Trip date: January 2024
The finale of our New Zealand trip was spending a couple of days out in Te Anau, the small town on the shores of the huge lake by the same name. This town is also known as the gateway to Fiordland & Milford Sound. We were all really looking forward to, and hoping for, some incredible scenery (spoiler alert, we got it).
It's a 2+ hour drive from Queenstown so we decided to spend the morning in nearby Arrowtown, an old mining town now known for wine shops and meat pies.
It's very cute, and very small, and there are a lot of tourists. We wandered around a bit before going to the bakery and ordering meat pies for lunch. They've got some outdoor tables and chairs so it's easy to find seats while you eat. The pies were good, I prefer a darker crust than they do but that's just me.
We spent some time shopping the boutiques and then all met back up at The Winery to taste a few wines. It's a great shop as they have dispensers so you can pour your own and choose the size. There is one like this in Seattle now but when I was here, it was the first I had seen.
Time to hit the road! It is really beautiful rugged country driving south along Lake Wakatipu. We passed lots of deer and lamb ranches and some very small towns, but that was about it!
In Te Anau we all had rooms at Distinction Hotel, which sits right across from the lake with fantastic views. The rooms are older but very large and everything was clean. And lucky for us the weather was warm and sunny. We grabbed a picnic table outside on the lawn, played some games, drank some drinks, and took in this amazing sunset.
The next morning we headed out to Milford Sound with Southern Discoveries. They had a bus that picked us up & dropped us off right in Te Anau. It's a long day out and back so it was really nice that neither Forest or I had to drive and we could all just sit and enjoy the amazing scenery.
We made a few stops on the way out, some were quick, others involved a little walk, all were beautiful. Eglinton Valley looked like a scene straight out of Switzerland, Mirror Lakes lived up to their name by mirroring the mountains behind in their clear water, at Monkey Creek we not only had incredible mountain views but we saw a Kea; a large curious parrot from the area that are pretty funny to watch.
The Milford Sound Highway is a stunning & winding drive. We went up through a couple of mountain areas, passed countless waterfalls and dense forests before arriving at the Homer Tunnel which is the only land access through the Darran Mountains to Milford Sound. It's a single lane road so there are line ups on either end. And it's dark inside! And steep (1:10 gradient or 10% slope). And 3100 feet in elevation. Once out of the tunnel the road was a series of switchbacks all the way to the sound.
No photos can do justice to how beautiful Milford Sound is. We were on the very comfortable Spirit of Milford for a 2-hour cruise down one side of the Sound to the Tasman Sea and then back up the other side. It was absolutely stunning! So many waterfalls (and the boat got close enough that we got wet!), amazing sheer cliffs, seals sunning themselves on rocks, and even dolphins!
We were provided a box lunch and there was a bar where you could buy soda or wine. Our cruise also stopped at the Underwater Observatory which is a floating discovery center with underwater windows giving you a view of sea life, coral, etc. Like an aquarium only in the wild. It was really cool!
The entire day was fantastic! And the weather was just perfect!
We had a long drive back and the bus didn't stop in order to get to Te Anau before dark. Back at the hotel we headed outside to our picnic table again with drinks, smoked salmon from our gourmet shopping, games, and pizza ordered from the local spot. And we were treated to another amazing sunset.
Before leaving the next day we all went on a great walk around part of the lake to the bird sanctuary and then back into town for a local pie from Miles Better Pies. And then we were on the road back to Queenstown to catch our flight, with a quick stop on the Garston Highway for more amazing views.
The 19th annual NYE trip and it was fantastic. And the last of an era.
All photos from Te Anau and Milford Sound here.
Other posts from this trip:
Auckland, Aotearoa (New Zealand)
North Island New Zealand Explorations
Picton to Queenstown Road Tripping
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