I’m writing this to you as I sit outside on my balcony overlooking Lake Te Anau, watching the sun set over the mountains in the distance without a cloud in sight! It is simply so beautiful here, words cannot describe it.
Today has been a fantastic day, simply due to the amazing scenery we have been fortunate enough to spend the whole day enjoying; when coupled with the most beautiful clear blue sky, the day was even better! One of the major attractions of the Te Anau area is its proximity to the infamous Milford Sound, which I also studied at school. The sound itself is 120km away, but this through some of the most picturesque scenery I have ever driven through; massive rugged peaks, glaciers, huge lakes – you name it, we pretty much saw it. The drive was pretty scary at some stages due to the sheer drops, but more due to the fact that an American was driving...(no offense Melinda!). Laura, the aforementioned American, has never driven on the left hand side of the road before, but was willing to give it a go in order to give me a break from the many hours of driving I have clocked up on this trip. At first, she was fine, and I was very impressed...but when we entered the more windy, narrower roads, she got a bit freaked out, and nearly sent us flying over the side of a bridge – OK, I exaggerate, but she did send us flying into a curb on a bridge and nearly took the wing mirror out!
We soon arrived at Milford Sound (not soon enough!), just in time for the last cloud to lift, leaving a serenely calm sound for us to explore. We went expecting to be able to do a spot of hiking (or tramping as the kiwis call it), but this was not possible as there aren’t actually any tracks (well except a 4 day-long one!). Instead, we decided to join the masses of tourists and hop on a boat to enjoy a scenic boat ride up and down the Sound. This turned out to be pretty damn fantastic – the scenery was breath-taking and I won’t even attempt to describe it. Instead you will have to wait until I post some photos, and believe me, I took a lot! Laura even mentioned that I have surpassed her in terms of photography skill!! This was quite a shock, and I think she may have been buttering me up so I drove back home (which I did), but I’m pretty impressed with a few of the photos I took. In addition to the fantastic scenery, we also saw some New Zealand Fur Seals and even some very rare yellow-crested fjordland penguins (or some similar name)!
We ended the day by slowly making our way back to Te Anau, stopping at a few places for short walks through some lush forest where everything was green due to the moss/lichen that was growing everywhere, as well as seeing some waterfalls and lakes. It was a wonderful day, and I can’t wait to post some of my photos so you can see you amazing fjordlands national park is! It definitely boosted by opinion of NZ even further!
Today has been a fantastic day, simply due to the amazing scenery we have been fortunate enough to spend the whole day enjoying; when coupled with the most beautiful clear blue sky, the day was even better! One of the major attractions of the Te Anau area is its proximity to the infamous Milford Sound, which I also studied at school. The sound itself is 120km away, but this through some of the most picturesque scenery I have ever driven through; massive rugged peaks, glaciers, huge lakes – you name it, we pretty much saw it. The drive was pretty scary at some stages due to the sheer drops, but more due to the fact that an American was driving...(no offense Melinda!). Laura, the aforementioned American, has never driven on the left hand side of the road before, but was willing to give it a go in order to give me a break from the many hours of driving I have clocked up on this trip. At first, she was fine, and I was very impressed...but when we entered the more windy, narrower roads, she got a bit freaked out, and nearly sent us flying over the side of a bridge – OK, I exaggerate, but she did send us flying into a curb on a bridge and nearly took the wing mirror out!
We soon arrived at Milford Sound (not soon enough!), just in time for the last cloud to lift, leaving a serenely calm sound for us to explore. We went expecting to be able to do a spot of hiking (or tramping as the kiwis call it), but this was not possible as there aren’t actually any tracks (well except a 4 day-long one!). Instead, we decided to join the masses of tourists and hop on a boat to enjoy a scenic boat ride up and down the Sound. This turned out to be pretty damn fantastic – the scenery was breath-taking and I won’t even attempt to describe it. Instead you will have to wait until I post some photos, and believe me, I took a lot! Laura even mentioned that I have surpassed her in terms of photography skill!! This was quite a shock, and I think she may have been buttering me up so I drove back home (which I did), but I’m pretty impressed with a few of the photos I took. In addition to the fantastic scenery, we also saw some New Zealand Fur Seals and even some very rare yellow-crested fjordland penguins (or some similar name)!
We ended the day by slowly making our way back to Te Anau, stopping at a few places for short walks through some lush forest where everything was green due to the moss/lichen that was growing everywhere, as well as seeing some waterfalls and lakes. It was a wonderful day, and I can’t wait to post some of my photos so you can see you amazing fjordlands national park is! It definitely boosted by opinion of NZ even further!
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