All I can say is: What an adventure! We were certainly not prepared to what was about to hit us hard and almost kill our mood and our itinerary. Turns out that just lucky people get to enjoy this portion of the trip.
We got to Queenstown late at night. Had no plans but to sleep, wake up early and go on an airplane tour + cruise we had just reserved a day ago – since the original one was cancelled. I guess that should have been our first clue.
The email came while we had no signal and just said that the roads were closed to Milford Sound because of flooding. Ok, that sounds bad but we can still recover from that!
Indeed, we scheduled an expensive airplane tour that included a two hour cruise. The company was very responsive and even texted us late at night about the tour availability. Our reservation was basically made through messenger!
Happy that we had resolved the transportation, we were headed to the tour at 7 am. Got there very early and went into the office for the regular check-in. No other tourist was around and I thought we were the first ones to make it on time. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The tour had been cancelled.
The lady explained that they had barely sent out an email letting us know that they couldn’t fly due to weather conditions. Weather? It was not even raining! Funny enough, as she was talking I saw a helicopter taking off just a mile away from us.
I was not sure what to do. Be mad, be sad. My husband really wanted to go to Milford Sound and he had tried so hard: reserving tours by land and by air. We could not catch a break!
We both went to the car and for the first time ever, stopped for a minute and remained quiet. Sad quiet. Defeated quiet. Frustrated quiet. Idea?
We had looked over so many tours and we were willing to go the extra mile. No way we were not seeing Milford Sound. I have always blamed myself for not planning to see the Fjords in Norway and this was my second chance. No way I was letting it go! It was freaking 8 in the morning! Something should be done.
As we did really like the hotel we stayed at we came back. First, because they offered breakfast and we didn’t have any. Second, because we needed to regroup with a decent wifi connection.
This was our change of plans: we go back to the hotel, we eat breakfast while we book a tour for the afternoon, we see Queenstown and then we finally visit Milford Sound. Great!
The hotel owners were there when we returned. They were an asian couple and they were just the sweetest. They made us full breakfast with eggs, fruits, cereal, yogurt and gourmet pancakes. Also, they did mention that just a few people are able to go to Milford Sound when they visit. The clouds are usually lower and the visibility is very low for any type of aircraft to go through. Made sense!
Unfortunately, at that time every tour was already booked. It was probably too late for us. But wait. We did have the most expensive as our last option: It was an helicopter tour. That might probably never sell out! We were right. This one didn’t include the cruise, but was supposed to fly at 2 pm. Sounded decent. Pricy, but we were not coming back.
Hope was on. No negative vibes. We were going to make it! We packed everything really well and went down to take the famous Queenstown Skyline. Reserved a gondola and went straight up. No hassle, no crowds (yet).
Very short ride and magnificent views at the top. Lake Hayes was so majestic, so blue, so immense. We took a short hike around the place and then we got really tempted to paraglide.
It looked so great and there was not really a line. We also had plenty of time. After many thoughts, we preferred to have some lunch at the world-famous Fergburger (we did the $18 Big Al -that fed us both) and then do the recommended scenic drive to Glenorchy.
No regrets there. It was an excellent choice. The tour confirmed and we were there by 1:30 pm. Had a quick safety briefing and hopped on to the helicopter. It was the first time for me. I can tell you, quite an experience!
The views are astonishing. Impressive from every single window. I couldn’t stop taking pictures. I was shaking for being so anxious, so excited, and extremely nervous. My thought: Well, if it goes down at least I died happy!
45 minutes of pure bliss, we landed in Milford Sound. Finally, the dream come true. Easy 10 minute hike and this is where we got.
WOW! I wanted to see more of that. Unfortunately for us, we couldn’t reserve the cruise so that was all we could get. We stood at heaven’s front door and then it got slapped back into our face. Ha ha! I’m sure, that was life laughing at us!
Its hard to describe the feeling of almost getting there when you didn’t. It hard to forget what almost happened. The lost chance. Impotent, powerless, once again: defeated. That is how we came back.
The good news was that the tour did include a glacier landing on the way back! Yay! We took off (its so weird!) and this time I was in the front line – seated right next to the pilot and the controls. Fun!
The landing was very smooth and we spent about 20 minutes contemplating the magnificent views all around. So bright and so impressive. The way back was uneventful, just a few tricks from the pilot that got me a little motion sick. Not to complain. It was well worth visiting paradise!
Wookitu 