Milford Sound boat trip with VIP Milford and Real Journeys, New Zealand

Fiordland was one the things I was most excited to see in New Zealand. Its beauty is famous and just looked and sounded spectacular. We were not disappointed! We booked a trip only a few days before, which I would advise doing as we got a big discount on BookMe and we were able to book it for a day we were confident would have good weather. Apparently it rains on two out of three days in Fiordland, so it’s good to be able to use a short range weather forecast!

We booked a Milford Sound boat cruise with lunch and a bus transfer with VIP Milford, who use Real Journeys for the boat part of the trip. Our driver picked us up from Te Anau at 8am in a small 18 seater mini bus, which was lovely as it’s always nice to have a small group! We were picked up last so had to take separate single seats, but this worked out better in the end as we both had window seats on the left where most of the best scenery was.

Our guide made a few stops along the way to Milford and back, which were all stunning. These were the stops:

– Mirror Lakes and Lake Gunn

The Mirror Lakes are small pools that on still, clear days reflect the mountains behind them. It was really beautiful but there were a LOT of tourists there. However, we stopped a few minutes up the road at Lake Gunn.

Our guide said that as this lake is bigger, he very rarely sees it still enough to be reflective so doesn’t often stop there. So we were super lucky to see the mountains reflected perfectly across the big lake. And we had it to ourselves! It was true perfection and really was mesmerising.

– Monkey Creek

This is just a little stream that meanders through the Cleddau Valley but the views of the mountains all around it are gorgeous. We saw a few of the endangered mountain parrot – the kea – here too! In fact one of them tried to steal our camera ha!

– The Chasm

This spot was a 10-15 minute stroll from the main road. It’s basically a small river that tumbles through a narrow gap in the mountain rock. It’s got great force, which is fun to watch, and there are lots of cool circular holes in the rock, which have been weathered in from the water swirling little stones around. Pretty cool!

– Stunning views of the mountains cross the plains of the Eglinton  Valley

– The Tukoto Suspension Bridge with a view of Mount Tutoko, the tallest mountain in Fiordland.

– Hollyford Valley Lookout’s spectacular view.

The journey to Milford was around two hours each way so these stunning spots were a lovely way to break the journey up. But the Milford Sound itself was, of course, the star of the show!

We had around half an hour to kill when we got to the ferry terminal before our boat boarded, so we took a wander down the little rocky spit of land. The view even just here (main pic) of the huge mountains rising out of the sea was spectacular! When we got on the boat we had another 20 minutes before we got moving, so we used this time to visit the buffet lunch that was included in our booking. This buffet was AMAZING! They had huge green lipped mussels, battered fish fillets, lamb chops, beef ribs, chicken legs, vegetables, noodles, rice, fruit, and pots of ice cream! It was all delicious and we were very impressed. George piled his plate so high it was almost embarrassing ha! It’s almost worth doing this trip just for the lunch!

Now well and truly stuffed, we headed outside to take in the beautiful surroundings. Our booking last minute had definitely paid off – there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, it was perfect! A little chilly, but absolutely stunning. It turns out the Milford Sound isn’t a Sound at all, it’s a fiord. A fiord has been carved out by a glacier and later filled in by the sea, whereas a Sound is carved out by a river. But the incorrect name has stuck!

We were lucky enough to see some penguins and seals as we cruised around, so lush! The scenery was mind blowing, I couldn’t stop taking pictures and just looking around in awe. It’s just amazing how such impressive mountains can rise straight out of the sea! Our captain also stuck the boat’s nose into the stunning Stirling Falls. It’s hard to get perspective of how high these are as the mountains are so tall, but they tumble down an impressive 550 metres! We got a bit wet from the spray as we were stood at the front, it was great fun!

The trip set us back $119 each with the BookMe discount, which I thought was pretty good value considering all the excellent knowledge our guides had, how amazing the lunch was, and of course the fact that we had breathtaking scenery from start to finish.

I would definitely recommend doing a trip from Te Anau, rather than Queenstown. You’ll have plenty to do while in Queenstown anyway, and Te Anau itself is a beautiful place. The lake is enormous and gorgeous with lots of lovely spots around it to take it all in. We also visited the free bird sanctuary here, which is beautiful with lake and mountain views and gives you the chance to see protected native birds such as the rare Tekehe.