The drive between Queenstown and Milford Sound is almost 4 hours. Milford Sound Cruise is about 3 hours. We decided to take the scenic flight to save some driving. The direct distance between the two locations is not that bad. Because of the mountains and Lake Wakatipu, you will have to drive a lot of hilly roads.
The scenic flight turned out to be the best decision we made for the trip.
We use Google Maps to find Real Journeys counter/office - it’s not in the Queenstown airport lobby. It’s a separate location in the vicinity of the airport. The aircraft was compact - good for 10 passengers. I was allocated to sit beside the pilot which gave me more freedom for photos.
The view was breath-taking. We departed in the morning and the sun was still rising. We flew passing Lake Wakatipu, Tooth Peaks and David Peaks. The awe-inspiring scenery made me think of words like 云蒸霞蔚 （Rich and varied as rosy clouds are rising slowly）君临上界（The king’s landing）from the famous essay Sunrise on the Yangtze by Liu Baiyu. Actually I thought any words can’t describe we saw at all.
I choose a few photos to share with everyone. If you are travelling to the South Island, please do try this scenic flight from Real Journeys. It’s an experience you will never forget. Nature’s magic will never stop surprising us - we, really really have to look after it!!!
Milford Sound is certainly worth another visit @OliverKIWI we had two beautiful weather weeks while we stayed at Queenstown, except for two days… the day we went to Milford Sound was miserable - raining and foggy. We still saw the amazement of the sound and enjoyed ourselves. The other day was the day we we booked to fly onto Fox Glacier. Unfortunately we couldn’t take to the air that day.
Indeed! Actually I was told by a friend it would look different -for a raining day and for a sunny day. I do like your photos with more depth and moods.
@PaulPavlinovich I will start another post for Milford Sound next time.
A great post @OliverKIWI . Like @PaulPavlinovich I did it by boat. In fact I’ve been there twice. I was there in February this year and show some photos in the list here. I’ve been meaning to write a post myself about these experiences. Rudyard Kipling famously declared in the eighth wonder of the world and having been there twice I know why. When you go there when it rains, and it mostly does as it’s one of the wettest places on the planet, the sound of the waterfalls is amazing as @PaulPavlinovich has mentioned.
It must have been a beautiful view from up there @OliverKIWI
Stunning pictures.
The last picture where the sea goes from deep blue into turquoise and then reaches the white surface… it looks like ice or snow but it can be sand as well… could you see what it was?
It is incredibly beautiful. When I found out there is a cold winter in Tasmania, I had to check out on Google and I was confronted with one of the most interesting views you can have. Something like snow in the jungle.
Lucky you @OliverKIWI living on the other side of the planet.
@JacobLED I think we are extremely lucky to live in NZ or AU. In the summer, Anywhere is NZ is always 100km away from the ocean, In the winter, only a few hours driving you can go skiing! And you will pass vineyards in between:)
Tour guide lol. Other than the main features like Stirling Falls, Lady Bowen Falls, Mitre Peak and the Underwater Observatory, when you’re looking out at features I found it difficult to know exactly where to look so I figured that a Google List would good and would help many others. There are at least another 6 places I wanted to add on the List, and in fact added these to Maps but sadly they ended up as Pending - place creations due to the slowdown on Google’s contribution approval process. It’s a beautiful place @OliverKIWI and a major attraction for NZ.
