Bus Blues and a Jucy Cruise

Bus Blues and a Jucy Cruise
Milford Sound, New Zealand

Milford Sound, New Zealand

Anyone that has been to NZ has more than likely been to Milford Sound as it is NZ’s most famous tourist attraction, in 2008 it was rated the world’s top travel destination and even Rudyard Kipling described it as the Eighth Wonder of the World! With that much of a build-up how could we possibly come all this way and not pay it a visit.

Having heard so many horror stories of backpackers blowing up their engines on the climb up from Milford Sound we opted for the more laid back approach to a visit and set up camp in Te Anau and let Jucy take us on a bus and boat cruise through the sound.

Te Anau is a funny little town as really the only reason anyone stops there is to go down to Milford so with a supermarket, a few cafes and a very busy car mechanic there is little to see or do so we spent our first after noon relaxing in Blondini ready for our big day out.

Some young campers moved in next to us and decided to spend the afternoon playing with the most annoying wooden bat and ball that was driving me to distraction, this camp site was huge and even had an entirely empty field area to play bat and ball but no, these idiots had to play right outside our door. Tim told me that I needed to relax and let them have their fun, until ten minutes later they upgraded from the bat and ball to a Frisbee which smashed straight into the side of Blondini. Without missing a beat Tim was outside giving them a piece of his mind and telling them to bugger off to the empty field. Tim you really need to relax and let them have their fun, he he he.

The next morning we had an early start and were picked up by a bus full of annoying backpackers who were all travelling on their own and insisted on having a seat to themselves. So we sat with two of the said loners who didn’t think it might be more fun to sit together and whilst my girl was ok and just plugged in her headphones, Tim’s girl proceeded to huff and puff for the entire duration of the trip as she definitely didn’t want to be sat with Tim. This is why we enjoy travelling in Blondini as tour groups are just painful.

We were pretty unlucky to one extent with our weather as it was pouring with rain, cold and miserable and the Mirror Lakes which we had been looking forward to as a little side stop on the tour were just muggy puddles. Thankfully the rain paid off in the Sound as in addition to the two permanent waterfalls there must have been about 200 more just pouring down the walls.

Interestingly Milford Sound is not a Sound at all, it is actually a fjord because it is a long narrow inlet with steep sides which were carved out by glacial erosion, where as a sound is a large sea or ocean inlet larger than a bay, deeper than a bight, and wider than a fjord. There you go an interesting factoid which actually came from Mum & Dad Gordon after their trip to Milford Sound!

Milford Sound is actually 15kilometers long before it reaches the Tasman Sea and believe it or not was not discovered by my good friend Captain James Cook. Due to the narrow entrance it remained undiscovered by Europeans until Captain John Grono discovered it in around 1812.

The sheer rock faces on either side of the Sound are 1200 meters high and with waterfalls cascading down it really is a sight to behold. We were unlucky with the wildlife on our tour, there was not a single dolphin or a Fjordland penguin to be seen much to my disappointment but it was still a magnificent place to see. The highlight of the tour was most definitely the part where the captain decided to manoeuvre us right under one of the waterfalls leaving me soaked and freezing but absolutely elated.

The journey home was equally amusing with one American family deciding to move seats and causing all sorts of chaos on the bus, it was actually worse than a school trip with everyone *****ing and sniping about where they were sat. Oh Blondini, we have missed you so much!

We had a couple more stops on the way home, my favourite being the Chasm, a series of rocks which have gaping holes through them which have been caused by the water rushing through. It was a magnificent sight and it was astounding to hear that last month 2 separate tourists managed to fall into the Chasm, amazingly they survived but the rescue mission took over 5 hours each time. I don’t know how the NZ rescue services put up with retarded tourists who can’t keep to the tracks. It sure makes you questions Darwin’s theory of evolution!!!

What a day, Te Anau and Milford Sound can definitely be declared DONE, onwards to Queenstown & Arrowtown.