1/125th f/8

We left the hotel at 4:30 this morning and headed to Milford Sound. Because of the geography of the area – all the mountains run north to south – we’re staying in the nearest town to New Zealand’s biggest tourist attraction but it’s 120kms away. The road only goes to Milford Sound; we don’t see any traffic going the either way. The tunnel under the mountains responds to approaching traffic during the night but we still had to wait a few minutes for a green light.

The car parks were empty apart from a few camper vans staying overnight, waiting for the first boats. The first coaches don’t arrive from Queenstown until midday so all the morning boats are relatively quiet.

We headed out across the rocks and mud flats looking for variations on the classic view down the Sound towards Mitre Peak. Most visitors would consider a clear blue sky a bonus but this is one of the wettest places in the country. We had a cloudless sky on our first visit so we were hoping for a bit more weather action today but we were out of luck. It’s still a very impressive site when the sun hits the peaks.

We retired for breakfast about 8:30. Three of the group were taking a cruise on the Sound at 10.30; the rest of us went up to the Chasm, the waterfall we’d visited last time we were here. This time we had plenty of time to look around and get the pictures we wanted.

We returned to Milford Sound to collect the cruisers then began the 120kms back to Te Anau. Most people slept on the journey, I listened to a podcast and almost stayed awake.

We had an hour off to rest, change, have a cup of tea etc before our afternoon activity – a walk in the forest. We were driven to the start of the Kepler track – one of the many long distance walks in the area – then walked a short way into the trees. The forest floor is thick with ferns, moss and other greenery. The huge trees feel like the forest has been there forever. There are many fallen trunks and stumps being slowly reclaimed. There is so much to look at that it’s difficult to make any sense of it photographically but with some help from our expert guide, things start to become clearer. Time passes quickly and soon two hours have gone. We had the option to go back to the t-shape jetty for sunset or stay in the trees for longer, Florence and I opted for the trees. We were near the edge of Lake Te Anau so as the light faded we could still watch the turn warm pastel shades over the water. Florence concentrated on the rocks on the beach; I took some long exposure shots of the lake.

The plan had been to reconvene later for a group meal but the sunset crew had had enough for the day and gone back to the hotel for an early night – without shooting the sunset in the end. Most of the group only arrived in New Zealand at the weekend after long flights so aren’t as used to this time zone as us. We had dinner alone in Te Anau’s best restaurant. Florence ordered the sweet potato soup from the starter menu as a main course, the waitress asked if she’d like a main course portion, this arrived as two bowls – serving options are obviously limited. I had a roasted vegetable creation with parsnip puree – very tasty.