Milford Sound was billed as one of the highlights of the trip. Although it is only 40Km from Queenstown as the crow flies, in reality it is a 5 hour drive. There are no direct roads and you have to drive a long way south before you can cut across tot he west and pick up the road into Milford Sound. Until the Homer tunnel was opened in the 1950s, the only way in was to hike.

Milford Sound is one of the Sounds and Fiords in the Fiordland National Park (www.doc.govt.nz/../fiordland-national-park). On the way in we stopped for a quick walk in the valley floor.

And then a forest walk to Lake Gunn.

As we got closer, we came to the Homer tunnel. Work began on the single lane tunnel in 1935 and, after a break of several years during the second world war, it opened in 1953.

While waiting at the lights to go through the tunnel, you are likely to come across the Kea – an alpine parrot. The mischievous birds like plastic.

Eventually we reached Milford Sound and checked in for our over night cruise on the Milford Wanderer.

We departed at 4.30pm and cruised out to a cove where we moored. We started to get our first view of the Sound.

Some of the us went for the walk along the end part of the Milford Track (the hiking route to Milford Sound) and I opted for the trip around cove in the ship’s tender.

We were looking out for the wildlife and saw some Easter Orchids.

And a couple of New Zealand Fur Seals basking on the rocks.

We returned to the boat and cruised to our overnight mooring where we had dinner and then went out to view the stars in the perfect darkness. We had great views of the Southern Cross and the Milky Way. Unfortunately both beyond the capability of my camera to take pictures.

The boat was well equipped. We had an excellent dinner and better showers than many of the hotels we had stayed at. The only downside was that the bunks we very narrow. After a rather uncomfortable night, we rose at 6.30am for an early breakfast before setting out to cruise the rest of the Milford Sound. We were out at the end of the Sound in the Tasman Sea before the sun rose.

We started to get sight of the steep sides on both sides of the Sound.

I had a Titanic moment on the cruise back into the Sound.

It is hard to appreciate the scale of everything in the Sound. This is Mitre Peak which rises 1 mile (1,600m) straight up from the sea floor.

Bowen Falls is more than 3 times as high as Niagara Falls.

Due to the steep sides of the Sound, the captain as able to take the boat right up to the falls.

By 9am we were back on land and heading off for our next walk. We did a section of the Routeburn Track up to the Alpine Walk on Key Summit. It was a pleasant walk up and we had excellent visibility from the summit.

There is a small lake at the top and a pleasant circular walk around the Alpine environment.

 We then set off back down to the valley floor.

Passing a lot of wildlife on the way.

We then had to make the 5 hour drive back to Queensland. For future reference many people fly in and out of Milford Sound and it is one of the busiest airports in New Zealand. You can fly by plane or helicopter.

After another night in the Aspen Hotel at Queensland, we set off to Mount Cook.