Page 71 - 2008 NZ Subantarctic Islands

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

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