Last part in our New Zealand trip series.
Our last planned stop on the drive across the southern island of New Zealand was Milford Sound. However, the week before we went, there were some serious storms that caused rock slides and made the road very dangerous. The Department of Conservation closed the road to vehicles, only allowing a few convoys of tour buses a day. While not something we would typically do, we opted in for the chartered tour of Milford Sound. This included a bus ride from Te Anau and a boat ride around the Sound. We booked directly with Jucy – the company we rented the van from – but there were plenty of options for guided tours.
Into Milford Sound
The 3 hour drive from Te Anau into Milford Sound was beautiful. Perhaps it was due to the lack of cars due to recent rock slides, but it was a very enjoyable, scenic ride. There were so many amazing vistas of fields buffered by soaring mountains. We stopped a few times at Mirror Lakes and Hollyford Valley on the way out to stretch our legs and allow people to take photos – many scenes from Lord of the Rings were filmed in this area.
Once we got closer to Milford Sound, there was an amazing tunnel straight through the Darran Mountain Range. The Homer tunnel runs 1.2km at a 1:10 gradient down into Milford Sound. It is a single-lane road and the inside of the tunnel remains unlined granite. To dig out the tunnel, two crews worked from either side of the mountain, meeting in the middle. The crew on the Eastern side was paid more due to the extra work it took to haul the granite up and out of the hole…it’s hard working against gravity!
Boat ride around the sound
Once we made it to Milford Sound, we took a 1.5 hour boat trip. Milford Sound is a fjord on the Western coast of New Zealand, created by glaciation over millions of years. It is one of a few fjords that still sees glacial activity. It was a beautiful, sunny day and we took a million photos. Every direction has an amazing view, including moss-covered rock walls and waterfalls. We never got to the ocean, but it was a nice trip around the sound.
Queenstown
After 6 nights in the campervan, we were more than ready for a proper hotel in Queenstown. After a long, hot bath and shower, we found the closest brewery for some food and beer. Afterwards, we enjoyed the evening sunshine with a leisurely walk along Lake Wakatipu. The atmosphere was laid back and there were plenty of people hanging out along the shores.
We ended up grabbing some cocktails after dark (who are we?!) at a couple of fun cocktail bars tucked into the alleys around town. The town is very quaint with plenty of pedestrian-only streets that make it easy to explore on foot. We had such a great evening, we would have loved to stay another day and tramp around Queenstown.
Road to Queenstown from the South 
Queenstown waterfront a sunny afternoon
It was hard to leave, but our vacation was over and we had to head back to reality. We took a quick flight to Auckland and then hopped a red eye back to Los Angeles. New Zealand is a trip we won’t soon forget and encourage anyone with an appreciation of the outdoors to get out and explore its beauty.
mattandbethtravels 