BLOG NUMBER 7        MILFORD SOUND

Arrived in Te Anau Saturday the 11 of Feb., and are camped at a Kiwi Park. Lake Te Anau below is a huge lake behind the hydro dam.

Sunday the 12^th we went on a tour to Milford Sound by bus. 2 hours up to Milford Sound, a 3 hour boat ride with lunch followed by a 2 hour trip back to Te Anau. Many stops along the way for tea, scones, walks, photos, informative talks, etc. 

The area was opened up by Aussie sheep farmers who could apply to the government for a lease prior to ownership much like the Homestead Act in Canada, followed by goldseekers, possum ranchers/trappers, deer hunters, and finally tourists. Tourism and dairy are the largest contributors to NZ GDP.

Before the European colonials arrived, there were no four legged critters in NZ; the sailing ships and Maoris bought rats, the Aussies and Brits introduced rabbits as a food source for settlers, after being overrun by rabbits, the politicians (“I’m from the government I’m here to help you”… second of the three biggest lies in the world), allowed the Brits to introduce stoats (slightly bigger than a weasel) to manage (a.k.a. eat) the rabbits… (didn’t work) and now there is a stoat problem. A second political decision was to introduce Aussie bushy tailed possums to establish a fur industry (Merino sheep wool and possum fur) are highly prized by Asians and the Brits. Possums also transmit and spread bovine tuberculosis through the cattle stations. The TB control regulations are very rigorous. So, in summary, there is a massive rat, stoat and possum problem in Kiwi land which has managed to decimate the bird populations. Dead (a.k.a. “good”) possums litter the roadways and they are so plentiful they are called Kiwi speed bumps as it is not uncommon to see a dozen good possums per mile.

The drive from Te Anau to Milford Sound is 120 km with about 80 km. inside a National Park; within the park, there would be a stoat trap (tree is marked with a pink tag and baited with an egg) about every 300 meters for the last 80 km. Traps are checked every second day. Massive pest control campaigns have been mounted where food pellets have been dropped by helicopter to attract rats, stoats and possums; initially, unbaited pellets were dropped to lure the critters then… the second batch of pellets are baited with 1080 (sodium fluoroacetate) which, if my memory is correct (probably not!) from Biochemistry 303 in 1965, is a all encompassing, non-specific metabolic inhibitor which blocks the Krebs Cycle (all metabolism stops and critters die). Any deer eating the pellets are also culled which has the hunters “up in arms” (pun intended). So to get rid of rats, stoats and possums a few deer are being sacrificed. Actually, the deer overpopulation is a problem as well deer season lasts 365 days per annum with no limit on the number of deer taken. Now… eating venison laced with 1080 MIGHT BE a problem so best to eat a deer that has been shot and not a dead deer that the hunter has come across in the bush.

Milford Sound is absolutely stunning but is a very busy place; 90 cruise ships annually and they accommodate about 50 full size tour busses daily plus many smaller 20 passenger buses. 

Selfie sticks abound and it is not uncommon to have one stuck up your nose by a careless tourist. Selfie stick users should have to have a Selfie Stick Safety Course (SSSC) to emphasize the need to have the direction of the selfie stick under control at all times; just like hunters controlling the direction of the muzzle of their rifle at all times. I promise... no mores rants about selfie sticks (that is UNLESS "the Donald" starts to use one..  

North American elk (wapiti) have been introduced here and hunters come from all over the world to enter a raffle to get a licence. Moose were introduced but did not survive. The alpine forest on the east side of the divide is quite open while the rain forest on the west side is a jungle. 

To get from the east to the west you must traverse a one-way tunnel (Homer tunnel) and while waiting to get thru the tunnel there are many keas (mountain parrots) that descend on camper’s luggage and demolish it looking for food.

 Homer Tunnel took more than 30 years to build and completed in 1954 after major surveyor error, the original estimate was 100 meters in length, oops, completed length was 1200 meters. 

The switchbacks and curves are awesome.

A sheep, venison and beef station on the way to Milford Sound encompassed some 10,000 acres and is managed and operated by 2 fellows, their wives and kids and their dogs plus part-time help at shearing and roundup. The owner has 30,000 ewes that produce about 50,000 lambs annually. The perinatal mortality rate of lambs was very high due to (stupid?, warm and comfortable?) ewes who lamb out in the worst of elements (wind, rain, gorse) so the resourceful owner, shears his ewes at 130 days gestation. The shorn, now cold and uncomfortable ewes, seek shelter and the lambs has a fighting chance. Brilliant!

Our guide, Terry, 

is an avid hunter and outdoorsman; before modern GPS, his GPS was to break a bracken fern and point it in the direction of his travel every 10 meters or so to avoid getting lost. His GPS was Green Pointing System. Great guide! Fishermen must wash every bit of their gear in detergent and rinse it well when moving from one stream to another to avoid contamination. The rivers and streams and lakes are great trout fishing sites. Kiwis take environmental protection and biosecurity very seriously.