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Milford Sound

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Milford Sound claims to be the 8th wonder of the world.  Evidently, many places make that claim, but I can surely see why the folks in Milford Sound feel that way!

We take an amazing tour with Southern Discoveries Tour.  We hop on a bus in Queenstown (that has a glass roof, bathroom, and reclining seats).  It takes 6 hours to drive the 291k to Milford Sound with several stops along the way for photo opportunities, bathroom breaks, and snacks.  We then board a boat and take a cruise of Milford Sound by sea, and then back on the bus for a 5 hour return to Queenstown.  A very long day.  

We meet before dawn to load onto the bus with 43 other people.  Our driver, Brad was amazing.  He shared stories and the history of places along the way. A constant narrative with just enough humor to keep you interested. 

We had beautiful views along the way to Milford Sound with low clouds, fog, and mountains.

And the landscape keeps changing.

Mirror Lakes

On the way, we stop the iconic Mirror Lakes which were absolutely stunning!  I think this is what Lake Matheson would have been like had we been there on a sunny day.

I asked as stranger to take our photo and unfortunately she didn’t capture the mirror lakes behind us.  But it still is a pretty picture.

This view certainly takes your breath away.

Pride of Milford Sound

After almost 6 hours in the bus we finally arrive in Milford Sound.  We move from our bus to our boat, the Pride of Milford.  This boat must hold well over 500 people.  You get in the buffet line immediately upon boarding.  Food wasn’t terrible for a buffet but it was a true buffet.

The very first thing we see as we leave the dock is the beautiful Bowen Falls.  It is a very powerful waterfall that was stunning thing to see.

It is a quick trip out to the Tasman sea and then past another spectacular waterfall called the Sterling Waterfall.

The Sterling Waterfall is beautiful and even more so when you are up close and personal.  The captain nosed the boat close enough to the falls to feel the spray on our face.  Ignore the label on the bottom of the photo as this is the Sterling Falls (not the Bowen Falls).

A Plane Ride Home

We decided to take a flight home rather than sit in the bus for another 5 hours.  We hopped in a GA8 Airvan that showed us around Milford Sound from the sky.  Oh my goodness, I highly recommend seeing Milford Sound by air as it is far more impressive than by sea!

There are so many lakes, rivers, and waterfalls.

After about 45 minutes, we arrive back in Queenstown and get a pretty view of this lake side town from the air.

An absolutely spectacular day in Milford Sound.

  • Kilometers Traveled:  0 Arrived the day before
  • Hotel: Whistler Holiday Apts.
  • Total Traveled: 291km by bus, 20km by boat, 310km by airplane
  • Kilometers Walked: 5.4 (on a bus and boat most of the day)

Events from this blog occurred in early March.  Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind live events.  Be sure to read about our escapades in Queenstown in our last blog.

Road Trip Across New Zealand

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The best way to see New Zealand is on land.  Sailing around New Zealand can be challenging as they have deep bays, rough seas, high winds, and not many anchor spots (so we have been told).  Plus, we have a lot of work going on Sugar Shack right now so moving her away from the docks is not really an option. So, a road trip is the perfect solution.

I had been planning this road trip for months and months.  Originally, Matt, Wayne, and I were going to take a campervan (or RV) but we decided to take our car instead.  Why do you ask?  Well, first of all the roads in NZ are incredibly windy, small, two lane (one lane each way) roads and driving a giant campervan seemed scary.  Also, the campervan sites are located between 2-10 miles away from the center of the main towns and we would not have had a way to get to and from the campsites.  And third, it was cheaper to take our car and stay in hotels than it was to rent the campervan.

We bought a car

You are probably thinking we are crazy, right? Well, we are a wee bit nutso, but not in this instance.  We were not planning on buying a car, but we did because the deal was just too good.  We bought a 2006 323i BMW with 18k miles for $3,800 USD.  Yep, and she was a beauty.

So, we had the reliable car, we had insurance, we had a jam packed itinerary full of action and adventure and we were set to go!

The Road Trip

Matt and I had already ventured to Coromandel and Whitanga which is on the East side of the North Island.  If you missed this blog, go back and read it! 

I had the opportunity to go to the North tip of the North island with friends and will take Matt back another time.  Check out this road trip to Cape Reigna.

So, our goal was to focus on the South Island. while still hitting a few highlights in the North Island.  We anticipated this being a 4500-5000km trip.  This is a rough idea of where we planned to go.  I anticipated several detours and unplanned stops along the way.

For the next three months, you will be reading all about our fabulous road trip, how long it took us to get to each destination, where we stayed, what we did, and what kind of mischief we got into with our friend Wayne.

So, please stay tuned and enjoy the ride!  It was a fantastic one.

Events from this blog post occurred between 20 February through 18 March 2023.  Our blog posts are running 10-12 weeks behind actual live events, so please be patient with us.

Fiji to New Zealand Day6 – Tralwer days

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Its supposed to be a sailboat, but good thing it has engines too! Tried and tried agin to get enough wind to keep the journey going with the power of the wind. But alas, it was not meant to be. Well it could have been, just would have taken much longer and exposed us to the front that is coming. Or forecast to come at least.

After a few good days of knocking off the miles under sail, having to resort to the engines is a disappointment, however it is a means to an end and a pretty good safety factor. So we have a pretty good range on Engine power alone. We carry 800 liters, thats 220 gallons of diesel on board. We also even have another 100 liters in jerry cans stored “Just In Case” . With the normal 800 liters, thats 400 per engine. Which translates to about 100 hours of run time per engine. So we can run them together or separately. Together we get to go faster, but separately we get to go further but slower. If completely necessary we could get about 800 miles out of the fuel on board. Now the wave and wind direction will have a HUGE say into exactly how far we can go on the fuel. The tanks will still be more than 1/2 full, actually are reading 75% full.

Prefer to sail, but we make the most of it, topped up the water tanks with all the extra electricity that the engines were producing as the batteries were full as well.

The day was gray, they blue, then gray, then drizzal – just a mixed bag. Everytime the wind picked up to over 7knots we’d try to use it.. but ended up just letting the engines do their thing.

Another comfortable night of rest with the drone of iron jenny (slang for engines) ..

Here is a photo of the ring and pin that were trouble some yesterday.. The split ring at the bottom holds the silver pin in from coming out, it can only go up. When I found the one trying to escape, it was 3//4 of the way up.. was bound by the force trying to pull the bungie off.

All good on board, quick pork tacos for dinner and should arrive on Day 7 either at Opua or Marsden. If neither of them will be in daylight, Marsden will get the nod. Its a bit farther so it’ll be the wee hours of the night when we arrive.

Cheers.