Well well well, I didn’t know taking a parent on your honeymoon was as common as it seems to now be, given the reactions of everyone we have talked to this last week!
We wanted to take it as an opportunity to show dad and Judy some other parts of New Zealand, some they have visited before and some not.
The Kingston flyer
We had a few surprises planned for them along the way also: the first being a ride on the Kingston Flyer! I’m so pleased that it has been bought by someone new and restored / put back on the tracks (again!) his huge smile during that whole 90 min trip to Fairlight and back was priceless. Dad has loved steam trains almost all his life. 💖.
Queenstown Lakes
From there we headed to Queenstown where we stayed for 3 days. During this time we had booked a surprise a trip on the Earnslaw to Walter Peak station for lunch. The boat is a wooden steamer built in 1912 that once used to move cattle between high country stations.
We also took a wee trip to Arrowtown for Lunch one day while Dad and Judy were resting. What I thought was really cool was the Arrowtown Post Office is owned by the Museum and the shop raises funds to pay the staff to keep it open, found some hilarious hand and lip cream there as well as some bargain 2nd hand books. The woman behind the counter saw I was a book worm and tried the hard sell on me for a number of other books too! We were restrained and came away with 4. 😜
Te Anau
Next was Te Anau. Dad and Judy had paid a flying visit here ten years ago but this time we stayed a few days, because I really wanted to get him into Milford Sound, something we didn’t have time for on his last visit. this time we made it. And oh boy was the weather just perfect! It rained all day the day before, which filled up those waterfalls for us on the day we visited, which was lovely and sunny!
During our 2 hour drive into Milford Sound village, we stopped at Mirror lakes, again a simply perfect day for photos!
But the showstopper really is the sound (Fiord) itself. It had to be seen in person really. IMO it’s the Jewel in New Zealand’s crown.
A few facts..
🤩 The Milford Rd is the only road into Fiordland and Milford Sound is the only Sound you can actually drive to
🤩 Milford Sound isn’t actually a sound, it’s a Fiord (sea filled glacial valley not river valley)
🤩 Milford Sound is one of the wettest places on earth (182 days of rain per year on average). So with that in mind, how lucky were we with the weather!
🤩 The Homer Tunnel (that enables access by road to Milford Sound) was hand dug with pick axes. They started it in 1934 and it took 30 years to complete. It was initially built to enable export access for gold via the sound. The tunnel is 1200m long and substantial work is required ongoing to keep both the tunnel and the Milford Road open due to its remoteness.
A video of our trip
Here’s our week long trip captured in video format. (Video with music)
