Te Anau/Knobs Flat/Milford Sound. 20th March 2023

We drove south from Wanaka to Te Anau which is the last town in Fiordland before the start of the road down to Milford Sound.  After Te Anau there is no Wi-Fi, mobile signal nor any petrol stations.  We stayed in Te Anau a couple of nights but the weather was rather grey and damp so we only managed a walk round the lake and a visit to the bird sanctuary.  The scenic drive down to Milford Sound (the Milford Highway) was beautiful with very rugged scenery, lakes, mountains and forest.  On the way there are well marked stops with walking trails ranging from 20 minutes to all day.  

Our first stop was Lake Mistletoe, a lovely walk through forest to the lake with mountains behind.  Next stop was Mirror Lakes and the photo below says it all.  Our third stop was at Cascade Creek, with an hour walk through the Red Beech forest; massive trees both in girth and height covered in mosses and lichens.  Sue commented that it was like the film Avatar.  En route we stopped at Knobs Flat to check in to our small cabin before driving to Milford Sound where we'd booked a two hour cruise through the fiord and out into the Tasman Sea.  We had a brief encounter with some Hectors Dolphins, some fur seals and a flock of Shearwaters.  

After a night in our cabin, we drove back towards Milford Sound for the three hour walk up to Key Summit with beautiful views of the surrounding mountains.  However, it was a dank drizzly morning and we climbed up into the mist and our only view was the inside of a cloud.  It was a good walk; hard going but lovely walking through the forest.  Driving back for another night at Knobs Flat the weather improved.  Knobs Flat is situated in the wide plain of Eglinton Valley which is incredibly flat apart from the knobs which are mounds of glacial debris from the last ice age but now grassed over (photo below).