Te Anau and Milford Sound

Fly into Queenstown and hire a bus or hire a car and drive to Te Anau. Unlike Europe a holiday in New Zealand won’t break the bank and you will be impressed.

Te Anau sits on a beautiful lake. To get the most out of a visit to this town take a helicopter tour. For what you get the prices are reasonable. You can take a helicopter tour to view the magnificent fiords. As part of the journey your pilot will land you on the top of a snow capped peak where you can stretch your legs and marvel at the fact that five minutes earlier you were basking in the sun and now you are throwing snowballs at your friends.

From Te Anau you can book a tour of Milford Sound. There are 2 main companies that run the tours. Both are well organised and their boats are modern and well equiped – you can’t go wrong!The drive from Te Anau to Milford Sound takes about 2 hours and it is magnificent. There is so much to see and do along the way. Make sure you allow at least 3 hours for the drive so that you can take your time and stop along the way.

One of the more active things to do along the way is to walk to Lake Marian. The hike up to Lake Marian at first seems pretty easy , of course that only lasts for about the first 200m in and then…yup you guessed it, uphill all the way baby.  Once you reach the top it is definitely worth it.  After 1 ½ hrs you emerge from the bush to a most spectacular view – Lake Marian a striking sight situated in the middle of surrounding snow capped mountains with a beautiful little waterfall.  What makes it even more special is tthe isolation, way up in the middle of nowhere. If you feel like doing this hike allow 3 hours.

When you get to Milford Sound, hop on the tour you booked and relax and enjoy the view. What a view! The snow capped mountains encompassing this fiord are incredible, the water is a beautiful deep emerald blue and every so often you pass beautifully cascading waterfalls.  The air is crisp and the wind fast. Along the way you will see seals, bird life and the occasional dolphin.

If you do the Milford Sound cruise and the Lake Marian hike in one day you will be hungry when you get back to Te Anau. No problem, there are some great restaurants in Te Anau. Most are reasonably priced, even for a minibus hire guy like myself.

Last tip – when visting New Zealand, try some of their Pinot Noir.