South of where the West Coast Highway turns inland around Haarst, commences an extensive coastal area stretching to the tip of the South Island. This area has virtually no inhabitants or roads and much comprises the Fjordland National Park with its headquarters in the small community of Te Anau. The big ticket items in this area are national long distance walking tracks such as the Milford Track and dramatic fjords (flooded glaciated valleys), the best known of which is the Milford Sound with a lesser known (and more difficult and expensive to visit) one called Doubtful Sound.
Our plan was to drive to Milford Sound via the Milford Road, a highly scenic two-hour drive. Upon arrival we learned that the Milford Road was closed to all vehicles (since January when severe rains caused rock slides that blocked the highway and rivers undercut it) except busses and they had to “convoy” through the heavily damaged sections of the highway. We did not want to join a convoy, nor spend half a day reaching Doubtful Sound for a two-hour cruise.
Luck shone on us. The day we planned to leave Te Anau the road opened! Off we went through gusty winds and pouring rain and nary a ray of sunshine (except the double rainbow early in the morning). But oh, what a spectacular event we had in store as you can see. Plus the added bottle-nosed dolphins and juvenile New Zealand fur seals to boot.
Because of heavy rain we were truly fortunate to see the “waterfall wonderland” – it was quite remarkable! Had it been a sunny day our impressions would have been somewhat different. Captain Mac of the large cruiser gave a highly informed commentary of the geology, glaciology, geomorphology, marine sea life, and history of the region and the Sound. The cruiser has a capacity of 300+ passengers – we were 2 of 17 – how lucky was that?
[Immediately below is an embedded video. Just tap the white arrow and wait. When the image appears, tap anywhere on it to start the video.]
Leaving the Sound to the Tasman Sea 
The Tasman Sea – next land to the west is Argentina 
Bottle nosed dolphin 
The vessel “wheelhouse”
The day before our trip to Milford Sound we visited a bird rehabilitation, sanctuary, breeding facility operated by the Department of Conservation. We arrived just in time for the feeding of the critically endangered Takahe, a large flightless bird. The center has a successful breeding program and releases young adults into the wild. The juvenile bird in the photographs is close to leaving to another facility (a “boot camp”) where he will learn to forage for himself prior to release to the wild. The release area is close to the place that takahe were discovered in the 1940s after being thought extinct. The mother has a red beak, the juvie has a black one still – it will change when mature.
Mother feeding juvenile 
Juvie 
Mom, just one more bite!