Milford Sound and Te Anau (New Zealand Part 32)

We deliberated for a long time about which of the many offered cruises on Milford Sound we wanted to take. Since we couldn't find any accommodation in Milford Sound (the town is named after the fjord) and had to go to Te Anau, we decided to take a bus tour with a boat ride from there.

During our journey on the Milford Sound Highway (New Zealanders are not very creative when it comes to naming), we heard some information about the surroundings.

We stopped at various points for photos or short walks.

The sky was blue, which is not very common in this area because it is one of the rainiest places in the world with 6-8 meters of precipitation annually.

We only got wet from the waterfalls that are everywhere in the fjord. And then a rainbow appeared directly above the water.

Further along, some New Zealand fur seals were resting on rocks and also seemed to be enjoying the sun.

Shortly afterwards, some dolphins appeared and swam alongside our boat, jumping out of the water.

After about two hours, our trip was over and we drove back to Te Anau by bus.

The drive went along the lake, which - who would have guessed - is also called Te Anau. It is the largest lake in New Zealand's South Island and the largest freshwater reservoir.

Lake Te Anau

In the town, we walked along the lake to the Visitor Centre of the DOC (Department of Conservation), which has a nice little exhibition about the history of the area.

If you continue along the lake, you will come to the "Te Anau Wildlife Centre." There you can observe native and rare birds in enclosures for free.

There are also the rare Takahē birds, of which there are only 300 left in total. We saw one of these flightless birds walking around in the tall grass.

The Kakariki birds were much easier to see in their enclosure because they curiously climbed the fence and wanted to investigate everything that came near.