Te Anau and Milford Sound

Line of trees on the coast
Moo
Out to sea on a cloudy day Southern Alps
Southern Alps
Sheep

Look out
Recreation of one of the KIWI experience Bottom Bus's famous posters
We stopped for lunch at NZ sausage capital (a local man won a competition once - the town has less than 500 residents and is in the middle of no where!!) Lake Manapouri
We stopped at Lake Manapouri Valley from the bus
Water falls forming as a result of the rain
View from the road upto Milford

Waterfall
Southern Alps are obscured

About to rain
Mist rising
View from the bus

Misty

Milford sound
Milford sound
Taken inside the ferry

Milford Sound
Milford Sound

Out to the Tasman Sea
View into Milford sound from the Tasman Sea entrance Milford Sound

Milford Sound

Milford Sound
Waterfall
One of the waterfalls up close

Milford Sound
Milford Sound
Milford Sound

On the ferry at Milford
On the ferry at Milford
On the ferry at Milford

On the ferry at Milford
On the ferry at Milford
On the ferry at Milford Observatory from the ferry

In the underwater observatory
Camouflaged fish
design of the observatory
Some of the black coral (doent normally grow at this depth)
Fish and clams

View from the Observatory
Ferry on its way to pick us up
Milford sound
Who's that hunk?
Milford Sound
Milford Sound

Ferry plus rainbow
Milford View of the Sound
Misty
Save the best for last - this was the last photo i took at Milford
Baaaa - we drove through thousands of sheep being moved along the road Recent snow fall
View of the Canterbury Plains and Southern Alps

Monument to the sheep dog
Monument to the sheep dog

From inside the church

The church

Picnic spot
Reservoir
Reservoir

Reservoir
View of the southern alps with a reservoir in the foreground
Close up of Mount Cook

Today we are travelling up from Invercargill to Te Anau. We have a nice lay-in as the trip isnt that far!!! Makes a nice change from all the early starts we have had!!!

We stop along the coast and see evidence of the strong winds that batter the south coast of the island. Most trees near the coast are growing in a diagonal direction due to the winds strength.

We get some really good views of the mountains as we wieve our way north. The next stop is at a famous spot. A popular Kiwi bus poster is two blokes sat on the McCracken's sign with their bums hanging out. Three crazy canadians recreate the poster for everyone.

We stop for lunch at the sausage capital of New Zealand. Its a very small town in the middle of nowhere. "Fush and Chups" was good though.

Our last stop for the day was at a lake that is famous for being in the News a few years ago. There were plans to raise the level of the lake but locals, and then non-locals prevented this from happening through people power and this is said to be when green issues really started to get the population out on the streets.

The next day i'm booked on an excursion to Milford Sound. Everyone raves about this trip and so i'm really looking forward to it. We get picked up early from our hostel in Te Anau and head towards Milford. Its rainy but that is good for Milford as it means that water falls will form down the sides of the valleys making them come alive.

We stop en route a number of times to take pictures of the amazing scenery. The mountains are covered in lush rainforest and waterfalls over the sides of the mountains. Everyone on the bus is looking out the windows and taking photos from inside the bus (this is unusal as some people sleep during the bus journeys).

We go though a tunnel in the moutains before arriving at Milford. The weather is still rainy as we board our ferry for a cruise of the Sound. The ferry is small and everyone gets a good view. I spend most of my time taking pictures from the outside deck. I must take hundreds and the scenery is amazing. There is mist coming off the mountains and some of the moutains are shrouded in the dense mist and fog.

The ferry captain takes us into a few waterfalls and some people stand under the falls. Its pretty cold and windy but the secnery is amazing and so most people are excited. We head out to sea and it gets really choppy. We turn around and head back. We head towards an underwater observatory.

The observatory is basically an enclosed viewing vessel that has been dropped into the sound. They attached some planters next to the viewing windows to attract creatures and all of what you can see through the windows has been attracted from the waters of the sound. Fish are free to come and go as there are no tanks. Its pretty small and crowded down there. The water of the sound is a light jade colour.

When we head back up top the weather has changed and the sun is coming through. The rain has stopped and the scenery looks different!!! I take yet more photos and a massive rainbow appears.

The trip was brilliant and even though it was rainy, the scenery was superb. On the way back we get caught behind farmers moving their sheep from field to field. Sheep are running infront of the bus and cars and some even start to jump!!!

The next day we head to Christchurch. This is a trip that covers the same distance as would normally take a KIWI bus two and a half days. It is a perfectly clear day. There has been some snow as a cold front from Antartica is hitting New Zealand. Its autumn here, but the temperature has hit 8 degrees C!!! Its freezing!!!!. When we get off the bus for food/toilet breaks/etc everyone doesnt hang around outside!!!

Due to the snow, the mountains look different from earlier in the trip when I travelled down to Queenstown. I take loads more pictures. We stop at a pictureque town next to a glacierly fed reservoir. The water is turquiose. Absolutely breathtaking. We spot Mountain Cook again.

The town has a church built over a number of years by farmers who brought the materials bit by bit. Next to the church is a monument to the sheep dog, to which the farmers would not be able to farm the land without. A really beautiful, if long, trip.