A 5am start. A quick step out to look at the sky just in case. No aurora, but an amazing array of stars (out in the darkness……)…… and the milky way! I’ll settle for that!
A little gutted it had gone by the time we had googled how to take a photo of it, but a sight I will never forget.
A 7am sailing then a coach and then another boat to get to the sound.
After the first boat, we followed the original 1880 track called the Wilmot track pass by coach through the mountain range out to Doubtful Sound on the ocean side. If we went direct west from here, the first land we would hit would be Argentina!
The whole area here is 1.2 million hectares called the Fiordland National Park.
Covered in a cool temperate rainforest made up mainly of silver beech and mosses that hold up to 26 times their weight in water, of which we sampled a little squeeze.
They don’t measure rainfall in millimeters or even centimeters. It is measured in meters, and on average, they have 10 metres of rain per year, making it one of the wettest places in the world.
The largest waterfall here is 830 meters high, called Browne Falls. Amazing site, although it is disputed whether it is a waterfall or a river. Whoever knew that it could be disputed!!
We definitely had all 4 seasons within 15 minutes….hail and icy cold to hot and sun bathing weather!
Amazing vistas every minute, from colourful to dark and sultry.
The view down to the sound from the top of the Wilmot Pass, along with the most photographed dead tree in New Zealand…..
Fave meal so far in Redcliffe Cafe. Definitely our kinda place, and live music to add. New NZ term for the dictionary……. sticky……. meaning dessert wine
Back for another sun down in Te Anau
Certainly fallen in love with the Fiordland National Park. ❤️
Heather and Mark's travel blog 
Now I wish we had done it. Looks amazing. x
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