Andy and Rach's World Travel Diary: Milford Sound

We have finally made it over to the west coast of NZ, where the weather is thankfully hot and sunny, with none of the rain that this area is famous for - they have an average rainfall of 6 metres a year! We spent two nights at Te Anau, preparing to head off into the wilds for a bush camp, as we didn't feel we were getting the full camping experience by staying on plush caravan parks (silly us). We initially headed out to Doubtful Sound, an extremely remote area just to the south of Milford Sound. Unfortunately in getting away from it all we had got a bit too far, and the road out to Doubtful was terrible, then it emerged that further down it had fallen away completely in a landslip. We gave up that idea and instead went north towards Milford, finding lots of much more accessible camping spots on the way.

Our site was idyllic, by a place called Cascade Falls and it even had long drop toilets, the height of luxury. Within minutes of stepping out of the van we realised why most people opted for a holiday park in a nice town - we were greeted by hoardes of sandflies. They are incredibly annoying small black flies which swarm all over the Fiordland (spelling mistake the Kiwis, not mine) area, nibbling on anyone in their path. As usual, I got eaten alive whilst Andy sustained one or two minor bites. We attempted to ward them off by making a big fire (and we just like big fires)

however as the area is also so wet all our wood was rotten and damp and our fire a paltry sight. Nevertheless we soldiered on and managed to produce a more than passable dinner of snags (sausies), egg, beans and the crowning glory, instant mash. Delish. After throwing this down our necks we did the washing up in record time, chased all the while by the irritating sandflies. After a lovely quiet, dark nights sleep we were ready to continue on to Milford Sound. We had been more or less assured by our map that there was at least a small town at Milford. No, absolutely nothing there at all. There is a lodge, which luckily had a spot available for us to camp, and a cafe/pub, and thats it. We spent yesterday afternoon kicking our heels and trying to avoid sandfly infestation in the van (the man who invented Raid deserves a medal). We signed up for a trip sea kayaking this morning, and then resolved to get the **** out of dodge... After a hideous nights "sleep" - that van is the antidote to sleep - we rose at 7 this morning and drowsily set off to the Sound.

We were soon awakened by the incredibly beautiful scenery, at its best in the clear sunshine. The paddle was lovely and relaxing, the Sound like a mill pond. We splashed about and took photos for a couple of hours and were kept well informed about the history, the formation and local folklore concerning Milford Sound by our English guide, Rosie. Another girl who deserves a medal for living in a shack of a caravan amidst the sandfly hoarde for 18 months now. Without warning, the wind suddenly picked up and soon we were battling against the waves to get back to base.

At times it was quite unsettling and I made sure Andy heard about every wave which broke in my face and dripped down my arm... we managed to get back to shore without mishap or major falling out, apparently quite a feat in the double kayaks which are also known as "divorce kayaks"! We'd had a great morning but could make no secret of our keenness to get back to civilisation. We jumped into the van and hot footed it back to Te Anau as fast as he could carry us. Too exhausted to be bothered to cook tonight, we're looking forward to a nice (but cheap!) meal out.

Scenery around Fiordland National Park, with Andy swimming in the first one...