To make it for our cruise at Milford Sound at 9.55am, we woke up while the sky was still dark and had cup noodles for breakfast. It was simple yet satisfying in the cold weather! The drive to Milford sound was expected to take 2hrs. Based on experience, we usually take longer time than that. So we left around 7am so that we can take a leisurely drive there.
Hubby took the drive while I dozed off in car. In the dark, there was already a line of cars forming. Once the sky lit up, I saw the mountains which looked spectacular. I woke up at that instant!
There was a one-way tunnel which we had to pass. Cars on each side had to follow traffic signals. It was quite an experience driving in that tunnel. We arrived safely at Milford Sound shortly after. I had to say, it was freezing cold! From the car park, we had to walk on the boardwalk for another few hundred metres to the cruise counters. Once we had registered ourselves for it, we walked back to the visitor centre next to the carpark and bought ourselves hot drinks which turned cold very soon as well.
Tip: Using Bookme.com once again, we had gotten much cheaper tickets for our cruise which was at the earliest timeslot of the day. According to sources online, afternoon is where the tour buses flood the place. So coming early not only gave us a better ticket price, we also managed to beat the crowd!
The cruise had 2 decks, the lower deck was enclosed with rows of propers seats while the upper deck was opened. As typical Singaporean, we chionged for the top open deck for nicer view and breeze (yah right, freezing cold wind will be a more apt description)! It was a round trip to the open sea before it turned back to the pier. We managed to stay on the open deck on the way out, capture many nice photos, before going down to the bottom deck to hide from the cold on the way back.
I remembered having 5 layers of clothes on me! But despite freezing, I decided to still head to the bow when I heard the captain mentioned that he was going to ‘wash the boat’. He drove the boat very closely to the waterfall where we ‘washed up‘ together with the boat! Thanks to my waterproof jacket and pants, I stayed dry within!
I really enjoyed the cruise. By the time we returned, it no longer felt as cold as it was earlier. After grabbing a quick lunch at the cafe, we took our 2hrs drive back to Te Anau, stopping along the way for short walks.
By the time we returned, we were actually quite tired. We strolled along the fringe of the Lake Te Anau and shopped briefly at the supermarket before returning to some instant dinner and rest for the day.
Perrine Travels 