The alarm went off at 6 am this morning. By 7 we were on a Rosco’s Sea Kayaking van heading toward Milford Sound. The drive between Te Anau and Milford is even more stunning than everything we’ve seen to this point. It climbs up to the divide and back down to sea level through some incredibly rugged mountain terrain. At the top the road goes through a roughly kilometer long tunnel that is very poorly lit (one light every 100 yards or so) and dripping water from the roof and walls. We stopped on the way up at a place called Mirror Lakes. They are a set of pools on the side of the road that in the early morning are completely calm and perfectly reflect the mountains above. Also in the van were a couple from Colorado who both grew up in Minnesota. It was fun talking to them after hardly seeing another American for the trip so far.
After arriving at Milford Sound, we were all provided with a full set of kayaking clothing and gear that we got changed into. After a brief explanation of how the things work, we were on the water. The sea kayaks we were in were the two-seater variety so me and Eric were in a kayak together. There were 8 – 10 kayaks in all in our guided trip.
It was a “bluebird” morning – as our guide Tex described it – as we set off. The sound is at least 10 – 15 km long and perhaps 3 – 4 km wide where we were paddling but it was calm as we set off. It was a great environment to enjoy the view. The cliffs rising out of Milford Sound really cannot be described. In the cliffs, several waterfalls cascade down. They don’t look too big compared to the cliffs towering above them, but the closer one we were told was 3 times the height of Niagara. We later got to kayak right underneath this waterfall into the mist and see it's power up close.
In addition to the scenery itself, there was a lot of wildlife to be seen. One interesting thing we saw was a penguin hanging out on the rocks. The real show, however, was a whole school of dolphins that we chased across the sound that ended up swimming right by us. They were literally a boat’s length away from us. They are quite large as well – nearly as long as the kayaks we sat in.
After a few hours of cruising around, we got introduced to “The Day Winds”. Every day in the early afternoon, the air on the sound between the valleys has been warmed sufficiently to be lifted up out the area and the cold air out on the ocean rushes in to take its place. The result is a literal wall of wind that comes crashing in and makes the water really choppy all at once. We went from calm water to 5 and 6 foot rollers in a matter of minutes. This was really intense. The wind blew hard and we had to fight through the waves to get back. I'm really glad we were in a kayak and not an open canoe. Got soaked through and through – which was fine thanks to all the waterproof gear they gave us to use. We made it through all right for an adventurous end to a great day.
After spending 45 minutes or so in the town of Milford we got back in the van and made the hour trip back to Te Anau where we ate a really nice dinner at the Redcliff Restaurant and headed to bed early again.
1 comment:
Incredible
Post a Comment