While I was planning for Milford Sound, I was deciding between self-drive (8 hours return) or a day tour (long 12 hours tour that starts at 7am (so early!!!) plus sooo expensive!). In the end I decided it would be less tiring for Miss Ting to sit on my lap for more than 8 hours compared to being worried about her carsickness plus Mr Ting having to drive by himself for so many hours! Best choice ever because it was a day of land, sea and air and we totally enjoyed it!
We parked our car at the free carpark at Memorial Street (read more here) since the entire tour takes about 12 hours return and parking is really expensive in Queenstown City. The meeting time was 7.05am at Queenstown city, and since we stayed about 20mins away, we woke up really early that day. Thank goodness the day went better than planned and no accidents along the way (no carsick episodes, managed to find free parking, and got a cheap flight deal!)
We had a fabulous day tour to Milford Sound with AwesomeNZ! (This blog is not sponsored by the way.) Our driver (and guide) Paulie is really funny and very passionate about his job!
Our first stop was Hollyford Cafe at Te Anau where we stopped for a toilet break, quick bite and shopping. There's no toilet stops along the way so use them when you see them!
Venison pie from the cafe. Apparently there's a really popular one at the corner of the street but we were too lazy to walk there.
After the short break we continued the journey through amazing scenery
There's USB ports available in front of your seat for phone charging. However there's no wifi signal past a certain point so you can't really connect to the rest of the world.
Queuing to enter the famous Homer tunnel with a height clearance of 3.81m!
We reached Milford Wharf at about noon for our Jucy cruise. After visiting several restaurants in South Island that do not have a diaper room / changing table for kids, I was pleasantly surprised to find a changing table on board!
The very relaxed captain of Jucy cruise. I saw him use his foot to navigate!!
Lunch is included in the tour package
PitaPit, cookie and a drink for lunch. There's a PitaPit counter on board in case it's not enough.
The captain will drive underneath a waterfall, so go up to the upper deck if you are ready for a shower. We quickly retreated to the interiors when we were nearing the waterfalls.
Sunbathing fur seals on the rock
When we returned to the bus at Milford Wharf, we were presented with the chance to take a flight back to Te Anau and then continue our trip back to Queenstown by bus, at a very reasonable price!! I instantly jumped at that chance without any hesitation!! So off we went on the shuttle bus to the airport! This was the plane we took.
We were seated right at the back of the plane (there were 6 adults and 1 toddler). It was slightly cramped because I carried Miss Ting on the lap, but it was the highlight of our trip!! Miss Ting fell asleep right after the plane took off, so I had plenty of time taking photos (while juggling her heavy head with huge aviation headsets). IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!!! Best choice ever and I applaud myself for making the fastest decision in my life. Haha!!! There was another couple who wanted to take the flight too but it was full within 1min!
This is a view you can't see if you take the bus. I guess it's also because we were not hiking at all so seeing such a sight was impossible!
Rainbow taken from the plane
Beautiful meander! I finally see a really beautiful one after studying it in my Geography classes for years.
I must have taken a few hundred photos during the flight, but there's just too many photos to share. After the flight we were taken on a shuttle bus back to Te Anau, where we waited for the rest to join us before we continued the journey back to Queenstown.
The scenery between Milford Sound and Queenstown was just as amazing. It would be nice to self-drive and take photo stops. The roads are really narrow in some parts though so be sure to stop only when it's safe.
Amazing scenery on the way back. This was taken from the bus with windows reflection and still it's soooo beautiful!
It was a perfect day with perfect scenery! Milford Sound is definitely not to be missed!!
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