We knew we had quite a drive ahead of us today so got up and going by just after 8am. First stop was only an hour down the road at Queenstown. Basically a bigger, more majestic version of Wanaka.

Town on the edge of a lake, surrounded by huge mountains. We found a lovely little French bakery for morning tea (they had lovely olive breadsticks) and had a quick look at a few shops but didn’t stay long.

Another almost two hours south then west through initially a mountain pass then flat pastureland, brought us to Te Anau. Another town on a lake with mountains surrounding. This one is the biggest in the South Island and second only Lake Taupo in all of New Zealand. We only stopped here for lunch and to fill up with fuel before heading north up to Milford Sound.

The first start of this leg was not quite living up to the hype that it is the most scenic drive in New Zealand. Along the edge of Lake Te Anau for its considerable length, and some interesting forest but nothing much more impressive than areas we have already been. About halfway along, though, the mountains moved in, very large, very imposing, very impressive. Looming above as you drive along. Snow quite low down on the peaks, lots of waterfalls. It had been raining most of the afternoon, and I understand some waterfalls only flow when it has been raining.

Not long before we got to Milford Sound itself, we drove through a tunnel through the mountain. It is a single lane tunnel, and we had to wait about 6 minutes for our turn. It descends quite steeply through the mountain and is quite rough both on the ground and the arch above compared with the sleek motorway tunnel north of Auckland.   Still it does the job and soon we arrived in Milford Sound. A lodge or two, airport, cruise boat terminus and visitors centre comprises the whole place.

We are staying in backpacker-type accommodation – two bunk-beds in a room. Perfectly adequate for the night but it does make us all thankful we are generally staying in more luxurious places. The room itself seems warm enough and Liam says the showers are good. We ate at the café to avoid having to battle, again, the outdoor walk to the “Forest Facilities” where the kitchen is. (Not very adventurous, I know, but the sand-flies were swarming). I am not looking forward to the midnight toilet trip along the verandah in the predicted near-zero temperatures.!!!!

NOTE: NO PHONES, RADIO, TV OR INTERNET??? AT MILFORD SOUND!