We were picked up from the Divide shelter at about 2:30pm by a plush Real Journeys coach to take us on an overnight cruise on Milford Sound. The coach ride was part of the experience: the scenery as you approach Milford Sound is an awe-inspiring sequence of vertical kilometres of precipitous rock walls and churning rivers.
The rain that day was heavy even by Fiordland standards, so the waterfalls were (apparently) even more numerous and impressive than usual. Even the excellent coach driver/guide was getting excited by the amount of water coming over the Chasm waterfall. This was definitely the best waterfall I'd ever seen, the second time that had happened that day.
The Homer Tunnel which cuts through into the otherwise inaccessible Milford Sound is a particularly impressive feat of engineering and has a fascinating story of depression-era job creation.
We boarded the cruise ship at about 5pm which took us into Milford Sound. Possibly the best view was of a rocky overhang, a kilometre above us, with waterfalls coming off it. Instead of dropping into the sound below, the water was being blown upwards, forming its own cloud.
The peak in the centre is over 1500m high.
The boat picked up a mooring buoy in a sheltered bay, and we had the chance to do some sea kayaking before dinner. Dinner itself was very good, likely improved by the previous three days' dehydrated dinners. We just about stayed awake until midnight and sang the obligatory Auld Lang Syne on the foredeck (at 11am on the 31st in the UK!) but were in bed at 12:02, exhausted but happy.
Early the next morning the ship headed out to the mouth of the sound, then slowly worked its way back to the harbour where we had started. More breathtaking views, etc. The coach then met us and took us back to Te Anau, dropping us at Keiko's B&B where we were staying for the night.
The ~100ft Milford Mariner, pictures of which you can see here, is dwarfed by the walls of the sound.
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