Queenstown, New Zealand: Heaven on Middle Earth (Part 3)

by Shalveena Rohde,

Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound and Fiordland The scenic cruise to Milford and Doubtful Sound was amazing.  Words just can’t describe it - the beauty must be experienced first hand.  That being said, here are some pictures to give an idea of the beautiful and majestic Milford Sound and surrounding areas. I hope these pictures can convey some of the beauty and wonder of the place :) The Drive During our stay in Queenstown, we took a big 8 or 9 seater van, which Max drove around :D He also drove us to the place from where we could take the Milford Sound cruise. The scenery on the drive (there and back) was lovely - with a red sunset over the lake, fields of red tussocks, and majestic mountains with waterfalls.

The big van
Our driver taking a stretch at the traffic light before the tunnel. All around us were huge mountains with little waterfalls running down everywhere.

 

On the way, we stopped at Mirror Lake (also known as Lake  Matheson), which was so still and perfectly reflected the beautiful surroundings

 

At one point in the drive, the roadsides were filled with hills and grasslands of red tussock. Unfortunately, we were unable to go onto the grasslands though, as the red tussock is protected.

 

On the way back, it late and we had a beautiful view of the lake, with mountains in the distance and a red sunset

The Cruise Utterly mesmerising. The endless ocean, the majestic mountains surrounding us really brings home just how small we are in the greater scheme of things. We are one single, small, being surrounded by such immense natural beauty and the unimaginable powers of nature.

 

 

 

 

The Walk As part of our travels to Milford Sound and Fiordland, we also went for a short walk and saw an amazing sight - a flow of water, that through its sheer power and force, had made a path through stone over hundreds and hundreds of years. It was wow!

 

 

 

 

This always reminds me of a scene in the Lord of the Rings movie!

To give an idea of the power and force of the flow of water, and the noise it makes, here is a video:

//www.youtube.com/get_player

Categories: travels