Page 36 - 2008 NZ SUB ANTARCTIC ISLANDS - SMARTPHONE

sightings could have been made and the walkway was so slippery that we were pretty much
underwhelmed.

Chapter 16. Milford Sound

Our last adventure on the Clipper Odyssey was a sailing up Milford Sound, the most famous of
NZ’s beautiful fjords. This magnificent trip includes a look at the iconic Mitre Peak. The rains
were still falling heavily as we made our way up the sea finger towards the unwanted “jumping
off place.” The upside of the constantly falling rain was the miracle of a 1000 or more splashing
and crashing waterfalls everywhere along the fjord. Some slender little ribbons, others more like
broad bolts of silvery silk being unfurled down from the mountain tops, and still others like
waters gushing over a broken dam, so broad and rushing were their cascades. It was a
magnificent view thanks to the rain. However, our look at Mitre Peak was not exactly as
advertised in tourist brochures where it is always shown under brilliant blue skies and bright
sunshine. No, today Mitre looked a bit hoary with all the clouds swirling around his head and all
the rain blocking our clear view. However, the whole panorama was so dramatic that no one
could have wished the rains away.

We knew our lovely expedition on board the Clipper O ended as we sighted Mitre Peak and were
offloaded onto a smaller boat that carried us to the commercial harbor. Milford Sound, as well as
Dusky Sound, are part of the wonderful Fjordland National Park and thus under the jurisdiction of
“dear old DOC.” There is a hotel (many years old) at the docking area and the terminal building
has been completely rebuilt since we were here last in 1987. No other commercial concerns have
been allowed to develop in the Park, thanks to do the good “DOC.” I didn’t mention it before but
there is an electrical power plant in Dusky Sound but it predates DOC’s jurisdiction as well.
Otherwise, the huge Park with all its marvelous fjords is not diminished by human intrusions.

Homer Tunnel

This fabled tunnel has eased the way for travelers between Te Anau and Queenstown beyond that
and Milford Sound. It is an estimable engineering feat and has certainly opened up this part of
Fjordland National Park since its opening in 1954. The tunnel was started in the 30s during the
Depression when workers were put to the job of blasting through the solid granite of Homer
Saddle, a pass through the Main Divide Mountains. Doesn’t this remind you of our CCC workers
during the US Depression? There were many problems with the construction of the Tunnel, the
most debilitating ones having to do with rock fractures and snow avalanches. Work on the
Tunnel was halted during World War II and then it was finally completed and opened in 1954.
At the time and for many years after, it was the longest bare granite and gravel-surfaced tunnel in
the world. It is just short of a mile long and traffic is controlled by stoplights at either end since
the passage is only 1-½ lanes wide. A bus & a car can pass side by side, but two buses cause
great consternation and difficulty.

It is pretty sure that Homer Tunnel is NOT under the direct control of DOC even though it is in
the National Park; the Department of Roads, Bridges and Tunnels is the caretaker for the tunnel.
I only mention the wonderful tunnel because it was at the entrance to its opening we had our last
wildlife sightings where the creatures do “belong” to DOC. We were fortunate enough to see two
rock wrens at their nest feeding their little ones. The nest was quite near the roadway actually—
the birds had an entire valley filled with rocks so it was peculiar that they chose such a public
place!

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