Queenstown trip 3 of 4: Milford Sound

So we did the really touristy thing and took a bus trip to Milford Sound. As far as bus trips go we can highly recommend the BBQ bus, it was nice having a smaller group and being able to get into the carparks for some scenic spots that the large buses would have to just keep driving past. We were quite horrified when we got to the Eglinton Valley to see the road just lined with buses but we seemed to shake the main crowd later on by stopping in a different place for lunch etc.

We were the only New Zealanders on our bus (the driver commented as we left Queenstown that "we don't usually see many Kiwis on these trips - they're usually nocturnal") - and in fact we didn't meet any other New Zealanders for the rest of the day either, other than our driver who Dave chatted with for the four hours or so back to Queenstown (while I napped!). As you can see from the photos we had beautiful weather (although there was a distinct chill in the air causing me to buy a polar fleece when we stopped in Te Anau).


The Eglinton Valley (the multitude of buses would have been just to the right of this pic)


Mirror Lakes
Lake Gunn (near where we stopped for lunch)

BBQ lunch at Cascade Creek

'Camera Flat' in the Hollyford Valley

Sorry the photo is a bit poor in terms of providing scale, but this is at Homer Saddle right beside the entrance to Homer Tunnel (which of course as engineers we found wildly exciting).

Setting off on our cruise, this photo is a bit obvious really, Mitre Peak dead ahead
Smily happy people
Waterfall
More waterfall - sorry don't remember which was called what!

The cruise around Milford Sound was really nice, the boat would have been maybe a quarter full so plenty of space to move around and we had a good vantage point. Saw the usual dolphins and seals which the overseas tourists got very excited about but we have shared the water with them at a much closer range in the past so sorry, we didn't keep any of the photos we took of them (the memory card was getting full).

If we were to do the trip again we think we would probably self-drive it to a cruise rather than take a bus trip, but was a good way of seeing it all for the first time. I should note we don't have any photos of The Chasm which was a last minute stop, but well worth the short walk, especially for water and geology geeks like us.