpine parrot) on the side of the road was the entertainment for all the cars waiting their turn to go through the tunnel.

kea - alpine parrot

Homer Tunnel entrance

A must see spot close to our destination is The Chasm.  A short boardwalk takes you to views of a series of powerful waterfalls.  The rocks here have been sculpted and shaped by the power of the water as it makes its way to Milford Sound.  The sound of the rushing water is almost deafening.

Chasm walk

The Chasm

It is a long way down.

When we arrived at our riverside chalet, we were blown away by the view outside our window - even on a rainy day. The rock wall shoots up thousands of feet and long ribbon-like waterfalls appear and grow with the rainfall.  The second day the waterfalls increased manyfold in both number and size.  It is difficult to capture it in a picture.  Check out how much the river grew in these two pictures.  Three out of five nights here we heard kiwis calling at night.
kiwi call

View from our room - day 1

Same view - day 2

When you visit a rainforest that receives over 22 feet of rain per year, you know what to expect.  The day after we arrived here, it poured and poured.  We decided to put on our raingear and go for a walk to see the newly created and enlarged waterfalls.

B and G at Lady Bowen Falls

Fortunately, the day of our Milford Sound cruise was fine weather.  The large catamaran moved amazingly close to the sides of the fjord.  We got close-up views of waterfalls (so close that we got wet).  The nature guide onboard told us that we were very lucky, “to hit the trifecta, New Zealand fur seals, a pod of bottlenose dolphins, and the rare and endangered Fiordland crested penguin.”

kayakers on Milford Sound

Pixie and Fairy Falls

G and Sterling Falls

Fiordland Crested Penguin

Included in the cruise was a visit to the Milford Deep Underwater Observatory.  We were able to walk down over 30 feet underwater into a floating viewing chamber with 360-degree views of the ocean.  In addition to colorful sea creatures, we saw rare black coral.  Black coral is actually white when it is alive, and turns black when it dies.

Black Coral is white in upper right corner

Near the end of our cruise, we heard an announcement that there had been an earthquake in Christchurch.  It was only after we returned to our place that we learned of the devastation and loss of life.  Our hearts and prayers go out to the people of Canterbury.

Sterling Falls

Today’s kayak trip on Milford Sound started with a boat trip out past Sterling Falls.  We boarded our kayaks from the boat.  There were 8 of us including the guide – 3 people from England, 2 from Tasmania, our New Zealand guide and us.  We passed the falls and then circled back to have a little fun getting wet under the falls.  We weren’t game at first, but we did join in.  We were surprised at the waves and wind that the falls created in the fjord.  It took a bit of paddling to reach the falls but it was great fun.

Crossing the fjord

The highlight of the day was kayaking beside the edge of the fjord watching several fur seals repeatedly turning 360s as they moved through the water along the shore.  One seal looked quite surprised  to see us as he poked his head up out of the water immediately at the side of our kayak.

Looking back at Sterling Falls

The top of Mitre Peak was finally visible for photos.  The very peak has been covered with clouds since we arrived.  Milford is such an amazingly beautiful fjord. 

Mitre Peak in Milford Sound

Glacier at the top

B and G in Milford Sound

We are planning a walk this evening to see glowworms.