The Journey to Milford Sound

The coach turns west at Five Rivers and the landscape changes markedly as the highway follows the Southland syncline, a colossal fold in the earth's surface. The underlying geology was formed as sediments of eroded materials and volcanic debris that were deposited into a shallow sea off the ancient coast of Gondwanaland. The land is fertile, rich in fossils and coal deposits. This is heartland sheep, cattle and deer farming country bordered by the Eyre Mountains on the right and the hills of the White Hill wind farm on the left.

After Mossburn, the self proclaimed deer capital of New Zealand due to the high number of deer farms in the region, the journey travels through a hilly area called Gorge Hill that is covered with an amazing example of predominantly red tussock fields. Before farming was introduced to the region red tussock covered large areas of land in this rather cold and exposed region and is quite a sight during windy conditions.

Nearing Te Anau the road travels through a scientific reserve that protects a very good surviving remnant of bog pine (Halocarpus bidwillii). Bog pine is a common shrub of subalpine and alpine areas. As its name suggests, it grows in bogs, but it is just as likely to be found on well-drained, stony ground. It is usually seen as a spreading shrub 1–2 metres in height. Over time much of the bog pine in the area has become victim of land conversion for farming practices.

To the south lies the Takitimu mountain range which is named after the ancient Maori migration waka (canoe) Takitimu. In Ngāi Tahu mythology the captain of the waka, Tamatea, named the mountains to commemorate the wreck of his vessel in rough weather at the mouth of nearby Te Wae Wae Bay. In the traditional history of Ngāi Tahu the waka was overtaken by three large waves; O-te-wao, O-roko and O-kaka followed by a cross wave which threw the vessel inland where the overturned hull became the Takitimu mountain range.

On arrival in Te Anau the landscapes changes once again with wonderful vistas across Lake Te Anau towards the gneiss & granite mountains of Fiordland National Park. Lake Te Anau is New Zealand’s second largest lake by surface area and Australasia’s largest lake by fresh water volume.

After a refreshment stop in Te Anau the journey continues northward towards Milford Sound along the eastern shores of Lake Te Anau as far as Te Anau Downs. The Milford highway then enters Fiordland National Park (part of the Te Wāhipounamu World Heritage site) via the Eglington Valley and arguable the start of the most stunning and majestic portion of the trip. Some would say the environment between the start of Eglington Valley and Milford Sound to be one of the world's most spectacular drives.

Fiordland National Park is New Zealand’s largest national park covering an area of 12,500 km² and is part of the much larger 26,000 km² Te Wāhipounamu World Heritage site that incorporates several national parks. The rocks of Fiordland National Park are comprised mostly of gneiss, a rock that has metamorphosed from other rock types, notably granite and diorite. These rocks are some of the oldest found in New Zealand and date from the Ordovician period, more than 400 million years ago.

The Fiordland area was scoured by several glaciations until the last ice age that ended with the retreat of the glaciers about 15,000 years ago. Glaciers filled all the valleys and pushed out into the ocean. These glacial periods created the classic U-shaped valleys, coastal fiords and the inland lakes that have now been revealed since the melting of the ice.

Numerous stops are made for photos and short nature walks along the Eglington, Hollyford & Cleddau Valleys on the way to Milford Sound so that you’ll experience some of these wonderful geological features and the unique flora and fauna present within Fiordland National Park.

The Eglington Valley is bordered by the Livingstone Mountains on the east and the Earl Mountains to the west. The first stop made is at Mirror Lakes and as the name suggests often provides stunning reflections of the surrounding mountains. Mirror Lakes is accessed by a short walk through a beautiful stand of mainly Red Beech trees that are common in the lower elevations.

Beech trees are the dominant canopy tree on the eastern side of the divide in Fiordland where there are three species present; Red Beech, Silver Beech & Mt Beech. While the growing altitude of the three species of Beech overlap considerably, with increasing altitude Red Beech gives way to Silver Beech and then finally Mt Beech.

Along the Eglington Valley, conditions permitting, stops will also be made, at Eglington Flats, Knobs Flat and Lake Gunn. Lake Gunn is a beautiful lake that under the right conditions becomes mirror like reflecting the mountains and surrounding forest. The forest plants in this area are a wonderful example of the uniqueness of the vegetation present in Fiordland and provide an opportunity to see and listen to the song of native New Zealand birds. At times the native New Zealand longfin eel (Anguilla dieffenbachii) can also be seen around the edges in Lake Gunn.

After Lake Gunn the road climbs to The Divide and passes Lake Fergus before descending into the Hollyford Valley. On the descent there is a lockout called “Pop Lockout” or the Hollyford Lookout that provides splendid views over the lower Hollyford Valley and the Darran & Humboldt Mountains.

From Marian corner the road climbs the upper Hollyford Valley, an impressive high alpine U-shaped valley with near vertical walls capped with glaciers. Here you will find places such as Monkey Creek with its sparkling clear water and the blind ending Gertrude Valley.

The upper Hollyford Valley and surrounding area is particularly impressive during rainfall as the mountains will be literally covered with waterfalls-thousands of waterfalls.

The road continues to climb until it meets an 800m high sheer rock face through which the 1240m long Homer Tunnel links the Hollyford Valley to the Cleddau Valley on the other side.

It is common to find NZ’s native mountain parrot, the very cheeky Kea lurking around here. The Kea is a large, highly intelligent and given the opportunity, destructive green coloured parrot with a flash of orange under its wings. It seems to love human interaction, will approach very closely and has an affinity towards cars, particularly to mouldings and anything rubber.

The Homer Tunnel was a difficult engineering feat that commenced in 1935 with 5 men armed with only picks and shovels. Housed in canvas tents life was difficult for these men who endured severe hardship & isolation for long periods in an environment that only saw sun for six months of the year, experienced 6350mm of rain per annum, heavy winter snowfalls, and avalanches.

The tunnel holed through to the other side in 1940 when work ceased during World War II.

In 1945 a huge avalanche delayed works further when the massive reinforced concrete approach was destroyed. The tunnel was finally completed and the first car drove through in the summer of 1954. The east portal end of the tunnel is 945m in elevation and descends in a 1:10 gradient to the western portal. The walls of the tunnel remained unlined granite.

Exiting the tunnel from the western portal provides spectacular vistas over the U-shaped Cleddau Valley, surrounding mountains, and the road that descends steeply over 18kms to Milford Sound.

The coach makes one final stop before arriving at Milford at a fascinating place called The Chasm. Here there is a short walk through native forest to a deeply gouged ravine or chasm that takes on the appearance a bit like Swiss cheese where over time stones, pebbles & grit have scoured circular shapes in the hard granite rock that water gushes through.

The native forest here is quite different to the forests of the Eglington Valley on the eastern side of the divide. Being more of a temperate climate, there are many more species of plants present forming a much denser and diverse forest. The Chasm car park is another place where NZ’s alpine parrot, the Kea is found. It is also not uncommon to also find another inquisitive native bird, the Weka. Weka are flightless ground dwelling birds, rich mottle brown in colour, grow to about 50cm and like Kea, are not afraid of people.

After leaving the Chasm you will gain glimpses when the forest allows of glacier covered Mt Tutoko. At 2746m Mt Tutoko is the highest mountain in Fiordland National Park.

Arriving at Milford Sound we'll drop you off at the JUCY Cruize Milford Sound counter where you'll depart on a wonderful cruise of Milford Sound that travels the length of the fiord to the Tasman Sea stopping by some of the outstanding natural features, waterfalls and seal colonies during the cruise. If you are lucky you may even see bottle nose dolphins and the rare Fiordland Crest Penguin.