Fjord versus Sound

Driving out to the Milford Sounds which are actually Fjords was drop your jaw gorgeous. 

The difference between a sound and a fjord is quite simple, one is created by water (sound) and the other ice or glaciers (fjord). We found a nice DOC camp to rest our heads for the night only 30 kms from Milford. The DOC sites are the cheapest in the South Island for campervans as there aren't many spots that have toilets open 24 hours that allow camping nearby. 

We took off earlyish the next morning for Milford and arrived with plenty of time for our trip. We grabbed coffee and relaxed a bit and went to the car to grab our stuff and check in...turns out we were late! The lady told us we needed to run to the dock, so run I did! There was no way I was missing a cruise and kayak trip on the Milford Sound which is something I was looking forward to before even coming on the trip. Thankfully we made it and the captain was waiting for us but insisted we were actually early. Good thing we ran...ugh. We were however the last ones to board and everyone was already enjoying the hot lunch provided on the cruise we took. As we left the harbor the sights got more and more beautiful. 

Mitre Peak hung over us as we cruised along. 

We even got to the Stirling Falls which claims to take years off of your skin. Why not give it a chance? I ran to the front of the boat for a "glacier facial". I got soaked. 

We stopped to see some adorable seals that hang out on this particular rock adorned the "bachelors" of the sound. 

We continued out of the bay to the Tasman Sea and turned back in to head to the Milford Discovery Centre 

This is where we got to embark on our kayak adventure! The place had a pretty cool platform that lowered you into the water while you were already seated in the kayak so there was no chance of tipping over. The kayak adventure was stunning and the water wasn't that cold either. Maybe it was just refreshing because it was so hot out!

We only had an hour in the kayaks and it was over too quick. This was definitely a big highlight for me on the entire trip thus far. 

We then got a tour of the Milford Discovery Centre which has a 10 meter deep viewing of the underwater world in the fjord. It was pretty amazing to see everything that lives and grows in the area. Another interesting fact about the Milford Sound is that the top 5 meters are freshwater and below is salt water due to the amount of rain water and waterfalls in the area. It creates a different ecosystem for fish to thrive. 

After our museum visit we made our way back to the harbor. It was a long day but beautiful with weather we could have only dreamt about. Apparently it rains 300 days a year in the fjord area. The weather gods have been following me kindly!

Leaving the fjord we stopped at the Chasm and Mirror Lakes for a quick vantage photo opp. 

We made our way into Te Anau to eat dinner and find a place to rest our heads. We went to the Ranch because of their advertised Sunday roast meal for $15. As a backpacker you are constantly looking for a deal and this had our interests piqued. The place was really good and the host even hooked us up with a place to park our campervan! It just so happened that his parents had gone out of town that day and lived just down the road so he told us to park in their driveway. Happily we parked for free at a huge house with an even bigger boat parked outside of it. We were also right by the lake. It was perfect. I have met some of the friendliest people here who go out of the way to help tourists out! It was a great way to get back to civilization. :)

The following day we took off for a day hike on the Routeburn Track. It was mostly a bush walk and it turns out Lukas was sick of these. He has been a great sport on going anywhere and everywhere I picked, so we decided no more bush walks on our last bush walk through the Routeburn. I thought it was beautiful regardless.