Doubtfull Sound

On the next day I continued and drove back to Te Anau where I did a Glowworm cave tour. It was funny to see the worms glowing. The next day I went to anouther sound, the Doubtfull Sound.
This one is totally different, not so crowed like Milford. In peak season, over 4000 people go to Milford every day. And in addition you see and hear many helicopters and airplanes there. The helis are doing scenic flights or are transporting goods to the nearby huts.

Doubtfull Sound is also 10 times bigger, so the impression is quite different. Here you see the start at deep cove.



A view back to deep cove.





And here is the end of the sound. If you continue straight on.... and have a ship which could resist heavy weather you will reach Tasmania, which is south of Australia.




At these rocks I saw a seal colony.



During the trip I saw some valleys like this one. These valleys are totally isolated, you will find here unique species. My guide in Milford told me, in one valley they found a spider which is 3 times larger than the average NZ spider. And they even found some birds there which they though has been extinct and some new lizard species.




The nicest thing at this tour was a stop at a side arm of the sound. The captain stopped the engine and asked us to be silent too. It was really impressive to hear only the silent nature sounds, some waterfall in the background and lots of birds singing.

At my way back I visited the biggest hydroelectric power plant, here you can see the exit, where the water from the above lake exits.



And here the turbine hall:




The next day, monday 14.4. I relaxed, did a nice and sunny walk along the lake, saw a film about the fjordland and drove back to Queenstown.

I wanted to do another hiking track in Fjordland, but this was impossible because the return transport through a river was not possible due to the low water. Very very unusual here as there are areas with over 15m rain per year.
Diving was also not possible because end of season... I think I have to come back some day ;-)

Milford Sound

The next stop was Milford Sound. The road to there is one of the most scenic ones. The sign here says all, you will stop often and its remote, only fuel for emergency.



The snow here is glacier snow. The highest mountain, Mt. Cook is 3700m high.



You are passing different landscapes. Nice plains, which are really dry, because they are behind the mountains:



Beautifull rivers



And nice lakes with funny signs



And you have to drive through a one-way tunnel which is at the top of a pass. If have to wait up to 15mins if the other side has green light ;-)


Which is not bad, because you can get out and look around.
The scenery is really impressive, here I heard and saw my first kea, the only alpine parrot.



I arrived late at Milford Sound, too late for a cruise but it has enought light for a nice twilight pic.


And so does it look like with light


or so:




At the next morning I got out of my car and saw some eploring keas at the car park. Very funny birds, one was rolling over the ground.



Another one discovered a chips bag which it emptied. These birds are very intelligent. They could be very disruptive for cars as they crack antennas and can destroy the windscreen isolation.



For the morning I booked a half day kanu tour, a nice way to explore the sound.



We paddled very close to some relaxing seals, which warmed up in the sun.



In the afternoon I did a cruise to see the full sound.



The size of the mountains can only be imagined with the ships in front of. These are big ships, with up to 300 passengers.



I was totally relaxed due to the impressions...