Matchbox cars are good in the snow right?

Milford Sound is known for being remote and beautiful.  I'd wanted to get there on this trip, but I wasn't sure how to fit it in.  The Sound is an additional 4-5 hours from QT and I just didn't think we'd have the time or the stamina driving to get down there.  After much discussion during the trip, Haven and I decided to make it happen.  We considered taking a bus day trip (the option most people choose) to save Haven the extra hours of driving but decided that we would save money and have a better trip if we did it ourselves.

On Wednesday before our bungy jump, we went in and booked a boat cruise and hotel accommodations for the next night in Milford.  The plan was to drive in on Thursday morning, taking plenty of time to hike and take pictures along the way.  Then we would take the cruise the next morning and drive back.   We thought it was a solid plan, until our bungy guide informed us that the first big winter storm was blowing in tomorrow.

The road to Milford is described as subalpine and in the winter anyone who drives it is required to carry chains.   These did not seem to be good details to combine with a snow storm and our Daihatsu matchbox car with wheels the size of large frisbees.  I started to worry that we would get snowed into Milford Sound and crossed my fingers that we would make our flights on Saturday.

We set out at the day looked beautiful, checked the weather and picked up chains in Te Anau, the last town before the final 120km over the mountain and into Milford.   As we went into the famously scenic Eglington Valley we stopped for photos (I'm sorry I don't have the pictures to show) and then took few hours to hike up to the top of a mountain.  During the hike it started to snow, but not too hard and it wasn't sticking.   Still when we got back to the car, we decided to forego the other hikes we had planned and head out before the wether got worse.

We realized this was a good call as we continued to climb in the mountains we noticed the snow was sticking much more the higher we got.  The Hollyford Tunnel cuts through the mountain at the highest point in the road and as we approached it the weather and the road just deteriorated.  Before we knew it we were in danger of losing all speed and all forward progress.  It took us 20 mins to go the last 100m before the tunnel and we were white-knuckled and freaked out the entire time.  We kept trying to decide if we should stop to put the chains on but we were in the middle of the road and I was worried about us sliding back down the mountain if we stopped.   At one point the snow plow man got out and was talking to us as he walked along beside the car.  Luckily, that was the worst part of the road and we made it into Milford about 30 mins later, although still a little stressed.

We were staying at the only accommodation in Milford Sound and the girl at the front desk told us that they were closing the road at 5:00pm (about 2 hours after we came through) and would reopen it at 11 in the morning.  Looks like we were stuck until then and we had our fingers crossed we would make it back out.  Not only was this lodge the only place to stay, it also ran on a generator and they turned all power off from 11pm-6:30am.   No power=no heat and these places are exactly insulated.   In fact,  Haven and I cursed the Kiwis and there fondness for putting bathrooms outside.  It was below freezing and we had to walk outside to get to the bathrooms that were unheated.  We didn't drink hardly anything the whole evening because neither of us wanted to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

We made it through the chilly night (by sleeping in our long underwear) and headed out to our 9:30 cruise.  The day was beautiful.  Blue sky, sun and hardly any clouds.  The sound was beautiful.  I've been to quite a few pretty places (most of NZ ranking up there on the list) but Milford Sound was a new top of the list.  It isn't really a Sound, but a fjord and the highest peak rises a mile straight out of the water.  The mountains were capped in snow from the night before, there are waterfalls and the water is a beautiful blue.  Just gorgeous.  On our 2 1/2 hour cruise we went from blue sky to fog to overcast to heavy rain.  Apparently, Milford regularly goes through all 4 seasons in a day.  And all the seasons were beautiful.  Even in the foggy rain the place just seems sort of moody and romantic.  Simply stunning.

Our next challenge was getting home.   As we headed out we were happy to see the buses coming in signalling that the road was definitely open.  As soon as we started to climb away from the coast we saw a good few inches of snow along the road.  Road conditions steadily declined as we climbed to the tunnel but, at no point, was it anywhere as crazy as it had been the night before.  Still we had both been holding our breathe to make it across the bad part and when we did we were very, very relieved.  Relaxed we even stopped to take some pictures on the way home.  To give you an idea of how many people are on the road, we were standing in the middle of a small one-lane bridge to take photos and we were in no danger of being run-over.

I think next time I go to Milford, I'll try it in the summer.