New Zealand - Lake Tekapo, Te Anau

Hello Family and Friends,

So to start off, the signage humor continues through the south island.

I think they take their coffee very serious.

We stayed right across from Lake Tekapo.

The view from our hotel. The second body of water is Lake Tekapo.

Another unobstructed view of Lake Tekapo.

By nightfall the weather was absolutely perfect for viewing stars. There were no clouds in the sky and you could clearly see the milkyway.

Brett and I under the night sky with the Milkyway above. Atlas did see the stars with us, but isn't in this photo because he can't be still for the 10 seconds required for the exposure.

You can only get a view of the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy from the northern hemisphere. However, in the southern hemisphere, you see the entire Milky Way. We also got to use a telescope to view some of the stars that were further away and that we couldn't see with the naked eye. Being under all those stars reminds you of the grandness of the universe. For example, the closest star to the earth would take 50,000 years traveling with the fastest rocket, at the fastest speed, one way. We also saw Beetlejuice (also known as the red giant.) It is red because it is an old star and expected to go supernova (explode) within 500 years. If it does explode in our life time the minimum brightness is expected to be that of the sun for 2 months straight, day and night. The coolest part is that it could have already exploded, but we wouldn't know because it would take 600 years for it's light to reach us.

After our dark sky viewing we left Lake Tekapo and took a 5 hour drive to Fjord land. We stopped along the way to capture some beautiful views.

Lake Pukaki with crystal clear water and snowy cliffs in the distance.

Enjoying some sunshine at Lake Pukaki on our 5 hour drive to Fjord land.

We stayed in Te Anau as a launching point to visit both Milford and Doubtful Sound.

Patient Bay in Te Anau

Our first fjord was Milford Sound. It has retained its name as a "sound" even though it is technically a fjord. However, the drive out to Milford Sound is just as beautiful as the sound itself. It's about an hour and fifteen minute drive to the sound from Te Anau, but it is recommended to give yourself two or more hours so that you have time to stop and take in the scenery.

Honestly I don't know exactly where we are. Somewhere between Milford Sound and Te Anau.

Mirror Lakes

Eglinton Valley

Now of course the McKinneys can't just stay on the main rode. We always have to go off trail. As we passed through Eglinton Valley we saw a little gravel road. We decided to take it. The gravel road then led to a grassy path which we followed until the grassy path started to fade away. We made it to literally nowhere.

Brett in the Eglinton Valley on the grassy road.

Looking back towards the main road from which we had come.

Little waterfalls were everywhere as we approached the tunnel to go to the other side of the mountain in order to reach Milford Sound.

The rainfall determines the amount of waterfalls that are present in the fjord area. Early spring is the best time to see the most waterfalls because all the snow is melting. In the summertime, if there is no rain then there are no waterfalls.

The view on the other side of the mountain once we exited the tunnel.

Milford Sound from the shoreline

Enjoying our boat ride on the Milford Sound.

One of the larger permanent waterfalls in Milford Sound.

Looking out into the Tasman Sea. One of the roughest seas in the world.

Another permanent waterfall at the sound that the captain was able to maneuver close to, so that those who so desired could have a waterfall shower.

Milford Sound is the smaller of the two sounds and easier to get to. You can drive to Milford Sound, park your car and hop right on the boat. Getting to the larger sound, Doubtful, is much more difficult. Like Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound isn't a sound at all but a fjord, but retains the Sound name, You can't drive to Doubtful Sound. We drove about 30 minutes from Te Anau to Manapouri, then we got on a boat that took us to an island, to take us to a bus that drove us to Doubtful Sound.

Crossing Lake Manapouri in order to get to the island where a bus is waiting to drive us to Doubtful Sound.

"Refrigerator Valley". So named because of the cool air coming off of the mountain. Helicopters would keep deer in the valley to keep them from going bad after a hunt.

"Spider Rock" with an image of Darth Vader mask at the top. Nature made etching that we're not sure how it happened.

Once on the island there is a 50 minute drive via a bus to Doubtful Sound. The only reason this road exist is because there is a hydroelectric power station operating from this island.

Waterfalls on the bus ride to Doubtful Sound.

The bridge crossing this river used to be the way the bus got to Doubtful Sound. However, there was an earthquake and no one has checked the bridge to see if it can handle the weight of the bus so now the bus takes a different route.

Once we arrived at Doubtful Sound, we then got on another boat to explore the sound.

The mouth of Doubtful Sound.

Just a photo of Doubtful Sound.

Those are just a bunch of little waterfalls running down the face of the rock that make the rock face look like it's crying.

The tallest waterfall in Doubtful Sound at over 2600 feet.

The little dots on the large rocks are Fur Seals resting during the day to prepare for the night of hunting on the Tasman Sea.

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That's a little baby fur seal hopping around. I guess all babies have a hard time sleeping when the adults want them to.

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Here you can get a little idea of the roughness of the Tasman Sea as we head back to the smoothness of the fjord.

Returning back to Doubtful Sound from the Tasman Sea,

These waterfalls were new for the crew. They said this one isn't usually here, but due to the rainfall, it showed up.

We were told that no one has claimed this waterfall so we could just name it whatever we want, as it will probably be gone tomorrow.

Just more photos of the sound.

This rainbow showed up for us. The crew told us that rainbows in this area are rare. Whenever I see a rainbow, I like to think that it's Nathaniel giving me a little nod from heaven. Rainbow was his favorite color.

Just another gorgeous waterfall. Most of the waterfalls aren't permanent at Doubtful Sound. They come and go with the rain.

Atlas makes friends everywhere he goes. Especially if there is a little boy a little older than him and they pay him any attention at all, he will attach himself to them. On our tour of Doubtful Sound, there was a little boy who was the same age Nathaniel would have been. By the end of the tour they were best friends and running circles around the boat together.

Atlas with his newest best friend.

When we were researching which sound we should explore, the general census was that both are great. Doubtful is more remote and there are fewer people while Milford has more people as it is easier to get to. But I'm taking off the gloves, Doubtful Sound without a doubt is the better sound. It's peaks are higher, it's waterfalls are larger and we actually got to go out onto the Tasman sea and spot fur seals. My advice is if you can't make it to Doubtful then of course go to Milford Sound so that you can experience a fjord. But if you can do Doubtful, especially the overnight cruise, skip Milford. I thought Milford was great, but then I went to Doubtful. Even though I got sea sick going out on the Tasman sea, I would still choose Doubtful over Milford.

Atlas agrees that Doubtful Sound is the better one.

That's all for Fiordland. Now we head to Queenstown!