NEW ZEALAND PART 3.

The most southerly point in the South Island.

We have now reached the most southerly point of mainland New Zealand, the most southerly part of the entire country being Stewart Island which we did not have time to visit, and we turned northwest towards Milford Sound. The scenery now changed completely from the green hills of the East coast, which reminded us very much of Dorset in places, to the mountainous subtropical rainforests of the southwest coast.

This pond is called 'Mirror Pond.' You can see why.

Not sure why I put this in - just liked the name.

The road into Milford Sound climbs through the mountains and through the Homer Tunnel just below the highest ridge. This has traffic lights which only change every 15 minutes.

Waiting to enter the Homer Tunnel.

Milford Sound is one of the main attractions in New Zealand. There is no town as such, just the small harbour where the tourist boats sail from. The main problem there are the swarms of sand flies which are continuously buzzing around and will give you nasty bites if you haven't sprayed yourself with foul smelling insect repellent.

Equally annoying, and similar in behaviour in many ways, are the swarms of Japanese tourists who travel everywhere by the coachload. We lost count of the number of times we would be enjoying an attraction only to have the whole thing ruined by a coach turning up and disgorging a swarm of Japanese.

Happily in Milford they seemed to have their own boats laid on so we had a more or less Japanese free cruise. Milford is named after Milford Haven, and in fact Milford Sound is misnamed as it is not a sound, created by river erosion, but a fjord created by glacial erosion.

Mt. Mitre, at the edge of Milford Sound, is one of the highest peaks in the world that rises directly from the water.

A waterfall on the other side of Milford Sound.

Seals basking on rocks at the narrowest point in the fjord. The wind is always very strong here and blows away the sand flies which bother the seals as much as us humans.

At the mouth of the fjord with the Tasman Sea ahead.

Looking back at the mouth of the Fjord from the sea. Captain Cook ignored the fjord as he thought it was just a small bay as he sailed past so it doesn't appear on his maps.

Up close to the bottom of one of the waterfalls.

That 'one deck below' shot again.