South Island adventure: Milford

Thursday morning we left the motel early to get a head start on the day. We stopped at iSITE (where we got information on hikes and booked our hostel for the night and Milford Sound cruises for the following morning) and then it was off to Milford! I drove for the first time on the right side of the car on the left side of the road. It was a little scary at first but then it felt totally natural. Besides the "rock falling" signs we saw everywhere.

We decided to do the Key Summit trail. Maddi wasn't feeling well so she slept in the car while the four of us ambitiously tramped up to the summit. At first all of us were wearing tons of layers - which were slowly stripped off as we tramped, then put back on as we got in higher altitudes. The beginning of this trail is the start of the Routeburn track - one of New Zealand's Great Walks. So we walked to Howden Hut to eat our lunch - which was absolutely worth it because the view of the mountains reflected upon the still lake was gorgeous. After eating we decided we'd come this far, we can do another half hour to get to the summit. It was a tough walk - I blame not being used to high altitudes - so we had to stop quite a bit to catch our breath, but the view from the top was more beautiful than my pictures could show off. It was so silent besides a bit of wind, we were actually above some of the clouds, and there was a 360˚ view of the mountains around us. I felt so tiny in my surroundings. It was also freezing cold. One cool thing was when the clouds parted and we could see a snow-capped mountain peak in the not-very-far distance. This hike was absolutely one of the highlights of my South Island adventure.

Fjordlands!

my exact view while I ate lunch at the Howden Hut

above the clouds :)

lots and lots of trees. duh.

"tiny among the big mountains!" picture

self-timed group goofy photo

After the trail we were properly exhausted and ready to continue on to Milford Sound. Nicole wanted to try driving, so she got to drive through a tunnel in the mountain! We got to the lodge, realized that while we'd known it was necessary to get gas before Milford, we hadn't thought about the fact that Milford has no grocery store. We were able to purchase some basic foods at the lodge though. Otherwise it would have been pb&j sandwiches. Again. We walked to see the sound, which was absolutely stunning. Also eerie. I think eerie is a good word to describe Milford Sound. If it weren't for the obscene amount of gnats flying around my head, I would have loved to spend hours there. Being in Milford really puts things into perspective: I really am a tiny person in the world. Eventually we walked back to the lodge, ate dinner, played an endless game of Uno, and finally went to bed after a particularly unpleasant freezing hostel shower.

Beth and I went on a Milford cruise the next morning that went along one side of Milford Sound, out to the Tasman, and back along the other side. It was overcast but wasn't cloudy nor rainy when the cruise began so I was able to see more clearly. We heard about certain things about the waterfalls, trees, and rocks in the sound - though I didn't pay particularly close attention. I mean, it's kind of hard to when you're surrounded by such wonder. I was at the front of the boat when we went out to the Tasman. The Tasman Sea is known for being really rough; I can now attest to that. It was difficult to hold onto my camera and water bottle, the handrail, and try to balance all at the same time. It was outrageous. It was foggy on the way back into the sound which I really liked because I've seen so many pictures of foggy Milford. Also, our boat basically went under a waterfall. So. Cool. One thing I find really cool about mountains is the way that clouds cling to the trees as if they're stuck and can't move. It's the little things that count, right?

the guide was saying something about the rocks..

baby seals! SO cute

the waterfall we went under

We left Milford to drive back through Te Anau and Queenstown (the only way to get to and from Milford). We stopped at a field (alleged LOTR filming site) outside of Queenstown, which was supposed to be a short stop. The short version is that Maddi was determined to climb the hill, so all of us hung out while she passed lots of farm animals, and ran back to the car in the dark. We were parked in this field by a residential area, but there were no lights in this field so it was super scary. Texas Chainsaw Massacre-esque. Not a fan.

car photo!

lake near Queenstown

that little peak is where Maddi was determined to go

deer?

this is what it looked like when we were waiting for Maddi.
seriously, Texas Chainsaw Massacre

We then drove to Wanaka over a mountain to stay for the night in the dark. I just didn't picture why there were barriers on the non-mountain side of the road, as the road was less traveled than the main highway. But we got there in one piece.

And because I've been blogging for hours, I'm going to stop here and pick up with the rest later.