Milford Sound, February 22, 2026

I had the feeling that this was going to be a great day when I looked out our hotel window and saw clearing skies. That, along with a promise of sun and 60s weather from the weather gurus, validated my premonition. 

We had to leave early  (7 am+/-) because our Milford Sound cruise was about a 2 hour drive away. And free parking (otherwise $10/hour) was a 20 minute walk to check in.  So, after breakfast that had been provided in our room, we set out.

The drive over Milford Road is nothing short of spectacular. It starts out over open fields, and climbs to snow capped mountains laced with waterfalls. Since we'd have to drive the same route coming back, we didn't stop to drink in the beauty. With little traffic, we arrived at Milford Sound early.  The walk from the parking lot was easy and pleasant as it wove through the rainforest.  A large patch of what looked like hawkweed, and orange crocosmia greeted us at the start of our walk. The only issue we had was  the nasty swarming sand flies. They compare well with NH black flies: they swarm around exposed skin,  they bite, and the bites itch like crazy. 

But, oh my, the 2 hour cruise on the Sound was well worth the early wake up and even the sand flies. The sound is actually a fjord, carved by glaciers, not rivers into steep U shaped cliffs. Those cliffs as the rise up from the water are dramatic with multicolor rock faces and waterfalls everywhere. We were told by one of the crew that we had really hit a

jackpot. It rained yesterday and that filled the previously dry waterfalls. That, paired with a perfectly sunny and mild day was particularly uncommon. Plus, we were blessed with the fact that our cruise was not heavily attended. We could easily move about the boat, going inside and outside in the front and rear. 

The ride back to Te Anau was an opportunity to stop all along the winding road we had previously traveled to check out the mountain and valley scenery. The road nearer to the sound is winding and narrow, and there were places where it was so narrow, it looked like it was actually one lane, but it was really 2. We're driving an Outlander, a full size SUV, and it looked like there was scarce room for a car to approach from the opposite direction. At one of the stops, we were lucky to spot a Kea bird, about the size of a smallish chicken. It's a large parrot, about 18 inches long, and an endangered native NZ bird. There are less than 4000 left in the wild. This one was banded, and I had read that NZ is monitoring the kea population closely. Very cool to get to see this.

Back in Te Anau, we strolled into town to have dinner. Unlike Saturday,  when you really needed a reservation, it seemed like most of the restaurants were quiet and just waiting for customers to come in.

Photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/498pWG3YtWnLfiiA7