Day 71. Today was a long day! We tried to book a scenic flight to Milford Sound (by far the shortest way to get there) on a light aircraft but the weather forecast didn’t permit it. Although it was bright and sunny in Queenstown, Milford Sound experiences over 200 rainy days a year, and today was one of them and wondered whether Milford Sound was twinned with Manchester. Instead, we joined a tour bus at 6:30am whose driver turned out to be a highlight of the day! Allan is an ex-sheep shearer turned coach driver, an all-round wit and purveyor of anecdotes. He entertained us while pointing out local sights and history on our five-and-a-half hour journey to Milford Sound.
On the way to Milford Sound
Milford Sound is only 30km from Queenstown as the crow flies, however there are a few tall mountains in the way! The road to Milford Sound is about 300km and takes a long circuitous route around (and sometimes through) the mountains. It was built by hand by the mass unemployed during the great depression of the 1930’s. A treacherous part of the route is called The Devil’s Staircase where the road winds down a very steep mountain. This was constructed by lowering men down on ropes who then planted dynamite, lit the fuse, then tugged at the rope in the hope that their colleagues would pull them back up and clear of the explosion in time. Workers and their families camped by the side of the road and the children were schooled by correspondence. Some of them lived like this for up to 15 years.
Allan pointed out evidence of recent storm damage including several Tree Avalanches. There is little soil on the mountains here, yet large trees grow here in abundance due to the ample rain by forming root systems horizontally which intertwine with each other to give stability. The weight of the trees, a strong wind and a heavy deluge of rain can cause hundreds of years of trees to bing each other crashing down the side of the mountain onto unsuspecting tourists leaving bare rock underneath.
We also passed through farming country and saw plenty of cows, deer, and of course, sheep.
Factoid: Did you know that a newly qualified sheep shearer can shear a sheep in six minutes. An experienced shearer can shear a sheep in less than a minute. Allan’s cousin’s son recently broke the world record for getting through 556 sheep in an eight hour period. That’s a lot of sheep for one man!
After a quick stop in Te Anau to buy a venison pie from the best pie shop in New Zealand, we headed off to Milford Sound.
Best pie in New Zealand
We didn't go this way
We reached Milford Sound at midday. Milford Sound was named by a Welsh seal hunter who was caught in a storm in the Tasman Sea and found a hidden inlet for safety which reminded him of his hometown of Milford Haven. Milford is not actually a sound, but is in fact a Fjord as it was formed by a huge glacier flowing down into the sea.
Milford Sound
We took a boat out into the Sound and apparently saw it at its best as the torrential rain had filled the waterfalls which were tumbling in full force. The strong winds were blowing in such a way that some of the waterfalls don’t quite make it to the ground but were blown back up again in a circular fashion only to fall once again.
On the bus journey back to Queenstown we were treated to a film starring Anthony Hopkins called The Fastest Indian about an unsung local hero from Invercargill on the South coast who spent years playing with his motorbike in his garage then fulfilling his dream of taking it to the salt flats of Utah and breaking a world speed record. His motorbike (called an Indian) should have a top speed of 54mph, but by fiddling with it, he managed to pimp his ride up to 201mph!