From the ski towns, I headed for Milford Sound in “Fiordland National Park” in the southwestern part of the country, where I took what was probably the most spectacular drive of my life. There were mile-high mountains with steep cliff faces that dropped straight down into fjords. For 17 km of the drive (each way), you were not allowed to stop your car due to the risk of avalanches. The road gets closed about 20 times a year, I was told, sometimes taking up to 5 days to clear.
The end of the road takes you to Milford Sound, a place that is supposed to attract 7 meters of rain a year. My rough math tells me that equates to an average of about an inch of rain every single day. Fortunately, there were sunny blue skies when I drove in, so there was plenty to see. Overnight and on the way back out, it was pouring rain, which really hampered your visibility.
There is a 3-4 day “Milford Track” hike that extends through this Fiordland National Park, considered by many to be the ultimate hike anywhere worldwide. I was told the hike was so popular you needed to make reservations a year in advance. The reservations even require you to start on a specific date to synchronise all the hikers. During the summer months, the trail is supposed to be chock full of backpackers.
I continued heading to the southern tip of the country, through Invercargill, along a scenic coastal drive, before heading up north to Dunedin for the night, the South Island’s second-largest city. The first half of the drive seemed a bit nicer than the second half. The first half ran past the snow-capped mountains of Fiordland, tapering off.
The second half ran past lots of sheep and rolling green hills. Lots of sheep. Actually, many of the sheep have babies this time of the year here, which are very cute to watch. It looks like someone sprinkled the hills with stuffed animals, but they play around with each other like puppy dogs.
I’m juggling my options for travelling from here. I could either continue up the east coast or head inland for Mount Cook, Australasia’s highest mountain (3000+ meters). Depends on the weather. After driving all day in the rain yesterday, I’m not really keen on racing halfway across the country to see more clouds blocking my view.
