Saturday, 20 January to Monday, 22 January 2024
On Saturday it was onto the bus again on a rainy day for the trip to Milford Sound. On the way we stopped for a couple of short walks as well as hiking a short section of the Routebourn Track. It was wet – very wet!
After lunch we drove through the Homer Tunnel and onto Milford Sound to board our vessel, the Milford Mariner. One of the reasons we chose this trip was the chance to spend the night on Milford Sound. The ship was larger than we expected with room for 60 passengers in private ensuited cabins.
After boarding we had a quick circuit of the inner sound to admire the many temporary waterfalls. There are only 2 permanent waterfalls in Milford Sound (Stirling Falls and Bowen Falls). As it had been raining all day there were literally hundreds of temporary falls to be seen.
After picking up our mooring for the night we had the option to kayak or go for a ride in the tender. As it was still raining and we were all finally clean and dry we declined the offer. After a very tasty buffet dinner, we enjoyed a slideshow about Milford Sound.
The next morning, we motored out to the mouth of the fiord. The winds were light and the swell slight – you couldn’t ask for a better morning. The Captain told me that 2 weeks before our trip, boats had experienced over 100 knots in Milford Sound.
We were lucky to see both seals and dolphins on our cruise.
After disembarking, we boarded our bus and headed back towards Te Anau. It was a beautiful day so we stopped after going through the Homer Tunnel to allow some of our group to cycle down the busy, steep and windy road. The rest of us met them at the bottom to cycle 15kms along the quiet Hollyford Road to our lunch spot near Humboldt Falls. After the rain of the last few days this was a magical ride in sunshine beside the creek.
A short walk up to Humboldt Falls was followed by a beautiful lunch beside the creek.
Before dinner in Te Anau, we went to the small local cinema to see the movie Ata Whenua – Shadowland. Mostly filmed using local helicopters, it gave a unique view of the area we had just visited.
On Monday, we were driven to near Mavora Lake to ride some more of the Around the Mountains Trail.
The first 20km were tough going with a slight gradient and a strong headwind. There was no relief on the wide open plain and morning tea couldn’t come fast enough. At this point I was regretting not having an e-bike!
After morning tea we had to ford a couple of creeks (shoes off for me, some cycled through) before we reached the stunning Von valley and an exhilarating downhill.
Lunch in the valley with spectacular views was followed by a great cycle down to Lake Wakatipu and then on to Walter Peak Station. We had cycled 54 km today and enjoyed a celebratory drink with our fellow cyclists before heading off to the sheep shearing exhibition.
Our tour ended by loading our bikes onto the steamship TSS Earnshaw for our return across the lake to Queenstown. We packed a lot into 5 days and were lucky to spend them with a diverse and friendly group of fellow cyclists and 2 knowledgeable guides. Special thanks to Rob for some of the photos in this post.
