A day spent at Milford Sound exploring the area by boat, bike and on foot, before putting our bikes on a bus and returning to Te Anau. A day mostly of steady rain and leaden skies. But, apart from the rare days of sun, that's basically how it is at one of the wettest places in the world.Despite the fact that the terminal was opened by the minister for the environment, there was no provision for parking bikes anywhere. We were told by security not to take them into the terminal building and he also told us that we had ignored traffic regulations by bringing them through the tunnel. According to him, bikes are not allowed tis side of the tunnel. However this is all so much error and baloney, probably propagated by the tourist industry who very evidently want a monopoly on travel. We were warned yesterday how tough the bike ride to here is and yet on a day with a headwind and rain is was still a superb and reasonably manageable ride. It is one of the great biking roads of the world. Once on the boat, Guy was already feeling queasy, then it was announced that we would be poking our nose out into the Tasman Sea, the roaring forties. Apparently a hundred millimetres of rain fell last night but it is not unheard of for five hundred millimetres to fall in a 24 hr period, making this the wettest part of NZ.We were then told that Milford Sound was named in error as it is not a Sound (formed by a river - V shaped) but a Fjiord (formed by a glacier - U shaped). Predictably enough once we crossed the terminal moraine that formed the shelf of the Fjiord, Guy turned a funy colour and was sick, leaving Steve free to watch seals and photograph 'disappearing' waterfalls to his heart's content. They 'disappear' when the wind catches them as they fall turning them into a fine mist which is blown over the sea.The boat trip was, effectively, a tour of waterfalls, only four of which are permanent, apparently, since the rest just appear during/after heavy rain, so we saw them. But you can see where Mitre Peak would be... The Tasman Sea was not particularly windy - the Sound created a windier area as the wind is forced between towering peaks. My Nokia N900 camera was fine with the damp but my camera, Nikon, went a bit fuzzy focussed. Hope it recovers.Then we waited to catch a bus which takes bikes to whisk us back to Te Anau where we could continue our progress to Cape Bluff. The bus took a shade under two hours to do the whisking and then we repitched our tent at the Top 10 Holiday Park.
A day spent at Milford Sound exploring the area by boat, bike and on foot, before putting our bikes on a bus and returning to Te Anau. A day mostly of steady rain and leaden skies. But, apart from the rare days of sun, that's basically how it is at one of the wettest places in the world.Despite the fact that the terminal was opened by the minister for the environment, there was no provision for parking bikes anywhere. We were told by security not to take them into the terminal building and he also told us that we had ignored traffic regulations by bringing them through the tunnel. According to him, bikes are not allowed tis side of the tunnel. However this is all so much error and baloney, probably propagated by the tourist industry who very evidently want a monopoly on travel. We were warned yesterday how tough the bike ride to here is and yet on a day with a headwind and rain is was still a superb and reasonably manageable ride. It is one of the great biking roads of the world. Once on the boat, Guy was already feeling queasy, then it was announced that we would be poking our nose out into the Tasman Sea, the roaring forties. Apparently a hundred millimetres of rain fell last night but it is not unheard of for five hundred millimetres to fall in a 24 hr period, making this the wettest part of NZ.We were then told that Milford Sound was named in error as it is not a Sound (formed by a river - V shaped) but a Fjiord (formed by a glacier - U shaped). Predictably enough once we crossed the terminal moraine that formed the shelf of the Fjiord, Guy turned a funy colour and was sick, leaving Steve free to watch seals and photograph 'disappearing' waterfalls to his heart's content. They 'disappear' when the wind catches them as they fall turning them into a fine mist which is blown over the sea.The boat trip was, effectively, a tour of waterfalls, only four of which are permanent, apparently, since the rest just appear during/after heavy rain, so we saw them. But you can see where Mitre Peak would be... The Tasman Sea was not particularly windy - the Sound created a windier area as the wind is forced between towering peaks. My Nokia N900 camera was fine with the damp but my camera, Nikon, went a bit fuzzy focussed. Hope it recovers.Then we waited to catch a bus which takes bikes to whisk us back to Te Anau where we could continue our progress to Cape Bluff. The bus took a shade under two hours to do the whisking and then we repitched our tent at the Top 10 Holiday Park.