16th February Milford Sound

Milford Sound is on the agenda today. We have booked a tour, taking the bus there, taking a boat ride, visiting the underwater observatory, and taking the bus back to Te Anau.

Our first stop is in the Eglinton Valley, a wide valley along the Eglinton River, then we reach the Mirror Lakes. When there is no wind, the surface of the water looks like a mirror and reflects the surrounding landscape.

The bus winds its way up the mountains and we pass through the Homer Tunnel, which was opened in 1954. Before that, visitors had to climb over the mountain, not walk, rather climb.... In Milford Sound, we board our boat, which takes us on a tour of the Sound to the Tasman Sea.

Everywhere it is written that Milford Sound is the 8th wonder of the world. As we sail along and I look at these steep towering mountains and the deep blue water, the following comes to mind.

At some point, the Pacific Plate and the Australian Plate collided so violently that they not only pushed up the ocean floor, but also folded and 'kneaded' it several times, which can be seen in the 'stone paintings'. But that's not all, then it started to rain and it also got quite cold. Thick, fat glaciers formed on the mountains, pushing the ice masses down into the depths. These ice masses also carried rocks and created these steep, deep grooves in the mountains towards the sea. After some time, it got warmer again, the ice melted and the sea level rose, thus filling these steep, deep grooves with water. The Earth is somehow terrific, isn't it? And all of this is already an 8th wonder of the world for me, and that applies to all fjords in the world.

We visit the underwater observatory, which allows a glimpse into the underwater world of part of Milford Sound, 10 meters below sea level. Unfortunately, due to the previous rainfall, the water is still slightly turbid, so we have limited visibility. But still worth seeing and interesting.

Back on the ship, we drive to the jetty and then take the bus back to Te Anau. A great day today.