Day 13 – Australia/New Zealand Adventure – Milford Sound/Piopiotahi

(Wednesday, March 19, 2025) by Ann Silverthorn with Jim DeDad

Up and at ‘em for a 7:15 a.m. departure to Milford Sound/Piopiotahi, an estimated eight-hours total on the “coach.” Our tour information said that we’d soak in the “rugged  grandeur” of Hollyford Valley as we cruised through ancient beech forest via the Homer Tunnel on our 181-mile trek.

One thing to know about Milford Sound/Piopiotahi is that it’s really a fjord, but they call it, and the others on the South Island, a sound. Sounds are typically wider than fjords, and fjords have steep sides.

As usual along the way, Guide Cam shared a plethora of information on Queenstown, Milford Sound/Piopiotahi, and New Zealand with us, but it was never too much.  Here are some “bits and bobs” that we learned:

• The mountains near the Queenstown airport are 8,000 feet tall. That’s why it’s turbulent flying in and out. 
• The mountain peaks are pointy and rise straight up from the lake.
• Queenstown is 1,100 feet above sea level.
• Lake Wakatipu at Queenstown has a tidal movement. Not many lakes do this. It is also New Zealand’s longest lake at 50 miles.
• Lake Wakatipu was formed by glacial carvings. It never warms up and has a maximum depth of 1,380 feet.. 
• New Zealanders like bakeries and pies. Venison pies are supposedly good.
• New Zealand has the most deer farms in the world. Dairy farming is also big.
• All farm animals are free range in New Zealand.
• New Zealand ski resorts don’t have big lodges or chalets. Skiers stay in the city and travel to and from the slopes every day. 
• New Zealanders call elk wapiti, which is also our Native American name for them.
• John Travolta, Brad Pitt, and Shania Twain like to come New Zealand.
• There are no crocodiles, snakes, or big spiders in New Zealand (nice!)
• Tectonic plates run through New Zealand, so there’s a lot of seismic activity, with the most-recent major earthquake occurring in Christ Church in 2012.
• Milford Sound/Piopiotahi is 50 miles away from Queenstown, but it takes a few hours to get there, because there are mountains to go around. 
• Along the Milford Road is an avalanche zone. 

Along the Milford Road, we saw spectacular mountain formations and stopped several times for photos and facilities. We were in the Fiordland National Park, the largest national park in New Zealand with an area of nearly 5,000 square miles. The southern ranges of the Southern Alps cover most of Fiordland National Park.

We were not surprised that the bus was cold when we boarded it in the early morning, but that didn’t change, and we all started to shiver. It was so cold in the bus that people started calling to the front for heat (not me). Cam and the driver tried to get the climate control to work, but it instead just blew cold air on us. I asked Cam about the prospects of heat when we got out of the bus and he said we wouldn’t have heat that day, because a pump was broken. It was only around 55 degrees outside, so I wasn’t too thrilled about being cold all day. 

At one point we stopped to take a photos and then another time for a short walk to see a reflecting lake. It was beautiful, but it was as cold outside as it was on the bus, so we walked briskly.

I eventually fell asleep and Jim said it was good that I did, because the road became treacherous. At one point, we went through the Homer Tunnel, and Jim said it was good that I was also asleep for that, because it is three-quarters of a mile long and only large enough for one-way traffic. While waiting for the traffic light to turn green, so you can take your turn through the tunnel, you sit in an avalanche zone. . . 

At about 1:00 p.m., when we were nearly to Milford Sound/Piopiotahi, we stopped for a photo opportunity in a wilderness area with lots of curves in the road. Shortly after we started rolling again, Cam announced, “We have to stop for a minute.” Something was beeping at the front of the bus. I had no idea that this was day 13!

Cam and the driver got out and did some tinkering. They started up the bus a few times, and the beeping continued. Cam then said we were going to have to switch buses because we didn’t have any “air.” I assumed this meant no air for the brakes as we headed downward in elevation, and I was right. This was probably the reason we had no heat, too.

Eventually, Cam announced that he would catch a ride down to the village of Milford Sound where he could get cell service.  

Well, the bus sure warmed up while we waited with the sun beating down upon it. There was no getting out of the vehicle, because there was very little shoulder and I think the doors weren’t operating very well. I wondered if we would ever get out of there and when my phone gave me the option to point it at a satellite and upload our location, I did it.

At 1:40 another bus came, and we transferred to it. This was another tour group’s bus, though, so we weren’t sure if we would make it out of Milford Sound that night. I was amazed that we had been sitting there for less than an hour. It seemed like half a day. 

The final section of our route contained several one-lane bridges. Fun on a big bus! 

We had missed our scheduled boat ride at Milford Sound, but Cam arranged for a later one. We hung around the terminal and also walked out onto a jetty while waiting until our ship was ready to board. 

As we boarded the boat, we picked up a box lunch, which was pretty good. We stayed on the top level for a while, but it was very windy, so we dropped down to the bottom level. Then, the captain let us go out to the bow. It wasn’t so windy there, and we remained there most of the time. 

We went out almost to the Tasman sea and then turned around. On the way back, we saw some dolphins, but I couldn’t get any photos. They were running right with the boat!

There was a spectacular waterfall (Bowen Falls) along the way, and the captain took us up close to it, so close we got quite a mist!

Back at the dock, we boarded our repaired bus for the three-hour trip back to Queenstown. We were supposed to be on our own for dinner that night, but Cam had food waiting when we arrived back at the hotel at around 9:00 p.m., about three hours later than planned. We ate and then fell into bed. The next day would be free until dinnertime.

7,086 steps