Traveling in the South Island

We woke up this morning and caught an early morning flight to the South Island of New Zealand. The South Island is famous for its mountains, lakes, and glaciers. We got our first glimpses on the flight. The scenery from the plane was unreal. We are excited to explore. 

Once we landed in Queenstown we rented our vehicle and hit the road. We had a lot of driving ahead of us. Eventually, we would end up in Milford Sound, which is about four hours from Queenstown without stopping, but we planned to make a lot of stops along the way. 

Our first stop was Te Anau. It is a small town on the shore of Te Anau Lake. It is the gateway to Fiordland National Park, where Milford Sound is located. It is also the midway point on our journey. We stopped for lunch at Ditto, a delicious Asian fusion restaurant and then we took the opportunity to stretch our legs and head down by the lake. It was a beautiful sunny day and the scenery here is gorgeous. 

We continued our drive. Now that we were in the National Park we stopped more frequently. The scenery was unreal. It is a collection of so many different types of landscapes. There are towering mountain peaks, golden fields of grass, thick forests covered with moss, glacial lakes, cascading waterfalls, and more. We spend the entire afternoon driving from viewpoint to viewpoint and stopping to take short hikes to points of interest. 

Getting to Milford Sound is an adventure. To get there you take a narrow winding highway. It can feel treacherous when giant tour buses are squeezing past going the other direction. There was one moment when I thought we might get squashed by a bus. Fortunately, that did not happen. One other interesting section of the road to Milford Sound is the Homer Tunnel. This tunnel through solid rock is the only way to drive in and out of Milford Sound. While it is quite wide during the peak season they wisely only allow one-way traffic. They have a whole light system, complete with a countdown timer letting you know when it will be your turn. The tunnel had a surprisingly steep grade. 

Once we made it through the tunnel we headed to our hotel at the Milford Sound Lodge. This is really the only place to stay in Milford Sound. They have a few campsites and luxury cabins. We were staying in a cabin. It is really a remarkable place to stay. There aren't a lot of food options here - it is so remote - we ate on-site, Pio Pio. The restaurant was incredible. The staff was so friendly and really spent time building a rapport. They use local, sustainable, unique, flavors and techniques and it showed - the food was delicious. The best part was the dessert. We had the Fiordland Manuka Honey and Wanaka Lavender Crème Brûlée Madeleines, Honeycomb Tuile. It was delectable. 

By the time we finished eating, we were exhausted from our long day and ready to call it a night.